The Holding Arms Of The Earth

A Yoga Nidra practice to surrender to the holding arms of the Earth. Allow yourself to be nourished by the warmth, love, and compassion that mother Earth is offering us every day. Connect deeply and provide your care for her healing at the same time. This Yoga Nidra is in service of an interconnected life with Gaia.

Transcript

Welcome to this yoga nidra.

To begin prepare yourself for the practice.

Bring your body into an energetic connection to the earth either by laying on your back or by deeply rooting your feet into the ground.

Take a moment to make sure you are fully comfortable.

Make any arrangements that will support you in creating a space in which you can fully give yourself in an undisturbed way.

This might mean to close the door,

Cover yourself with a blanket or turn off any notification sounds on your phone.

This practice,

A practice of yoga nidra,

Is a practice of hearing and feeling.

It is a practice of fully allowing yourself the space to rest and rejuvenate and at the same time stay awake and open to the guidance of my voice.

Trust that the combined wisdom of your inner intuition and the sound of my voice will offer you the practice you need today.

Should you at any point drift off,

See if you can notice that and gently,

Without any judgment,

Bring your awareness back to the practice and join in wherever we are.

This yoga nidra practice is dedicated to the earth,

To our mother,

To Gaya.

Before we fully dive in,

I would like to invite her blessing with a prayer that is inspired by Cynthia Forth and Tich Natan.

Perfection of wisdom,

Mother of Buddhas,

Bodhisattvas and all beings,

Nourishing,

Holding and healing all.

Great Mother Earth,

Precious jewel of the cosmos,

To you we bow in gratitude.

We take refuge in the earth as our teacher,

The one who shows us the way in this life.

We take refuge in the earth as an expression of the dharma,

The teachings of interbeing,

Understanding and love.

We take refuge in the earth as an embodiment of the sangha,

The vast interdependent community of life in balance and harmony.

Living within the web of life on earth,

We dedicate ourselves to embodying awakened awareness on the path of healing,

In service to all beings.

We dedicate our lives to realizing our oneness with Gaya.

And rest in the echoes of this prayer.

As you do so,

Begin to let your body surrender to gravity and the holding capacity of the earth.

Notice your body laying on the surface you have chosen.

Become aware that no matter how far away you are from the earth right now,

Your energy is reaching all the way to your body.

And bring your attention to all the contact points where your body touches the surface.

Focusing on your feet or starting from your heels up the legs to the buttocks,

Up the back to the shoulders,

The arms,

Hands and the back of your head.

Let any contact point melt a little bit more into the surface.

Melt a little bit more towards the earth.

As if you were sinking into the warm caring caress of a loving mother's lap.

She's holding you,

Bathing you,

Nurturing you with her pure tender love.

This is the mother that is the earth.

You are laying in your mother's lap,

Feeling the nourishment of her endless love.

And allow yourself to fully surrender into this experience,

Into feeling and receiving this love that is real and not imagination.

If you're connected to mother earth safe and secure,

Your body is unwinding,

Releasing and relaxed.

Then we will continue with your sankalpa.

Your sankalpa is your intention or deep resolve.

It can be anything your heart is longing for,

Anything you would like to integrate or manifest more of in your life.

Make it big,

Don't play too small.

Your sankalpa can reflect an overall longing in your life.

Something like I am love or I am at peace or I am interconnected with all life.

So whatever it is that is alive for you today,

Start to formulate a short,

Concise statement that starts with the words I am.

And then from the heart center,

Feeling the energy,

Wholeheartedness,

Breathe in,

Hold your breath and repeat your sankalpa three times in your mind.

Once that is complete with the exhale,

Let it go,

Breathe it out.

Be with any sensations,

Any ripple effects that spread in your body after stating your sankalpa.

And as the echoes of your sankalpa start to do their work,

You will go ahead and rotate your awareness through your physical body.

And as I guide you through the different parts,

I invite you wherever you perceive any tension to surrender that to the earth.

We begin with the palms of your hands.

Experience the palms of your hands as a mass of sensation and energy.

Notice if there are any feelings of pressure,

Warmth or a tingling.

Just notice and connect with your palms.

Then we become a little bit more precise and we move to the right hand thumb.

From the tip of the thumb to its root,

Where it joins the finger,

Notice your right hand thumb.

Any tension is offered down to the earth.

Then move to the second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Pinky finger,

All five fingers.

Tension is leaving the fingers.

Then the entire palm of the right hand,

Back of the right hand,

Right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Armpit,

Right waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Right ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and pinky toe.

All five toes.

All five toes.

Then bring your awareness to the entire right side of the body at once.

Awareness and relaxation in the entire right side of the body.

And from here we move to the left hand thumb.

From the tip of the thumb to its root,

Where it joins the finger.

Any tension leaves your left hand thumb.

Then move to the second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Pinky finger,

All five fingers.

All five fingers.

Left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Armpit,

Left waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Left ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and pinky toe.

All five toes.

All five toes.

Then bring your awareness to the entire left side of the body.

Awareness and relaxation in the entire left side.

Then bring your awareness to the top of your head.

Now notice the whole face.

The whole face.

Releasing any tension in your forehead,

In the temples.

Bringing your awareness to the eyes,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The space between the eyebrows becomes soft.

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right eyelid,

Left eyelid,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Tongue,

The entire mouth full of sensation.

Chin,

Throat,

The entire chest,

The entire abdomen,

Pelvis,

Thighs,

Knees,

Shins,

Ankles,

Feet,

Both legs together,

Both arms together,

The whole spine,

The whole torso,

Head and torso together.

Now the whole body at once.

The whole body at once.

As your body is resting now,

Relaxing more and more.

Surrender even more to gravity and the holding arms of Mother Earth.

Then bring your awareness to your breath.

Feel your whole body breathing in and breathing out.

The inhale is flowing into your body,

Nourishing every cell of your being.

There's a feeling of solidity,

Of touch.

And then the exhale is releasing anything that is not needed anymore at this point.

Feeling grounded,

Feeling safe.

Let yourself relax even more,

Releasing any tension to the earth.

Any micro-tension that is being released offers the body an opportunity to open a little bit more.

And as you open more and more,

You can sense the earth underneath you.

You start to sense it and a connection starts to build in your body.

Allow your body and your being to feel into it.

Don't think about it.

Replace thinking for sensing and build that connection to the earth.

And then we will begin to reach out our awareness deeper into the earth.

So continue with your breathing as it is,

Letting nourishing oxygen come into your body.

And then as you exhale,

Let your awareness extend deeper into the earth.

With every exhale,

The backside of your body opens energetically and your awareness travels a little bit deeper into the earth.

Every exhale you travel deeper.

Perhaps first a few centimeters.

And then you can take bigger distances at once.

Deeper and deeper into the earth.

And if you notice that you are pushing,

Imagine as if an energy circuit,

An energy exchange happens between you and the earth.

For this you can imagine that the inhale invites the energy of the earth to come up into your body.

And with the exhale you can increase your awareness bit by bit further down into the earth.

And as you go deeper,

Notice the feel of the earth,

The quality of its space.

Also notice the feel in your body,

In all the inner space in the heart.

As you connect with the earth you notice that it feels warm,

Caring,

Full of compassion.

You can somatically feel the tenderness and warmth of the earth.

The space itself has a protective nature.

Let these qualities flood your being,

Let every cell be nourished by it.

All the nourishment enters your body from the skin to the muscles and tissues to the bones and organs,

Until it ultimately reaches your heart.

The love,

Warmth and care of the earth is filling your heart and your entire being.

Open yourself more and more to this experience.

Becoming aware of the space of the earth and the space inside your body,

Nourishing qualities flowing in and there is an exchange between you and the earth.

And at some point you realise that there is no difference.

You are not separate to the earth at all.

The space of your inner body is merging with the space that we call the earth.

You are in deep union with her qualities.

You are in deep union with Mother Gaia.

And be with that.

Soak in that experience with all your senses of your entire being.

And stay with that experience of being one with the earth.

Remain relaxed and awake.

You are practising Yoga Nidra.

And now we will move on to the wisdom body,

Vijnanamayakosha.

And for this I want to invite you to bring your awareness to your pineal gland.

Your pineal gland located in the centre of your head between the two hemispheres of the brain.

From your pineal gland imagine a white screen in front of your closed eyes.

And start to imagine the following scene on that white screen.

Imagine yourself walking through a beautiful forest.

The trees around you are slightly moving with the wind.

The air is moist.

The ground underneath your feet soft and inviting.

You walk through the forest and at some point you come across a beautiful big tree.

You are touched by the grace of this tree and decide to take a moment to simply be with it.

You stop in front of it and for a few moments you are simply silent observing the tree.

Open all your senses to take in the beauty nature has created in front of you.

With your eyes you can see the shape,

The intelligence that has created the trunk,

All the branches and the leaves.

Let alone the roots that keep this tree stable and grounded which are spreading wide underneath the soft soil you can feel underneath your feet.

With your nose you can smell the scent of the tree,

The perfume irradiates from the wood of its trunk.

The elegant scent that comes from the leaves and perhaps there are even little blossoms.

With your ears you can hear the soft soothing sound of the wind gliding gently through the leaves.

It's almost like a little rattling sound as the wind touches them.

Then you decide to take a step closer and your hands reach out to the trunk of the tree.

As you gently yield your hands into the tree you can sense its texture,

Its density,

Its shape.

And you can also sense the life force,

The life force running through the tree.

You feel a beautiful connection to this tree.

You can sense its life force,

Its willingness to live and thrive just as there is life force in you.

It almost feels like the tree has become a friend.

You feel very close and intimate being with it here right now.

Take a few moments to simply enjoy this experience.

Then let go of this visualization.

Let it go,

Let it dissolve until only a deep,

Pure,

Restful place of silence remains.

You remain in a state of being,

Going deeper and deeper,

Letting yourself dissolve in this boundless space.

Slowly,

Slowly tune back to my voice.

Tune back into my voice.

If for a moment remain in the state of pure being,

A deep silence,

Feel your breath.

And in the pause after the next inhale,

Repeat again your sankalpa,

Your intention.

Repeat it once more three times.

And then once again let it go as you exhale for it is done.

Now return slowly,

Slowly to your body.

Slowly bring the awareness back to your body.

Without moving,

Feel the vibration of life in your body.

Feel the impulse,

Life that wants to come through you.

It is the same impulse that resides in Mother Earth,

In nature and in all living beings around us.

Feel fully awakened and relaxed.

Feel connected to all life around you,

With a deep understanding that Earth is our all time Mother,

Available to ground,

Support and nourish us anytime with her care,

Warmth and love.

Let us remember this care.

Let us remember this interconnection.

Let us remember that as much as she is giving every day,

That also she needs our care.

Let us offer her our care,

Our healing capacities so she can flourish again,

Be whole and provide us the endless beauty she has to offer.

To an interconnected life between us and our planet,

With this the practice of Yoga Nidra is complete.

Reviews

This was amazing! I felt held in the safe loving arms of the earth with your gentle guidance. Thank you 🙏❤️

Soothing, gentle voice that led me into deep relaxation. Thank you 🙏 ✨💫

Beautiful - 💖

Peaceful and wonderfully relaxing—I loved the feeling of being held by Mother Earth. Thank you so much for this amazing nidra, Katharina 🙏🏻💚

A beautiful meditation to honor our connection to Mother Earth 🌍💕

Beautiful! Thank you for your lovely nidra. So needed right now 🙏.

Your voice has the most wonderful way of relaxing me fully, thank you so much 😁

This is wonderful. Thank you 🙏

Your voice is perfection and the imagery and guidance sublime. We are blessed to have you as a guide and teacher. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Peaceful and grounding

Katharina,thank you so very much for your wonderful meditation. This nidra is exceptional. Your voice and words are so calming and beautiful.

Very nice voyage to the forest of my childhood. I imagined myself on the ground on a thick layer of beech leaves. Thank you so much!

Beautiful 🙏thank you

Beautiful imagery and meaning