Yoga Nidra for Introspection

A longer guided practice to really allow yourself time to delve deeper - inspired by a chapter from 'The Women Who Run With The Wolves'. “We know more than anybody when our minds and bodies are overdue for home. We crave it, we yearn for it in our soul. Our very essence speaks to us in some unfounded way ... Now is the moment to listen to that voice. To travel through energetic time, and place yourself in that space and feeling of being ‘at home, within yourself’. - C.Pinkola Estes 1989

Transcript

Welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice for a turning home within yourself.

This is a wonderful practice if you're in need of a moment to reconnect with yourself after a particularly difficult time and just need space to reorientate yourself.

The theme of this Nidra is inspired by a chapter in a book called The Women Who Run With the Wolves,

Which I have quoted a couple of excerpts from.

And so let us begin,

Starting by lying down comfortably.

You might be comfortable on your back or maybe you prefer another position.

Just choose what works for you right now.

You may close your eyes if you want and if you have an eye mask or an eye pillow that you like to use,

You can place this on now too.

Although it's called yogic sleep,

We're not planning to actually go to sleep.

We're hoping to surf the interface between waking and sleeping.

But if you do fall asleep,

Then that's fine too.

It's part of the process and maybe it's what you really need more than anything else right now.

If anything in the Nidra makes you feel uncomfortable and you want to stop,

All you have to do is move your fingers and toes,

Open your eyes and you will come out of the Nidra state.

Now feeling your body supported by the surface underneath you,

Starting to go inside,

Allowing the body to soften and start to relax.

Relaxing the tongue,

The jaw,

Unknotting the space between the eyebrows,

Relaxing the arms,

Softening the hips,

Relaxing the legs.

Sometimes we don't realise we're holding tension in these places until we start to notice.

Relaxing the whole body.

Listen to the sounds around you.

There's no need to judge or analyse what they are.

Just hold your awareness with the sounds around you.

Now feel the air on your skin,

The texture and temperature.

Make a few long exhalations.

Now we will start with a phase of rotating the awareness around the body.

When I name a part of the body,

Just hold your awareness there,

Starting with the top of the head,

The left ear,

The right ear,

Both ears together,

The left eye,

The right eye,

Both eyes together,

The throat,

The lips,

The nose,

The forehead,

The back of the head,

Your left shoulder,

Left elbow,

Left wrist,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Little finger,

Fourth finger,

Middle finger,

Index finger,

The thumb,

The whole left hand,

The whole left arm,

Then your right shoulder,

Right elbow,

Right wrist,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Little finger,

Fourth finger,

Middle finger,

Index finger,

The thumb,

The whole right hand,

The whole right arm,

The throat,

Your heart space,

The upper abdomen,

The navel,

The lower abdomen,

The left hip,

Left knee,

Left ankle,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

The toes,

The whole left foot,

The whole left leg,

The right hip,

Right knee,

Right ankle,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

The toes,

The whole right foot,

The whole right leg,

The base of the spine,

Moving up to the sacrum,

Lower spine,

Mid spine,

Upper spine,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

The top of the head,

The whole head,

The whole left arm,

The whole right arm,

The whole left leg,

The whole right leg,

Feeling the whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body,

Resting.

As you breathe in,

Imagine that the inhale travels from your feet all the way up your front body.

The breath pauses for just a moment above your head before falling back along your spine,

Back to your feet on the exhale.

It lingers at the soles of your feet before the next inhale begins.

As we inhale,

Spring rises up the front body,

Pause while summer ripens overhead.

On the exhale,

Fall descends down along the spine and winter drifts below the soles of your feet.

Before your next inhale,

Bring spring once again.

Inhale,

Spring rises up the front body,

Pause while summer ripens overhead.

Exhale,

Fall descends down along the spine and winter drifts below the soles of your feet.

Before your next inhale,

Bring spring once again and now come back to your own natural rhythm of breath,

However that feels to you today.

Thoughts will come and go.

It happens to everyone and is completely normal.

It's not a failure.

In fact,

There is no such thing as failure in yoga nidra.

When you get distracted by thoughts,

Then just gently guide your awareness back to the practice.

Remember to always be really very gentle with yourself.

Now we come to a phase of feeling opposites in the body.

First,

See if you can connect to a feeling of being grounded in your left arm,

The arm resting on the floor,

Soft and relaxed.

Now see if you can find a feeling of lightness in the left arm,

As if it could float up completely effortlessly.

Then come back to the feeling of the physical arm grounded and connected to the floor.

Then moving to the right arm,

Feeling the physical arm resting on the floor.

Now connecting to a feeling of lightness in the right arm,

Light and free.

Then the right arm grounded,

Supported by the floor.

Then feeling the left leg resting on the floor.

Now the left leg light,

As if it's floating.

Now the left leg resting on the ground.

Then feeling the right leg resting on the ground.

And feeling the right leg and a feeling of lightness.

Now the right leg resting and grounded.

Now connecting to a feeling of the whole body,

The whole body letting go and softening.

Then connecting to a feeling of lightness in the whole body.

Your whole body is light and free.

Now the whole body grounded and centred.

Then letting go of the awareness of opposites.

I invite you to recall or imagine a place,

A person,

An animal or a thing that makes you feel safe.

Somewhere or something that makes you feel peaceful and calm.

If nothing or anywhere particular comes to mind,

Then that's okay too.

You can simply use the space you're in right now,

Whether that's at home,

In your bedroom,

Your living room,

Maybe you're even outside at a friend's home.

Wherever you are,

This can absolutely be your safe space.

First,

Connect to the sense of touch.

Maybe you can feel the air on your skin.

What are the textures of the surfaces around you?

How does it feel?

And what does it look like?

What are the colours around you?

And what is the light like?

What do you see?

Now connect to the sounds.

What sort of sounds do you hear?

Just let them come to you.

And then the smells.

How does this space you are in smell?

Are you burning a candle?

Is there a fireplace?

Incense?

Fresh grass?

Flowers?

Fresh coffee or something delicious brewing in the kitchen?

Now flow with your experience.

Let any impressions come and go.

I now invite you to take a moment to recall your favourite thing that makes you feel calm and at peace.

Perhaps this is sitting by the window in a cafe with a good book or your journal.

Sitting beneath a tree under dappled sunlight,

By a river or a lake or on the beach,

Greeting the sunrise or being with a loved one.

Maybe it's gardening,

Meditating.

Take a moment to let that image and the feeling wash over you.

You are calm and content in this peaceful moment in your happy place.

Let us call this moment home.

Home does not have to be a place as it can also be a feeling or even a person.

From the women who run with the wolves,

Long ago the word alone was treated as two words.

All one.

To be all one meant to be wholly one.

To be in oneness either essentially or temporarily.

Today I am allowing you to delight in a moment of intentional solitude where you can invite a conversation between yourself and the wild soul that comes near to your shore.

We know more than anybody when our minds and bodies are overdue for home.

We crave it.

We yearn for it in our soul.

Our very essence speaks to us in some unfounded way.

Now is the moment to listen to that voice,

To travel through energetic time and place yourself in that space of feeling of being at home within yourself.

Our return to the feeling of home or the wild state periodically is what replenishes our psychic reserves for projects,

Family,

Relationships and creative life in the topside world.

I'm going to give you some time to be in your space,

Your home,

To dream in it,

Be in it,

Feel it,

Live it for two minutes and I will tell you when it's time to leave.

And now beginning your slow and gentle return,

Slowly start to make your way back,

Feeling your body,

Listening to and letting in the sounds around you.

Gently begin to move your hands and feet and take some deep inhalations.

Maybe you stretch your arms up over your head and draw your knees up to your chest,

Rocking from side to side and taking whatever gentle movement you feel that you need right now.

And then in your own time,

Roll over to your side and when you're ready,

Come back up to sitting.

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Just beautiful 🙏🌈🌀