Wild Yoga Nidra: Highland River

Join me at the river! A Wild Yoga Nidra recorded in Glen Strae, Scotland, with river sounds. This is a guided deep rest practice to rejuvenate body, mind and soul and align with the elements of nature. Invite the soft flowing river to nourish and refresh you as my voice invites you into stillness. Find a quiet space, lie down if you wish, get completely comfy and then simply listen. There's nothing else to do. I would love your feedback so please leave a review to let me know how you get on, with love Kerry x

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the river.

I am Keri Makai and this is an invitation to practice Yoga Nidra with me.

I am sitting beside a small river in a highland glen in the dappled sunshine under some hazel trees.

The water is moving gently over the rocks,

The gravel and the pebbles.

Nidra is simply resting in pure awareness and it offers rest,

Connection and deep listening to the whole of you.

So all parts of you are welcome here.

First let's settle down,

Relax into your space and make sure you're really comfortable.

I invite you to lie down,

Perhaps on your back,

Supported by cushions,

Blankets and whatever you need.

Notice where you could adjust your position to offer your body even more comfort and support.

And then let's begin.

There's nothing to do now apart from be gently guided by the sound of my voice and receive the elemental nourishment from this highland location.

Become aware first of the place where you are and your body within that place.

Then notice all the parts of you that touch the ground and your supports and feel the sensation of touch in each place.

There is an invitation to the weight of the body to let go,

Surrender just as much as it wants to right now,

Receiving support so that a little more rest comes into the places that touch.

And then maybe take a couple of longer breaths,

A sigh or two.

Each out breath softens the body a little more down into the ground and then cradle the breath with your attention as you observe the next in breath and the next out breath.

No need to change the breath,

Just a gentle awareness that could perhaps bring you a little more into yourself,

A little more into your resting body.

Being with your awareness as we invite the physical body into complete stillness.

Notice the feeling of breathing in the nostrils and any scent in the air.

Then notice the sensations in the mouth,

Around the tongue and any sense of taste moving to notice the sounds that you can hear right now.

Sounds from within your space,

Perhaps within you and the sounds from the river,

The traveling stream,

The voice of the water flowing among the stones,

The beat of the damsel flies darting over the surface,

The rustle of the wind in the grasses on the bank,

The flutter of the leaves of the hazels above.

Be with your attention on your hearing for another moment,

This gentle yet insistent flow around the stones and the pebbles.

This water sparkles with silver and deepens with gold from the peat.

It brings a soothing,

Cleansing,

Nourishing energy full of oxygen and minerals.

We're going to invite those qualities through the body now as I guide you around the different parts.

Simply follow with a gentle attention,

Taking your awareness to the places in the body as I name them.

Let's begin by letting your awareness come to your head.

Invite the qualities of the river to arrive here,

Gently pooling the dappled silver and gold,

The silky and nourishing water in and around the head.

Then bring the soft flow of the stream behind the eyes,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Down to the back of the sinuses,

Right side,

Left side.

Bring your awareness softly down again to the back of the tongue,

Right side,

Left side.

Then the back of the jaw,

Right side,

Left side.

And dropping down again,

Flowing into the neck,

Right side,

Left side.

The silvery gold dappled light of the stream,

Flowing down now,

Down the neck and arriving in the pit of the throat,

The space between the collarbones.

And as you gently place your attention here,

Perhaps it's a place where the water pools and rests,

Gathering in stillness at the soft base of the throat.

The soothing moisture,

The nourishing minerals,

The shimmering warm light.

From here,

Bringing these qualities along the collarbone now to the right shoulder,

Down to the right elbow,

Right wrist.

Bringing this awareness into the right thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger.

All the fingers of the right hand filling up with your awareness.

And then back to the wrist,

Elbow,

Shoulder.

Travelling along the right collarbone and arriving back in your pool,

The space between the collarbones.

From here,

Travelling along the left collarbone,

Soothing and easing to the left shoulder,

Left elbow,

Left wrist.

Filling up the left thumb with your gentle awareness,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger.

All the fingers on the left hand and then flowing back to the left wrist,

Elbow,

Shoulder,

Collarbone.

Arriving back in the space between the collarbones,

Being with the water for a moment.

It's gentle moistening all around the stones and perhaps your bones.

Softly allow your attention to drop down into the heart space and the area around the heart and then the heart itself.

Bringing your attention to the heart gently inside,

Outside.

Nourishment and care arriving in the heart with your awareness.

And then we're going to travel to the right side of the chest,

Back to the heart,

Left side of the chest,

Back to the heart.

Dropping down to the centre of the waist,

Right side of the waist,

Back to the centre,

Left side of the waist,

Back to the centre.

Down again to the lower belly,

Over to the right side of the belly,

Back to the centre,

Left side of the belly,

Back to the centre.

Pausing here to invite the soothing energy of the river to flow into the bowl of the pelvis.

And then from here down the right leg,

Right hip,

Knee,

Ankle.

Travelling to arrive in the right foot,

Heel,

Instep,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

All the toes and the foot filling up with your awareness and then coming back up the right leg all the way to the hip.

Perhaps invite the river to swirl in the belly and then move down to the left hip,

Left knee,

Ankle and arriving in the left foot,

Heel,

Instep,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

All the toes and the foot filling up with your attention.

The whole foot coming back up the left leg to the hip,

Being aware of the whole of the left leg,

The whole of the right leg,

Both legs together.

Then arriving gently at the tailbone,

Bring your attention to the tip of the spine and travel slowly up the length of the spine.

The whole spine in your awareness,

Soothed and nourished and then bring your attention down the body again to the back of the right hip and then the back of the left hip,

The back of the right waist,

The back of the left waist,

Right back ribs,

Left back ribs,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

The whole of the left arm,

The whole of the right arm,

Both arms together,

The arms and the legs,

The whole body,

The whole resting body.

Returning now to the breath,

Letting the breath rest with your awareness,

Allowing it to be however it is right now in its natural rhythm and I invite you to do a simple countdown with the breath from the number five.

So breathing in is five,

Breathing out is five,

Breathing in four,

Breathing out four,

In three,

Out three and every step takes you a little deeper into your awareness.

Perhaps you're on one,

In one,

Out one and when you reach the end of the out-breath arrive more fully with all of you.

Whatever is present now is exactly as it should be,

Held safely within the boundaries of this practice.

Now acknowledging the quality of water,

The moistening it brings to the stones,

The soil,

The plants,

I invite you to come into a sense of the moisture within you,

The quality of water,

Experience that in the body,

Being with the sensation of moisture a little more and a little more,

Experiencing more and more water right now and then letting that go and inviting a sense of dryness,

Bringing in the opposite quality,

Experiencing dry in the body,

Being with that sensation of dryness a little more and a little more,

More and more dry and then letting that go and coming back to the moisture,

Returning to the quality of water within,

Enhancing that for a moment and then returning to dryness bringing in the experience of dryness right now and then letting that go and inviting the moisture to return and then returning to dryness and then to moisture and then returning to dryness and perhaps now invite both the wateriness and the dryness to be present at the same time,

Both qualities held within your conscious awareness,

Experienced fully,

Moist and dry together and then begin to let that go,

Coming back to the breath,

Bringing the breath and the river to your heart right now,

The nourishment,

The soothing and let's ask the heart where,

Where it needs more moisture,

What does the heart have to say as you offer your care and whatever is there or not there,

Allow it to be truly enough and where else in the body needs moisture,

Where else is asking for some attention right now,

Bring your awareness and this nourishment to that place,

Follow your instincts and your awareness is truly enough,

Staying with this place for a little longer and could you perhaps go a little deeper with kindness for this place,

There's nothing to do,

Just be gently aware,

Trusting that this is enough and then letting go and I invite you now to offer some appreciation for the space that you made for yourself,

For rest,

For connection and some gratitude for the natural elements and the river as we flow now towards the end of the practice,

Softly land with the breath again,

Noticing the rhythm,

The space,

Perhaps you can hear your breath,

The in-breath,

The out-breath,

Becoming aware of any other sounds in your space,

Letting them reach you,

Perhaps you can feel the breath in the nose and any scent on the air and then moving your attention to the mouth and the tongue,

Any sensation or taste and then to the touch,

Feeling the ground underneath,

Feeling the weight of the body on your support,

Perhaps the touch of the clothes on your skin,

The air and your eyes may be closed but sense the light through the eyelids,

The light in your space,

The different shades and textures,

Beginning to let go of the river now but keeping its gifts,

Becoming more aware of the space where you are and your place within it as you gently transition back to the everyday energy and as we come back you may find that some deeper breaths are helpful,

Perhaps a sigh or a stretch,

A yawn,

Maybe some small movements in the fingers and toes,

Hands and feet and as we close the Nidra,

The gift of resting in pure awareness while the body is in stillness comes with you,

Your awareness drifting in and out was truly enough and nothing you bring could ever be too much,

Finishing now,

Your Yoga Nidra practice is now complete.

Reviews

You have such a beautiful gift of description! The imagery you painted of the water and its surroundings was downright dreamy. I've been doing yoga nidras for about a decade, and have my go-to favorites, and this will now be added to that collection!

What a treat - thank you!

Absolutely beautiful, will definitely come back to this

I really enjoyed this especially because of the location you shared while the offering of deep rest settled into my being. Thank you so very much!!!

Lovely and effective. It hardly felt like 24 minutes at all.

Wonderful, but I accidentally fell asleep within minutes. I gradually came to, and finished with a sense of deep calm and more peace than I’ve felt in weeks. I will listent to it again when I don’t need sleep so badly. Thank you. 🙏🏽

EDITED TO ADD : I did listen to it again today. It’s snowy and cold here and it was a delightful experience. I fell asleep again, but I think only for a couple of minutes, and “woke up” at the same spot near the end, feeling refreshed. This time, I enjoyed feeling the water pool in little pockets along my body like I was a fountain ⛲️. Thanks again! It was very cleansing.

Beautiful practice! I love the river- what a powerful theme. I will take it with me. Thank you 🙏

Lovely yoga nidra with the sound of a soft brook in background which felt like the water nourishing my being throughout. I would enjoy this for even longer, perhaps with pauses however this was lovely

Winderful Yoga Nidra!! Without sankalpa, but I absolutely love the nature sounds and visualisation. Just what I needed! Thank you so much for this gift!!

Delicious yoga nidra! Your voice and the bubbling brook were just divine. Thankyou 🙏

Lovely water sounds and imagery. Soothing voice. Loved the opposites of moisture and dryness. Good pace throughout, but the count-your-breath stage felt very rushed. Thank you!

Thank you for this beautiful yoga Nidra. I fell asleep halfway through so I will come back to listen again when I am more awake. But it did help me sleep well and relax my spirit deeply! Namaste.🙏🥰🕉️

A joy to join you at the river, even amidst Long COVID! Thank you for this beautiful rest practice.

Really enjoyed this practice and the water energy. Thanks!