Welcome to this Yoga Nidra.
Here we are at the full moon in winter,
Just acknowledging this moment in the season,
In the wheel of the year.
This is where we are.
And then acknowledging where you are now,
So what you're lying on,
Acknowledging that connection,
Your clothes covering you,
Your blanket.
Become aware of the weight of the body resting down,
Supported from below,
Invited to settle.
Become aware of your position,
Where you are in the room.
Become aware of the shape of the room,
The light and the dark in the room.
Become aware of the location,
Where we are right now,
The landscape.
Imagining the surface of the planet lying here on the earth,
Placing yourself here.
Here you are.
And then above us,
The moon herself,
Resting under the moon.
So,
Our practice today is inviting this moonlight,
Moon energy,
To bathe the body and to bring to light anything that needs to be released.
But there's nothing to really do,
Just listening to my voice is plenty.
If you drift away,
That's totally fine.
Your attention will probably come and go.
Welcoming in how you are today,
All the parts of you,
Things happening in life,
Letting it all be here,
Within the practice,
Welcomed in.
Gently moving your attention to the breath,
Noticing the natural rhythm of the breath as it is now.
The body moving with the in-breath,
Taking in,
The slow emptying with the out-breath,
Letting go.
This endless cycle,
Expansion and contraction,
Never ending.
Notice where the movement of the breath is.
It could be the belly moving,
Maybe the back of the waist,
Maybe the sides of the ribs,
Collarbones.
Notice all the places that move with the breath.
And if it feels good for you,
Invite the out-breath to be a little more spacious,
Giving it more time to slowly empty,
Making more space.
You could imagine winter is the out-breath of the year.
The year is exhaling.
And whilst we rest here,
We're resting under the full moon.
Perhaps imagine the silvery light landing on your body.
The light of the moon resting gently across the whole of the front,
Over the face,
The chest,
The pelvis,
The legs,
The arms.
The light of the moon shining down on you now.
A nourishing,
Benevolent light.
Silvery,
Cool and calm.
Moonbathing.
Perhaps imagining moonlight resting around the sides of the body.
Nourishing light wrapping you up.
Perhaps imagine it also in the back of the body.
Moonlight all around you.
Shining down gently,
Shining in the dark.
I'm going to guide you to bring this gentle light around the different parts of the body.
And remember that you can't do this wrong.
You can take whatever you need from my guidance and let go of anything that's not useful.
So,
Begin by imagining moonlight arriving in the right thumb.
Moonlight in the thumb.
And then the first finger on the right hand.
The second finger resting in the moonlight.
The third finger and the fourth finger.
Moonlight in the spaces between the fingers.
The silvery light of the moon coming through the hand.
Between the bones of the hand into the wrist.
Travelling with this moonlight up the arm to the elbow.
The right elbow.
The right shoulder.
The right side of the chest.
Moonlight in the right waist.
Silvery light of the moon in the right hip.
Down the thigh.
Right knee.
Ankle.
Moonlight arriving in the right foot.
Moonbeams in the right big toe.
The second toe bathed in moonlight.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
Spaces between the toes.
And then from here,
Moving across to the left thumb.
The moonlight reaching the left thumb bathed in this lovely cool white.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
The spaces between the fingers on the left hand.
Moonlight threading around the fingers.
And then into the bones of the hands.
Moonlight spreading up into the wrist.
Gentle light coming up the arm to the left elbow.
Shoulder.
Left side of the chest.
Left side of the waist.
Left hip.
The gentleness of the moon's rays down the leg.
Left knee.
Ankle.
Arriving in the foot.
Moonlight in the right big toe.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
The spaces between the toes.
Moonlight threading around the toes.
Moving your awareness to the tailbone.
The very tip of the spine.
Surrounded by this gentle silvery light.
Cool and kind.
Moonlight traveling up the length of the spine.
The whole spine now resting in moonlight.
Moonlight in the buttocks.
The shoulder blades.
The back of the head.
Top of the head.
Center of the forehead.
Sides of the head.
Moonlight across the eyebrows.
Landing on the eyes.
Resting the eyes back.
Moonlight on the cheeks.
The nose.
The lips.
The chin and the jaw.
Moonlight resting the base of the throat.
The front of the chest.
The front of the belly.
The whole front body bathed in the silvery beams of the moon.
Moon bathing here.
Resting here.
Resting on the earth.
Resting with the breath.
Resting with the breath.
And as you rest here,
Bathed in this light,
Is there anything that's illuminated?
Is anything ready to surface?
Allowing this question to be in your awareness is enough.
You might find that nothing arises.
And you're simply making space for the question.
Is there anything that's ready to release?
Gently bathed in the moonlight,
Safe and sound,
Safe on the earth,
I'm inviting you now to move your awareness to the belly,
The lower belly,
Dropping in and back.
Imagine there's a small moon in the belly,
Round,
White,
Cool,
Kind.
The moon is moving in and out.
The moon in the belly now.
Resting with this moon.
The moon in the belly,
Resting on the earth.
And then imagining the actual moon in the sky,
The big moon above.
Take your awareness up to greet this moon shining down.
Being with the moon in the sky as if all your cells lift up to greet her,
Welcoming her light.
And then dropping back to the moon in the belly,
Softening back down and in.
Being with the small moon,
The moon in you.
And then coming back up to the moon above,
Your energy lifting to greet this moon in the sky,
Receiving her light.
And then letting that go and coming back to the moon in the belly,
Back down and in.
The moon in the belly shining up,
The moon in the sky shining down.
In-breath,
Traveling up to the moon in the sky.
Out-breath,
Softening back to the moon in the belly.
In-breath,
Moon above.
Out-breath,
Softening back down.
Out-breath,
Moon inside.
And how would it be now to rest with your awareness on both moons?
The moon above,
The moon inside,
Holding them both gently together.
And then letting that go.
Making space for what's here now.
Letting go of the moons.
Being with this breathing body resting on the earth.
Resting as we travel through the cycle of the season.
Journeying through the dark.
Allowing the dark to take you inwards,
Into your inner wisdom.
Beginning to acknowledge again the place where you're lying.
The connection with the ground,
The feeling of your clothes,
Your blankets.
The actual touch on the skin of the air,
The fabric.
Acknowledging the position of your body,
Your position in the room,
The shape of the room.
The light and the dark in the room.
Acknowledging our location.
The landscape we're currently in.
Lying on the surface of the planet.
Resting down.
And from here we're beginning to come back.
You might be ready for small movements or taking a deeper breath that stretches the ribcage a little.
Perhaps thanking yourself for making this time for rejuvenation,
For awareness,
For the natural cycles of life.
Gently coming back.
Your yoga nidra is complete.
