Yoga Nidra For The Autumn Equinox

This Yoga Nidra Practice is for the turning of the seasons, working with the cycles of the year in the Celtic calendar we are moving from the more masculine (doing, penetrating), which energetically is more direction, purpose, and achievement-oriented or yang part of the year to the more feminine (being, receiving) which energetically is around love, connection and nurturing yin part of the year.

Transcript

Welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice to celebrate the turning of the seasons with the Autumn Equinox.

A seasonal change moving from light mornings and evenings to darker mornings and evenings.

From summer to autumn.

Letting go,

Leaves turning and falling,

Releasing,

Surrendering,

Balancing,

Yin and yang,

Feminine and masculine.

Being and doing.

An opportunity to connect deeply with your innate being,

Transitioning through this beautiful phase as we move deeper into the nurturing darkness.

Lie your body down on the floor and take a moment to find a comfortable position,

Covering yourself with a blanket,

Placing a pillow beneath your knees and your head.

Perhaps placing a mask over your eyes so that you can go completely inwards.

Nestle on down and let your legs play out to the side as your feet flop.

Place your hands by your side with hands facing upwards so that your back is fully supported and your shoulders are touching the earth.

Stretch your head back and ensure it is comfortable as you create some space for the thinking mind to relax down.

Try to ensure you are as comfortable as possible so you can stay settled for the practice.

This is your practice and there is no right or wrong way to practice yoga nidra.

So just be as comfortable as you can.

So before we start the practice of yoga nidra completely,

I invite you to metaphorically leave everything from your day so far outside the door and trust that it will be minded and ready for you to collect at the end of your practice.

When you have done that,

I invite you to bring your awareness inwards by becoming aware of your breath.

Take a deep breath in through your nose and release that breath with a long sigh through your mouth.

Take two more breaths like that and with each long sigh allow your body sink deeper into the floor beneath you.

Feeling the support of the surface as you deepen your awareness of your connection to mother earth,

Enveloping your body as you sink deeper.

This yoga nidra practice is for the turning of the seasons.

Working with the cycles of the year and the Celtic calendar,

We are moving from the more masculine,

Doing,

Penetrating,

Which energetically is more direction,

Purpose and achievement oriented,

Or the yang part of the year,

To the more feminine being receiving,

Which energetically is around love,

Connection and nurturing,

The yin part of the year.

My intention for this practice is for you to find a balance as you navigate this change.

I invite you to let go and allow all parts of you to be here now.

All parts of you are welcome to this practice of yoga nidra.

Allow whatever emerges to just be as it is,

Release,

Let go as you receive,

A sense of worlds becoming one,

Bodies breathless,

Voiceless.

With the energy of the summer now behind us,

As the evenings get darker and the days get shorter,

We allow ourselves release what is no longer serving us.

Knowing that all life begins in the darkness,

As we surrender to the deep nurturing rest of deep meditation.

Set your intention now to remain present throughout this practice.

And if the mind drifts,

Gently bring it back by following my voice,

Allowing my voice become your voice.

As you say to yourself,

I let go of the past and add energy to new beginnings.

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving,

Now and soon.

The practice of yoga nidra now begins.

I invite you now to set your sankalpa for your practice.

This is your truth vow.

What is important to you?

A simple phrase unique to you,

Which could be as simple as,

I am present,

I am relaxed,

I am connected,

I am here.

What comes to you naturally?

And then repeat your sankalpa three times now.

And when you are ready,

You can let it go.

Plant your seed intentionally in the nourishing soil of the earth beneath you.

Like the entire oak tree residing in the acorn,

Your entire being resides in this seed,

Your sankalpa.

Now allow your body to sink deep into the nurturing darkness of the earth beneath you.

Weighted down by gravity,

Holding you completely.

Free,

Full support underneath you.

As you notice the parts of your body that are not fully connected to the earth.

Perhaps behind your neck,

Into your knees,

Your ankles or any other part of your body.

Let your whole body feel supported and held.

The whole shape of the body.

And bring awareness back to your heart center.

As you allow your body to release completely,

You may feel the lightness of the sky above you.

Facing freely like the clouds in the sky,

Passing by gently and caressing you as they pass.

Now let that go and bring your awareness back to your heart center.

As you feel the expansion of your heart center,

As you breathe deeply into it.

Imagine it blossoming open like the buds on a tree as they open up to become leaves in the spring.

Leaves expanding your whole heart center and moving it to every part of your body.

As if your body has become a magnificent tree.

Now let that go and bring your awareness back to your heart center.

Now feel the release of your heart center as you breathe deeply into it.

As you imagine the leaves falling away and releasing any stress or tension.

So that you are left feeling completely balanced and relaxed.

You will now practice the rotation of consciousness.

Starting on the right side of your body.

Bring awareness to your right thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger.

The palm of your hand,

The back of your hand.

Your wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Underarm.

The right side of your ribcage and lung.

Your waistline,

Your thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle.

The top of the right foot,

The sole of your right foot.

Your big toe,

Your second toe,

Your third toe,

Your fourth toe and your little toe.

Hold the entire right side of your body in your awareness.

Your whole right side.

Feel your right side with your awareness now.

And then slowly move your awareness to the right side,

The left side of your body.

To your left hand,

Your left thumb,

Your left index finger,

Left middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger.

The palm of your hand,

The back of your hand.

Your wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Underarm.

The left side of your ribcage and lung.

Your waistline,

Thigh,

Kneecap,

Shin,

Ankle,

Top of the left foot,

Sole of the left foot.

Your big toe,

Your second toe,

Your third toe,

Fourth toe and your little toe.

Wash the entire left side of your body with your awareness.

Your whole left side.

Feel the entire left side of your body now.

Now explore the back of your body moving from right to left fairly quickly.

Feel the sole of your right foot,

The sole of your left foot,

The soles of both of your feet together.

The back of your right heel,

The back of your left heel,

Both heels together.

Your right calf,

Your left calf,

Both calves together.

The back of your right knee,

The back of your left knee,

The backs of both knees simultaneously.

Your right hamstrings,

Your left hamstrings,

Both sets of hamstrings together.

Right buttocks,

Left buttocks,

Both sides of your buttocks.

Back of your pelvis,

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back.

Your right shoulder blade,

Your left shoulder blade,

Both shoulder blades together.

Your right arm,

Your left arm,

Both arms together.

The back of your neck,

The back of your head,

The crown of your head.

Feel your entire back body.

Now feel the crown of your head again.

Your forehead,

Your right eyebrow,

Your left eyebrow,

Both brows together.

Brow centre,

Right eyelid,

Left eyelid,

Both eyelids together.

Right eyeball,

Left eyeball,

Both eyes together.

Feel your right nostril,

Your left nostril,

Both nostrils together.

The bridge of your nose,

The tip of your nose,

Your whole entire nose.

Feel your upper lip,

Your lower lip,

Both lips together.

Feel your chin,

Feel the right side of your jaw,

The left side of your jaw.

And feel both sides of your jaw together.

Then feel your whole face.

Feel the right side of your head,

The left side of your head.

Now feel both sides of your head together.

Feel the right side of your throat,

The left side of your throat.

And feel your whole neck and throat together.

Feel your right collarbone,

Your left collarbone and both collarbones together.

The right side of your chest,

The left side of your chest.

Both sides of your chest together.

Your whole chest all together.

Feel the area of your abdomen from your ribs to your belly button.

Your low belly,

Pelvis,

Root of your pelvic floor.

Both thighs,

Both kneecaps,

Both shins,

Both ankles.

The tops of both of your feet.

Feel your right leg from your toes to your hip.

Feel your left leg from your toes to your hip.

Feel the entirety of both of your legs together.

Feel your right arm from your fingertips to your shoulder.

Your left arm from your fingertips to your shoulder.

Now feel both arms together.

Keep your arms and your legs in your awareness.

And add your entire torso and your head to your feeling experience now.

Feel and sense your entire body.

Your whole body.

Feel your whole body together simultaneously right now.

Whole body awareness.

Now rest your awareness in your belly.

Notice the gentle and subtle movements of your belly as you breathe in and as you breathe out.

Breathing in,

I am aware of my in-breath.

Breathing out,

I am aware of my out-breath.

Bringing a balance to your breath,

Your in-breath and your out-breath simultaneously.

Draw your awareness especially into the low abdomen.

Down to your pelvic bowl,

Connecting you to your lower energy center.

Your root center.

Grounding you and balancing this center of connection to the nurturing embrace of Mother Earth.

Continue to breathe naturally into this area of your body as you visualize the air entering and leaving this center.

Find a rhythm for your breath.

The flow to be natural.

Breathing in and breathing out.

You could visualize the color green or brown or whatever you associate with the earth entering your pelvic area.

As you breathe in and rooting you deeper into presence and awareness.

With each inhale feel the vitality and energy coming into your body as it expands and lifts.

Just allow the exhale to take care of itself.

Begin to cultivate the energy and vitality.

Letting it ripple throughout the whole body,

Feeling vitalized,

Energized and full of light.

Reminding you of a time where you had so much energy and vitality.

Bringing that lightness of being into your whole body.

Release that feeling and come to the exhale.

Bringing awareness to your breath.

As the belly draws inward,

Allowing the focus to come in.

When tired and resting.

Focus the awareness on the exhale.

And the sense of rest and letting go.

As you receive the warm embrace of Mother Earth beneath you.

The deep sense of complete breath relaxation as you bring your energy inwards.

So that you can completely release.

Now bring a balance to the breath.

Breathing in energy,

Breathing out tiredness.

Breathing in vitality,

Breathing out rest and inwards focus.

Holding these two sensations together.

Acknowledging the pause between the inhale and the exhale.

Then release the focus of the breath.

And bring your awareness back to your heart center.

Just imagine there is a treasure chest in your heart center.

The treasure chest is full of everything you need to bring with you on a journey into the unknown.

You open the treasure chest and release all the gifts it has for you to take on your journey.

You will now go on a journey into the imagination and visualization.

As I mentioned places and things which only you will see as your inner vision.

You are standing in a field with all your gifts.

You see a girl in front of you.

She is dancing and playing with her dog.

She runs past you.

You follow her as she enters a forest.

The most magical forest you have ever seen with magnificent trees which are sparkling and swaying and dancing.

She stands beside a tree and as she does so the tree becomes her.

The roots dancing,

The leaves swaying.

You climb the tree and when you get to the top you see that the leaves have changed color from green to brown.

They are gently falling to the ground beneath you.

And as you are at the top of this tree and so close to the sky you allow yourself to let go.

And you find yourself lying above the trees as the leaves dance beneath you as they drop to the ground.

You feel the freedom of the air and the wind as you glide above the clouds.

And once more you meet the girl as she glides with you and the two of you become one in your flight.

The sky fades from iridescent light to gentle dark and you find yourself flying with the stars shining so brightly,

Lighting up your whole being.

You are sparkling like the star that you are.

You have become the starlight cocooning you in its effervescent light.

Your whole body lit up as you slowly start your journey back down to earth.

The light changes to dark,

To light again as you emerge from the clouds and feel your body getting heavier.

You fall very gently from the sky and land in the field once more.

You are alone here now with all your gifts from your treasure chest.

You choose one gift and you plant it in the earth beneath you.

A seed of intention that you will let grow at its own pace,

Knowing it will blossom at exactly the right time.

You lie down on the earth where you planted your seed as you allow yourself to come back into your body,

Come back into your heart centre where you place your remaining gifts back into your treasure chest.

Where as you close the lid and lock it,

You know it is there for you to open anytime you need to.

As you settle your heart into the presence of Mother Earth,

Bring your body back into its natural state of balance.

Your limited awareness becoming limitless as you rest now fully in this state of bliss.

Now I will leave you and be quiet for a while.

Now I will leave you and be quiet for a while.

Now I will leave you and be quiet for a while.

Now I will leave you and be quiet for a while.

As you slowly awaken from your blissful state,

Your Sancalpa emerges again for you to offer to Mother Earth,

As gratitude for her care and compassion and love,

As you repeat it three times now.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Start to spread your breath through your body,

Feeling the air enter your nostrils as you breath in and as you breath out.

Then gently,

Very gently and tenderly bring some movement to your body.

Move your fingers,

Wriggle your toes,

Stretch your body if that feels good.

And then slowly move to your favourite side of your body and curl into the fetal position and stay there for a moment.

And set an intention for yourself to practice self-care and compassion to ensure you fill your cup up every day.

You are a divine being of the universe and you deserve sacred time for yourself.

You are worthy,

You are loved and you are valued.

Thank you for taking the time to practice with me today.

Haryam Tat Sat.

Namaste.