So just getting yourself really comfy,
Taking some time to figure that out in a really body-centred way.
Oh,
What feels good?
Do I need a cushion behind my knees or actually do I need an extra blanket?
Making sure that you will not be disturbed.
Turning the lights low if that feels good.
Just really preparing to nourish yourself.
And be reassured and assured that for the next while there'll be nothing that you need to do.
This is time to really let all of the responsibility go.
So as we move from late summer to autumn,
Let that dampness underfoot and you may have been for a walk out.
And here in Glasgow,
In Scotland,
The trees are beautiful colours.
Yellows and oranges and rusts and reds.
The pavements are strewn with crisp,
Dry leaves that get rained on and then just start to soften and mulch down.
And the scent of autumn,
The scent of the season is pretty special.
It's like,
Ah,
And people in our street have started lighting their fires and their log burners so you can smell seasoned wood as you perhaps are coming back at dusk.
In the last month,
I'd say we've lost quite a lot of daylight.
And so life is becoming more inward in nature.
Sap in the trees has started to go back into the trunk and into the roots.
The leaves are being let go of.
I was with a friend today and we were talking about this season and how people really love it.
And quite rightly so,
All of the colours and the textures and the change,
It's like,
Ah,
Time to get out the jumper or pop on that scarf,
Bring gloves with you wherever you go.
And there's something really comforting about that.
And there's a real comfort in the cycle,
The change,
Something that we've experienced each year.
And here it is again.
An aspect of earth energy of late summer is that cycle,
The cyclical nature of nature.
The earth is around the sun,
Spinning on her axis.
And because of how she moves through space around the sun,
We experience seasonal change.
And we are beings that have evolved on this planet in connection and in sync with her.
We are naturally attuned to the earth and yet more recently,
It's almost as if we've been disconnected.
Our life keeps disconnecting us.
And so this nidra is an invitation of connection,
Not only to our wonderful planet,
But also to ourselves,
Our own earth within us.
So in these moments arriving,
Welcoming yourself in as if you're coming back at dusk,
And you can see in the darkness,
The glimmering lights of home.
The warmth as you come home.
Taking off your coat,
Your shoes,
Your boots,
Popping on your slippers,
Whatever it is that you do when you come home at this time of year.
So let's imagine that together.
And as we become aware of arriving home,
What is it like to feel at home just now?
Can you invite that into your experience?
Does that make any difference to how you experience life?
Could be on your mat,
Could be on a bed somewhere comfy,
The sofa,
In a seat on a train,
Wherever you are.
As you welcome yourself home,
How does that feel?
Can we,
In coming home,
Invite that lovely sense of letting go,
The body relaxing,
Laying all of one's to-do list,
All of one's cares and responsibilities,
Just very lightly and gently to the side,
Just for now.
Becoming aware of the ebb and flow of the breath,
All the way in,
All the way out.
As if the body is some beautiful landscape at dusk.
And the breath is like a gentle breeze around the valleys and the trees,
Around the rivers and the lochs,
Over the moorland and the hills.
And I'd like to invite you to simply breathe up and down your body,
The landscape of your body.
And on the exhale from the nostrils or the crown of the head,
All the way down the body and out through the toes.
Just focus on that for the next wee while.
With every breath out,
Soothing yourself.
And just noticing if there's anywhere in the body that's feeling as if it's still holding on.
The jaw,
The brow,
The shoulders,
Hips.
Perhaps with every exhale,
You can invite and encourage and welcome that part of your body home a little bit more.
As if with every breath,
We're letting go.
Just as the leaves on the trees are turning,
Just as the leaves on the trees are falling.
Every breath out.
You can let go a little bit more.
Bringing the awareness to the inhale.
And imagining the inhale as something expansive,
As if we're drawing in nourishment,
Replenishment,
Filling ourselves up.
Feeling truly precious.
That wonderful sense of energy flowing on the breath and on the breath in,
We draw in energy.
As if we're like a cell.
That wonderful pulsation of a cell expanding on the inhale,
Drawing in nourishment,
And on the exhale,
Gently contracting.
You may want to imagine that sense of drawing in as warmth and where do you feel and experience that warmth in your body as you breathe in.
The ebb and flow of the breath,
That wonderful dance.
In and out.
So you may like to imagine yourself as well as the experience of being there,
But imagining two versions of yourself.
And in one,
The breath is simply flowing all the way down the body on the exhale and all the way back up on the inhale.
And the other version on the inhale is expansive.
And on the exhale,
Coming back in to where you really feel warm.
It could be your center,
It could be your heart,
It could be both.
Two movements up and down,
Flowing along the spine,
Along the body,
And then from the center of the body,
Expanding outwards and then back in.
And is it possible to experience both at the same time?
And as you're playing with that,
You may want to imagine yourself somewhere really cosy and safe,
Knowing that this wonderful,
Simple practice is one of nourishment and care.
And then just choosing what you'd like to do now.
Perhaps one of the ways of experiencing the breath feels more comfortable,
More natural,
Or perhaps neither of them do.
And so in these moments,
Inviting in a connection with the season.
You may have a memory of a recent experience,
The smell of the earth,
The ridged back of a leaf.
Those were moments of looking up and the blue sky and all of the colours of the turning leaves against it.
And the pebbles of the rain on the pond,
On the windowpane.
So inviting in and making welcome your connection with this time of year.
Letting in a sense of feeling at home.
And with that flavouring this very moment,
Starting to deepen the breath.
Becoming aware to the sound of your breath.
Bringing that outwards to sounds in the room,
Outside of the room,
In the building,
Outside of the building.
And then bringing them back in,
Inside the building,
Inside the room.
And just starting to bring movement into the body,
Wiggling fingers and toes or running the tongue around the teeth.
Moving through the face,
Screwing up the face,
Stretching the face out,
Stretching through the whole body if you're lying on your back,
Hugging the knees.
If you're lying on your front,
Just making your way back into Charles pose,
Hips to the heels,
Chest in between the legs,
Forehead resting on something comfortable could be held in your hands,
Something like that.
And so slowly and steadily bringing yourself into a more alert state.
On this sleepy and simple nidra inspired by the season here in Glasgow in Scotland.
So taking the time to become more awake and more alert.
This practice of yoga nidra is now over.
This practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Thank you very much for listening.
