And as you're getting yourself lovely and ready for this practice of deep relaxation,
You can just invite the awareness into the body through the breath.
And in wintertime,
There's a beautiful sense of a pause,
As if in nature we can stop the clocks and truly reflect that which is important and of value.
And I invite you in this very practice right now to gently lay aside the to-do list,
To know with reassurance that for the next wee while there is simply nothing that you need to do.
And may I also add to that that as you are right now,
As you are in this very moment,
Is exactly how you need to be.
You don't need to be better in any way.
And so welcome,
Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra for winter,
For inviting in a sense of pause and stillness.
Welcome into this very moment,
Into this very experience.
So inviting the awareness with the breath to flow up and down the spine.
And if you wish,
You can involve the whole body so that as you breathe in,
You might imagine that the breath is flowing from the toes,
From the soles of the feet,
Up the legs,
Up the spine,
All the way up to the crown of the head.
And then on the exhale,
Flowing all the way back down.
Just focusing on that exhale and inviting the whole body to soften and release.
Until yesterday here in Glasgow,
There was a little bit of snow.
And the wonderful thing about snow is its fluffy softness,
How everything is covered in white.
And the bare dark twigs lie upon it like a mark.
And I'd like to invite you to imagine this twig and you may be the twig or you may simply be seeing it in your mind,
That mark,
That statement almost of existence.
I am here or here I am.
And in the chilly days of winter,
The body can stiffen up like a twig.
And yet with the warmth of the mind's eye,
With the warm attention and the breath,
We can invite a softening in.
So let's take our awareness around ourselves in a way to bring warmth and softness.
Taking the awareness to the crown of the head,
Then to the eyebrow centre,
Then to the soft space in between the collarbones and over to the right shoulder,
To the right elbow,
And to the wrist,
And to the tip of the right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger.
Bringing the awareness back to the wrist,
To the elbow and shoulder.
Back to the soft space in between the collarbones.
And then over to the left shoulder,
Down to the elbow and the wrist,
And the tip of the left thumb,
The index finger,
The middle finger,
Ring finger,
And little finger.
Bringing the awareness back to the wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Back to the soft space in between the collarbones.
And then coming down the body into the very centre of the chest to the heart,
Over to the tip of the right breast,
Back to the heart,
And then to the tip of the left breast,
And back to the heart.
Taking the awareness down the body to the navel,
Down the body again to the pelvis,
To the very centre of the pelvis.
Then over to the right hip,
Down the leg to the knee,
The ankle,
The tip of the right big toe,
The second toe,
The third toe,
The fourth toe,
And the fifth toe.
Bringing the awareness back to the ankle,
The knee,
And the hip,
To the centre of the pelvis,
And then over to the left hip.
Following down the leg to the knee,
And to the ankle,
And the tip of the left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toes.
Bringing the awareness back to the ankle,
Knee,
And hip,
To the centre of the pelvis,
And coming up the body now to the navel,
To the heart,
To the soft space in between the collarbones,
To the eyebrow centre,
And to the crown of the head,
The whole body.
Become aware of the whole body.
And then from there,
Bringing the awareness down to the nostrils,
And imagining and sensing and experiencing that little triangle of breath right at the top of the nostrils.
And breathing from there all the way down the body to the toes,
And all the way back up.
All the way down the body,
The length of the body,
And up through the toes on the exhale,
And all the way back up on the inhale.
And then bringing the awareness back up to that little triangle of breath at the top of the nostrils,
And from there breathing all the way down to the knees and back.
All the way down to the knees on the exhale,
And all the way back up on the inhale.
When the awareness is back up at that little triangle of breath,
Just waiting.
And then following the awareness and the breath all the way down the body,
Down the spine,
Right down to the centre of the pelvic floor,
And all the way back up.
And just noticing as you breathe,
If you're holding on around the back,
The spine,
Can you invite those muscles,
Ribboning either side of your spine,
Just to let go a little bit more.
The next time the awareness is back up at that triangle of breath,
Pausing,
And then breathing all the way down to the heart,
And all the way back up.
Just very simply following the awareness and the breath down to the heart,
And from the heart back up to the top of the nostrils.
You may notice that the breath is becoming a little lighter,
More subtle.
And then bringing the awareness back up to the little triangle of breath at the top of the nostrils,
And just breathing from there,
Just down to the base of the nostrils and back.
And then becoming aware of the breath at the top of the nostrils,
Becoming aware of the centre of the eyebrows,
The soft space in between the collarbones,
And then coming home to the heart.
And in this space,
Simply listening.
And given how winter is unfolding for you,
This space is a very safe place,
A place of refuge and love.
And they say that the space of the heart is so vast,
It can contain the entire universe and more.
The space of the heart is so vast,
Our entire universe fits easily within.
This space of the heart is a refuge,
A safe nook that we can cocoon ourselves inside.
Experiencing both as best you can,
The cosy nook and the spaciousness.
And then just letting go of that and starting to lengthen and deepen the breath.
Just easing our way out of this practice of yoga nidra,
Inspired by winter and the spaciousness that it brings.
And so just preparing yourself for the fact that this practice is very nearly over,
Very nearly at an end.
It's not quite yet,
But maybe you might wish to start to move the body in delicious ways,
To navigate your way out of this place of safety and deep relaxation and know that you can come back anytime,
That this space is always here.
But for now,
Just bringing small movements into fingers and toes,
Waking the body up,
Just inviting yourself back into this moment,
Into this lovely moment of awake alertness.
This practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Thank you very much for listening.
