So just inviting a sense of settling and arriving into the body.
The whole body to find comfiness and coziness from the back of the head through the upper back and shoulders down the spine into the lower back and hips,
Pelvis into the legs,
The arms and feet.
Does the body settles into a restful state?
Just making sure the whole of you feels welcome.
Notice if there's any part that's still feeling a little tense,
A little tight and you can just take the awareness there.
Just adding an extra warmth to the invitation to this wonderful practice of Nidra for wintertime.
And in winter,
We invite in stillness.
The element of wintertime is water.
We think of the soft fluency of water and yet its capacity for depth and stillness.
So as we invite the body to soften and to settle into stillness.
If there's any part that could do with a little adjustment,
A little extra comfort,
Then inviting that in now.
The name in the practice is stillness.
And if the need to move arises,
Then watch that need.
It may well ease away,
But if it persists,
It's probably because you do need to move in some way.
So moving with an intention to return to that stillness.
When we allow all of the busyness of the day to quieten down and become calm,
We invite in space.
We invite in a sense of space just for us to be exactly how we need to be.
We invite in stillness,
We invite in reassurance and safety.
And so welcoming yourself into this wonderful space of calm,
Safety and rest.
Bringing the awareness to the soft flow of the breath.
The easy flow of the breath all the way in and out.
With an ease and fluency,
Just like water.
Yet much lighter,
Much softer.
Flow all the way in and all the way out.
The ebb and flow of the breath.
And in these rainy times here in Glasgow,
Of coldness and wet,
Where the rain can suddenly come on and the little rivers flowing down the gutters.
We know very well the fluency of water.
And there's a sense of this fluid flow of the easy breath.
The sense that it can cleanse away whatever it is that's no longer needed.
And welcome in that which deeply nourishes.
From the fluid flow of the breath in and out.
Taking the awareness right down into the toes.
And imagining in the left foot little holes in the toes.
And as we breathe in,
We can draw in that nourishment of the water element all the way up.
That left foot,
Lower leg,
The knee,
The thigh,
Into the hip.
And as we breathe out,
We can breathe out all the way down the right leg and out through the toes.
And the next inhale,
Just drawing nourishment and a warmth all the way up through the toes on the right side.
Through the knee,
The thigh,
Up into the hip.
And on the exhale,
Just cross the pelvis and out and down the left leg and toes.
So drawing cleansing energy in and just breathing away any sense of tarnish,
Of blockage,
Of anything that is no longer needed.
And you might like to imagine that the energy flowing in is like a glowing light.
Or soft and warm.
Inviting in any way that helps you experience,
Visualize,
Imagine.
That fluid flow in and out.
You might even like to imagine it is music flowing in and flowing out.
And then bringing the awareness to the tailbone.
Imagining a little hole in the base of the tailbone.
And that nourishment flowing up into the spine as the breath flows in.
That ebb and flow of warmth and healing with every breath in and every breath out.
So the breath flowing all the way up the spine.
And all the way into the ribs.
Wrapping around to the front of the chest and out through the breastbone.
And then breathing in through the breastbone and the collarbones.
Wrapping all the way round to the back and all the way down and out of the spine,
Out through the tailbone.
All the way in,
Welcoming in.
Healing clarity.
And breathing away anything that obscures or weakens.
That soft ebb and flow of the breath.
Ebb and flow of nourishment and letting go.
Welcoming in and allowing to ease away.
All the while the soft ebb and flow of the breath.
Very soft and distant ocean.
Like waves breaking on a pebbly beach.
And then bringing the awareness to the fingers and thumb on the left hand.
Imagining little holes in the tips of the fingers and the thumb.
And as the breath flows in,
That sense of healing and cleansing flowing all the way up the left arm through the elbow,
The shoulder,
Flowing across the collarbones.
And all the way down and out the right arm,
Flowing out of little holes in the tip of the right thumb and all of the fingers on the right hand.
And then on the inhale,
Flowing from the right hand all the way up through the forearm,
The upper arm,
The shoulder,
Wrapping round across the collarbones.
And all the way down and out the left arm and hand.
And you might like to imagine a color to this easy flow of energy.
Welcoming in and letting go.
You might like to imagine that just as the breath flows softly and fluidly,
A healing water or fluid flows up and round all of the bones.
So that we can be cleansed,
Washed clean.
Thinking about trees in the depth of winter.
How the sap draws deep into the heart of the tree,
The trunk and the roots.
We too invite healing,
Fluid,
Sap into our very bones,
Deep within the tree,
Deep within ourselves.
Inviting in stillness.
Tuning in,
Listening.
Then inviting the awareness into the skull.
Through the nostrils,
Across the whole of the front of the face,
Wrapping round and over the crown of the head,
Around the sides of the ears,
The hinges of the jaw,
All the way to the back of the head.
The whole bone joining in to the spine and then coming back from the jade pillow at the back of the skull,
All the way round and out through the nostrils.
Then inviting a fluid flow into the whole body.
All the way from the skull down into the fingertips,
Down the spine into the tailbone,
Down the legs into the toes.
From the toes and the tailbone and the fingers all the way back up into the skull.
From the head all the way into the peripheries,
The fingertips,
The tailbone,
The toes and all the way back.
Toes,
Fingers,
Tailbone into the head.
And then just returning to the soft flow of the breath,
In and out.
In the simple practice of Nidra for winter.
Bringing the awareness to the soft heaviness of the body in contact with the mat,
The cushions,
Cosy comfiness on which you're lying right now.
Realising quality of stillness throughout the whole body.
Whole body deeply resting.
The whole body still,
Safe,
Warm and cosy.
That the mind is awake and aware.
Whole body nourished by the awareness and the breath.
By an invitation to stillness.
Inviting a fluency into the whole body.
Surfaced by the element of water.
And as we start to ease our way towards the end of this practice,
Rest easy.
The journey back is leisurely.
As we start to consider that as a very possibility,
Coming back into this moment here together.
Maybe there's something you would like to offer your future self.
Something of worth from this practice today.
You might prefer to offer yourself a message,
Simple statement of support.
Something that can help you stay centred in the stormy seas that lay ahead.
You might prefer to imagine something like an object that can be easily snuck into the palm of your hand.
A symbol like an amulet.
Something that you can feel and touch in the palm of your hand right now.
See its shape,
Its texture,
Its colour.
You may prefer to imagine something like music.
Favourite melody.
Something that helps you connect with who you really are.
And so inviting in space for that just now.
And then starting to bring yourself back.
Slowly,
Calmly,
Steadily.
Maybe bringing small movements into fingers,
Into toes.
Maybe moving fingers and toes.
Taking the hands overhead,
Stretching the whole body up.
And then hugging the knees and making the body nice and small.
Rocking from side to side.
And then eventually in your little boat of hugging your knees,
Just allowing yourself to rock and roll and rest over onto a comfy side.
And just know for the next few moments there is absolutely nothing to do but just arrive back.
This practice of nidra for winter is now over and complete.
Thank you for listening.
