Yoga Nidra Meditation For Earth Balance

This yoga nidra meditation guides you through the Spleen and Stomach meridians to balance the Earth element within us. The Earth element can tend towards disharmony during its time, late summer. This is a wonderful way to ground and nourish your earth energy during late summer or anytime you're experiencing any kind of digestive disharmony, mental strain, overthinking, excessive worry, or stress.

Transcript

Hi and welcome,

My name is Meg and I will be guiding you through an earth season or late summer season yoga nidra practice.

In traditional Chinese medicine,

The end of summer,

Those long hazy days of summer where it almost feels as though time stands still in a sense where we can just almost feel the edge or the very beginnings of fall or autumn coming around the corner.

This suspended time here at the end of summer is considered a fifth season in Chinese medicine.

In Chinese medicine,

We're looking through the lens that what we see in nature around us exists within us and that we are one with the natural world.

This time in our year asks us to look at digestive energy,

Not only physically digesting food that we take in but also mental digestion and the experiential digestion of experience and of all that the peak of young and the season of summer has moved you through in the last couple of months.

Maybe even just processing,

Digesting the seeds of fruition that you perhaps planted in the yin seasons of fall and winter that have come into fruition in the young seasons of summer behind you now.

This is a beautiful time to be a little more introspective,

To prepare ourselves for the yin energy,

The slower energy that will begin to move in in the next few weeks.

Preparing ourselves for that season of autumn or fall where the leaves change color and begin to fall from the trees where we see a lot of death around us in nature and we're asked to come and really slow down to move inwards.

So earth season is a wonderful time to just begin to prepare and nourish for the yin season that is just around the corner.

In Chinese medicine,

There is a certain perspective that earth or the season of late summer is kind of the central position of all healing and of all the elements.

And this is a quote by Angela Hicks.

In its central position,

The earth is a pivot for all of the other elements which encircle and spin around it.

It is a place of stability within the body,

Mind and spirit.

From this stable anchor,

Change and growth can take place.

Our food can be transformed and processed by the stomach and the spleen and turned into chi that nourishes the mind,

The body and the spirit.

So just if you haven't yet already,

Beginning to get comfortable,

Setting yourself up for yoga nidra,

Traditionally lying down,

Perhaps in your bed,

On the floor,

Or sitting in your favorite chair if sitting up is more comfortable for you,

Making sure you're warm and even the smallest bit of exposed skin is covered so that you feel cozy and like you can relax.

You might choose to place an eye mask or just a piece of clothing if you don't have an eye pillow over your eyes.

Or inviting a little darkness and a little weight over the eyes.

And turning off notifications on any of your devices,

Maybe taking off your watch even so that you are undisturbed.

If you do need to be somewhere and you're not listening at the beginning of your evening's rest or perhaps for an afternoon nap,

Do set an alarm for 15 or 20 minutes so you have a little bit of time to move before having to get to where you need to be next.

In Chinese medicine,

The earth season is associated not only with this theme of digestion and processing,

But with the color of yellow,

With the stomach channel,

Which is the yang organ,

And the spleen channel,

Which is the paired yin organ.

So I want to thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide today.

We will dive into the body.

All you have to do if you're new here is follow my voice through your body.

Notice if your eyes could become heavier.

Maybe take a couple big,

Deep breaths with a sigh or yawn,

Allowing you to let go of your day,

Let go of the time of movement that has come before this moment in time.

Letting go of any sense of urgency and truly landing here with yourself.

Visualizing the channels in your body and allowing a warm glow that is perhaps the color orange,

The color that is associated with the season of earth.

Allow this color to move through the body and to highlight these areas of the body,

These acupuncture or acupressure points that we will travel through,

Both the stomach and the spleen channel,

The channels that make up the earth season within our bodies and within ourselves.

It's important to know that the muscle,

The muscles of the body are the tissue that corresponds to the season of earth.

So bringing special attention to your muscles as we move through the channels,

Harmonizing,

Clearing blockages or stuck energy through these channels and allowing your muscles in turn to be very nourished.

The stomach channel of foot yangming,

It begins at the lateral side of the nose.

So bringing that warm,

Perhaps glowing light like the sun,

Even like the late summer sun at the end of a day.

That sensation that comes with visualizing the warm sunshine and the glow of perhaps the low setting sun in the sky and the lateral sides,

The outer sides of your nose.

Bringing awareness to the inside of the eye.

This is where the first point on this channel exists,

Descending just inside the infra orbital ridge of the eye.

So the inside the eye itself,

Just beneath it.

From there,

Bringing this warm glow,

This awareness down to enter the upper gum.

To circle around the lips.

And the lips are also associated with the earth season,

So muscles and lips.

And here we will move past the groove of the chin,

Across the cheek,

And to the angle of your jaw.

That warm glowing light to illuminate the jaw.

Ascending from here,

Just in front of the ear.

And then along the hairline,

The temporal hairline.

So just the side of the face,

Facial region,

Following the hairline.

The warm orange glow moving along with my voice through your body.

From there,

Moving down the front of the throat to the collarbones and down the chest.

The lateral side of the chest through the nipple beneath the chest to move through the upper abdomen,

The lateral side,

So outer side of your upper abdomen,

Where your stomach and spleen reside.

And down towards the inner thigh.

The warm orange glow moving from the inner upper thigh,

A little wider towards the mid thigh,

The front of your mid thigh.

Moving all the way down across the kneecap,

Down the shinbone,

Along the top of the foot to the second or the first of the little toes,

The little toe right beside your big toe.

This is where our physical channel ends.

And this is where a branch of the stomach channel then meets with the spleen channel,

Where these channels intersect and flow one into the other.

Visualizing now the spleen channel of foot tie-in begins in the inner big toe,

Running along the inner aspect of the foot and following the border of the inner arch of your foot towards the inner ankle.

This warm orange glow like the setting sun moving up the inner lower leg towards the inner knee.

From there up the inner thigh towards the inner groins.

Passing through the center of the body,

Through the area of the spleen,

The stomach and some other internal organs.

Moving up wider than the stomach channel,

Much wider along the outer ribs and the outer chest.

The whole spleen and stomach channel now illuminated with this warm orange glow of awareness that you so lovingly have brought to yourself.

Welcoming all parts of yourself here to this present moment and giving yourself permission to land as you are.

Just noticing if there's any last tension holding in any of the muscles,

Maybe in and around the mouth that you could let go of.

Now it is time to connect to your deepest heartfelt desire or resolve.

Allow your intention for this practice to flood in now.

Repeat it to yourself in your own mind three times.

Traditionally,

This is an I am statement.

You may choose to borrow mine for this practice if this is new to you and setting an intention maybe doesn't feel natural or isn't landing right away.

In keeping with the theme of earth season,

I am grounded in my body.

I am grounded in my body.

I am grounded in my body.

Now counting down from 12,

I am inhaling for one,

I am exhaling for one.

Consistent and steady like the earth is beneath your feet.

Breathing in and out 10,

11 more times and if you lose count,

Simply begin again.

Giving yourself grace without overthinking and starting back at one.

We're going to move through the next part of our yoga nidra practice now.

This is called Manomaya Kosha and visualization.

So please imagine yourself as heavy as you've ever felt.

All of the muscles in the body extremely heavy.

Heavy as you've ever felt,

As heavy as rocks resting into your mat,

The floor,

The earth.

And now embodying a sensation of lightness,

Allowing yourself to feel as light as you've ever felt before.

Light as a dandelion in the wind,

Light as butterfly wings or as a feather.

As light as you've ever felt.

Now allow yourself to embody constriction,

Limitation,

A sense of anxiousness or you're feeling quite frozen and stuck.

Frozen and stuck.

Moving yourself into a sense of ease,

Again,

Fluidity flowing with ease,

Energy flowing with ease through your muscles,

Through the body,

Allowing the body to be completely enveloped in this warm glow,

Like the setting sun at the end of a summer night,

Warm glow,

Fluid ease in the body.

Now continuing to visualize,

Moving a little quicker with me,

A full moon against a dark navy blue sky.

A waterfall trickling over jagged rocks.

Your childhood bedroom.

The first dew that you experience outside on blades of grass on the front lawn.

Dew on blades of grass on the front lawn.

Rain on a car window.

Wind blowing through a field of sunflowers.

Bathwater churning as the tap flows.

Now you see yourself walking through a forest.

You're barefoot.

The earth is moist yet warm and soft beneath your feet.

You are careful to step gently over moss covered rocks.

The earth smells like fresh rain.

There are drops of rainwater on the leaves and plants around you.

You notice some of them brush against your body,

Leaving a cool moist feeling on your skin and your clothes.

You're pushing through the bush and it is quite thick.

You seem to know where you're going,

Even though you're not following a particular path or trail.

Your intuitive body is leading the way.

You begin to hear a babbling brook or a stream.

Water moving quickly over rocks somewhere nearby.

Your footsteps follow the sound of moving water until you meet the edge of the stream and you begin to put your toes in the water and the water moves quickly over your feet.

You begin to ground your feet deeper into the earth and pebbles beneath you by bending your knees and steadying yourself as not to fall.

You close your eyes and let this water rush over your feet.

The sensation is cool and exhilarating and you feel grounded and steady with your feet planted deeply into the earth beneath the water.

You cross this stream and move through a little bit more thicketer forest.

You begin to pause,

Walking a little slower.

You smell a sweet scent in the air and wind picking up.

You eventually meet a clearing where you see a huge field of sunflowers.

The sun streaming back through the clouds,

Bringing warm,

Yellow,

Orange glow all around.

You walk gingerly through the field of flowers as they are at their peak.

The petals may be a little delicate,

Also wet with fresh rainwater.

A floral smell takes you over and you're very present to this moment.

Very present to this scent.

It takes you back to a memory,

A memory of the past.

You take a moment to honor this memory,

Putting a hand at your heart.

At the edge of the pond,

You feel called to sit and to rest.

You're taken back to a place in your heart and mind by the sunflowers,

The moist rain and the scent of sunflowers all around.

Getting deeper into the memories,

You're integrating your past with this present moment and you're healing.

Timeless,

Formless,

Bliss body.

You know you're deeply protected and you're safe here.

You lie down and close your eyes.

Timeless,

Formless,

Bliss body.

Now come back to your sankalpa,

Your truest heartfelt desire.

Repeat it in your own mind.

Bring your hands to your heart and feel it in your own heart.

Sighting your hands down to your earth center,

Palms just above and beneath the navel.

Bring attention back to your breath,

Noticing the depth of your breath and your own breath capacity.

Bringing awareness to the space around you all while keeping your eyes closed and staying deeply rooted inside yourself.

What do you recall in your mind's eye to be above you?

The colors and textures that are above you,

The colors and textures that you recall to be to your left,

To your right and beneath your body.

What do you remember to be beneath you?

Bringing gentle movement back into your body and rolling tenderly into the fetal position.

Please hug your knees and hold yourself here.

Pause.

Taking a few belly breaths into your earth center and calling in on this place,

This moment anytime you need to when you're feeling overwhelmed,

When there might be worry or pensiveness taking over the mind.

Nourishing yourself by coming back to belly breath and back to where your nervous system was in this moment in time,

Here and now.

Take your time to open your eyes.

Give yourself the space and time that you need to integrate back into the outer world around you.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for practicing with me today and for trusting me again to be your guide.

May the deep glow of the earth within you be honored,

Seen and recognized by the deep glow of the earth within me and all beings around.

Namaste.