Celtic Wheel Of The Year Yoga Nidra - Samhain

The Celtic festival of Samhain coincides with Halloween (October 31st). It is the New Year in the Celtic wheel of the year, a time when we welcome the darker months. It is said to be when the veil between this world and the past is at its thinnest.

This yoga nidra practice takes us on an imaginary journey to a cave in the woods where we can receive wisdom and guidance from our ancestors. It was recorded for Samhain but can be listened to anytime you want to tune into your inner guidance.

Transcript

Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra for the Celtic festival of Samhain,

Which falls at the end of October.

The themes of the practice will be welcoming rest,

Looking inwards and contemplation and connecting with the ancestors.

So it was recorded for Samhain but you can listen at any time.

Yoga nidra means yogic sleep and it's a guided relaxation or meditation where the body is still,

Perhaps sleeping,

But the mind is still awake on the border between sleeping and wakefulness.

This nidra will feature some short periods of silence to enable you to have your own experience and fully let go into the practice.

Although it is called yogic sleep,

The intention is not to actually fall asleep but to serve the interface between waking and sleeping.

If you do fall asleep that's perfectly alright,

Perhaps that's what you really need right now.

The ideal state for the practice of yoga nidra is zero desire for movement.

If you feel the desire to move arising during the practice then try to just observe it.

It might just be that there's some resistance to going deeper.

If the urge to move persists then do go ahead and move but doing so with awareness,

Returning to the state of stillness as soon as possible.

And if anything in the nidra makes you feel uncomfortable and you want to stop,

All you have to do is wiggle your fingers and toes and open your eyes and you'll come out of the nidra relaxation state.

So welcome to this Samhain yoga nidra practice.

Welcome home.

The first part of the practice is to get really super comfortable.

That might mean lying on the back or on the side if you prefer that.

You can also do the practice sitting up.

If you're lying on the back I recommend having a pillow beneath the head and a bolster or some cushions beneath the knees which can just allow the lower back to really settle.

And know that there's no way to do this practice wrong.

There's nothing to be done.

Just to be here is enough.

If there are any movements or adjustments that would allow you to be even one percent more comfortable,

I invite you to make them now.

And then inviting stillness to settle in over the body.

The invitation is to close the eyes but if that's not comfortable then just softening and lowering the gaze.

And letting there be a welcome now for any sounds that can be heard.

Sounds from far away outside the room where you are.

Sounds from within the room.

Any sounds from within the body,

Perhaps the sound of the breath.

Welcoming all of the sounds without labelling,

Judging,

Just noticing.

Noticing the sounds and the spaces between the sounds.

And feeling the touch of air upon the skin.

Noticing the texture and the temperature of the air as it meets the skin.

And feeling all of the places where the body is held and supported by the earth.

All of the points of contact between the back or the side of the body and the surface beneath.

And on each exhale now,

Breathing down through those points of contact as if you could give away the whole weight of the body down into the earth below.

Next we'll invite our awareness to travel around different parts of the body.

We don't need to move that part or do anything other than allow our awareness just to rest there.

You might like to imagine that each part of the body that's named is a little candle that we can light up with our awareness.

Starting at the very crown of the head.

The left ear.

The right ear.

The left eye.

The right eye.

The throat.

The tongue.

The nose.

The forehead.

Back of the head.

Back of the neck.

Lighting our little candle of awareness at the left shoulder now.

The left elbow.

The wrist.

The hand.

And back to the throat.

Lighting our candle of awareness at the right shoulder.

The right elbow.

The wrist.

The hand.

Coming back to the throat.

Lighting our candle at the heart centre.

The navel.

The perineum.

Lighting a candle at the left hip.

The knee.

The ankle.

The sole of the foot.

And the top of the foot.

And lighting a candle of awareness at the left big toe.

The second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And the little toe.

The whole of the left foot.

Twinkling with the lights of conscious awareness.

And allowing the awareness to travel over to the right hip.

The right knee.

The ankle.

The sole of the foot.

The top of the foot.

Lighting a candle of awareness at the right big toe.

The second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And the little toe.

The whole of the right foot shining with the lights of our awareness.

The space between the feet.

The space between the knees.

The tailbone.

The sacrum.

The lower back.

Middle back.

And upper back.

The back of the neck.

Back of the head.

And the very crown of the head.

The whole of the left arm.

The whole of the right arm.

The whole of the left leg.

And the whole of the right leg.

The whole of the head.

The whole of the left side of the body.

And the whole of the right side.

The whole body shining with the lights of conscious awareness.

And inviting for that awareness now to rest upon the breath.

Just observing the natural rhythm of the breath as it moves in and out of the body.

Almost as if the body is being breathed by the breath.

If you prefer,

You can carry on watching the natural rhythm of the breath.

Or perhaps you might like to begin counting down the breath.

Beginning at 21.

Counting the exhalation.

21 as you exhale.

20 as you exhale.

19 as you exhale.

And carry on counting down in this way.

If the counting goes astray or if you reach zero,

Just begin again at 21.

If you reach zero or the counting has got lost,

Just begin again from 21.

And 21.

And gently letting go of the counting of the breath.

Coming now to feel opposites in the body.

So imagining now that the whole body is filled with light.

Perhaps a golden light or another colour of your choice.

And then imagining now that the body is in darkness.

And we can alternate these two opposites with the breath.

So with the inhale,

Imagine filling the whole body with light.

Perhaps even extending beyond the boundaries of the body.

And with every exhale,

A darkness comes in over the body.

Alternating between these two states with every breath.

Inhaling the light.

And exhaling dark.

And seeing if it's possible to hold both the lightness and the darkness in our awareness at the same time.

And gently letting that practice go.

And imagining now that you're standing in a wood on a stony path.

Connecting to the sounds in the wood.

What sounds can you hear?

Can you notice any smells?

Feel the touch of the air upon the skin.

And notice any textures and surfaces around you.

What do they feel like?

And what does it look like in the wood?

What colours do you notice?

What is the quality of the light?

What do you see there?

And you begin to follow the path through the trees.

Eventually you see a cave in the distance.

You walk towards it and as you enter you see flickering firelight and hear drums and singing.

As you enter the large cavern you see a big group of people all sitting around a large fire.

These people are your ancestors from the distant past.

One of the people rises to greet you now.

This is your guide and ally who's here to help and advise you.

Notice what they're wearing.

What is the look in their eyes?

You go with them and take your place at the fire.

If you feel called you might ask some questions of your guide or of any of the other people who are here.

Perhaps inviting any guidance,

Any words they have to give you.

Or perhaps just sitting in silence in togetherness is what's needed.

One or two of these ancestors may have a gift for you and you may have one for them which will appear in your hand.

When you're ready,

Thank them all and return back the way you came.

Following the path between the trees.

Just allowing any images to fade away into the darkness.

Now inviting the awareness to rest in the space behind the closed eyelids.

Perhaps you see darkness.

Or maybe colours or light.

Stay with whatever's there for a moment and then let it go.

Maybe you stay with the soft warm darkness and colours.

Or if you see images,

Letting them dissolve and observe new ones arising.

Just simply staying with your experience,

Whatever that may be right now.

Trying to just observe without any judging or preference.

Just allowing experiences to arise.

Letting everything just wash over you.

And then gently letting any images just dissolve away.

Allowing yourself just to be in the space.

And then gently beginning our slow return.

Noticing all the places where the body meets the earth below.

Feeling the touch of the air upon the skin.

And once again just allowing any sounds that can be heard just to come into the ears without labelling or judging.

All sounds are welcome.

Starting to take a deeper breath.

Deepening the in-breath.

Bringing some movement to the fingers and the toes.

Perhaps making circles with the wrists and the ankles.

And taking any movement or stretch that feels needed by the body right now.

So that might be extending the arms over the head and taking a full body stretch.

Perhaps hugging the knees into the chest.

Just taking some time after the end of this practice and whatever the next activity is.

Just moving gently through the transitions.

This practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Thank you for listening.

Reviews

Fantastic! Thank you for this exceptional meditation!

Beautiful