Yoga Nidra For Beltane - Expanding The Heart

This practice was recorded to mark the Celtic festival of Beltane (May Day), but you can listen any time you need a little open-heartedness. Gather everything you need to be truly comfortable. This Yoga Nidra practice will take you on a heart-expanding journey around the body, and then to a special place in nature for a gratitude practice.

Transcript

So today's yoga nidra practice was recorded to mark the Celtic festival of Beltane,

The time around May Day in the Northern Hemisphere or the beginning of November in the Southern Hemisphere.

It's a celebration of the flourishing of life on the land.

You can listen at any time you feel the need for more open heartedness in your life.

If there are any final movements or adjustments that would allow you to be even 1% more comfortable,

I invite you to make them now.

And then invite stillness to settle in over the body.

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

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

Or if there are no sounds then just tuning into the silence.

Perhaps you notice sounds from far away outside the space where you are right now.

Sounds from inside the room.

Sounds from within the body.

Sound of your own breath.

Welcoming all of the sounds without labelling or judging them.

Just observing.

And now feeling the touch of air upon the skin.

Noticing the texture and the temperature of the air upon the skin.

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

Every breath now imagine that you could draw up the grounding energy of the earth and bring it into the whole body.

And with each breath now imagine that you could draw the energy from the sun down into the heart space mingling with the energy of the earth there.

Perhaps you see this as a glowing warm sphere of green light at the heart centre.

Now with the awareness focused on the heart centre just listen in for any intuitive guidance that might arise.

Inviting any guidance but seeing if you can step back and just focus on the green light at the heart centre.

And if nothing arises then just appreciating this quiet time with the heart.

Next we will invite this green light to travel around different parts of the body.

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

Imagining that green light shining there.

We'll begin at the point between the eyebrows.

Feeling the warmth of the green light between the eyebrows.

And then moving down to the little hollow at the base of the throat.

The right shoulder.

Right elbow.

The wrist.

The right hand thumb.

The index finger.

Middle finger.

The ring finger.

And the little finger.

Back through the wrist.

The elbow.

The shoulder.

Back to the base of the throat.

That green light shining at the left shoulder.

The left elbow.

The wrist.

The left hand thumb.

The index finger.

The middle finger.

The ring finger.

And the little finger.

Moving back through the wrist.

The elbow.

The shoulder.

And the base of the throat.

And the green light shining at the heart centre.

The left side of the chest.

The right side of the chest.

The navel.

Centre of the pelvis.

The right hip.

The knee.

The ankle.

The right big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And the little toe.

Green light at the ankle.

The knee.

The hip.

The centre of the pelvis.

The left hip.

The knee.

The ankle.

The left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And the little toe.

The ankle.

The knee.

The hip.

The centre of the pelvis.

The navel.

The heart centre.

The base of the throat.

The eyebrow centre.

The whole body.

The whole body.

The whole body resting here,

Filled with this green light.

Now invite the awareness to rest upon the breath.

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

Knowing the inhale and the exhale.

And now notice the turning points of the breath.

The very top of the inhale and the little pause at the end of the exhale.

And now having a sense that these four parts to each cycle of the breath reflect the seasons of the year.

So as the breath comes into the body,

Like the inhale is like the springtime of the breath.

Like the energy in the plants and the earth rising up.

The point at the top of the inhale,

Like the summertime of the breath.

Full of energy and life and abundance.

The exhaling breath is the autumn time of the breath.

Just as the trees let go of their leaves,

The body letting go of the breath.

And the pause at the end of the out breath,

Like the wintertime of the breath.

Quietly resting,

Getting ready to bloom again in the new year.

So having a sense of these four seasons in every cycle of the breath.

And imagine now that with every inhale we could fill the whole body with that green light.

So much light that it radiates out beyond the boundaries of the body.

And with every exhale,

Gathering up that light into a single point at the heart centre.

Alternating between these two states with every breath.

Inhaling,

Radiating the light out to fill the whole body,

Even beyond the body.

And then exhaling,

Gathering the green light up to that single point at the heart.

And then seeing if it's possible to hold both of those two states in our awareness at the same time.

Everything full of light,

Radiating and expansive at the same time as gathered in and contained.

And then gently letting that go.

Now as you lie here,

Imagine that you are standing in a beautiful place in nature.

This could be a real place or an imagined place.

See if you can really bring it to life with the mind's eye seeing all of the colours,

Imagining the smells,

The textures.

And now in your special place,

Imagine that you turn to face the east.

You thank the element of air and the breath which gives us life.

Cultivating gratitude for our power to communicate,

We ask that our thoughts and words are always focused and kind.

May we use our words wisely.

We also give thanks for the power of music and song.

And now imagine that you turn to the right to face the south.

We give thanks to the sun,

The fire element,

For warming the earth,

Bringing new life and abundance.

We thank fire for the creative spark within us,

For the energy to transform and change our lives,

For all that we create and manifest.

We turn to the right once again facing west,

And we give thanks from the heart for the element of water that gives us life,

The rain that brings growth and fertility to the land.

You turn to the right one final time facing north,

And you give thanks to the earth element for the power of life that arises from the earth.

Celebrating the beauty of the trees,

The flowers and all the creatures,

Giving thanks to the abundance of the natural world.

Enjoy being in your special place in nature for a few more moments,

Just soaking it all in.

And then gently letting that go,

Knowing that you can return there whenever you feel called.

Now inviting the awareness to rest upon the heart center once again,

Perhaps imagining that green sphere of warm light there.

Again,

Inviting any intuitive wisdom or guidance that might arise,

Or just spending some reflective time with the heart.

Realising once again the touch of the clothing and the air upon the skin,

Just tuning into the textures and the temperatures.

Realising any sounds that can be heard,

Sounds near and sounds further away.

Starting to take a deeper breath now,

Taking a deeper in-breath as we gently wake the body back up.

Perhaps bringing some gentle movement to the fingers and the toes.

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

That might be extending the arms over the head,

Taking a full body stretch,

Or maybe hugging the knees in into a little ball.

And whenever you're ready,

Rolling over onto one side,

Just pausing there for a moment.

Just blinking the eyes open very gently.

And in your own time,

You could come back up to a sitting position.

This practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Thank you for listening.

Reviews

Thank you for this very gentle yoga nidra🙏🏻🌟✨🌟💫🌟🙏🏻