Nature At Night: A Novasutras Nidra

This take on Yoga Nidra emphasizes our connection with the living Earth, as we gently prepare for sleep. We work with the terms agaya – wonder, awe, joy, and reverence – and ubuntu – interdependence, reciprocity, and right relationship. We set intentions (sankalpa) that we and all beings abide in agaya and ubuntu. Our body scan, gentle repetition of ubuntu and agaya, and nature imagery connect us with the beauty and quiet mystery of the nighttime.

This track has gentle background music by Liam Wilkinson.
Image by Luke Miller from Pexels.

Transcript

Aghaya and Ubuntu friend,

I'm Dr.

Michelle Merrill,

Founder of Nova Sutras.

Welcome to Nature at Night,

A Nova Sutra's Nidra.

This meditation can be used as a talk down to sleep.

There will be no closing bell,

Just an invitation to drift into sleep.

We will work with the words Aghaya and Ubuntu.

Aghaya is a term we use in Nova Sutras to express our reverence for the beauty and wonder of nature.

The word emerges from the combination of Gaya and Agape.

We recognize the evolutionary creativity of life and open ourselves to the possibility that this is an expression of transcendent love.

Ubuntu is a word from the Bantu languages of southern Africa that recognizes our profound interdependence and interconnection.

It recognizes that each being on earth is who and what it is because of its relationship to other beings.

We often say Ubuntu and Aghaya as a farewell blessing.

In this practice,

We will use it as we prepare to shift our attention or imagination to the next thing,

Helping us offer gratitude while at the same time letting go,

As we gradually move closer to the state of sleep.

In this practice,

We will follow much of the tradition of Yoga Nidra or Yogic Sleep.

We'll begin by settling in,

We will set our intentions with Sankalpa,

We'll do a detailed body scan that focuses our awareness at specific points in our bodies,

Then we'll be experiencing sensations of greater body awareness,

And then envisioning a rapid series of images.

We'll have a closing return to our Sankalpa intentions,

And then an invitation to drift into a peaceful sleep.

So before we move into this practice,

You might want to pause and make any preparations you need to be ready for sleep.

Get any pillows and blankets arranged so that you can stay cozy.

Make your space as dark and quiet as you can.

Get as comfortable as you can so that you can stay still through the practice,

Though you should heed your body's wisdom on this.

You are free to move if and when your body needs a shift,

But try to find stillness again afterward.

Allow your eyes to close gently.

Take a deep breath,

And as you exhale,

Let your body relax and your weight drop down toward Earth's embrace,

Feeling cradled by a loving Mother Earth.

Feel that care and gratitude as you drop down,

Offering Ubuntu Anugaya to the loving Earth beneath you.

Now we will set our intentions for this practice.

We'll offer two different ones.

Each of these should be short,

Affirmative I-statements.

The first one should be personal and fairly practical.

It could be something like,

I sleep easily and deeply,

Or I am centered,

Calm,

And peaceful.

Find your intention for this practice and repeat it silently in your mind three times with a clear and focused intensity.

Now you have an opportunity to set a personal,

Higher intention,

Some way that you are changing.

Perhaps your intention could be,

I am creating positive change in the world,

Or I am an effective agent of Agaya and Ubuntu.

Again,

Find your Sankalpa and then repeat it three times with deep intention and devotion.

Now we'll do a body scan.

You're invited to focus your awareness at each specific point of your body as I name them.

Remain as still as you can,

Just letting your whole awareness illuminate that part of you as it is named.

Perhaps you'll even envision it as a bright point of starlight in the night's deep darkness.

Then you can silently offer a blessing of Ubuntu and Agaya.

Let go and move on to the next point.

Begin with all of your attention at the tip of your right hand thumb.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your right hand thumb.

Your right index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of your right hand and the back of the hand.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Right upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Your right side ribs and waist.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your right hip,

Right thigh,

Knee,

And back of knee,

Right calf and shin.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your right ankle,

Heel,

Sole of foot,

Top of foot.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now shift that illuminating attention to the tip of your left thumb.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your left index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of your left hand,

Back of the hand.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Left upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Armpit.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your left side ribs,

Waist,

Your left hip,

Left thigh,

Knee,

And back of knee.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your left calf and shin,

Your left ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the left foot,

And top of the foot.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now bring your illuminating attention all the way up to the crown of your head.

Ubuntu and Agaya to the crown of your head,

Your forehead.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your left eyebrow,

Right eyebrow,

The space between the eyebrows.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your left eye,

Right eye,

Left cheekbone,

Right cheekbone.

Ubuntu and Agaya to the bridge of the nose,

The tip of the nose,

The left nostril,

The right nostril,

The space between the nose and upper lip.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your upper lip,

Lower lip.

Feel the sensations of your teeth,

Your gums,

Your tongue resting in your mouth.

And now let your awareness illuminate the point of your chin.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your chin,

Your throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone.

Let your awareness light up your heart center.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your heart center,

To your solar plexus,

That central area below your diaphragm.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your low belly center,

Below your navel.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your pelvic floor.

Bring your awareness now to the sensations of your whole right leg,

Then feel all the sensations of your whole left leg.

Become fully aware of your whole right arm,

Your whole left arm and hand.

Be aware of sensations in your whole head and neck.

Feel the whole right side of your body,

The whole left side of your body.

And now allow your awareness to take in the whole body,

Your whole body.

Ubuntu and Agaya to your whole.

Can you envision your whole body with each of the individual points we visited as a star in the beautiful constellation that is you?

How does it feel to be such a constellation weightlessly floating in the night sky?

But then can you begin to notice that your body has substance,

Solidity,

A gravity that is being drawn down to the greater gravity of Earth?

How does it feel to be resting against the vast,

Stable body of the Earth?

To be relaxed and heavy,

Held in the embrace of Earth's gravity?

Can you move your insights and awareness between these states?

First,

Weightless.

Heavy.

Weightless.

Then,

Heavy.

Heavy.

Feeling yourself floating,

Then feeling your weight settle.

And now,

Try to hold both of these experiences floating and settling.

Weightless and heavy at the same time.

As our eyes are closed and our imaginations awaken,

We will open our imaginations further.

We will connect with our love for the living world in all its vast beauty by bringing to our mind's eye images of night on Earth.

We don't need to evaluate or think about these.

Just see and appreciate them in our imagination,

Engaging all of our sense memories to make them real for us.

We can envision the night sky with a few drifting clouds.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the night sky.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the stars.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the drifting clouds.

Envision a range of mountains in the light of the moon.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the mountain range.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the moon.

An owl flying low over an open field.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the owl.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the open field.

A rocky stream in shimmering moonlight.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the shimmering stream.

A jungle cat peering out from thick foliage.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the jungle cat.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the shrubs and foliage.

A shaft of moonlight through the trees.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the trees.

A moth pollinating a white flower.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the moth.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the flower.

An open path through the woods,

Opening on the shore of a lake.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the woods.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the lake.

The moon and stars reflected on the lake's still surface.

Ubuntu and Agaia to the beautiful reflection on the water.

Now we can reflect again on our intentions for this practice this night.

First,

Our personal,

Specific intention.

Repeat that I statement in your mind again,

Three times.

Then,

Our higher intention.

Repeat this three times as well,

Knowing that we are deeply aligned with our intentions and true purpose.

We can let them go and release ourselves into the healing,

Protective embrace of sleep.

We can feel ourselves connected to the community of all life on Earth in the soft,

Quiet beauty of the night.

We can release ourselves down into the comfort of the Earth's supportive embrace,

Peacefully sleeping through the night.

Ubuntu and Agaia to you.

Reviews

Agaya and Ubuntu, and thank you 🙏 Michelle! I fell soundly asleep. I will have to revisit this again.

Soothing and meaningful, and I liked the jungle cat! 🐆🌿