Winter Nidra - Inspired By Nature Inviting Us Home To Rest Deeply

A spoken nidra inspired by winter here in Scotland, a time to tune in and listen, to come home to ourselves. A precious space to offer ourselves to rest deeply so we can shore up inner strength. Ends with sansula (thumb piano).

Transcript

So,

Taking this time to get yourself cosy and relaxed and comfy under the blankets down on the mat.

Just inviting the whole body to settle down.

Notice if you're still holding on in the back of the neck and the head.

If you may,

You can gently dip or tuck the chin just a touch to help the back of the neck lengthen and the weight of the head release.

Taking the awareness into the shoulders,

In and around each of the shoulder blades,

Down the arms,

Into the back,

Allowing all of the different vertebrae just to sink down,

Feeling fully supported.

Bringing the awareness down into the hips,

Allowing the weight of the hips and pelvis to be fully held and received by the mat,

By the earth.

Allowing that sense of homecoming to flow down into the legs,

The ankles and the feet,

So that the weight of the whole body is completely supported.

And know for the next wee while there is absolutely nothing that you need to do.

So as the weight of the body is completely held and supported,

So is the weight of responsibility.

There's nowhere else that you need to be.

There's no one that you need to be.

And just bringing the awareness to the soft fluency of the breath,

Flowing easily in and out.

As if with each ebb and flow of the breath,

We can invite in a sense of welcome and a sense of coming home.

Breathing in,

Welcoming in,

Life,

That connection with the world.

And as we breathe out that lovely settling of the whole body into the earth.

In this time of winter,

Time of bare trees,

Cold wind,

Pebbles of the rain,

Against the window,

Softness and stillness of snow.

It can be really challenging to keep buoyant and yet all around us we're invited to come home,

To turn our gaze inward,

Just like the trees have let go of the leaves and the exuberance of spring and summer,

Celebration of harvest time.

The sap has withdrawn deep within the trunk and into the roots.

And if we let it,

Time can slow right down.

Slow pulse of the sap in the roots in the earth.

The slow pulse of our inwards into ourselves.

So we draw energy in,

We bring energy back,

We restore,

We rest,

We nurture and nourish ourselves.

This is a time for rest.

This is a time for tuning in and listening.

So we're going to take our awareness around the body,

An invitation to tune in and to listen.

Taking the awareness into the eyebrow centre and just with a very light touch,

Almost the touch of a star-like energy.

And then from there bringing the awareness down in between the two collar bones and again placing a tiny star with some little light.

Earlier today by the white cart,

A rare beam of sunlight just caught some of the ripples glinting,

Like a glint of light.

And then from the pit of the throat taking the awareness over to the left shoulder,

Placing little light or star just there.

And stars in turn at the elbow,

The left wrist and the tip of the left thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger.

Bringing the awareness back to the wrist,

The elbow,

The shoulder.

Back over to the little star placed in between the two collar bones.

And then taking the awareness over to the right shoulder,

Placing stars in turn at the shoulder and at the elbow,

At the wrist and the tip of the right thumb,

The index finger,

The middle finger,

The ring finger and the little finger.

Bringing the awareness back to the star at the wrist,

That glint of light at the elbow,

Up to the star and the shoulder and back to in between the two collar bones.

Bringing the awareness down into the centre of the chest now,

Into the heart.

Little star shining there.

Over to the left side of the chest,

Star.

Coming back to the star and the heart.

And then over to the right side of the chest.

And then coming back to the star and the heart.

Taking the awareness down the body to the navel,

From the navel down into the pelvis behind the pubic bone.

And then placing stars on the left side,

Starting in the hip and the knee and the ankle,

In the tip of the left big toe,

The second toe,

The third toe,

The fourth toe and the fifth toe.

Bringing the awareness back to the star in the ankle,

The knee and the hip,

To the star in the pelvis and then over to the right side.

Placing stars,

Chinks of light in the right hip,

In the knee and in the ankle and in the tip of the right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

The whole body mapped with tiny points of light.

Taking the awareness back up to the ankle,

The knee,

The hip.

Coming back into the star at the pelvis,

At the navel and in the heart.

From the heart into the pit of the throat and then back up to the eyebrow centre.

Awareness now to the crown of the head,

Placing a tiny star at the crown of the head.

The whole body is mapped in light.

A little wink or glint of the flow of water,

Soft,

Fluid,

Easy going.

Taking the awareness and the breath into the whole of this constellation of the body as if the easy breath is just like water,

Yet lighter and more subtle.

Breathing into the entire peripheries,

The very edges of this universe of the body.

And it may feel like the universe is gently expanding as the breath flows in,

Feeling spacious and expansive.

And as the breath flows out,

It's as if each of the little stars can just settle down into the earth of the body itself.

Coming home,

Breathing into the constellation with the wonderful breeze of the breath.

And then on the exhale,

Feeling that constellation,

Just a light on the earth.

Just breathing between these two states.

And then what is it like if both are the case?

Expansive,

Stellar constellation,

Beautiful,

Just woven into the fabric of the night sky and yet very earth,

Very grounded,

Coming home.

And then go of that experience and just inviting the fluid flow of the easy breath to gently flow into the body.

And on the exhale,

Flow all the way down the body and out through the soles of the feet.

On the inhale,

Coming up through all of the toes,

Imagining little holes at the toes.

And as you breathe in,

You can draw in that beautiful star-like energy up into the bones of the toes,

The feet,

The legs,

The hips.

And as you exhale,

Just imagining the fluid water-like flow of the breath,

Cleaning away any impurities.

With every breath in,

It's as if that star-like energy can flow a little bit higher up through the bones.

And as the breath flows out,

Any impurities,

Any weakness just get washed gently and softly away.

The element of water is the element of our ability to adapt,

To be fluid,

To be flexible,

To go with the flow.

And yet,

Is it not water that can wear away the banks of a river,

Wear away a mountain,

Carve deep valleys out of the earth.

So the soft repetition of the breath flowing in and out,

Drawing in nourishment.

And on the exhale,

Just washing gently,

Consistently and steadily,

Anything that is no longer of use.

So as we draw and imagine that wonderful,

Nourishing star-like energy in all of the bones,

We can feel ourselves being washed clean with every exhale.

The soft ebb and flow of the breath.

And then bringing the awareness just to rest gently in the heart.

And in this space of the heart,

If you like,

You may wish to offer yourself something.

It might be enough just to offer yourself space to listen to what comes up in the heart.

To tune in to that sense of love and kindness.

You may prefer to offer yourself something supportive for the week ahead.

Could be a positive affirmation in simple language.

Or you might like to bring yourself back a gift,

A souvenir,

Something that sums up safety,

Support,

Inner wisdom.

And that a gift or imagined object you can have right now in the palm of the hand.

What colour is it?

The shape,

The feel,

Texture.

So whatever feels like a lovely and delicious thing to offer yourself,

Offering that to yourself right now.

And then becoming aware of the fluid flow of the breath.

Easy flow of the breath.

All the way in.

All the way out.

Starting to make the breath a little louder.

Starting to bring movements into fingers and toes.

Starting to find a delicious way of bringing a little more movement into the body,

A bit more stretch in length.

And so easing our way back into this very moment.

So if it feels like a lovely thing to do,

You can hug the knees,

Rock from side to side and just ease your way back into the present moment.

And when you're ready,

Just rolling over onto a comfy side and resting there.

Doing absolutely hee haw.

This practice of yoga nidra for winter is now complete.

Thank you very much for listening.

Reviews

Lovely, feel calm and relaxed. Thanks Lucie :)

Fantastic yoga nidra! Amazingly relaxing and invigorating at the same time - love it! x

Thank you so much- phenomenal!

Thank you for bringing me home 🌠

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻It's already fully spring where I live. How wonderful to still take some winter time rest with this yoga nidra🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻