Winter Solstice Yoga Nidra

Celebrate the return of the light with this yoga nidra for the Winter Soltice. Winter Solstice is the beginning of a true new year as the Earth travels towards brighter days in its celestial journey around the Sun. All you need for this meditation is a place where you can lie down, relax, and listen~ both to the words of the meditation and to your own inner guidance.

Transcript

Please find a nice comfortable position for yourself.

That might mean lying down on the back.

You could also sit in a comfortable position if you're feeling especially tired and you don't want to fall asleep.

It can also feel nice to lie on the side in a fetal position.

Just make sure that whatever you choose is really comfortable.

Perhaps also placing a blanket over the body to stay warm as the temperature will tend to drop when we are in stillness.

Feel yourself settling into your space.

Feel the body beginning to relax.

The worries of the day letting go and take a deep breath in through your nose and release it out the mouth with a sigh,

Letting anything you don't need travel out along with that exhale breath.

Let's do that a few more times together and as we do it together think of anything small or large that you would like to release and just let it go with that exhale breath.

So take another nice deep inhale through the nose,

Exhale out the mouth letting go of what you don't need and one more time a deep inhale breath through the nose,

Exhaling,

Releasing what no longer serves you and then just breathing naturally.

Make it an effortless breath just letting the breath do its work naturally.

You simply observe the breath and let it breathe you.

Now listen for any sounds that are around you.

Notice what kinds of sounds are in your space and the space outside of the building you're in.

Try not to over analyze any sounds but let your awareness drift from each sound to the next sound exploring that soundscape around you.

Notice sounds that are of a higher pitch and a lower pitch,

Sounds that have a rhythm and sounds that might be more erratic and then notice if there are any sounds very close to you and then hear your sounds.

Sounds of digestion,

Sounds from the breath,

The sound of the heartbeat.

In the heartbeat see if you can hear your sankalpa,

Your heart's desire.

Sankalpa is the affirmation we make for ourselves in the yoga nidra practice,

Planting the seed in our fertile subconscious mind so that it can grow and manifest in our lives.

If you have a sankalpa feel it in the heart space now,

See it in your mind's eye and if you do not have a sankalpa do not worry.

You can simply say I will find the right sankalpa for me and then repeat the sankalpa three times mentally with full conviction that it will come true in your life.

We will now move on to the rotation of consciousness through the body.

The body remains still while our awareness travels through it,

This time as each body part is named.

Imagine placing a sparkling snowflake upon it.

We begin as always with the right side of the body and starting with the right hand thumb.

So place a snowflake on the right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder.

See the whole right arm covered in sparkling snowflakes and bring awareness to the right side of the chest and place a snowflake there.

The waist,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Arch of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

See the whole leg with sparkling snowflakes,

The whole right side of the body with snowflakes then draw awareness to the left hand thumb and place a snowflake there.

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder.

See the whole left arm shimmering with snowflakes.

Place a snowflake on the left side of the chest,

Waist,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Arch of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

See the whole left leg covered in snowflakes,

The whole left side of the body shimmering in snowflakes.

Place a snowflake on the right heel,

Left heel,

Right calf muscle,

Left calf muscle,

Back of the right knee,

Back of the left knee,

Back of the right upper leg,

Back of the left upper leg,

The right buttock,

The left buttock,

The lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

Snowflakes all along the spinal column,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head.

See the whole back side of the body with snowflakes.

Now place the snowflake at the top of the head,

The forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The eyebrow center,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right eyelashes,

Left eyelashes,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Bridge of the nose,

Tip of the nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Teeth,

Tongue,

Thumbs,

Chin,

Jawbone,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

The hollow between the collarbones,

Right chest,

Left chest,

Center of the chest,

Upper abdomen,

Navel,

Lower abdomen,

The whole right leg with snowflakes,

The whole left leg with snowflakes,

The whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

The whole head,

The entire front side of the body shimmering in snowflakes,

The whole back side of the body glowing in snowflakes,

The whole body glittering with snowflakes.

See the whole body together,

The whole body together,

Sparkling with snow.

Now see if you can go deeper into the snow and start to feel cold.

Let the body feel cold.

Do not shy away from the sensation,

But let yourself embrace the coldness.

It's like you are walking on snow and bare feet.

You can feel it crunching beneath you,

So cold outside.

Icicles are hanging from the eaves of a roof,

Lakes are frozen,

And you can see your breath in the air.

Let yourself feel cold.

Discover what it's like to feel very cold.

But now let go of cold and feel heat.

You are now getting very warm.

It's like you're in front of a hot fire and you can feel your cold fingers,

Cheeks,

And feet thawing out.

A warm glow on your face and skin from the heat.

Let yourself start to feel very,

Very hot now.

Let the heat thaw your body and melt away the ice.

Now let go of heat and bring to mind darkness.

Whatever comes to mind when you think of darkness,

It could be a color,

A feeling,

Even a smell.

Let yourself feel darkness,

Whatever that means for you.

Manifest darkness in yourself.

And now let go of darkness and come to light.

Manifest a feeling of lightness in the body.

Perhaps it is a color of lightness,

A sensation,

An emotion.

Whatever comes to mind when you think of lightness,

Feel it now within yourself.

See if you can create a sensation of lightness,

Whatever that means to you.

Now let go of lightness and come back to your body.

Feel your body resting against the earth.

Feel the connection between your back body and the earth beneath you.

See if you are asleep or are awake and reconnect to your breath.

Now draw your awareness to the space between your eyebrows.

Bring your focus and attention to the mind's eye and just watch the space.

Make no attempt to create anything there.

Simply see what arises for you in this moment.

Try to observe whatever's there with an impartial mind.

Approach it with curiosity.

Then see in the mind's eye space there at the third eye center a single snowflake.

See the pattern of the snowflake,

Its fractal-like and crystalline nature,

A pattern that's familiar but entirely unique.

As no snowflake is alike,

Just as the one that you are envisioning now is entirely one of your own creation.

Maybe the snowflake is still or perhaps it's spinning around.

See the creation of your snowflake at the eyebrow center.

Now let go of the snowflake and back to your breath and just observe the mind's eye.

Winter solstice is a time where we can look back upon our past year.

Every year has its ups and downs,

Successes and failures,

Thrills and routines.

Some years are easier and some are very hard.

But just like the seasons,

Change always comes.

Our joyful times are balanced by the mournful ones and darker years will eventually blossom into those filled with light.

Each year is its own unique experience and will never be like any other in the past or any other to come.

So see now in your mind's eye a firm wreath sitting on a table.

The wreath is decorated with pine cones and holly and there are four candles within the wreath that are lit in one unlit candle in the middle of the wreath.

Each of these four candles represents one of the seasons of the past year.

Go to one of the candles.

This candle represents your past winter,

Your January,

February and March.

Try to recall where you were then in winter,

Your highs and lows,

What was fun or dull,

Tough or easy.

Let yourself be with these sensations of your winter and if it's possible give thanks for your experiences and then blow out the candle and let winter go.

Moving clockwise around the wreath,

The next candle represents your spring,

April,

May and June.

Try to remember what those months were like for you,

That season of spring,

What made you happy or sad,

Where you felt successful or perhaps not so much.

When you are ready to release spring,

Give thanks for those lessons and then blow out the candle.

Moving clockwise,

The next candle represents your summer of this year,

July,

August and September.

So thinking back on your summer,

Remember what it was like for you,

The people you were with,

The experiences you had.

Feel these sensations within yourself and when it's time,

Give thanks and blow out the candle for summer.

The next candle that's lit is for fall,

October,

November and December of this year.

Try to recall what this season held for you.

If it was easy or hard,

Social or more isolated,

Let yourself be with any feelings or sensations that arise and when you know it's time to let fall of this year go,

Say thank you and blow out the candle and let yourself be in this darkness.

The past year and its seasons are now gone,

Part of you,

Shaping you,

But now it's time to create something new.

So in the darkness,

Set your intentions for this new season,

This new winter,

This new year,

As simple or as complex as they might be and then strike a match and light the candle in the center of the wreath,

Sending your intentions for you out into the world as the days grow brighter and brighter.

Notice the stillness in the body,

But in the stillness,

Feel all the life and energy within you.

Perhaps there is tingling,

Pulsations,

Heat,

Something that might be difficult to explain in words,

But you can feel,

Feel the breath that's always with you on this journey of life from the day you're born to the day you pass on.

Feel your heart space and recall again your sankalpa,

The statement you made at the beginning of the yoga and nidra practice.

Repeat it again three times mentally and know that it will manifest in some way in your life.

Begin to listen for sounds,

Noticing the sounds that are inside the room and then listen for sounds that are further away,

Noticing if there are any sounds outside the room,

Out of the neighborhood and begin to remember your space.

Remember the color of the walls,

The texture of the floor,

The ceiling.

Try to recall the various objects in the room and see yourself perfectly at ease in this space.

Feel the temperature of the air on the skin and start to make your inhales and exhales a little bit deeper,

A little bit fuller,

Beginning to wiggle the fingers and the toes,

Circling the wrist and the ankles in one direction and then the opposite way,

Gently moving the head side to side and taking a nice stretch with the whole body,

Finding your way to a fetal pose on one side and keeping the eyes closed if you can with a soft downward gaze,

Very slowly coming back to a seated position.

When you're there,

You can bring the hands to prayer at the heart center or maybe even one hand over the heart and the other hand on top of that,

Taking a moment to notice how you feel and to thank yourself for your practice today,

Taking time out to reconnect with you and give your body a chance to rest.

I thank you all so very much as well.

I hope to see you all very soon.

Namaste.