Hello,
Welcome back.
I'm Sarah,
A somatic facilitator and coach,
Here to help you build nervous system resilience so you can live up to your fullest potential with ease and confidence.
I'll be guiding you through meditation,
Breath work,
Visualization,
And deep rest so that you can explore the pause between where you've been and where you're going.
Welcome to Liminal Space.
Today we'll be exploring a yoga nidra,
A practice that softly pulls you into this concept of liminal space,
The in-between.
Neither asleep nor awake,
Not doing,
Not striving,
Simply being.
In yogic philosophy,
There's a word called spanda.
It refers to the subtle pulse of life,
The rhythm of expansion and contraction that moves through everything that's always present.
I'd like to invite this practice to become a felt experience of spanda itself,
This subtle pulse,
Through the breath,
The energy body,
And through awareness itself.
I prefer laying down for yoga nidra,
But if you'd prefer to take this as a seated meditation,
Please feel free to do so.
Let the body naturally soften into the earth beneath you,
Your arms taking up space wherever they've landed,
Palms facing upward if that feels comfortable.
And take these next few moments to adjust anything so that you feel the most supported you could possibly feel right now.
Maybe your eyes start to close as relaxation sedates your body further.
You notice your body growing heavier with each breath,
The back of the head resting,
The shoulders dropping,
The spine imprinting on the surface beneath you.
There is nothing to do and nowhere to be.
You are here.
Allow yourself to be present.
If you'd like to bring a sankalpa to your mind's eye,
This idea of an inner resolve or intention,
It doesn't have to be grand or big,
It can be really granular.
But let this seep into your awareness and anchor deep into your heart space.
And then start to notice your breath,
The natural rhythm before you even think about changing it,
Just tracing the air as it awakens the body with energy,
The inhale arriving and the exhale leaving.
Notice that the breath already carries a quiet rhythm of expansion and contraction.
Start to imagine that with each inhale,
A light encompasses the body and moves into the space around you.
And with each exhale,
The light slowly gathers itself back to the periphery of your body.
With each breath,
Visualizing yourself with the functioning of a light bulb,
Your skin is the glass container.
Your inhale gently dials up the brightness of the light and you are shining in the room around you.
And as you exhale,
The brightness of the light gradually dims and gathers back to the surface of your skin.
Inhale slowly,
Releasing energy outward.
Exhale quietly,
Gathering energy inward.
Not a forcing,
Just a pulsation of energy in the representation of light.
Each breath is an expansion and contraction of you,
The source of the energy,
Rhythmically surging within the space containing you.
Now,
As we begin to move awareness through the body,
Imagine this light illuminates with breath as your attention lands at each point.
Your right hand.
Your right wrist.
Your right elbow.
Right shoulder.
Your right waist.
Right hip.
Right knee.
Your right ankle.
Right foot.
The whole right side of your body.
Your left hand.
Your left hand.
Left wrist.
Left elbow.
Your left shoulder.
Left waist.
Left hip.
Left knee.
Your left ankle.
Left foot.
The whole left side of your body.
The base of your spine.
All the way to the top of your head.
The top of your spine.
Your heart space.
Your throat.
The back of your head.
The crown of your head.
Bringing awareness to your whole body.
Your whole body illuminating from within.
Allow the light to completely fade.
You are in darkness,
Standing under the midnight sky.
A calm,
Contained and still air.
Now visualise your hands meeting,
Gently cupping together perfectly.
In the middle of your palms,
You feel a gentle,
Pulsing vibration of energy.
Notice how that feels.
Gradually start to peel your hands away from your body.
Your hands away from each other.
Extremely slowly,
Knowing there is no rush.
And as you start to do so,
You notice this ball of glowing light hovering between the hands.
And growing ever so slightly the further apart your hands become.
Not only can you see this pulsation of energy in light form,
But you can feel it between the palms.
And you can also feel a pulse of energy around you.
You notice the light is in sync with your breath.
Each inhale slightly brightens the light and each exhale,
The light is in sync with your breath.
And as you exhale,
The glow softens.
You stay here exploring the power of this energy for a while.
Give the energy permission to grow and take up space between your hands.
And know that with subtle movement,
You can gently contain the power too.
Take a moment to observe how your breath and your body feel as you connect with this energy.
Delicately and without any urgency,
Contain the light again.
Your hands slowly make their way back to meet.
Cupped again,
Perfectly.
Feeling the magic in that warm space between your palms.
And with this containing of the energy,
It's dark again.
The image of you under the midnight sky slowly fades.
And your awareness starts to find its way back to your breath again.
Not seeking to change it,
But just simply witnessing.
Feel the natural rhythm of spander,
Expansion and contraction.
It's a representation of consciousness,
Alive and expressive,
Continually pulsing between two states.
Outward expression,
Manifestation,
Awareness balanced.
With inward return,
A withdrawal,
Stillness.
That's the gentle pulse of life.
Allow your awareness to expand beyond your skin,
As you sense the subtle vibration of the air around you.
Feel the surface beneath your body.
And hear the sounds of the external world awaken in your mind.
You wiggle your fingers and toes to return back to your waking state,
But with a little more calm and clarity of mind-body.
Bring your mind's eye back to your heart space,
Maybe even placing your hands there.
Remind yourself of your sankalpa,
And ask yourself how you can carry this forward.
Maybe with this idea of spander in mind.
Knowing that with each expansion,
There'll be a natural contraction.
If it feels good to do so,
Flutter your eyes open so you can observe your surroundings.
Maybe you can start to notice the spander of consciousness in your daily life a little more from this point onwards.
Rest well,
And I'll see you next week.
You
