Yoga Nidra For Autumn
This Yoga Nidra practice is direct from the pages of Radiant Rest by Tracy Stanley. Find a calm space and spend 30 minutes of your time in the moonlight and the goddess Lakshmi. I hope you enjoy it. Namasté.
Transcript
Welcome,
We offer these meditations freely and your donations make a real difference.
So thank you Before we start we'll just do a little checklist that we've got everything that we need So you want to have a space where you can sit or lie down comfortably?
And Any part of you that as you lie down or sit kind of lifts up off the floor is quite nice to prop it up To sort of offer extra support so perhaps under your knees perhaps under the small of your neck or your back Feel free to experiment with how luxurious can you make your yoga yoga nidra nest?
And your body temperature will drop during the practice so we can be warmer rather than cooler Before we actually lie down with some of you are lying down in which case stay there,
But if you're still sitting up We'll just start with Whether you're lying down or sitting we'll start with a circular breath So imagining a big circle in front of you and as you inhale you're coming around the side and up And as you exhale you're coming down the side and down I'm gonna keep muting because I will be sneezing through There's no way I can do half an hour without sneezing so For the recording I'm sorry you're gonna get the sneezing Allowing yourself to settle into that circular breath Sometimes I visualize it as light you might have your own impulse to visualize it a certain way Just letting that breath start to soothe out the nervous system and the vibrational quality of your body So sometimes for yoga nidra we have something across our eyes or eyelids down But some people prefer to have eyes open in which case just glance downwards I think it's important to understand that there really are no rules You can make this up as you go along you can make your version of yoga nidra as far as I'm concerned I just make some suggestions and they come from thousands of years of teachers before me And some come from my own practice And then settling yourself down into your yoga nidra nest And so the thing with yoga nidra is when we do it at eight o'clock at night like we are tonight It's ever so easy to fall asleep,
But that's not really what we're trying to do We're explorers trying to find the space between being awake and being asleep and hovering there So that's the place where there's no rules or boundaries to what is possible It's almost like a dream state but you are aware that you're there This is yoga nidra and sometimes we fall asleep and that's fine Noticing the parts of you that are connecting to the floor Just tracing,
Tracking those parts and gently pressing down Notice your body breathing And feel the ground beneath you Imagine drawing a circle of protection around you See and feel yourself lying inside that circle And everything else can just wait outside the periphery of that circle Listen for the most distant sound that you can hear No need to judge it or analyse it or even label it,
Just notice Let the sounds from your environment just rest on the outside of that circle of protection And then bring your sense of hearing back so that you can hear the sound of your own breath Observe your body breathing,
Noticing the rise and fall of your navel as you breathe As you inhale,
Feel the earth rising up to support you And as you exhale,
Hand over the weight of your body Feel the support of the earth and allow the earth to catch and hold your body Feel your body breathing and imagine that you can direct your breath in through your left nostril and out through the right You're just using the power of your mind It might just be a visualisation And then switch,
Inhaling through the right nostril,
Exhaling out of the left And then switch,
Inhaling through the right nostril,
Exhaling out of the right nostril,
Exhaling out of the left nostril And now begin to count the breath backwards from 18 with every exhale As you do that,
Notice how each count allows you to release a deeper layer as you travel deeper inwards And then let go of the counting and experience the essence of being present Notice the flow of your breath.
Can you feel it moving in your spine?
Maybe you can see a full moon at the base of your spine and as you breathe in,
Feel the moon travelling up the spine to the crown of your head And as you exhale,
The moon sends her energy down into your entire body.
Nine breaths And then bring your awareness to the space of your third eye,
The point between your eyebrows And sense a drop of luminous healing nectar there.
It's almost as if the moon were made of flowers and this is the nectar of those flowers And here,
The healing mantra,
Shurim,
The mantra of radiance,
Love and prosperity Move awareness around the body with the mantra shurim,
Dropping the luminous healing nectar with every mantra Feel,
Sense or see the healing nectar at the third eye,
Shurim Pit of throat,
Shurim Right shoulder,
Shurim Right elbow,
Shurim Right wrist,
Shurim Palm of right hand,
Tip of thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger Palm of right hand,
Shurim Right elbow,
Right shoulder,
Pit of throat,
Shurim Left shoulder,
Left elbow,
Left wrist Palm of hand,
Tip of thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger Little finger Palm of left hand,
Shurim Left elbow,
Left shoulder,
Pit of throat Heart centre,
Right side of chest,
Left side of chest Back,
Navel,
Centre of pelvis,
Base of spine,
Shurim Right hip,
Right knee,
Right ankle Right knee,
Right knee,
Sole of right foot,
Shurim Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe Right knee,
Sole of foot,
Shurim Ankle joint,
Knee joint,
Hip joint Centre of pelvis Left hip,
Left knee Left ankle Sole of left foot,
Tip of big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe Fourth toe,
Little toe Sole of foot,
Shurim Hip joint,
Centre of pelvis Centre of navel,
Centre of heart,
Shurim Right side of chest and left side of chest Pit of throat,
Third eye Feel that your whole body is filled with the cooling nectar of the moon.
Your whole body vibrating with the frequency and vibration of shurim.
Sense your whole body basking in moonlight.
Floating in a pool of moonlight.
Healing,
Nurturing,
Rejuvenating.
Shimmering with the vibration of shurim throughout the whole of your body.
Focus your awareness on the centre of your throat.
See a full moon at your throat reflecting light boldly.
Focus on the centre of your throat.
And drop your awareness down to your heart centre.
Resting at your heart centre.
Inviting the intention of your heart to be received and understood.
Resting at your heart centre.
Resting at your heart centre.
Resting at your heart centre.
Resting at your heart centre.
Resting at your heart centre.
Resting at your heart centre.
Slowly start to deepen your breath.
Maybe you can hear it.
Visualise the shape of your body in the floor or on the chair or wherever it is that you are.
Picture how you are in relation to the walls and the furniture around you.
Remember where you are.
Remember that you have a body.
Gently pressing the body down.
Notice how it feels.
Thinking your way back to sitting.
Offering the fruits of our practice to all beings.
Namaste.
