Yoga Nidra: Meet Your Pelvis

This Nidra is about the pelvis, womb space, sacral chakra, creativity, and flow. Move through your Koshas (body layers) starting with a thorough body scan, followed by breath work in the deep pelvic bowl. While this Nidra is suitable for all bodies and experience levels, it will be extra potent in times of winter, the first days of your period, and any time you need to restore and rest deeply. The initial relaxation begins at 3:46. The practice begins at 6:33
Hope you enjoy it!

Transcript

Hey,

It's Sydney and welcome to another Yoga Nidra inspired guided meditation.

This particular practice is intended to bring awareness and suppleness to our pelvic bowl and womb space.

When we balance the pelvis,

We balance our lives.

Regardless of whether or not you have a womb or a uterus,

The womb space is the energetic home of our innate creativity and where our deep desires live until we birth them into the world.

The physical location of the pelvic bowl makes the hip bones and the organs who live there our center and in my opinion,

The best place to start the recalibration of our nervous system.

Womb space energy is all about beginning at the center and expanding outward,

Internal to external.

While this practice can be used anytime you need to bring conscious rest to your nervous system,

It's especially potent if practiced during the first few days of your period,

Your winter season,

Or anytime your body is craving more ease,

Flow,

And deep rest.

One really amazing thing about our bodies is that the level of tension and tone in your muscles communicates to your nervous system whether or not you feel safety.

That's exactly what you're thinking it is.

More tension in the body says to my brain that there's danger and I have to be ready to react to that danger.

The biohack here is that when we are consciously bringing our body into a state of softness and relaxation,

We are telling our nervous system that we are safe and from safety is where we can create.

You see how I link that all together?

Womb space,

Creativity,

Safety,

Creativity.

That's right.

You need to feel safe to create.

Therefore,

You need to feel relaxed and still and soft to heal.

Okay,

Today's practice is going to be simple.

We're going to do a body scan and then explore how we breathe into our pelvic bowl,

How the flow of breath is traveling through us.

Our practice will serve as a map to help us explore the emotional and physical terrain of whatever might be ready to leave our pelvic core.

Anything from an awareness of a lack of awareness to new ideas or even heavy emotions and memories can live in our womb space.

We will do our best here to remain curious and compassionate witnesses to whatever bubbles up to the surface.

Catch and release.

That said,

If anything starts coming to the surface with you and you feel compelled to stop and have a journal,

To open your eyes and take some deep breaths,

You are the driver here.

Absolutely do what you need to feel grounded and calm.

Find your breath,

Open your eyes,

And come back to the present moment.

Always ensure that your body is in a comfortable position,

Whether that is lying down on the floor in savasana,

Sitting upright in a chair,

Your legs up the wall.

The key is comfort.

Once you've reached maximum comfort,

Do a couple more adjustments so that we can allow our bodies to settle into stillness.

The stillness is where the magic is going to happen.

Find your breath now.

Watch as your chest expands as you inhale and slowly contracts back down with gravity as you exhale.

As you inhale again,

Notice where the breath is feeling blocked as it travels from head to toe in your body.

Your exhales will bring a sense of softening and ease to those blockages.

Inhale,

Same idea,

Find the blockages and soften them.

For a moment,

I'm going to ask you to notice your heartbeat.

Notice the energetic center of your chest,

Where your heart lives.

The heart holds the emotional keys to finding softness within our pelvis,

So stay with me.

As a part of the yoga nidra practice,

We use something called the sankalpa,

Which is essentially a heart's deep desire,

The medicine that you need to overwrite whatever limiting beliefs may exist in your body and in your mind.

If you have a sankalpa,

Repeat that sankalpa a few times now.

If you need inspiration for one,

Something appropriate for this particular meditation would be,

I am deserving of deep rest.

I am safe to create.

I am loved.

Whatever it is,

We place it in the present tense,

So an I am followed by your deepest desires.

Once you've found your I am statement sankalpa,

Repeat it three times now.

I am.

I am.

I am.

Letting the vibration of those words settle back into your body,

Into your heart.

Take a few more deep breaths.

The practice of yoga nidra begins now.

We begin with our body scan,

Traveling our awareness around the body quick enough so that we don't attach to any place in particular.

I name a point,

You drop your awareness,

And we move on.

It's fast so that we don't get hung up.

Follow along.

Bring your awareness to your right hand thumb.

Imagine your right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Right ring finger,

Pinky finger,

Palm of your hand,

Back of the right hand.

Bring your awareness to your wrist,

Your right forearm,

Right elbow,

Right upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Right underarm,

Right side of the rib cage,

Your right lung,

Your right waistline,

Your right waistline,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

Right lower leg,

Right ankle.

Your awareness goes to the top of your right foot,

The sole of your right foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Baby toe.

Now hold the entire right side of your body in your awareness.

The whole right side is in your awareness.

Bring awareness to your left hand,

The left thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

The palm of your left hand,

The back of your left hand,

Left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Awareness of the left shoulder,

Left underarm,

Left side of the rib cage,

And left lung.

The left waistline,

Left thigh,

Kneecap,

Shin,

Left ankle,

Top of the left foot,

Sole of the left foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Baby toe.

Shower the entire left side of your body with your awareness.

The whole left side of your body is in awareness.

Now we will move from the front of the body to the back of the body,

Moving from right to left at a quicker pace.

Feel the sole of your right foot,

Sole of your left foot,

The soles of both feet together,

The back of your right heel,

The back of your left heel,

Both heels together,

Right calf,

Left calf,

Both calves together.

Feel in your awareness the back of your right knee,

The left knee,

Backs of both knees together.

Right hamstring,

Left hamstring,

Both sets of hamstrings.

Feel the right buttocks,

The left buttocks,

Both sides of your buttocks.

Back of your pelvis,

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back.

Feel your right shoulder blade,

Your left shoulder blade,

Both shoulder blades together.

Back of your right arm,

Left arm,

Both arms together.

Feel your neck,

The back of your head,

The crown of your head.

Now feel your entire body in your awareness,

The whole body in your awareness.

Drop your awareness onto your forehead,

Your right eyebrow,

Your left eyebrow,

Both brows together.

The center of your brow,

Right eyelid,

Left eyelid,

Both eyelids together.

Right eyeball,

Left eyeball,

Both eyes together.

Feel your right nostril,

Feel your left nostril,

Feel both nostrils together.

The bridge of your nose,

Bring your awareness to the tip of your nose,

Your whole nose in your awareness.

Drop your awareness onto your upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both of your lips.

Bring your awareness to your chin,

Feel the right side of your jaw,

The left side of your jaw.

Feel both sides of your jaw together.

Now feel your whole face,

Your whole face in your awareness.

Notice the right side of your head,

Notice the left side of your head.

Now feel both sides of your head together.

Bring your awareness to the right side of your throat,

The left side of your throat.

Feel your whole throat.

Bring your awareness to your whole neck.

Bring your awareness to your neck and your throat as one piece.

Feel your right collarbone,

Your left collarbone,

Both collarbones together.

Feel the right side of your chest,

The left side of your chest,

Both sides of your chest together.

Now bring your awareness to the area of your abdomen,

From your ribs to your belly button,

To your low belly and your pelvis.

Bring your awareness to the perineum,

Feel the bowl of your pelvis.

Feel both thighs,

Both kneecaps,

Both shins,

Both ankles,

Tops of both your feet.

Bring your awareness to your right leg from your toes to your hip.

Feel your left leg from your toes to your hip.

Feel the entirety of both your legs together.

Feel your right arm from your fingertips to your shoulder,

Your left arm from fingertips to shoulder.

Feel both arms together.

Keep your arms and legs within your awareness,

Now add your entire torso and your head to your feeling experience.

Sense your entire body.

Bring your whole body into your awareness.

Hold your body in your compassionate and curious awareness.

Take a few moments and allow for any new or familiar sensations to arise and wash over you.

Remembering that whatever you're experiencing in your body right now is exactly what you need to feel.

Use your breath to stay in it.

It's time to explore the energetic layer of our pelvis.

Scan for any tingling or pulsing or stagnation,

Blocks or numbness and make note of where it was without attaching meaning to it.

Let it exist.

Let's find our breath now and as you inhale,

Energetically allow that breath to sink into your belly.

Breathing deeply and fully and allowing the belly to soften enough so that it rises with the inhales and falls with the exhales.

Gently expanding and softening as we breathe.

Noticing the ribs and the chest spreading out in a three-dimensional way.

As you're breathing,

Allow for the inhale to press into the bowl at the bottom of the bowl of your pelvis.

With the inhale,

Imagine a balloon expanding and stretching and melting any pelvic tension and exhale allowing the balloon to deflate and soften.

Inhale brings expansion,

Exhale brings softening of the pelvic bowl.

Play with this breath for two to three more rounds,

Observing the presence and release of any sensations.

Let's play with sending our breath to all the angles of our pelvic center.

Imagine the numbers of a clock wrapping around your hip bones.

Twelve o'clock is at the top and belly side of your pelvis,

Right on top of your pubic bone.

Six o'clock is at your tailbone or your coccyx.

I invite you to explore sending one full breath cycle,

Inhale and exhale,

Into each hour on the clock.

I'll walk you through a few.

Place your energy and breath and force into the twelve o'clock zone on the inhale.

Fill up only the front of your pelvis and exhale.

Allow everything to soften back to neutral.

Next,

Send your breath out to the one o'clock position.

Inhale to one,

Exhale from one.

We'll continue on like this,

Making a mental note of any sensations or lack of sensations that are coming up for us.

Inhale into two,

Mapping and expanding,

Opening and exhale,

Softening the two o'clock position of our pelvis.

Inhale three o'clock,

Exhaling,

Allowing any stickiness to melt away.

Inhale four o'clock,

Exhale four o'clock.

Inhale to five o'clock,

Releasing tension that might be creeping into the rest of your body,

Softening the jaw,

The neck,

And exhale.

Six o'clock,

Deep breath into the back side of the pelvis,

Expanding into any tensions around the tailbone or sphincters,

Into your perineum,

Expanding into the vulva,

The anus,

Allowing the exhale to bring us back to a soft neutral.

Seven o'clock,

Inhale,

Pushing out into the seven o'clock position of our pelvic clock and exhale.

Eight o'clock,

Melts the tension ballooning into any sticky corners,

Exhale,

Let's everything soften back down.

Moving into the nine o'clock position,

Moving our balloon into the left side of the pelvis,

Inflating,

Softening,

And letting it go on the exhale.

Inhale for 10 o'clock,

Letting it go for 10 o'clock.

Exhale for 11 o'clock,

Ballooning,

Softening,

Letting go of any remaining tension,

And letting it all go.

Finally,

We're back home at our 12 o'clock pubic bone position,

Inhale,

Expand,

And exhale,

Just soften,

Relax all those tissues back into a neutral position.

Allow for one last breath to expand the entire pelvis,

Expanding through all 12 hours of your clock and letting everything soften back to neutral.

After your breath,

Return to watching your chest rise and fall.

We will now move into the phase of our yoga nidra practice where we explore different sensations in the body.

I invite you to imagine your bones becoming heavy as lead.

How does it feel to embody heaviness,

Letting your bones sink back into the earth where we come from?

Become heaviness,

Become heaviness,

Let the sensations of heaviness go and become lightness.

Allow for the sensations of being as light as air,

Embody lightness,

Embody lightness.

Coming back to neutral now,

Watching your breath.

One more pairing of sensations,

Embody stagnation.

How does your body respond to the sensations of stagnation?

What do you notice?

What do you feel?

Now from stagnation,

Moving through neutral,

Letting it go,

And continuing onwards into the state of flow,

Like a river.

How does flow resonate in your body?

How does the word flow make you feel in your tissues?

Come back to a neutral sensation.

Your bones are evenly hung in your body.

You feel grounded,

You can feel the earth under you.

Focus again on your heartbeat.

Bring yourself back to your heart center and your pelvic center.

Hold your awareness on your heart and your pelvis at the same time.

This next part of our yoga nidra meditation,

We're going to flick through a number of different images.

Please imagine yourself in a room,

Watching a screen,

Like an old movie playing or real,

A bunch of different images,

And let them flash before you.

You can make note of how these images make you feel,

Or ideas that come up,

Or sensations that arise,

But don't hang on to anything.

As soon as the image is named,

Let it go.

All right,

Turn on your movie camera and watch on the screen.

Imagine an image of an ocean,

A calm ocean.

Next see the waves splashing on the shore,

A stormy sky,

A river flowing,

A quiet pond,

A blue crystal,

Birds flying in the sky,

Lava flowing into the ocean,

A boat.

See a boat floating on the ocean.

See a boat floating on the ocean.

See the movement of the boat floating on the ocean.

Now imagine yourself becoming a part of the waves,

A part of the tide,

Feeling a sense of flow and ease.

Water moves where it needs to move,

And so do you,

Allowing yourself to be rocked by the water around you,

Supported by the water around you.

Stay in this sensation of flotation for a while.

Allow yourself to be held in the sensations of floating,

Being held by the seas around you.

I'll leave you here for a moment or two,

And my voice will bring you back into awareness.

Releasing any further thoughts or images,

Find yourself with just the sensations of floating.

Repeat your sankalpa here three times.

I am,

I am,

I am.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Find your breath,

And as you begin to crave deeper inhales,

Allow yourself that depth,

Shifting and rolling your joints as needed.

Begin to bring yourself back to the surface of consciousness,

Remembering anything you are meant to remember and forgetting everything you are meant to forget.

Allow yourself to sit for a few moments in today's practice,

Allowing our work to integrate itself into your cells,

Remembering to soften through your jaw,

Through your heart,

And through your pelvis.

This is an excellent time to set an intention for the rest of the day,

The rest of your season,

Your cycle.

Maybe the intention is to remember your sankalpa when you're outside of practice.

Thank you for being here and for your commitment to conscious rest.

I hope you've enjoyed our pelvic floor yoga nidra.

Haryam tatsat is the traditional closing for a yoga nidra practice,

Which translates into absolute supreme truth,

And I always like to say that the absolute supreme truth resides deep down in your heart,

In your womb space.

You know everything you need to know,

And trust in yourself.

Thank you,

And have a good day.

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