Yoga Nidra: Rooted In The Earth (Live, No Music)

Rooted in the Earth is a grounding Yoga Nidra practice designed to help you reconnect with steadiness and support beneath you. Through breath, sensation, and visualization, you’ll imagine roots extending gently into the soil, releasing tension and drawing in calm strength from the ground below.

This practice invites you to rest deeply in the quiet stability of the earth: solid, soft, and unwavering. A soothing pause for times when you feel unsteady or disconnected, helping you return to a sense of balance and belonging.

Transcript

This is a practice for everyone,

For all genders,

All bodies,

All minds.

It is a practice that emphasizes choice.

I will prompt you of the choices throughout the practice.

We are going to follow a gentle and predictable flow.

First we'll settle in,

Experience some gentle accessible movement in a seated position,

And then we'll proceed with the yoga nidra practice in the position of your choice.

Typically done lying down,

But I'll remind you,

You can choose the position.

And then we'll have,

Optionally,

The different traditional parts of a yoga nidra you can choose to practice in or not.

And within each of the parts of yoga nidra,

I will also give you options.

So those are setting in intention or sankalpa,

Bringing awareness to the body and or the breath,

As well as exploring some imagery,

And then returning to grounding at the end.

So,

As always,

A reminder that it's normal to drift during this practice.

With all that said,

I would invite you,

It's an option,

To signify the beginning of this practice with an arrival gesture.

This could be putting your hand on your heart,

Bringing your hands at prayer and bowing,

Simply putting your hands in your lap,

Or whatever calls to you today.

So let's get into it.

And this will mark the beginning of our session.

I'd like to close my eyes,

But sometimes I'll keep them open most of the time.

And it is an option also for you to do what you want with your eyes,

Whether you keep them closed,

Half closed,

Or open.

So let's start with the gentle seated movement.

We'll start with some neck rolls.

We often store a lot of tension in the neck,

So we're going to start just by like swaying from side to side,

By bending the head from side to side towards our shoulders,

And eventually just letting it dangle over the shoulder,

Whichever side you start with is entirely up to you.

And if you'd like to synchronize the breath here,

You can inhale the way back up to center,

And exhale down to the other side,

To the other shoulder.

And there's always an option to synchronize the breath.

You don't need to do it.

So inhaling to the center,

Exhaling to the other side,

And letting it hang out here,

Letting the muscles and ligaments stretch out,

And back up to center,

And over to the other side.

And we'll bring it back to center,

And we'll start doing some shoulder circles here.

So a couple of options here.

We can circle our shoulders to the back,

We'll circle them forwards too,

And you can choose to circle both at the same time,

Or simply one at a time.

Sometimes if there's tightness or discomfort across the shoulder blades here in the back,

It might feel better to go one at a time.

Today I'm kind of feeling like that,

Where one at a time feels better.

So circling backwards,

Really getting into the rotation of the joint here,

The shoulder joint,

And bringing it to center,

And then we'll rotate forwards.

So choosing as you will to do one shoulder at a time,

Or both at a time.

I find that's a little bit like swimming the butterfly,

Right?

When you swim,

It can be also a big movement to move forward with both shoulders at the same time.

So absolutely an option here to go one at a time.

And that feels good.

I'm starting to feel warmed up.

So just finding your seat again,

And maybe as you inhale,

Finding a nice long stretch in the spine,

Before we hinge at the waist and stretch over to the side,

With the option of lifting your arm above your head.

Totally an option.

It can hang out here,

And this is just as good,

Because it's a nice stretch for all those muscles that go from the neck right into the shoulder.

And moving to the other side now,

Hinging at the waist.

Again,

I might be going off screen here.

Option to lift the arm above,

Or leave it down,

And enjoy that nice long stretch.

This is lengthening the stretch that we had before with the stretch of the neck.

One more time to the other side,

And I'm just going to hang out like this.

Option again to bring your arm over,

But I'm going to leave it down,

Because this stretch is feeling really delicious.

And one more time to the other side,

And bringing it back to center.

Finding a forward fold here,

And the forward folds can be tricky,

Especially if you have some lower back issues.

I've had lower back issues lately,

And so I'm just going to flip my chair this side.

You might not see what I'm doing,

But I'll describe what it is.

I'm trying to bring in my forearms,

Kind of like my elbows together,

So that when I fold forward,

I can bring my forearms on my lap,

And kind of create a support as I fold forward.

And it kind of just creates a nice support for the back here,

As the back takes the shape.

And it does create that nice stretch in the lower back,

But it also travels all the way to the back of the neck.

And by any means,

If you feel okay with lower back hinging at the hips,

And going fully down,

Laying down your torso onto your lap.

So both options here.

So let's just hang out for a little bit.

Tucking in the chin a little bit to keep the neck nice and long.

And coming back up,

Hinging at the hips always to protect the back.

And finishing our movement practice here with hand on heart,

Hand on belly,

Both one or the other,

Or whatever calls to you.

Nice big breath.

Feels good.

It does.

Simple little movements can feel really good.

And I would invite you to ground now by finding,

Noticing objects,

Colors,

Sounds in your surroundings.

And perhaps you might want to reach for some water,

Or some tea,

Or some candy.

That's also a sensation that can ground us,

Especially in this practice of rooting in the earth.

And you may want to use some headphones to keep your practice private.

And finally,

You may want to adjust the lighting in your room as we prepare to embark on our yoga nidra voyage.

And as I mentioned before,

There's complete choice here in terms of the position that you want to be in for the practice of yoga nidra.

You can be in a chair sitting,

You can be sitting on a yoga mat on the floor,

You can be sitting in an armchair,

You can be lying down on a yoga mat on the floor,

Lying down in your bed.

You can even be standing.

And feel free to step away at any time.

And we'll start with an option here to set an intention or sankalpa.

It's a short supportive phrase that you repeat inwardly to yourself three times.

I'm going to give you some examples,

And you may choose to find a sentence of your choice.

It could be something like,

I am safe.

Or I choose rest.

Or something that is entirely meaningful to you.

Repeating inwardly three times.

Like planting a seed in the soil.

And if our sankalpa is set,

We can move on with the rotation of consciousness,

Which is a body scan.

And again,

Here I will remind you to,

You can move,

You can open your eyes,

You can pause if that feels better.

If you feel spaced out or disconnected,

Just press your feet,

Your fingers into the ground.

Look around the room,

Come back.

So I will guide your awareness through different parts of the body.

Simply notice each part as I name it,

Without moving,

Or moving,

Of course.

And if your mind wanders,

Gently bring it back to the body.

And it should be fairly easy to do so with this,

Because I will name the body and its parts.

Beginning with the hands.

Sensing the weight of the palms and the fingers.

Starting with the right hand.

Sensing the weight of your hand.

Does it meet the ground?

Is it resting on your lap?

Is it dangling in space?

Is it soft or heavy?

Feeling your right thumb,

Your index finger,

Your middle finger,

Your ring finger,

And your little finger.

The palm,

The back of the hand,

The wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit.

Now bringing your awareness to the left hand.

Sensing the weight of that hand.

Does it meet the ground?

Is it resting on your lap?

Is it dangling?

Soft and heavy.

Feeling your left thumb,

Your index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

The palm,

The back of the hand,

The wrist,

The forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit.

Now moving your awareness to the right foot.

Does it meet the ground?

Is it resting on the floor?

Feeling your right foot now.

Soft and heavy.

Each of the toes,

The sole of the foot,

The top of the foot,

The ankle,

The calf,

The knee,

Thigh,

Hip.

Moving your awareness to your left foot now.

Does it meet the ground?

Is it resting on the floor?

And feeling it,

The left foot,

Soft and heavy.

Each of the toes,

The sole,

The top of the foot,

Ankle,

Calf,

Knee,

Thigh,

Hip.

Bringing your awareness up to your face,

The forehead,

The eyes,

Cheeks,

Ears,

Nose,

Lips,

Jaw,

Chin,

Throat,

Neck,

Back of the head.

Now the torso,

Chest,

Heart,

Stomach,

Abdomen,

Lower back,

Upper back,

The entire spine.

And finally,

Bringing awareness to the entire body,

Feeling it as a whole.

The weight of your body,

The sensations,

The subtle energy.

Breathing into the entire body,

Resting fully in this awareness.

Allow yourself to rest here,

Fully relaxed and aware.

You may stay here,

Or you may continue with the next stage of Yoga Nidra.

Our next stage is an awareness of the breath and the body.

I'm always giving you a choice to focus on your breath or the sensations of your body.

So gently bringing awareness to your breath,

Noticing its natural rhythm.

The quiet ebb and flow that's always there.

And if focusing on the breath doesn't feel right today,

You might choose another anchor.

Maybe it's external,

A sound nearby,

The feeling of warmth on your skin,

Or another sensation like that.

Or simply the feeling or sensation of contact between your body and the ground.

Allowing yourself to arrive right here,

In this moment.

Now begin to imagine that with every exhale or sensation,

Your body settles a little more.

The weight of your entire being,

The heels,

The legs,

The hips,

The back,

The shoulders.

Thinking gently into the surface beneath,

No matter what your position is.

Feeling yourself supported completely.

Right now there's nothing that you need to hold up or hold on to.

And with each inhale or sensation,

Drawing in the quiet steadiness of the earth beneath you.

A strength that is calm and unwavering.

And with each exhale or sensation,

Letting go of anything that you've been carrying.

Whether that's tension,

Effort,

Expectation.

Allowing it to dissolve downward into the ground.

The ground knows to hold it all.

Begin to sense your connection with the earth deepening.

Imagine the soft roots extending from the soles of your feet,

From the base of your spine,

Spreading through the soil,

Reaching outward and downward.

Intertwining with the roots of trees and plants.

Finding their place in the web of life below.

These roots don't pull or grasp,

They simply rest and receive.

The earth offers its quiet strength freely,

It asks nothing in return.

With every breath or with every sensation,

Feeling the stability rising up through those roots.

A slow steady current of grounded energy moving through your legs,

Your hips,

Your spine,

Into the heart center and all the way to the crown.

And with every breath out or sensation,

Feel release.

Like the earth gently drawing away what you no longer need.

Turning heaviness into nourishment.

Notice how this grounded energy feels within you.

It's solid yet soft.

Strong yet spacious.

You are both grounded and alive.

Rooted and free.

Inhaling or sensing steadiness.

Exhaling or sensing release.

Inhaling or sensing belonging.

Exhaling or sensing ease.

Let yourself rest in this rhythm.

With the breath flowing or the sensations arising,

Your body supported and the earth beneath you constant and kind.

And as we continue with the guided visualization part of the practice,

Begin to imagine the roots extending from your body into the soil beneath you.

These roots grow naturally from wherever you meet the ground.

Wherever there is contact,

Connection or weight.

There's no need to force or control their direction.

They know where to go and how to find their place.

Feel these roots beginning to expand.

Beginning to weave lightly and gently through the earth and the layers of earth beneath.

Sliding into cool soil.

Brushing against stones and threads of old roots.

Finding small pockets of air and moisture.

Following their own natural path downward.

Each root moves with ease.

Not in a rush,

Not straining.

Just quietly reaching with a desire to belong.

With every inhale or sensation subtly rising from the soil like energy.

A calm grounded current flowing upward through the roots.

Into your feet,

Your legs,

Your hips,

Your spine.

It's a steady nourishment of quiet supportive life.

With every exhale or sensation,

Let whatever feels heavy or restless move downward.

Down through the roots,

Deep into the soil.

Imagine the earth receiving it all without judgment.

Absorbing and transforming it into something new.

The earth beneath you is steady,

Dependable and alive.

Feel its weight,

Its warmth.

The quiet hum of what's always been there.

The hum of life.

You're part of that hum.

Your body and breath,

The sensations of your body are part of the same rhythm.

The same pulse that moves through trees,

Rivers,

Stones and stars.

With each inhale or sensation drawing instability,

Belonging,

Renewal.

With each exhale or sensation releasing what's ready to soften and go.

There's nothing to hold.

Nothing to fix or control.

Simply allow the earth to hold you.

Each breath deepens the connection.

Each sensation supports the body.

Earth supporting mind and body.

Both working together to remind you that you belong here.

Sensing this quiet balance,

Stay here for a few moments.

Rooted,

Supported,

Safe and whole.

Let the rhythm of earth move through you.

That conversation without words.

And when you're ready,

Beginning to bring your awareness back to the surface beneath you.

The solid,

Steady ground that's holding you all along.

Notice the quiet support.

How it meets you without effort or expectation.

Feel the weight and the warmth of your body.

The breath or sensations moving softly through your chest.

Even as your awareness rises to the surface,

A part of you remains rooted.

Connected to the deep steadiness below.

Sense your breath.

Imagine the energy of the earth gently settling through your body.

Leaving balance and ease.

Sense your roots.

They're still there.

They're not something that you have to visualize,

But something that you can feel.

The natural belonging between you and the earth.

And when you're ready,

Begin to deepen the breath.

Maybe adding a small movement.

A soft wiggle of the toes or fingers.

A gentle roll of the head or shoulders.

Let the energy return slowly.

Like a light filtering through the trees.

And if you had your eyes closed,

You may open them.

And take a moment to notice the space around you.

Take in the air,

The light,

The breath.

The sounds.

Know that the steadiness of earth remains within you.

It's a quiet strength you can return to anytime when you need grounding.

Carry the sense of rooted calm into the rest of your day.

And if anything felt unsettling,

Please take time to ground.

To journal or to reach out to a trusted person.

And I thank you for taking time to take care of yourself today.

Namaste.