A Halloween Yoga Nidra

This Halloween yoga nidra will guide you through a breath practice, rotation of consciousness and visualization based on your shadow side. In this practice of love, we allow space for our darkness to come to light and to truly feel and release it.

Transcript

So you can begin by lying down on your back,

Putting a bolster underneath the knees,

A blanket,

Something soft underneath the head.

Getting comfortable covering yourself with a blanket to keep the body warm.

And as you lie down,

Beginning to breathe through the nose,

Inhaling and then exhaling out of the mouth with a deep sigh.

Adjusting yourself in whatever way you need to feel loved,

Cozy,

Warm and safe in this practice.

This is a special edition yoga nidra for Halloween,

All Hallows Eve.

And this practice is really about allowing our darkness to shine.

It's allowing our weirdness to have a space.

And so I invite you as you settle in here to begin by just allowing whatever part of you was weird today or awkward or felt weird or awkward.

Allowing those memories to bubble up maybe from today or maybe from this week,

This month,

This year.

Just allowing those memories of the weirdness or times which you think or say to yourself even I'm crazy.

Knowing that this practice is a place for you.

Just letting that weirdness have a home.

As you begin to breathe,

Recognizing that the breath moves and travels through all kinds of people,

Animals,

Plants.

And the more we can recognize that we are all connected through this breath,

The less weird we feel.

Just starting to let your inhales and exhales be longer.

Let's take another deep breath in through the nose,

Out through the mouth,

Sighing out any tension in the body.

Letting your body settle onto the mat,

Allowing yourself to be hugged down,

Letting your bones be soft.

As we continue our practice here,

I would like you to imagine what you would do in the darkness that you wouldn't do in the light.

What shadows are hiding in your life that you run from?

Where can you walk towards them,

Embrace them,

Love them?

Are there elements of your life that you are fearful of showing?

Allowing these feelings to be here.

This is a practice where I encourage you to feel,

To feel however you do when you think of your shadows,

Your shadow side.

Allow yourself to feel shame or guilt.

Allow yourself to feel anger or fear.

And then allow those feelings to move through you with the breath,

To leave the body because they know they've been seen and that it's okay now to dissolve.

We're human,

We're here to be human.

Being human means to feel.

The more we allow and make space for all of our emotions,

For all of our feelings,

The quicker they can move through and we can return to lightness.

But sorrow carves the way for joy.

And what would we know without knowing the other?

Just knowing this practice is a place for you.

And so we'll begin with a breath practice to begin to feel on an energetic level,

To begin to see the ways in which our cells unite and vibrate.

So to do this breath,

It's called the bumblebee breath and you just take your hands,

Floating them up to the head and covering the eyes,

Making this an internal focus.

This act of covering the eyes brings you into yourself.

You can take your inner gaze to the point between the eyebrows and in about an inch.

And then you can take your thumbs and plug your ears,

Allowing this to become very,

Very dedicated.

Leave enough space so you can just hear my voice and together we'll take three bumblebee breaths.

As you hum,

I encourage you to keep your lips closed,

But play with your teeth opening.

Look at this like a mad science experiment.

See if you can hit a vibration that reverberates through the entire body with the resonance that you feel in each cell.

So inhaling with me for three breaths.

And exhaling with me for three breaths.

Good.

Just allow your hands to float down by your sides,

Palms face up.

Be still.

Feeling the resonance from that vibration pour down like honey from the center of the head all the way down to the fingertips and the toes.

As you feel the harmony among all your cells as they vibrate together in unison.

How can that not be true for what is outside of you?

The microcosm and the macrocosm.

I think we're really here to learn to work with our microcosm,

Our bodies,

Our cells,

Our energetic makeup to find a place of harmony that can then reflect in the macrocosm.

And the more harmonious we can get to,

The more harmonious the world will be.

This is a truth.

So just allowing yourself to feel the cells.

And then you begin as you start to observe or try to observe yourself in harmony,

Which isn't always the truth.

You begin to feel into anywhere where you might have a blockage,

Where your cells are not in harmony.

Starting to feel into tension in the body,

A place that has pain or discomfort.

Even doing a heat sensor in your mind,

Geothermal heat sensor map going over your body to see where things aren't flowing well,

To see where the red spots are or black spots are.

And on this All Hallows Eve,

We bring our darkness to light by recognizing these spots in the body that are dark.

We automatically make way for the light to enter.

Once you know where the darkness is,

Can it scare you anymore?

Once you have called the darkness by name,

Is there anything left to be fearful of?

Or can you sit in the dark and alchemize that darkness with space and love and light?

And so as you begin to enter a deeper state of relaxation,

We will move through a rotation of consciousness in the body,

Moving from body part to body part,

As I name it,

With your awareness.

Typically we bring a sense of healing light to each body part,

But today I invite you to feel into the true feeling at each place as I name it.

I invite you to allow space for darkness,

To observe it as the witness from afar and to be interested,

To be curious as we move through the body,

What really lives in your hip?

What really lives in your index finger?

That lower back pain that you've had,

What really lives there?

Is it fear?

The shoulder injury you've been working with,

Is it anger?

And as we move through the parts,

Allow your body's intuition to whisper to you the truth as we tell our bodies that we're here to face the darkness if there is some.

We'll start right at the crown of the head,

Feeling into the crown of the head,

This place of surrender,

Feeling into anything that lives here.

And then we'll move to the point between the eyebrows and in about an inch,

The third eye,

Feeling space between the ears.

And then going to the physical point between the eyebrows,

Bringing your gaze there,

Seeing if there's headaches,

Migraines,

Feeling into why,

Letting the body whisper to you what truly lives there.

Move to the right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Feeling both eyes resting in their sockets,

Feeling into any eye disorders,

Diseases,

Dis-ease,

And asking why,

What lives here?

Shame?

Guilt?

Allowing your body to tell you.

As we move to the right ear,

Feeling the whole eardrum,

The left ear,

The right nostril,

The left nostril in both nasal passages,

Feeling the top lip,

The teeth and the tongue,

And the lower lip.

Feeling the right jaw,

The left jaw,

Chin,

And the throat.

Feeling into the throat and the ability or inability to use our voice,

Observing our throat chakra.

Is it open?

Is it too open?

What lives here?

Coming down to the pit of the throat and moving to the right shoulder,

Going down the arm to the elbow,

And coming down to the wrist.

Is there any darkness here?

Feeling the right thumb,

The index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And little finger,

The back of the hand,

The palm of the hand,

The wrist,

Elbow,

Shoulder,

Back to the pit of the throat,

Moving to the left shoulder,

Left elbow,

Left wrist,

The left thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And little finger,

Back of the hand,

Palm of the hand,

Left wrist,

Elbow,

Shoulder,

Back to the pit of the throat,

Clearing anything that needs to be cleared here,

If it's asking to be cleared and allowing space for that.

And then moving down to the center of the chest,

The right side of the chest,

Center of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

And then feeling into the whole heart center,

Feeling the heart,

The physical heart pumping blood,

Working so hard,

But so effortlessly.

And then feeling into the energetic heart,

Is there harmony,

Peace,

Is there pain or fear?

Moving to the solar plexus,

Our gut,

What do we know we need to look at?

What do we know we're ignoring?

Can we just make space for it here in this cavity of our torso?

Can we have some space for our shadow to be here?

Moving to our belly button and observing all of our organs,

Our intestines,

Bladder,

Kidneys,

Liver,

Pancreas,

Feeling them functioning as they are.

Where's the blockage?

What's being stored here?

Moving to the pelvic bone,

The anal passage and feeling into all our sexual organs,

Feeling into our womb center and our root chakra.

Is there anything here?

How can we love ourselves more in this moment of truth and vulnerability?

And then we move to the right hip,

Right knee,

Right ankle,

The right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and baby toe.

When do we really spend time asking our toes what we're holding there?

Is there anything here in the foot?

The top of the foot,

The sole of the foot?

The ankle,

Knee,

Hip,

Groin,

Moving through the right groin over to the left groin and the left hip.

What is here that calls our attention?

Moving to the left knee,

Left ankle,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and baby toe.

Top of the foot,

Sole of the foot,

Ankle,

Knee,

Hip and groin and then coming to rest in the buttocks,

The tailbone,

Moving up the tailbone,

The spine,

One vertebrae at a time.

Moving past the lower back,

If there is lower back pain,

Asking what lives here?

Starting with a flashlight to see all the shadows and then softening,

Allowing and creating space all the way up the spine,

Moving up past the middle back,

Moving past the shoulder blades all the way up to the base of the neck.

Moving back to the head and feeling into the brain now,

Feeling the right brain,

The left brain,

Both sides of the brain in unison,

Feeling the brain connected to the spinal cord,

Feeling the central nervous system and observing your own nervous system.

How is it functioning?

Is there space for us to breathe into this functioning now?

And then following the spine up,

Coming to rest somewhere underneath the brain in the very center of the head,

Filling into the pineal gland,

Feeling the endocrine system.

And asking here,

Asking ourselves to awaken to our shadow side,

To embrace it,

Offering the option that maybe it's not exactly as bad as we think when we are all working through our shadows.

Maybe it's perfect for the lessons we need.

Maybe if we just soften,

Provide some light,

Have a conversation with our darkness,

Maybe there's space for it.

Maybe we can take the lessons and move forward.

So as we turn the lamp on here in the very center of the head,

We see this light glowing,

Reaching out to the entire body,

Reaching out to our energetic field surrounding our body,

Bringing light to all.

And we enter a visualization phase,

Feeling our feet on a forest floor,

Feeling moss,

Looking around and noticing that it is dark.

There's a full moon in the sky and the moon is shining light on a path through the forest.

Although fear arises,

We begin to follow.

With each step,

We begin to notice that we are safe.

We are here.

We walk through the forest following this path.

And we come to a clearing with just a sacred grove of cedar trees in a circle,

Nine trees,

Large trees,

Huge trees.

In this sacred grove,

We notice there are shapes of humans around a fire.

As we observe,

We see the humans in costume,

Werewolves and witches,

Ghosts and goblins.

We enter the circle.

There's a space formed for us.

And we begin to dance.

Dancing around the fire gleefully,

Joyfully,

Finding so much joy in this dark night of the year.

Dancing madly,

The pace quickens.

The music is louder.

The wolf to your right howls at the moon and everyone joins in howling,

Dancing ferociously,

Feeling,

Letting any pent up emotions or feelings,

Rage or anger or ecstatic joy,

Letting it all be here right now.

And then all of a sudden,

The dancing stops.

Everyone forms a circle,

Grabbing each other's hands,

Staring into the fire.

As you look down,

You see bare toes,

Bare legs,

Your bare stomach.

You realize that you are naked.

No costume.

You came as you.

You look up at the humans around you in costume and you begin to talk and tell them your story.

You tell them your shadows.

One by one,

Masks start to come off.

The humans around you begin to bear their own vulnerable naked selves.

They begin to bear their own stories.

They begin to shed masks and layers that they have been putting on themselves for years to cover these shadows that they felt was wrong until you started to speak yours.

And one by one,

You all begin to shake your stories into the fire,

Observing them,

Owning them,

Taking accountability for them.

But seeing that you are separate from that story and releasing any guilt,

Shame,

Fear,

Anger,

Rage,

Everything starts being shook into the fire.

The fire grows and grows and grows.

And all of a sudden,

It envelops everything in its light,

Its beautiful,

Warm light.

The humans dissolve and disappear and you are left standing alone right where the fire was.

For you have gone through the fire and survived.

You sit down in the midst of this sacred grove of trees.

The trees begin to lean in protecting you,

Guiding you.

And you sit for a moment here,

Allowing any internal wisdom to come from that divine source right within you from no one but you.

You listen to the whisper now.

You take that inner wisdom.

You imprint it in your spine.

Right at the base of the spine,

Letting the words fall any way that you see it,

All the way up the spine,

Imprinting in the nervous system and the cells.

And then you lay on your back in the midst of these trees and give thanks as you return to your body laying right here,

Right now,

Coming back to your human body.

Starting to wiggle fingers and toes and invite some movement into the body as you allow that wisdom to ripple out through each sacred movement.

Maybe taking a stretch with arms overhead.

Taking each knee and bending it,

Bringing it into the chest and rocking side to side.

Giving yourself a massage here in the lower back.

You begin to make your way onto your side,

Whichever side feels good to you.

Coming to rest in the fetal position.

Taking one more moment of rest,

Allowing space for your darkness and feeling cradled by the earth mother,

Feeling loved by the gravity that's holding you here for you belong.

You belong.

You're welcome to stay here as long as you need.

When you're ready,

You can rise to your seat.

Find a spot of reverence,

Whether that's with your hands over your heart or in front of your heart in a prayer like position.

And take a deep bow to the greatest teacher of all time,

Yourself.

Thank you.

Reviews

Magical and scary, yet freeing and wondrous! Thank you for the gentle guidance into the darkness where my Light came to shine.

Beautiful
Very grateful for this on Hallows night🙏

A really lovely yoga nidra. So relaxing.

Perfect for Samhain ceremony, thank you!

Loved this celebration of the dark while honoring the light 💫 thank you for your guidance 🙏 Happy Halloween!

Very helpful in release of that we may not see hidden. ✌️❤️

Deeply moving and clearing. Gratitude to you for this healing practice! 🙏🦋

Excellent journey that unlocks and releases a lot of tension and frees up the souls as well as our shadow selves

Loved goth is. Perfect for a Halloween ritual

Thanks, and have a blessed Samhain.

Beautiful 😍 I think often loose concentration with guided imagery but I loved this one. The campfire was gorgeous. Thank you and Happy Halloween 🙏🏻💕

Very nice reminder & way to celebrate ourselves & Halloween! 🎃

Beautifully led- thank you 🙏

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻When I heard you say to wiggle my fingers and toes, I could not believe it was already the end! I wanted more...Will do this again🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

An amazing body scan and yoga Nidra guidance. Thank you 🙏

This has been one of my favorites so far.

💜A gentle yoga nidra, encouraging us to accept all parts of ourselves. I found this very relaxing and peaceful, thank you🙏

Wow! Wonderful meditation...pure bliss :) May your journey bring you a sense of calm and gratitude as you continue to share your knowledge and inspire others. Namaste 🙏🏽😊