Winter Season Yoga Nidra

This Yoga Nidra practice is designed for the winter season. Just like in nature, our human body requires more energy to engage in everyday activities and we have a natural tendency to go inward & cocoon. This 20-minute session will help you embrace this beautiful grounding energy and assist you in finding stillness. We'll rotate consciousness around the body, invite deep breathing and explore our inner wintery landscape. Enjoy!

Transcript

Welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice designed for the winter season.

Just like in nature,

Our human body requires more energy to engage in everyday activities,

We have a natural tendency to go inward and cocoon.

This Yoga Nidra practice will help you embrace this beautiful turning inward of energy and assist you in finding stillness.

In Yoga Nidra we draw awareness to doing one thing at a time,

And so with the help of my voice you can guide your awareness to one body part at a time.

Know that for the rest of our time together,

Nothing is expected of you.

You don't have to do this well.

There is nowhere to go,

No one to assist,

There is nothing to do,

So just let yourself be and enjoy this time of stillness.

Make yourself comfortable and warm by covering yourself with a blanket and tucking the body in.

Use a pillow for under the head and one for under the knees.

It might be nice to support the hands and have an eye bag resting on the closed eyelids.

Firstly,

Notice the shape of your body and the ease and comfort with which it lays on the mat.

Let the feet and knees flop out to the sides and feel the center of the sacrum resting on the mat.

Notice the slight curve of your lower spine and how your ribs are expanding into the mat below.

Notice the point of contact between the mat and the back body.

Notice where you can feel the mat and where you can't.

Make sure that the chin drops down to the chest gently.

This will make sure that your attention goes inward and the back of the neck and the head get a chance to release any built up tension.

The shoulder blades are not pulled together and instead are dropping down and away from each other,

Relaxing into the earth beneath you.

The arms resting away from the sides of the body so the ribs get a chance to open up more and more with each inhale.

Gather your mental energy away from the forehead and temples and drop it back into the center of the skull.

Now rest in the middle of your mind.

Whenever you're ready we'll start the rotation of consciousness around the body.

Starting in the mouth,

Shift your awareness to the tongue,

Root of tongue,

Teeth,

Gums,

Bottom of mouth,

Roof of mouth,

Right inside of mouth,

Left inside of mouth,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Points of contact between the lips,

The whole mouth,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Nose,

Tip of nose,

Sinuses,

Forehead,

Center of forehead,

Right ear,

Right earlobe,

Center of forehead,

Left ear,

Left earlobe,

Center of head,

Back of skull,

Inside of head,

Center of forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Right eye socket,

Left eye socket,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right side of the head,

Back of the head,

Left side of the head,

The entire head,

Back of neck,

Troth,

Pits of troth,

Collarbones,

Right shoulder,

Right upper arm,

Elbow,

Right lower arm,

Wrist,

Top of hand,

Palm of hand,

Right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Pinky finger,

All five fingers,

Space between the fingers,

Entire hand,

Entire right arm,

Collarbones,

Left shoulder,

Left upper arm,

Elbow,

Left lower arm,

Wrist,

Top of hand,

Palm of hand,

Left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Pinky finger,

All five fingers,

Space between the fingers,

Entire hand,

Entire left arm,

Collarbones,

Right side of the chest,

Right side of waist,

Right hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Right shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Top of foot,

Sole of foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe,

All five toes,

Space between the toes,

Entire foot,

Entire right leg,

Right side of the body,

Collarbones,

Left side of the chest,

Left side of waist,

Left hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Left shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Top of foot,

Sole of foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe,

All five toes,

Space between the toes,

Entire foot,

Entire left leg,

Left side of the body,

Right lower back,

Left lower back,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Right shoulder,

Left shoulder,

Right side of the back,

Left side of the back,

Entire back of body,

Entire body,

The entire body is relaxed,

The entire body is relaxed.

Now move the awareness to the breath.

Notice how the chest and belly move up and down with each in and exhale.

The collarbones lift with each inhale and go down again with each exhale.

Breathe in and around the belly and chest.

Breathe out and let go in the belly and chest.

Expand the belly and chest to full capacity on the next inhale and let all air escape on the next exhale.

Now continue breathing with no effort naturally for five rounds,

One round being one in and one out breath.

Again take one deep inhalation,

Full capacity and a long exhalation followed by five rounds of natural breathing.

One more deep inhale,

Long exhale and five rounds of natural breathing.

Now let go of the attention on the breath and let yourself sink even deeper into full relaxation.

Let go of any notion of time and space.

Now notice how the space behind your eyes changes from a dark deep to a lighter color,

A whitish light.

Feel how you're transitioning from one space to another,

Letting your body arrive into a new reality.

Open your mind's eye and look into this new space,

Gently letting in the white reflective light and adjusting bit by bit.

Notice how you're laying on a soft blanket of white snow,

Starting to become aware of your surroundings.

Notice that you've arrived in a beautiful wintry landscape,

Your body safely tucked into a woolen onesie,

Almost like a skiing suit that covers all of your skin and keeps you entirely warm.

On your feet you've got moon boot like shoes that are thick and have soft padding on your soles.

You lift yourself up from the ground,

One foot at a time,

And come to stand up straight.

As you can now look around you,

You see untouched snow surrounding you,

Covering the tops of the trees,

Bushes and plants.

There are small snowflakes gently dancing around you and landing on the snow covered ground,

Erasing what was underneath.

Constantly making a fresh start,

You start to move and plant one foot at a time into the crispy snow carpet,

Making a track that will soon be erased with every step.

The sensation of this soft padding feels as if gravity is giving weight to you,

To give you a little bounce in your step.

You move towards the nearby trees and can make out a pathway where it's easier to walk.

While walking down the track,

You notice the dew drops that have turned into ice hanging from the tree branches.

There are some pine trees that have kept all of their needles and look majestic in the beautiful wintry landscape.

They give off an amazing smell that you invite deep into your lungs and system.

As you slowly walk further,

Taking in the environment,

You discern little stashes of acorns and hazelnuts,

Carefully tucked away in the hollow of wooden trunks laying around.

There's not a lot of sounds,

But every now and then you hear the chirping of a bird.

As you look up,

You see that the sky is a bright blue and the sun is shining in its center.

It's a crisp day and the sun rays of sunshine beam optimistically,

Some of them landing on your face,

Giving you a soft glow.

As you're walking through this wintry landscape,

Notice that you're the only human nearby,

All by yourself in peace,

The comfortable silence that surrounds you.

Even though there's little to no disturbances,

It feels like an abundant and rich environment.

While you make your way,

You look down at your hands and notice a soft golden glow around them.

As you see a reflection in a puddle that has turned to ice,

You see that this golden glow is rapidly spreading all over your body,

Feeling warm,

Soothing,

Healing even.

As you look down into the puddle,

You notice that it radiates from your body.

You arrive at an open space and see that in the middle of this area,

There's three pieces of bare land,

No snow and slightly dug out.

Curiously,

You walk towards the holes and intuitively reach your hands down into your pockets.

There's three seeds that you dig out of your pockets and carry lightly in the palm of your hand.

As you study them,

Your mind wells up with good intentions and wishes.

For each seed,

You pick one.

Now repeat your intentions and wishes,

All three of them in your mind's eye.

As you hold one seed apart from the rest,

You bring it to your lips and blow on it,

Your breath carrying one of the wishes with it.

The seed,

As if carried by a divine breeze,

Flies away and lands into one of the holes.

You pick the second seed and the process repeats itself,

The air planting the seed with intention for you in the second hole.

The same happens to the third seed.

Now with all three seeds planted,

You bow down to the ground and cover the holes with a thin layer of soil.

The seeds will settle into their new environment and will start growing by spring,

Leaving you and them all the time to hibernate in the coming winter months.

With a gentle bow of your head,

You wish them a steady growing journey and make your way again.

At the end of the open space,

You discern a big hollow tree that has a cave-like shaped hole,

Perfect for your size.

Upon entering,

You see an abundance of nuts,

Seeds,

Roots,

Liquids,

Herbs,

Flowers,

Set aside to keep you nourished and in good health for the coming time.

There's a soft bed that looks like a cocoon,

Where you immediately drape yourself into.

It's so cozy and nest-like that as you lay down,

Your eyelids become heavy and you resume your winter's sleep,

Safe,

Sound,

And ready for spring in time.

Now with closed eyes,

You travel back to the here and now.

Feel the moments change,

The residue of your rest long within your ears,

Calling you back to life as you know it,

With a different taste in your mouth.

Begin to feel the body and hear the sounds around you,

Noticing the props on which you lay as separate from you.

Take a full breath in and exhale.

Feel the deep rest you've experienced and what effect it had on your physical and mental body.

Bring the awareness down into the body,

To the feet,

And start to wiggle the toes.

Awareness to the hands and wiggle the fingers.

Now gently roll the knees upward so the kneecaps look at the ceiling.

And one at a time,

Bend the knees.

Roll to a side of choice in fetal position and lie there.

Notice your lack of anxiety and ambition.

And slowly,

At your pace and whenever you're ready,

Lift yourself up and open your eyes.

Namaste.