Geneva

Seattle, WA, USA

Xavier Ardanaz

Austin, TX, USA

Marit

Hildesheim, Germany

Catherine

Houston, TX 77096, United States

teresa

Bournemouth, United Kingdom

Karen Perro

Antigonish, NS, Canada

Zoe Kanat

Melbourne, Australia

Remco Schipper

Beek-Ubbergen, Netherlands

Sara

Italy

Erika Howard

You will journey through a guided meditation, visualizing golden honey flowing through your body, connecting with your heart space, and experiencing a sense of interconnectedness with all things.

English

Experience deep rest with this Yoga Nidra meditation that is inspired by the beehive in my backyard. As you settle into deep relaxation, let the golden nectar of honey nourish you. Emerge renewed and connected to yourself and the honeycomb of life.

Honey Yoga Nidra For Interconnection And Nourishment

 Welcome. Thank you for being here. Before we begin our Yoga Nidra journey today, I'd like to acknowledge the ancient roots of Yoga Nidra and honor the creators of Yoga Nidra who originate from India. Through a long history of teachings, the practice of Yoga Nidra reaches us today. I thank all of the teachers who have brought us here today. Now I invite you to lie down or sit in a comfortable position. And as you settle in, making sure that your body is completely comfortable, check in with your body right now. What does your body need in this moment? And make any adjustments that you need so that you can settle in completely to this time of rest. Would you feel more comfortable with a pillow under your head or knees? Ask yourself where would you like to place your hands? Would you like to rest them at the belly and heart or rest them by your sides? Palms up or palms down? What brings you the most comfort right now? Would you like to close your eyes or soften your gaze, inviting your attention inward? Knowing that every movement you make for your own comfort is a devotion to you. You are making space for the surrendering of yourself to this time of rest. There is nothing you can do wrong because there's nothing to do. You are simply welcoming yourself home in this practice of Yoga Nidra. On this Yoga Nidra journey, I will be your guide. I am here to support you to rest and to come home to your wisdom. And throughout the practice of Yoga Nidra you have the choice to follow the guidance of my voice. Everything is optional. If you don't want to follow any instruction during Yoga Nidra, you might find comfort in following your breath. If you need to change position during the practice, you can do so slowly and mindfully before resting in stillness once more. And if you find yourself falling asleep, you can bring your attention back to my voice or you can give yourself permission to fall asleep. Now feel your body here in the space where you are resting. You are welcoming your whole self to rest. Take a long breath in and exhale with a sigh or sound. You may want to do this a few times. With every exhalation, feel the gentle pull of gravity. A gentle invitation from gravity to rest into the earth. The earth is here below you, holding you unconditionally. Let yourself receive this support, this sense of being held. Feel all thoughts, concerns, or things you are holding on to simply drip away from your body and into the earth, knowing that the earth can hold everything while you rest. Move your awareness to the soft space between your eyebrows and rest here. It's time now to open the garden gate to rest. There's nothing to do and nowhere to be. It's time to rest and go within. Become aware of your heart center in the middle of your chest and feel your breath moving in and out of this space. In Yoga Nidra, we set a deep intention at the beginning of the practice. Ask yourself in your life right now, what is your deepest, most heartfelt desire? Think of this intention as a seed that you're planting in this practice of Yoga Nidra and in your life that comes deep from your heart. You say your intention as a statement like it's already happening and true. Take a moment and let an intention rise to the surface. When you have the words, repeat them to yourself three times and if nothing is present for you in this moment, you can use the intention, I am well rested, if that feels right. Now we will take a journey through the landscape of the body. As each part of the body is named, you may want to sense or imagine golden honey flowing to that body part. If it's helpful, sense or imagine the honey as a golden glowing light. The honey is here to bring you into the wonder of being alive. As we take this journey around the body, it's like you are anointing your whole body with this liquid gold, this nourishing elixir of life. Starting at the crown of the head, honey flowing into the crown of your head, spreading into the back of your head, and flowing down into the right temple and the left temple, and honey flowing to the sacred space between your eyebrows, and gently flowing into your whole face, into your tongue, all the way to the root of your tongue, down to the throat center, and the back of the neck. Allow the honey to softly touch the top of your shoulders. Liquid gold flowing down into your shoulder joints, both right and left, and down your upper arms and resting into your elbows, forearms, and your wrist joints. Liquid gold spreading into the tip of your thumbs, tips of your index fingers, tips of your middle fingers, tips of your fourth fingers, and tips of your little fingers. Golden honey flowing into the palms of both of your hands, sensing the golden elixir at the palms of your hands, in your fingers, and then coming back up the arms, the liquid gold now flowing into your chest, the sweet nectar moving down into your heart center. Honey gently flowing to the right side of the chest and ribcage, and then flowing to the left side of the chest and ribcage. The whole upper chest, from front to back, is filled with this liquid gold. The liquid gold pouring down into your navel center, filling the front and back of your mid-torso, feel it expanding all around your belly and into your whole pelvic bowl. Your whole lower torso, both front and back, is filled with liquid gold. Honey flows into your hip joints, both right and left, down into your thighs, front and back. Liquid gold wrapping its nourishment around your knees, both front and back, flowing down to your calves and shins, and into your ankle joints, your heels, the soles of your feet, and the tops of your feet, and all the toes, all filled with liquid gold. Feel your whole body anointed with sweet, healing nourishment. Honey from the soles of your feet all the way to the crown of your head. Sense the whole body. Your whole body is anointed with liquid gold. Feel the right side of the body. Feel the left side of the body. Feel the front of the body. And feel the back of the body. Your whole body softened with healing, sweet nourishment. Whole body awareness. Now bring your awareness to your heart space and rest here. Bring your awareness to your breath. Follow the gentle tide of your breath without altering it. Notice your breath flowing in your body as if it were honey, nourishing the landscape of the body. The honey breath exploring each curve in your body, softening you more and more into rest. Every cell, particle, and molecule is bathed in this honey breath, your life force. Now sense or envision your breath as a golden elixir flowing up and down your body. With your inhalation, the golden elixir flows from the soles of your feet to the crown of your head. And with your exhalation, it flows from the crown of the head all the way to the soles of your feet. Stay with your breath as it flows up and down your body. Golden, nourishing life force. Inhaling from the soles of your feet to the crown of your head. And exhaling from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet. Golden, nourishing life force. Now let this go and come to the soft space of the heart and rest here. Bring your awareness now to all of the space inside the body. All of the thousands of cells that create the honeycomb of you. Sensation of your body as a honeycomb. Each cell of the body a precious sanctuary. All is exquisitely interconnected within. Feel this, a honeycomb of cells interconnected within. And now bring your awareness to your body in space. Become aware of your body as one cell of a larger honeycomb. Sensation of your body as part of the honeycomb of life. You are interconnected with all. The bees, the flowers, honey, the earth. Feel this. Your body as one cell of a larger honeycomb. Interconnected with all. And now go back and forth between sensations. Sensing interconnection within the body. And then sensing interconnection with all outside the body. Back and forth. Now let this go and bring your attention to the dark space behind your eyelids and rest here. Sense or visualize in front of you a garden gate. Slowly open the gate and enter a summer garden. It's a place where you feel completely at ease and at home. Your summer garden. Feel the softness of the earth beneath your feet. Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. Smell the fragrance of the flowers in the air. Hear the hum of the honeybees fill the air. You see a flower in the distance and like a honeybee you are drawn to it. Step by step you move towards the flower. When you arrive at the flower you notice a honeybee nestled inside of it. Observe the bee's love nuzzling into the blouse of the flower and the flower giving its nectar in return. Witness this reciprocity. Now observe yourself lying on the soft summer earth. Nothing to do. Everything just as it is. Just as you are. You are deeply nourished. Whole. Interconnected. Within and with all. Rest here for a minute of silence. Breathing in and out of your honeycomb heart. In this state of deep peace your intention can be heard and integrated. Repeat your heartfelt intention now three times. Be conscious of your intention flowing through your whole body like honey. As we start to reach the end of our Yoga Nidra journey, has your heart and your body got anything it wants to tell you? Listen to your heart and your body for anything it has to say. Perhaps there is a word, an image, or a felt sense that's rising for you from this time of rest. Just let yourself be open and receptive to receiving. And if nothing comes, that's totally okay. You may receive something in your sleep or during the day. And know that simply to be here is enough. And now slowly beginning to emerge from this place of deep rest, begin to bring your focus back to the feeling of your body connected to the surface below you. To the earth which has been supporting you on your journey. Feel the solidity of the earth and the solidity of your own body. And bring your focus to the feeling of your body connected to the sky canopy above you. And feel the way the air gently holds your body. Feel the gentleness of the air and the softness of your own body. As you begin to wake up even more, you may want to wiggle your toes and fingers, slowly bringing movement back into your body. You may want to place your hands over your ears and gently pinch the rim of each ear and tug the lobes of both ears. You are lovingly welcoming yourself back from this time of rest, noticing the imprint of this rest time on your body. The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete. You have arrived. You are home. Sacred and wise. Supported and held.