Yoga nidra: Large intestine meridian

Session text to read

Lie down gently. Let your body find its stillness on the floor. Allow your feet to fall naturally apart. Rest your arms a little away from your sides, palms facing upward. Close your eyes softly. Take one slow breath in, and as you breathe out, let the weight of your body sink fully into the ground beneath you.

Bring to mind your intention for this practice. A single, quiet truth. Perhaps something like: *I release what no longer serves me.* Let this thought settle into your heart. Hold it there, lightly.

Now we begin to travel through the body. Simply notice each place as it is named. Right hand. Right thumb. Index finger. Middle finger. Ring finger. Little finger. The palm of the right hand. The back of the hand. The right wrist. The forearm. The elbow. The upper arm. The right shoulder. The right side of the neck. The right side of the jaw. The right nostril. The right cheekbone. The space just beside the right nostril, where the large intestine meridian completes its journey.

Left hand. Left thumb. Index finger. Middle finger. Ring finger. Little finger. The palm of the left hand. The back of the hand. The left wrist. The forearm. The elbow. The upper arm. The left shoulder. The left side of the neck. The left side of the jaw. The left nostril. The left cheekbone. The space just beside the left nostril.

The right foot. The left foot. Both feet together. The right leg. The left leg. Both legs. The lower back. The abdomen. The chest. Both arms together. Both hands together. The back of the neck. The crown of the head. The whole face. The whole body. Your entire body, lying here, completely still.

Now bring your awareness to your breath. Notice the cool air entering through your nostrils as you inhale. Notice the slightly warmer air leaving as you exhale. You do not need to change anything. Simply observe. With each out-breath, imagine that you are releasing something. Not by force. Not with effort. Simply allowing whatever is ready to leave, to go.

The large intestine knows how to let go. It does its quiet work, taking what is useful, releasing the rest. Trust that your body already knows how to do this. You are made for renewal.

Now allow an image to come. You are standing in an autumn forest. The air is cool and clean, carrying the faint scent of leaves and earth. All around you, the trees are releasing their leaves. Not grasping. Not resisting. Each leaf falls slowly, turning gold and copper and bronze in the pale light. It drifts downward and settles into the soft ground. There is no loss here. Only a graceful returning.

You are standing among these trees. You feel the cool air on your face. You breathe it in, and it is pure and still. As you breathe out, you too release something. Perhaps an old thought that has grown heavy. Perhaps a feeling you have carried for too long. Perhaps simply tension you did not know you were holding. Let it fall from you, like a leaf from a branch, slowly, without effort, and come to rest on the earth below.

The metal element teaches us that true clarity comes through letting go. That we create space inside ourselves when we release what is finished. The trees are not diminished by autumn. They are preparing. They are becoming quiet, so that something new may begin.

Rest here for a moment. Simply breathe. Simply be.

Now bring your intention back. Let the words move gently through you once more: *I release what no longer serves me.* Feel how true this is. Feel how possible.

Slowly now, begin to return. Become aware of your breath deepening. Notice the weight of your body against the floor. Begin to feel your fingers. Let them move a little. Then your toes. Take a deeper breath in. Let it go. Gently roll to one side, and rest there for a moment before you come to sitting.

When you are ready, open your eyes. Carry your stillness with you.