As autumn deepened and the wheel of the year turned toward winter, our community gathered at Lychpit Hall for an evening of stillness, warmth and quiet reflection.
On Sunday 9 November 2025, the hall glowed with candlelight, the scent of incense gently filling the air. Together we paused to honour the turning season through the ancient practice of Yoga Nidra – the art of conscious rest.
🌘 Entering the Space Between
Yoga Nidra, sometimes called “yogic sleep”, invites the body into complete relaxation while the mind remains awake and aware.
Rooted in classical yoga and Tantric philosophy, it guides us through layers of consciousness - from body and breath to emotion, imagery and deep stillness.
Science now tells us what yogis have long understood: this liminal state between waking and sleeping calms the nervous system, restores balance and opens the doorway to creativity and healing.
Our theme for the evening, Resting in the Mystery, reflected the energy of Samhain - the Celtic festival marking summer’s end and the beginning of the dark half of the year.
In the old traditions, Samhain is a threshold: a liminal space when the veil between worlds grows thin, when we honour the ancestors and trust the unseen.
In yogic philosophy this aligns with Ishvara Pranidhana - surrender - and Pratyahara - turning the senses inward. It is the art of allowing rather than doing.
🌒 The Practice
We began with slow, restorative movement and breathwork to settle into the body, followed by a guided Yoga Nidra journey.
Participants were invited to rest beside a still, mist-covered lake at twilight - a visualisation of the Samhain landscape where endings and beginnings blur together.
Through descriptive opposites -light and darkness, holding and release, known and unknown - awareness expanded beyond the usual boundaries of thought.
As the Nidra deepened, we explored symbols drawn from the season: candle flame, mist, fallen leaves, ancient stones, the breath between worlds.
Each image invited participants to rest a little deeper into the fertile darkness - that creative void where transformation begins.
A shared sankalpa (heart-felt intention) grew from these reflections:
I rest in the mystery of life, trusting the unseen path unfolding within and around me.
🕯️ Grounding Back to Earth
After emerging from the practice, we journalled quietly- exploring what mystery feels like in the body and what we might be ready to release.
Gentle conversation followed, cups of spiced apple and rosehip tea and golden turmeric chai latte, warming cold hands. Small offerings of oat-and-honey bites, baked apple slices and seeded grain and chocolate clusters reminded us that nourishment can be both simple and sacred.
This shared meal closed our circle - grounding body and spirit, connecting us again with the tangible world after our journey through the unseen.
🌾 Why We Rest
In a culture that so often prizes doing, Yoga Nidra teaches the wisdom of pause. It reminds us that darkness and stillness are not empty, but full of quiet life. When we rest consciously, we listen differently. We remember that creativity, healing and clarity are born not from striving, but from surrender.
Breath and awareness become our anchors - sensory pathways that return us to presence and remind us that the body itself is sacred ground.
As the nights continue to lengthen, may we each carry a thread of this stillness into our days -a reminder that resting in the mystery is itself a form of trust.
✨ With Gratitude
Thank you to everyone who joined this Samhain gathering and to those who continue to support the Infinite Harmony community.
Our next cycle of seasonal Yoga Nidra sessions will begin in March 2026, each themed to honour a turning of the year:
🌱 Spring Equinox: 22 March 2026
☀️ Summer Solstice: 28 June 2026
🍂 Autumn Equinox: 20 September 2026
❄️ Winter Solstice: 13 December 2026
“May the darkness be kind,
may rest be deep,
and may the mystery remind you
that all things are held in love.”
