How To Deal With An Ending In Your Life

When something in life ends, it can be surprisingly hard to let go. In this guided meditation, we explore why endings affect us so deeply and how to meet them with awareness instead of resistance. Together, we gently notice where the body is holding on, allow the emotions to move, gain clarity, and begin to accept the reality of change.

Transcript

Why is it so hard to accept when things end?

So if there is something in your life right now that is ending,

If there's a cycle ending or has ended and you are struggling to let go and to open up to the next step or next part of your life,

Then you're definitely not alone.

We all go through it and it is one of the hardest things.

So I'm going to walk you through four steps in meditation of how to notice where you're holding on to a cycle ending,

How to accept it,

And how to release it.

Now that doesn't mean you have to release someone you love if they've passed away,

But you can learn to accept the reality when something has ended.

And that's going to make you a more grounded,

Centered,

And hopefully happier person if you're not always grabbing on to the past or holding on to something that needs to end.

It might even be the end of a decade.

Maybe you're going from your 20s to 30s or 60s to 70s or 90s to 100s.

David,

I'm excited for the second century of my life.

Okay,

And I am making light of it,

But there might be some grief here.

There might be some heavy feelings if you're ending a relationship or a career or some big cycle of life.

Then breathe with me.

This is the nature of reality and we only have two options.

We can accept reality or we can fight it.

And when we fight it,

We suffer.

And this was the great lesson of the Buddha,

That in life there is all of this duality.

Wherever there is life,

There is death.

Wherever there's happiness,

There's sadness,

Right?

Wherever there's fullness,

There's emptiness.

And we go through this process of gaining something and losing something,

Right?

This is the human condition and it's rough.

I'm not pretending that it's easy,

But there are ways to learn how to be present and accept the energy of it and move forward in life and be content.

You might not always be happy.

Sometimes you might be a miserable grinch,

But you can learn to be more accepting of reality,

Present,

And at peace.

So let's do that together.

I want to first,

I want to help you feel the ending of a cycle of an energy of whatever it is in your body.

Then process the emotion,

Have some mental clarity around it,

And then even feel it deeply in your soul,

In your being.

Okay?

So we're going to do a four-hour meditation on this right now.

Just kidding.

Hang with me for a few minutes here.

You can close your eyes.

If you're more comfortable,

You can keep them open.

I want you to at least roll your shoulders around,

Relax yourself a little bit.

See if you can breathe a bit slower.

And whenever something that,

Whenever something occurs that we don't like,

It's very possible we start to get pretty upset or freak out or ruminate.

And if you're doing all those things at once,

Screaming into the screen,

Then just relax with me here.

That's why we're here.

It's okay.

And I want you to start by noticing it in your body,

So somatically.

If there was a place in your body where you're holding a little tighter on to whatever this ending is than other places in your body,

See if you can right now,

Just with me,

Notice where that is.

Is it in your chest,

Your shoulders,

In your lower back,

Your knees,

Your stomach?

I want you to just,

If you scan your body up and down very gently,

A place where there was a bit more tension when you think of this ending.

And it might even surprise you.

Like,

Whoa,

That's,

That's the spot?

There might be more than one spot,

But just let one kind of light up.

Like if there was all these bulbs on a Christmas tree and just one lit up.

Kind of like,

Bing!

Oh,

There it is.

A knot of some kind.

And once you notice it,

I want you to just acknowledge it and kind of just say hello to it.

Write it a friendly note.

Did you ever pass notes in school?

No,

You were,

You were a really good student.

Pass it a little note.

Just hello.

Good to see you.

And notice there's some tension around it.

There might be a color on it.

It might be heavy.

I want you to just notice the qualities around whatever this is in your body.

And maybe even notice how long it's been there.

Like,

Oh,

You're a few weeks old,

A few months old,

A few years old.

And then I want you to just ask it,

Okay,

How long have you been holding on to this ending is?

And let this knot in your body tell you how long it's been holding on.

And just see what it says.

You might get a number,

You might get just a general intuition.

Make sure you're still breathing with me as you do this.

And I know this probably doesn't feel good.

And in meditation,

One of the things we learn is how it's okay to not feel good.

We're moving through energy.

So stay with me.

And now that you start to get a sense of how long this thing's been holding on,

Notice that this knot in your body is in pain.

It's been in pain.

It doesn't know how to process,

How to let go,

How to understand.

Right?

Have you ever had a pet and you had to go on a trip and you tried to tell it,

I'll be back soon.

And it just kind of,

The doggie,

Kitty,

Whoever just looks at you like what?

It's a little bit like that.

You cannot convince it to understand.

So instead of convincing it,

All I want you to do is see if you can accept how it feels.

Just let it be there.

And let's step into allowing ourselves to have the feeling.

So what is the emotion?

What is the feeling?

Is there a sadness there?

Is there a confusion?

Is there anger?

Is there grief?

Just notice whatever that is.

We're not doing anything about it.

Give it a hundred percent license and permission to just feel and express.

So if this knot had total permission to just feel and express,

It might be a mixture of a couple of feelings.

And if you get confused,

If you get stuck,

Stay with me.

If you get distracted,

Let this energy just be here and move.

Give it some space.

It is completely okay,

Whatever the feeling is.

Let your body start to relax a bit more.

And if during this process you're a bit surprised,

That means you're really doing it.

You're just allowing it to come up.

And from here,

Continue,

But I want you to start to get some clarity.

Has there been a place where this emotion,

This energy has been stuck?

And you've been trying to figure it out.

Maybe you've been ruminating,

Reflecting,

Holding on,

Playing the same memory or scene over and over.

So inside of this knot,

There's energy,

There's feeling,

There's an image.

So I want you to notice the image,

Whatever it is,

And see if you can just get some clarity.

Take a look at it.

Just notice it.

You might be surprised by what it is.

Maybe you're holding on to something.

See if you can have an insight.

What is this I've been holding on to?

And why have I been holding on to it?

Is it because I just needed to process the emotion?

Is it because you needed to learn something?

See what insight arises.

Why has it been so hard to let go or to let a cycle end?

Just be with that for a moment and make sure you're breathing.

Allow your entire body to just start to relax one step deeper,

From head all the way down to toes.

You could be calm,

Process emotion and have insight all at the same time.

And as you have this insight,

Let's bring it all together.

I want you to really deep somewhere in your being,

In your soul.

See if you can just touch that knowingness that there's a reality here that something is ending,

Something has ended.

It will continue to teach you,

But you can accept the ending of whatever this is because it is the reality.

It is ending.

If something starts again later,

Fine,

But this here is ending or has ended.

Every chapter has an ending.

Every book has an ending.

Every story,

Every movie,

Every phase of life,

Every season.

From the life of an insect to the life of a star,

Everything has a beginning and an ending.

Just notice that awareness.

Life isn't punishing you.

See if you can start to feel more of a resonance with life,

With reality.

That deep,

Subtle acceptance of what is,

The way things are,

Are the way they are.

See if that knot in your body has softened or shrunk.

I want you to take a nice,

Big,

Deep breath in with me.

Put a light smile on your face as you exhale.

If you had your eyes closed,

You can open them.

And just like this meditation had a beginning,

It also has an ending.

Thank you for sitting with me and we will bring this to an end and I will see you next time.

Be well.

Reviews

Thank you so much for sharing this moment of healing 🙏

I hear you, David… But grief is hard 💛😢💛😢💛

This did a amazing job for me, thank you, David. I felt many knots and feelings, I cried… but at the same time I felt the truth within and I’m sure that my decision is right. I’ll have to end what was my dream, because like you said, everything ends!!

Thank you so much as always. Your gentle humour and wise words soothe and uplift. Much needed and appreciated.

It's just one thing to say. You won't be disappointed.

🙏💗

Oh David. Your gifts are precious and how you share them. Blessings! Love your humor! ♥️😎🙏🏻🫶🏻

Thank you David! This was such a help to me. 🙏❤️

You took me away Namaste

I believe this will be part of my practice for a while. Very helpful and gentle. Mahalo!

Absolutely beautiful ❣️🙏

Thank you 🙏🏻

Lovely 🥰 Thank you 🙏🏽