Start by settling into a position that allows your body to be supported.
You do not need to be comfortable or calm.
Just simply allow yourself to arrive as you are right now.
If it feels right,
You can let your eyes close or just soften your gaze a little bit.
Take a slow breath in,
Pause,
And then exhale.
I'm going to do it one more time.
Take another breath in and release it.
You may be here because you sense an approaching loss.
This could be a person,
A pet,
A relationship,
A role that you play,
Or a future you once expected.
Anticipatory grief is a grief that arrives before the ending.
It lives in our awareness,
In the waiting of it,
And in the recognition that something meaningful is changing.
Allow yourself to acknowledge that without needing to explain it or make sense out of it.
Bring your attention to your body as it is right now.
Notice where is this experience showing up physically.
It may feel like pressure or a tightness or maybe a heaviness and even numbness.
There's no need to analyze where and why these sensations are showing up.
If it feels supportive to you,
You may place a hand over the area on your body that feels the most affected and let that contact be simple.
This is not something that needs to be fixed.
It is a natural response to attachment.
Allow your attention to rest on your breath without needing to regulate or change it.
Just simply notice the rhythm of the breathing and notice that with each inhale you are here.
Anticipatory grief often includes mixed emotional states.
You may feel presence or absence,
Love or fear,
Connection and sorrow all at the same time.
These experiences are not contradictions.
They can coexist and that is okay and that is normal.
Now bring to mind what or whom you may be losing.
There is no need to rehearse the ending or imagine what may come next.
Simply acknowledge the bond that you have with that person or the pet or the relationship perhaps that you are about to lose.
Notice what arises in your body and allow it to be there without pushing it away or holding on to it tightly.
Grief that arrives early does not mean you are giving up.
It means your heart is responding honestly to what matters.
Many people carrying anticipatory grief feel pressure to prepare emotionally,
To accept what's coming or to find peace ahead of time.
For now,
See if you can let the pressure that you put on yourself soften just a little bit.
You do not need to be ready and you do not need to make meaning out of it right now.
In fact,
You do not need to arrive at any particular emotional state.
This moment right now is only asking for you to be present.
Silently offer yourself these words.
I am allowed to grieve what is changing.
I am allowed to grieve what I may lose.
I am allowed to grieve while love is still here.
Now gently return your attention back to the breath.
Notice the simple fact that you are alive in this moment.
This moment still contains connection and life.
Anticipatory grief does not erase the present.
It sharpens it and it gives it more awareness of what matters right now.
Take one final breath in and slowly release it.
When you are ready,
Open your eyes.
As you move forward with your day today,
Remember that feeling this does not mean you are weak.
It means you are paying attention and it means that you deeply care and are able to hold deep connection and emotion with that person or pet.
That is a gift.
Remember that and have a blessed day.
