Welcome to this guided meditation.
My name is Charlotte Rautenberg and I will accompany you in this moment for yourself.
A moment in which you may pause,
Breathe,
Feel.
A moment when nothing is expected of you except simply being here.
Wherever you are in your journey with grief,
Close to your sorrow or perhaps a little distant from it,
Know that you are welcome exactly as you are right now.
This time is for you.
For your heart,
For your memories,
For everything you feel and also for what you may not be able to feel.
Grief is like the ocean.
It comes in waves.
Sometimes gentle,
Crippling,
Soft and manageable.
Sometimes wild and overwhelming.
So high you may not know how to rise above it.
And sometimes there is silence.
As if the water pulls back,
Leaving you only with the sound of emptiness.
You do not need to fight the waves.
You do not need to make them smaller.
All you can do is learn how to move with them,
How to float,
How to sway,
How to bring yourself gently back to the surface when you're pulled under.
Today I invite you to feel,
To remember,
To release and to hold on.
For letting go is never forgetting.
Letting go is simply another way of holding on.
We carry those we miss always with us.
In our hearts,
In our lives,
In who we are.
Breathe in gently.
I invite you to find a position where you feel safe and supported.
This could be sitting,
Lying down,
Perhaps wrapped in a soft blanket.
Close your eyes softly if that feels comfortable.
Notice how your body is being held by the chair,
The mat,
The earth beneath you.
The ground under you is steady,
Stable.
You do not need to hold on to anything.
You may rest.
Now bring your attention to your breath.
Feel the air flowing into your body and feel how it slowly leaves again.
Breathe in,
Filling yourself with gentleness.
Breathe out,
Releasing tension.
Breathe in.
Breathe out,
Let tension go.
Breathe in.
Breathe out,
Release.
Breathe in,
Fill yourself with air.
Breathe out,
Let what weighs you down flow away.
Each inhale creates space in your body,
A small opening for light and softness.
Each exhale lets go of what you do not need to carry right now.
Imagine your breath as small waves.
Waves that rise.
Waves that fall.
At the rhythm of your own inner sea.
Now imagine yourself standing at the shore.
The sky is quiet and softly grey.
You hear the rolling waves.
You smell the salt in the air.
Before you lies the ocean.
Endless and wide.
It moves.
Sometimes gently.
Sometimes with power.
And every wave tells a story.
This is the ocean of your grief.
Sometimes your sorrow feels like gentle water touching you softly.
A wave brushing against you,
Reminding you of what is no longer here.
Sometimes the water is fierce.
A high wave of longing that overwhelms you.
And sometimes there is silence.
Emptiness.
Everything is welcome here.
You do not need to push anything away.
You do not need to change anything.
You only need to be present.
Now feel your feet standing firmly in the sand.
The earth beneath you holds you.
Just stay here.
Simply watching the waves.
You are safe here.
Breathe in and feel your own strength.
Breathe out.
Soften what can be softened.
The waves come.
The waves go.
Perhaps memories arise.
A smile.
A scent.
A sound.
Perhaps tears come.
Or maybe peace.
Allow yourself to feel it all.
Everything may be here.
Remind yourself saying goodbye is not forgetting.
It is simply another way of holding on.
In love.
In memory.
In who you have become.
Feel the presence of the one you miss.
Perhaps in a warm thought.
Perhaps in who you are.
In how you live.
In how you love.
We always carry them forward.
Not in struggle.
But in tenderness.
When the waves touch you.
You drift along.
Without resistance.
Without hurry.
Just as you breathe.
Just as the ocean breathes.
Sometimes a great wave comes.
Sometimes you go under for a moment.
But deep within,
You know.
Every wave eventually abs away.
You rise again.
You breathe again.
Breathe in.
Feel yourself held.
Breathe out.
Move with the wave.
We learn to swim.
Not by fighting.
But through trust.
Through softness.
Through surrender.
Remind yourself I am allowed to move with the waves of my grief.
I do not need to stand still.
It is okay to feel.
It is okay to be vulnerable.
Everything is allowed.
Slowly you return to the shore.
You stand again on solid ground.
The ocean reports the waves roll and you stand steady on the earth.
You breathe.
You live.
Breathe in.
Feel your body.
Your feet.
Your hands.
Place a hand on your heart if you wish.
Feel the warmth.
The gentleness.
Think of the one you miss.
And feel they are with you in another way.
Not gone but woven into your being.
Whisper softly to yourself I let go in my own way.
I hold on in love in memory in who I am.
I move with the waves of life.
Take one more deep breath.
Fill yourself with gentleness.
And when you are ready gently open your eyes.
You may carry this feeling of calm and connection with you.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for your courage and for your trust.
Thank you for taking this moment for yourself.
And remember you do not have to walk this path alone.
The sea is fast but you are learning wave by wave how to move with it.
