Welcome,
This is Kali,
And I offer you this gentle entry point practice,
Not designed to fix you,
Nor to take you away from your loss or your sorrow.
Instead,
It offers a pause.
And a moment to apply a soothing balm.
To the most tender parts of your aching heart.
A chance for your body to experience a little reprieve from the natural responses of trauma.
And of sudden loss.
A moment of rest for your mind amidst the invasive thoughts,
The unanswered questions,
The regrets,
The blame,
The confusion.
And the well-meaning platitudes that can sometimes feel so difficult to hear.
I'm not here to take anything away from you.
There is nothing here that you need to let go of.
And this isn't about moving on.
This is simply an invitation into deep and loving rest offered from my heart to yours.
To gently soothe the innermost parts of you during this time of grief and crisis.
For these next few moments,
You do not need to be strong.
You do not need to hold yourself up.
You do not need to have all of the answers or know what comes next.
You're simply invited to allow yourself to rest in this time of your need.
Please feel free to lay however you like during this practice.
Either in a shavasana position with your arms laid out so your hands can rest palm upwards or curled up in a ball on your side in a soothing fetal position.
Whatever helps you.
Helps comfort you during this time we share together.
And once you're settled in I will guide you through a round of breathing cycles,
Which will allow you to soften around your heart space.
Release tension from your belly and give space for the exhale.
That exhale you're holding on to.
That you may not have been able to release since this event happened.
So take a moment to make any adjustments that you need so that you can become even 1% more comfortable.
And clenching the knot in your belly.
Loosening the jaw.
And dropping the shoulders,
If only by a fraction.
And begin to rest with awareness of your breath now.
Your breath touching the skin at the tip of your nose.
And gently breathing it in slowly.
Expanding into your chest.
Easing any tightness there.
Letting the root of your tongue slacken.
Holding for a pause at the top of your breath and releasing and letting it go through your nose or sighing it away through an open mouth.
Sounding like this.
And this time breathing in through your nose,
Allowing the breath to fill your chest,
Your solar plexus and move into your belly.
Allowing it to fill all of those tight spaces within the belly.
Holding on for a moment at the top of your breath and releasing and letting it go through your nose in a long discharging breath for the exhale with me One more time,
Slacken your jaw.
Let your tongue fall.
The root of your tongue relaxed.
Making as much noise as you need to on the exhale.
And returning to a normal breath.
The natural rhythm of your brain.
The body breathing itself slow and rhythmically.
Like waves drawing in and out from the shore.
And allowing your awareness to follow my voice as I guide your attention to settle and soften onto each body part.
Perhaps imagining when each one lands,
It's as though balm is being smoothed into each area.
Resting gently now at the space between your eyebrows.
And smoothing out the skin there.
Onto your forehead and across to each temple.
As though a gentle massage is melting away a little tension there.
To the crown of your head.
To the back of your head.
Palm rubbed into the tops of both shoulders.
Shoulder blade.
The space between your shoulder blades.
Mid spine.
Lower spine.
Tailbone.
The back of the head.
The buttocks the back of both thighs.
The back of the knees.
Both calms.
Heals.
The souls of both fiends.
All of your toes resting.
The tops of the feet.
The ankles.
The lower legs.
The knees.
The tops of both thighs the points of both hip bones.
Both right leg and left leg resting Awareness moving to your sacrum.
The whole pelvic bone.
The belly.
Awareness of the natural breath at the belly.
The ribs expanding and releasing the weight carried here the heart space.
Allowing the soothing balm to open up space here.
The collarbone.
The right shoulder.
The wide upper arm.
Alpha Four of them.
Vains the thumb.
Your fingertips.
You hold hand.
Best thing.
The palm of your right hand.
Elbow underarm.
Amen.
The center of your throat.
Your left shoulder.
Upper arm.
Elbow Thanks.
Them.
The tips of all your fingers.
Your whole hand resting.
The palm of your left hand.
Elbow.
Underarm.
Armpit.
The center of your throat.
Your name?
Hello.
And shoulders resting.
Your belly and your abs.
At ease.
Your solar plexus under your ribs.
Softening.
And the space of your heart.
Cultivating Calm.
Your whole body resting.
Allowing your body A little respite.
From the weight it has been carrying.
Breathing naturally now,
Dear one.
Awareness drifting to the rise and fall at the belly.
Like the drag of the sea on the foreshore.
And the returning of the wave.
Allowing the natural rhythm of your breath to breathe itself.
Imagining the breath is your grief as waves rising and falling away.
The air and the flow of the ocean.
The despair and the anguish and the empathy.
The waves dragging out.
The breath discharging.
Followed by inhalation.
The warm memory.
Bread love.
The new wave flowing in.
The little nourishment to hold on to.
In and out,
Your natural breath.
The pain and the sorrow.
Filled by a memory and a love.
This pain you feel now may not always feel exactly as it does in this moment.
These wounds are part of your story now.
Not something to be erased.
Not something to be forgotten.
And yet over time Many people find that grief begins to change its shape.
The sharp edges shall soften.
The waves become less overwhelming.
And what once felt impossible to carry gradually become something.
Carried with tenderness.
A story of love and loss.
A story of connection.
A story of what mattered in your life to you.
And perhaps one day,
A story that includes moments of joy alongside sorrow once again.
If you need to take more time here for yourself to rest.
Or to cry.
Or to continue to exhale.
You may wish to remove your headphones or press pause on the recording.
Otherwise,
Dear one.
We will begin to resurface to our own new reality.
By deepening our breath.
Exactly the same as before.
Breathing in long and slow through the nose,
Holding at the top for a gentle pause.
And exhaling through our noses a long discharging sigh.
Two more times.
And now filling the chest.
And releasing from the throat,
From the chest.
From the belly.
Allowing the throat to stay soft and open Noticing the surface beneath you and the shape of your body.
Sensing the air around you and the temperature of the room the touch of your fabric touching the skin.
And paying any attention to sounds or smells in the air.
Taking your time now and making small movements to gently and mindfully awaken your body.
And acknowledging yourself for the courage it took to join me here.
And to meet yourself in this way.
Each time you return to the practice,
You are offering your body and your nervous system a place of safety.
Of rest.
Of being allowed to hold on to your grief for as long as you need.
There is nothing you need to force,
Rush or push away.
And perhaps just for today,
You're able to breathe a little easier.
Even if only by a fraction each time you rest here with me With much love to you,
Dear one.
Calling.
