Welcome.
If you've chosen this meditation,
I first want to offer my heartfelt condolences.
Grief has no timetable.
There is no right way to move through loss.
Some days you might feel steady,
And then a song,
A scent,
Or a memory brings everything rushing back.
If that's where you are today,
You're exactly where you need to be.
This meditation won't ask you to let go.
It simply offers a quiet place to rest beside your grief for a little while.
And if visualization doesn't come naturally to you,
That's perfectly okay.
You don't need to picture anything.
Let the river become a feeling,
A memory,
A sensation,
Or simply something you know is there.
Okay,
Let's begin.
Find a quiet place where you can sit or lie comfortably.
Allow your hands to rest wherever they feel most natural.
If it feels comfortable gently close your eyes.
Take a slow breath in.
And let it go.
Can breathe in and breathe out.
There's nowhere you need to be,
Nothing you need to become.
Just allow yourself to be here.
This isn't a space for fixing or a space for forgetting.
Simply a space for being.
Grief isn't something to solve,
It's something to sit beside,
Sometimes quietly.
Sometimes through tears.
Sometimes with nothing at all.
However grief is showing up for you today,
It is welcome here and so are you.
Take another slow breath.
Now imagine or simply know that beside you flows a quiet river a river that has been carrying everything your heart has been holding.
The tears.
The memories.
The love.
The words left unsaid.
You don't need to see it,
Just allow yourself to rest beside it.
Each breath you take becomes another drop joining the current.
Breathing in and breathing out.
If today feels heavy,
Let the river hold some of that weight.
If today feels strangely empty.
Let the river hold that too.
Whether that feels possible.
Or not.
Simply notice what is there.
And just breathe.
There may be things you never had the chance to say.
Words that stayed inside your heart?
You don't have to speak them aloud.
Simply let them rise.
Perhaps,
I love you?
I'm sorry.
I miss you.
Thank you.
Whatever your heart has been carrying,
Allow the river to carry it with you.
Each exhale.
Another unspoken word.
Each inhale a reminder.
That love doesn't disappear,
It simply changes form.
Now gently place a hand over your heart if that feels comforting.
Notice the warmth beneath your hand.
Or simply notice your breath.
And silently repeat.
I let go.
I hold on.
I don't have to choose right now.
Again,
I let go.
I hold on.
I don't have to choose right now.
Simply sit here and breathe for a few moments.
You may notice a memory,
A feeling.
The quiet warmth.
Or perhaps nothing at all.
Every experience is welcome.
If it feels right,
Silently say.
You walk with me.
Unseen but not gone.
Let those words settle gently like leaves floating on quiet water.
You walk with me.
Unseen.
That knock on.
There is no hurry when you feel ready.
Begin to notice the room around you once again.
Notice your breath.
Notice the chair or bed beneath you begin to gently wiggle your fingers,
Your toes Take a slow deep breath in.
And slowly let it go.
Silently repeat.
The river remembers.
I am not alone.
Whenever you're ready,
Allow your eyes to open.
Carry this quiet with you like a river flowing beneath the surface steady gentle always moving may love remain.
May pain soften.
May you remember what matters.
