Comforting Grief

If you have experienced any type of loss or heartbreak in your life, or if your heart is heavy with grief for any reason, join Andrea as she gently guides you through a deep and healing process. This guided meditation will help you meet your grief with curiosity, compassion and comfort. This process is based on the work of Don Hadlock from The Process Therapy Institute and Richard Schwartz, founder of Internal Family Systems.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

If your heart is feeling heavy,

Heartbroken,

Or filled with grief,

This process will offer you the opportunity to connect with your grief and offer it what it needs.

Acceptance,

Allowing,

Compassion,

And comfort.

So let's begin.

Make sure you're in a comfortable position and allow your body to settle into the surface underneath you,

Whatever surface you're sitting or lying on.

And notice all the places that surface is holding you up and see if you can really let your body sink into all that support.

And now notice your body breathing.

You may be aware of your breath moving in and out of your nostrils or your mouth.

Or you might be most aware of your chest or your belly rising and sinking.

Really notice your breath wherever it's most evident to you right now.

And now I'd like you to see if you can get an image of the grief inside of you.

There's no right or wrong here.

Your grief might look like a specific image or shape or it might feel more like a sensation.

Just go with whatever comes up for you.

Get an image of your grief right now.

What does it look like?

And remember to keep breathing.

And we'll be coming back to this image in just a moment.

Now I'd like you to tune into your heart.

Tune into the loving,

Compassionate,

Wise part of you.

You could even put your hand on your heart if you'd like.

And if you can't connect with your heart right now,

You can imagine another person or being that is totally loving,

Compassionate,

And wise.

And from that loving,

Tender place in your heart,

I'd like you to return to the image or sensation that you had of your grief and connect with that part right now.

See if you can look at your grief with love,

Tenderness,

And compassion and get a sense of what it needs right now.

It might need to cry or sob or rage or express some other emotion.

Your grief might need to be held or rocked.

It might need to hear soothing words.

It might need warmth or protection.

It might just need to be really seen and honored.

So see if you can get a sense now or even ask your grief what it truly needs and then offer it.

And now see if there's anything else that your grief wants to say,

Ask,

Or receive.

This is just about allowing,

Allowing it to be,

Allowing it to express itself.

And now see if there's anything else you want to say,

Ask,

Or offer your grief.

And before we sign off,

See how you would like to complete this process.

You may want to imagine setting the grieving part of you in a safe,

Comforting place.

You might want to imagine placing it in your heart or simply holding it in your arms.

Just see whatever that part of you or your intuition guides you to do.

Grief needs acceptance,

Soothing,

And comfort just like all our feelings do.

So you can repeat this process any time you feel grief arising in you.

And now once again,

Bring yourself back to the surface underneath you.

Just notice all the places your body is being supported.

And notice the environment around you.

And take in a nice deep breath.

If you'd like,

You can give your body a little stretch as we prepare to complete this process.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

And I wish you much kindness,

Compassion,

And comfort.

Reviews

Always love hearing Andreas voice and words of wisdom during an acute crisis. 🙏

Thank you for a nurturing meditation, a healing part of my journey

I deeply appreciate the image you offered of opening a dialogue with my grief so that the feeling is seen and honored.🥀 This was just what I needed, and I am sure to repeat this practice as I move through my grief for my only sister. 🙏🏼💗

Lost my father two days ago and yours is the tender voice with the right words that I need. From this brief recording, I have a better sense of how I want to process and honor my grief. Thank you so much.

Lovely and comforting. Andrea's soothing, loving voice is medicine for the soul.
Thank you.
Deep gratitude 🙏🙏🙏

A very dear friend passed very suddenly yesterday, and I’m still grieving the loss of my mom last year. This meditation was so soothing and comforting for someone who’s still scared to sit with grief. Thank you for this.

Really interesting. I’m dealing with complex grief of losing someone with dementia who is still with us physically. This made me aware of some anger that I hadn’t recognised before, I think I need to return to this again. Thank you for recording this 🙏🏻

I was really missing my mom and needed this today, thank you 💕

I lost my 3 year old kitten to a car accident just before Christmas and he was a special cat. Everyone had a pet who loves them the most (and we loved the most) in my family and my baby just died, it was the worst emotional pain I have felt so far, everything seemed to stop for me and it was super hard to except he was gone, but everything kept going all the same and I kept breaking down, I wasn’t sleeping or eating, and that is when I found your meditation Andrea. You are a truly helpful and kind person. Thank you so much! I finally realized the world just keeps going thanks to your meditation. Again thank you so much!
❤️

Thank you for this offering. Seeing my grief as my heart with all these daggers, knives and needles of all sizes made me realize this is deeper than one heartbreak.

Very soothing Thank you for another wonderful meditation

I am struggling with my grief, so thank you for this meditation. My dad recently, and suddenly passed away. Even though I am grieving, the world continues to turn and spin. It does not stop for my grief. So with a job that I feel burnt out in I find little time for mourning and grief . And right now I’m not sure what to do with that. So thank you for these few moments to at least gain some clarity that my grief needs to be heard.

I'll be back. And to be repeated. I put my teenage kitty down last week. Going near her stuff brings up the sensation.

Dear Andrea, thank you so much for this wonderful meditation. Have had a real challenging time since February. A son and two friends have died. I will definitely be back to listen to you. 💖🌟🕊🙏

Thank you for this, it gave me the start of a visual for my current state of grief. I will be returning to this exercise whenever needed and continue my healing. ✌🏻❤️🧘‍♀️

Wonderful practice on feeling and being with grief. Thank you Andrea 💗

Thank you. This meditation helped me to cope with an overwhelming wave of grief

Thank you so much... Just what I needed. Blessings and Live long and prosper.🙏🏼🙏🏼💗

That was beautiful and very comforting. I was looking for something for my niece who just lost her grandmother. I tried several grief meditations before I found this one….thank you so much! It also allowed me to find a small, dark, fuzzy ball of my own grief that some attention and love.🥰🙏🦋

Thank you I just lost my mother
a couple weeks ago and realize I’ve been holding my grief inside with all the things I had to do. Thank you for giving me this beautiful meditation to hold me right now.