Hello,
In this guided meditation we will explore accepting grief and sadness and the possibility of harnessing it for hope and to bring more good into the world.
Let us start by coming into the present moment.
Find a comfortable seat,
Allowing yourself to slow down and settle in.
If you feel comfortable doing so,
Let your eyelids become heavy and lower,
Perhaps allowing them to come to a full close or a gentle gaze.
Now we'll take a few calming,
Grounding breaths.
Wherever you are in your breath cycle,
Take a moment to fully exhale.
Now take two short,
Sharp inhales and then open your mouth to sigh out the breath.
Try that a few more times,
Taking two inhales and then letting the exhale wash over you with a wave of calm.
Now allow your breath to return to normal,
Taking long inhales in through the nose and out through the nose.
With the next several breaths,
Take a body scan and,
As you do,
Notice what you find without judgment.
Where is there relaxation and where is there tension?
Can your inhale amplify any calmness you find and can your exhale release any tension?
With your next breath,
Bring your focus to the crown of your head and scan downward from the top of your head to the base of your skull and your chin.
Can you let your breath be a wave of calm that washes away the tension as it goes?
Now continue downward from your neck to your shoulders.
What can you release there?
Keep scanning down.
Notice the energy moving from your left shoulder,
Down your left arm,
Down to your hand,
And out the tips of your fingers.
Now turn your attention to your right shoulder and scan downward,
Down your right arm,
Down to your hand,
And down to your fingertips.
Continue onward.
With your next breath,
Move to your shoulders and let the wave of calm move down through your torso.
Go from your chest and upper back to your stomach and mid-back and down to the hips and lower back.
Let everything flow downward into the earth,
To your legs and all the parts of you in contact with the ground.
Can you ground further?
Can you allow the earth to support you more?
And now take a moment to notice,
Where is there calm now and where is there tension Is there anything different from a few moments ago?
We'll now work on harnessing grief for hope.
It is your choice on what to keep and what to release today.
Our goal is to allow you to let go of what you no longer need,
To transform sadness and sorrow into hope,
But only when the time is right.
Take a moment now to allow the grief within you to move to your third eye center,
The point between your eyebrows.
Take a deep breath to draw it there slowly,
Gradually,
Calmly.
Let it concentrate into a point and notice,
What does it feel like to you?
Is it heavy or is it light?
Is it perhaps sour or bitter or maybe even slightly sweet?
Whatever it is,
Simply let it sit there for a moment.
With your next inhale,
In your mind's eye,
Let the grief become a seed.
A seed that holds what could have been,
What should have been,
And what was.
And as you exhale,
Let the wind of your breath carry the seed away,
So that the seed can be planted and grow into what can be,
What should be,
And what will be.
As the seed floats away,
Notice your third eye center feeling a little lighter,
Maybe a little less tense,
And then continue onward.
With each inhale,
Let any grief you are ready to release transform into a seed at your third eye center,
And with each exhale,
Let it flow away as a seed of hope.
You can continue on for as long as you'd like,
And when you've released what you would like to for today,
Take a long,
Cleansing exhale,
And then return to a calm,
Steady breath.
There is no right or wrong.
What stays is meant to be with you for a little while longer,
And what goes is ready to take root and grow and blossom.
As you return to a steady breath,
You notice in your mind's eye that you are now seated in a field.
Lush,
Green grass surrounds you.
Small wildflowers have sprouted up,
Bright dots of yellow scattered throughout the field.
The seeds of hope are growing up.
With each breath you take,
A gentle breeze washes over the meadow,
And you see more flowers popping up and blooming.
Each seed of hope you planted has taken root,
Grown,
And multiplied.
You take some moments here to savor the wonder,
The light,
The liveliness of your surroundings.
You can stay here for as long as you want to,
But if you are ready to return,
We will begin coming back to this space and this day.
Start to deepen your breaths,
And notice the subtle movements a breath brings to your body.
Perhaps wiggle your toes and your fingers,
And then take a moment to notice,
Where is there lightness that perhaps wasn't there before?
In a few moments,
You will hear the sound of the singing bowl.
Follow the sound as it fades away,
And let it carry away whatever you are ready to leave behind.
When you feel ready,
Start to blink your eyes back open.
May you find more peace and hope today.
Have a great day.
