A Guided Meditation Through Grief To Gratitude And Healing

Grief ignored numbs the heart and stills the capacity to feel. In this gentle meditation you will be invited to go on a healing journey as well as understand the transformative power of grief to open your heart and find compassion for yourself and others. Grief transformed becomes Gratitude, Respect, Integrity, Empathy and Faith.

Transcript

Hi,

Thank you for joining me today.

Today I'd like to take us through a gentle journey through grief,

And then we'll finish off with a really beautiful visualization.

I'd like to start off with a poem I wrote a while ago,

Called Grief.

What does it take for you to find the measure of your grief?

To embrace the tears of your life,

And to bathe your soul in your salty waters that lie in the middle of your heart,

That stills your feelings,

That numb and lock you away in a room alone with the wounds of your life.

What does it take for you to find the measure of your joy,

To embrace the dance of your life,

And to bathe your soul in the passion of your song that lies in your heart,

That awakens your feelings,

And that free you from isolation,

To embrace the joy of your life.

What we understand with Grief is that Grief ignored numbs the heart,

It stills the capacity to feel,

And it fires up anger.

When we are willing and ready to feel,

Remember and grieve,

Only then do the doorways to our hearts open and bring the beginning of peace and resolution.

Through feeling and grieving,

The shadows and memories of our losses are brought to life and affirmed.

It is in these moments where the aching heart is allowed to be that you will be able to embrace your tears,

Hold your aching heart and heal.

Grief is energy stored within your body,

It cannot be forgotten,

Nor should it be abandoned.

Why still the voice of that deepest part of who you are?

Remembering is allowing your body to bring this voice to your awareness.

Listen to your body,

Meet whatever grief is stored,

Both in your body and brain,

With openness,

Compassion and care.

Within all of us,

There is a room where all the pain,

Loss,

Grief and despair are stored.

It dwells in the shadows of our hearts,

It whispers to us in the early hours of the morning.

I offer this journey now to you all to support you in transforming your grief,

And by so doing,

Transform the five letters of grief into gratitude,

Respect,

Integrity,

Empathy and faith.

For times of grief,

It can be helpful to allow what's there to be there,

And to open into a space of wonder and gratitude.

You may ask,

How do you allow what's there to be there,

When we feel very challenged by something?

All we can do sometimes is to simply wait it out,

To be with our actual feelings as they happen,

To experience them in the body and to let them flow.

Oftentimes,

It means allowing yourself to cry,

To express yourself to a friend,

And to allow yourself to grieve with all of the complex emotions that want to present themselves.

In a safe,

Protected place with loving people by your side,

It can be very healing to allow yourself to touch your grief,

To sense the humility in yourself,

Knowing that many challenging things have happened in the past and could happen in the future,

And that you have the courage to acknowledge your losses,

To know it's a cycle of life,

That we are all imperfect.

You ride the waves of grief with mindfulness and self-compassion over and over,

Breath by breath.

There is no way to know when grief will end,

But with caring presence,

It will.

It's also important to remember that what is moving through the mind is part of a vast,

Complex physical and mental process which has many,

Many sources.

As you know,

Grief has its own way of unfolding.

No one can plan it or get rid of it.

Sooner or later,

It can feel appropriate to want to let go,

To release those heavy feelings.

Sometimes,

The grief might be so heavy that we have to set it down for a while,

Take a walk outside,

Eat some healthy food,

Or talk with a friend.

Anything positive that just doesn't remind you of your sadness,

Being a friend to yourself will give you the energy you need to come back to process your grief.

After that,

It can become possible to bring awareness to some of the positive aspects of life which can empower you,

To see more of your mental experience more clearly,

And also to feel your bodily sensations more viscerally.

All the while,

If it's meaningful,

There can be an underlying sense of the unknown,

The uncertain,

The mysteries of life in which we find ourselves in the middle of with a sense of wonder and gratitude.

It's important to be loving in ways large and small,

Like a balm to your own heart,

And to reflect on and receive the caring support of others.

So,

With all of that in mind,

Let's do a guided mindfulness exercise.

Begin by finding a posture that feels relaxed and alert.

And now see if you can observe your mind and your body from a small distance,

Allowing the sensations to be however they are.

Try not to be negative about anything that doesn't feel good.

And after a while,

Shift into gently releasing the negative,

And then really open to and encourage the positive.

And remember that you can bring attention to feeling the positive,

Even when sadness or others feelings are also present.

Opening to wonder and gratitude for the mysterious ways that life unfolds as we allow our grief to unfold alongside our kind awareness.

Take a deep breath in and release.

So to recap,

For times of grief,

It can be helpful to allow what's there to just be there.

Try to limit what is painful or harmful,

Try to do what is more enjoyable and beneficial,

And to open into a space of wonder and gratitude.

Thank you all for your courage to be with your grief with caring awareness that is mindfulness.

I'd like to finish off this journey today with a gentle and beautiful visualization.

Visualization is a powerful method that allows you to use your imagination to help you relax.

I don't want you to do this when you are driving,

But I'd like you to return to it later when you can find a quiet time to relax.

Simply find a comfortable spot.

Listen to my voice and follow my direction.

Take a moment to sit back and relax.

Gently close your eyes and breathe deeply into your abdomen.

Feel yourself in your body right now in this moment.

As you breathe,

Allow your body to completely and fully relax.

Stress is flowing out of you with each breath.

Your body is becoming limp and comfortable.

Let the tension in your brow go.

Let the tension in your lips go.

Let the tension in your eyes go.

Just relax in the comfortable darkness that surrounds you.

Once you feel completely relaxed and centered,

Start to bring yourself to one of your favorite peaceful,

Beautiful places.

This could be a place you've seen before,

Like a silent redwood grove with cool shade and towering ancient trees that protect you in their mammoth embrace.

Or a white sandy beach where the ocean waves gently lap the shore and the smell of the sea makes you feel at home.

It could be a place built entirely in your imagination,

A lovely slowly swaying bridge that you can stand on,

Watching a babbling brook flow away underneath it.

Or an ancient oak in the autumn,

Something out of an old legend.

Or golden leaves fall around you as you sit under the shade and watch the golden orange sun pass over the horizon into twilight.

Wherever this special peaceful place is for you,

Take some time to imagine it as completely as you can all around you.

Once you have your special place in mind,

Bring yourself into the picture.

Imagine that you're in this beautiful place.

Put yourself there.

Take a walk and look at the lovely,

Peaceful,

Relaxing surroundings.

Before,

You were looking at this peaceful scene like a painting from a distance.

Now,

You're in the scene.

You're living it.

Be there right now.

What do you see around you?

Just look around and see what you see.

What in the scene is most relaxing to you?

Take a walk in this special place and see all that you can see.

What do you smell in the air?

Can you smell the trees and the soil of the forest floor beneath you?

Do you smell the salty air of the ocean?

Bring scent into your visualization.

Smell the air where you are.

Reach out and touch something that's attractive and peaceful to you.

How does it feel?

Is it soft to your touch?

You're living in the scene.

You can feel the ground beneath you and the air on your skin.

How does it feel?

Take a moment to listen.

What sounds do you hear in this beautiful new surrounding?

Can you hear birds chirping in the woods?

Do you hear the ocean waves and their perpetual booming rhythm?

Perhaps there is music from an ancient flute in the background.

Or maybe you hear the voice of an old friend that soothes and calms you.

Whatever you hear,

Take a moment now to enjoy listening to it.

You can stay in the scene as long as you want to.

Enjoy this moment of relaxation that you've taken for yourself.

Feel free to walk around in this special place as long as you want.

It's yours.

You can change the scene as you wish.

Remember that this special place is always here for you.

You can come back to it whenever you wish.

You need not be afraid to lose it.

It's always with you.

The relaxation that you feel right now at this moment in your body is yours to call on any time you wish.

Whenever you're ready,

Slowly let the scene before you dissolve back into your mind.

Allow yourself to slowly come back to the comfortable darkness that was there before you imagined your special place.

When you're ready in your own time,

You can slowly open your eyes and come back to this moment,

This time and this reality.

Before you get up,

Take a moment to note how relaxed you feel right now.

Then slowly,

Attentively,

Lovingly move on with your daily life.

Reviews

Your soul is beautiful. Ty for sharing your wisdom. Very helpful