Grief can be so difficult to stop and be with,
To allow ourselves to open up to it,
And find the time when things are so busy to stop and take the time to be with your grief,
Whether that's incredibly recently or as you find your way in a new layer of trying to make sense of it.
A new layer of hurt or memories,
Another first without them,
A new layer of weaving your loss into the story of your life somehow.
Wherever you are with your grief,
This is an offering of space to be with it,
To be held in it,
To hopefully feel connected and part of this incredible web of life.
Humans,
Animals,
Plants,
The earth,
The universe,
And this technology allows a connection between you and me.
So I offer my heart to hold this space,
Hoping that you will feel held to make use of this time in the way that you need to.
I invite you to notice how you have chosen to be physically,
Whether that is sitting,
Lying down,
Curled up,
Holding yourself,
Closing your eyes or looking out a window or maybe going for a walk.
Notice how you are holding yourself and if you want to resettle yourself into a position that supports you better in this moment or if you're just where you need to be.
So let's begin by taking a breath,
Breathing in fully to give yourself nourishment and as you breathe out,
Settle into yourself.
Then I invite you to use your fingertips to nurture your forehead with little circles or strokes supporting it to relax and let go.
So often our muscles and fascia end up holding our grief,
Where it sits in tension,
Not able to shift or breathe.
Let yourself receive a bit of loving care from your hands,
Offering yourself a loving touch.
Moving from your forehead down and along your cheekbones and then down along your jaw and as you come to your chin,
Bring your hands down your neck with full palms and sweeping out across your shoulders,
Then bringing your hands to your heart in prayer position.
Taking a moment to acknowledge this moment in connection with yourself,
In connection with your grief,
In connection with the person or life phase that you are grieving the loss of.
Bow your head if you choose.
Then placing your palms or your hands across your heart,
Holding that loving space where we so deeply feel the pain of loss.
Then again stroking outwards to the edge of your shoulders opening up your heart space and let your hands come down to rest in your lap.
Then I invite you to roll your shoulders forward and up,
Round and back and down.
There may be resistance to opening up your heart so be gentle with yourself.
You may want to place your hands back on your heart to hold yourself with loving care and notice how you're doing right now.
Notice what you want to be with.
You may want to sit with your pure experience of grief,
The feelings,
The sensations.
There may be memories of your loved one popping up for you to enjoy or it may be memories of difficult times arising.
The thing you need to sit with might be things unresolved.
Whatever you need to be with,
Hold yourself in love and allow it to flow.
Notice where you feel it.
Notice how it feels.
Allow the truth of it.
Holding yourself in love all the while.
Grief is an expression of our love.
It's something that needs space to be felt and lived and processed and it is so complex,
Mixed up with other emotions,
The complexity of human relationship and time spent together,
The loss of memories that won't be made,
Of times that won't be had.
There is often raw pain in acknowledging that.
There is nothing here that you need to make right.
This is simply about allowing you to feel what you feel.
In your unique expression of love for them.
Of who they were,
The influence they had on who you are today.
The things you learned because of them.
Notice where on your body that you could really do with a loving hand.
And place your hands there with a sense of holding,
With love.
And allow yourself as much time as you need right now to be here in your grief.
