Hello and welcome.
Thank you for joining me for this 20-minute meditation entitled Navigating Grief.
To begin,
I invite you to find a comfortable position in your body.
This can be sitting down or lying down.
Just bring some awareness that your seat feels secure and that your spine is nice and supported.
You can rest your hands wherever is comfortable.
You can close your eyes or you can gently rest your gaze out in front of you.
I want to begin by letting you know that this is a safe space.
Right here,
Right now,
It is safe to just be.
And I invite you to repeat these next few grounding phrases after me,
Either aloud or in your head.
I grant myself permission to just be.
I grant myself permission to be present,
Present in my body and present with my breath.
I grant myself compassion and gentleness.
I do not have to be yesterday.
I do not have to be tomorrow.
I can just be right here and I can just be right now.
And now I invite you to begin to bring some awareness to your breath,
Allowing your inhale and your exhale to be smooth and easy.
If you are here,
You are probably feeling the grief of losing someone or something,
Person and animal,
An experience,
Someone or something you love.
Know that whoever or whatever you are grieving,
That your grief is real and that there is no shame in it.
This meditation is an invitation to gentleness.
Your grief is sitting in your body and in your consciousness in ways that you are still learning.
And as you learn,
You require gentleness and you deserve gentleness,
First and foremost from yourself.
As you continue to breathe,
Just take a moment and offer yourself some gratitude for carving out this time,
For taking these next few minutes to offer yourself the gentleness you deserve.
Breathe in that gratitude like a warm hug and exhale,
Allowing yourself to fall deeper into this present moment.
Let's take a moment to just observe the breath,
Feeling its coolness on your nostrils and the back of your throat,
Feeling the rise and fall of your belly and your chest.
Begin to notice where you feel your breath,
Not seeking to change anything,
Just noticing.
Take a moment and feel the movement of your breath,
The ebb and the flow,
The inhale and the exhale.
Feel the fullness of your breath and the ease of your breath.
And now I invite you to offer your body some gentleness,
Simply allowing some softness into your being.
Many times we harden to protect ourselves,
But right now it is safe to soften,
To allow,
To feel,
To be.
Allow gentleness,
Understanding,
And compassion to flow to you and to flow through you.
Maybe this gentleness looks like a soft golden light.
Let's start by extending some gentleness to your breath,
Not forcing it to be anything,
Just allowing,
Allowing that golden light to flow in and out as you breathe.
Allow this warm gentle light to soften your shoulders,
Feeling them release,
Gentle.
Allow this warm gentle light to flow up your neck,
Releasing and relaxing,
Gentle,
Gentle.
Feel this gentle golden light begin to soften your face,
Releasing the space between your eyebrows,
Behind your eyes,
Your jaw,
And your tongue,
Gentle,
Gentle.
Allow this warm gentle light to make its way down your spine,
Releasing all of your back muscles and down into your hips,
Gently softening any tension or tightness.
Relax,
Release,
Gentle,
Down your legs,
All the way to your toes.
And now allow this soft golden light to settle at your heart center and breathe into it,
Offering your heart gentleness,
Compassion,
Understanding,
And safety.
Grief can often bring up feelings of anger,
Disappointment,
Or regret.
If any of these are coming up for you in this moment,
Can you allow yourself to hold them with loving kindness?
Bring these feelings into the warmth of this gentle golden light.
Breathe into them,
Allowing them to move through your body if it feels right for you right now.
Simply be with these feelings.
There's no need for attachment or stories of the mind.
There's no need for holding.
Simply allow,
Simply be.
Offer gentleness,
Understanding,
And full acceptance to any feelings of anger,
Regret,
Or longing.
They deserve it.
You deserve it.
And as you continue to breathe,
Body soft,
Mind soft,
Heart soft,
I invite you to release the visualization and simply bring your awareness back to your breath,
Allowing it to be easy and smooth,
Releasing any attachment to any particular emotion or feeling.
And I invite you to speak these next few phrases with me,
Either aloud or in your head.
I offer myself gentleness because that is what I deserve.
I release any expectations of how I should feel.
I embrace lovingly all that I am feeling in this moment.
I embrace my grief with loving arms.
There is no shame in grieving.
To grieve without shame is my right.
I grant myself permission to grieve without shame.
I know that my grief is an expression of my love.
I am grateful for love.
I know that grief and joy can coexist.
I lovingly open myself through both my grief and my joy.
And finally,
Repeating once more,
I offer myself gentleness,
Compassion,
And full acceptance.
That is what I deserve.
And if it feels right,
And only if it feels right,
Take a moment as we close out our time together to offer some gratitude for the wisdom that grief has granted you,
For the deeper understanding of our humanity,
Of life,
Of love.
Take care of yourself today.
Listen to your body.
Take a nap if you need rest.
Drink water and herbal teas.
Remember to breathe.
Take some time to write in a journal if that feels nourishing.
And thank you for allowing me to guide you through this time together.
Many blessings to you.
