Hello,
And welcome to your body.
This is a practice to help you soften.
So often in grief,
We spend so much energy trying to protect our hearts,
Trying to pretend like we're okay,
Trying to keep up appearances.
And what that does is it creates tension in the body that you don't need to carry,
That isn't yours to carry.
So this is a practice in softening into yourself,
Into the earth,
To help that tension dissipate.
You can start in any position that feels good to you,
But have it be one where your back is supported,
Maybe seated,
Maybe laying down.
Give yourself something to lean into,
Knowing that our first mother is the earth.
So taking your time to nestle into the support.
Make sure you have some space around you to move freely,
It doesn't have to be a lot.
This is a somatic meditation,
So I'll be inviting intuitive movement as we go on.
Start by focusing on the feeling of the support beneath you and behind you.
Noticing the sensations that come up in response to the support.
Noticing if the support feels soft or hard,
Cold or warm.
And throughout this practice,
The goal is not to achieve anything or get anywhere,
But simply to soften into what is here.
Start doing that right now with your breath.
Realizing how it feels to breathe into your body right now.
And really letting the breath fill your cells,
Letting the earth breathe you.
And feeling free to release any sound that wants to come out,
A sigh,
A yawn,
Even a moan or a groan.
This body is yours.
This practice is yours.
This grief is yours.
No wrong way to do this.
And as you breathe,
Notice if there's any parts of you that are holding in.
Any parts of you that feel contracted or tight.
Oftentimes in grief,
This can be found in the throat,
The jaw,
The heart space,
The lower belly and groin area.
The lower elves can send your breath to this part of you.
And also invite you to place a hand where you feel this,
Where you feel this tension,
This tightness.
Breathe into your hand.
Breathe into what is here.
And do your best to allow any responses,
Any sensations,
Any tears,
Any sounds,
And any movement to come through you.
Letting your body move intuitively towards a sense of softening,
Opening,
Deep sense of surrender,
Knowing that the earth is here to hold you.
And that no matter what,
No matter how broken you may feel,
How stressed or anxious or overwhelmed,
There is nothing that you could be experiencing in your body that the earth can't hold.
Because you are the earth.
And the earth is you.
Continuing to breathe deep as you let your body do what it needs to do.
Really inviting this physical form,
This carrier of your grief to guide your way.
Letting yourself tune into your intuitive urges,
Expression.
And knowing.
Letting your body get you there.
Letting your body take up space.
Really breathing deep.
Knowing that this internal wisdom is the most intelligent and the most central tool that you have for integrating your loss,
For teaching your body how to hold your heartbreak without shutting down,
Without building tension,
Without needing to stay small.
You are alive.
You are here.
And sometimes that revelation can feel awful to be here without them.
And sometimes it can feel like a breath of fresh air.
I get to be alive.
I get to live this life.
And I get to do it in reverence to and in relationship with my gorgeous body.
This body that holds and knows so much.
Knowing that your movement might be big,
It might be small,
Might be very expressive,
It might be more subtle.
There is no way to get this wrong.
Your body knows what to do.
Continuing to breathe deep.
And in the next few breaths,
Find a movement,
Find a place to pause that feels like surrender in your system.
Maybe you're laying down,
Maybe you're in a child's pose,
Maybe you have your arms wrapped around yourself.
Just come to pause in the now.
And breathe deep.
Allowing any sensations to circulate,
Any images,
Memories,
Feelings.
Allow them all to be here.
And this moment on this earth,
In this body.
Knowing that it is from this softening,
This surrender,
That the most authentic and truest expression of you,
An expression of your grief gets to come forth.
Take all the time you need to come out of this experience.
There is no rush.
Thank you for joining me.
For taking the time to slow down,
Tap in.
And soften into your grief.
