Come to sitting upright on a chair or cross-legged on the floor,
Making sure that you're comfortable and at the same time alert.
And now bring your attention to your breath.
Feel the in-breath moving into your nostrils and your out-breath out of your nostrils.
Focusing your attention on your breath.
And whenever your attention wanders into thoughts,
Gently bring your attention back to your breath,
One breath at a time.
And now let go of your breath and drop into your body.
Where in your body do you feel your heart break?
Does your heart feel heavy?
Is there maybe a tension in your belly or are your legs restless?
Just notice where in your body your heartbreak manifests itself.
Be curious.
And maybe as you're being curious about your heartbreak,
There's an urge to make it go away,
To push it away.
So if you notice such an urge,
Try to see whether you can just for now.
Let the feelings of heartache be there,
Allowing them to be here.
Focusing up to this experience.
Now place one hand on your heart and see if you can feel the warmth of your hand on your pounding heart.
Really tuning into how this warmth feels.
That you're offering yourself with this gesture.
Safe,
Soothing,
Calming.
Listening to your heartbreak with caring warmth.
Recognizing that this is a difficult time for you.
You have experienced and are still experiencing tremendous loss.
And now see if you can imagine kindness floating from your hand into your heart.
And from there,
Filling your whole body.
Just like a wounded puppy,
We too deserve boundless kindness and moments of suffering.
So allowing kindness and care to fill your body.
Feeling your heartbreak in a loving space.
Now bring to mind all the self-criticism you've been engaging in since the loss has occurred.
Maybe you believe that you're not beautiful enough to be loved.
Maybe you beat yourself up for having done or said certain things.
You can't stop replaying those regretful thoughts in your head.
Maybe you at the bottom of your heart believe that you're unlovable.
So bring to mind all the ways that you have turned towards yourself since the heartbreak.
And recognize that this self-criticism beyond the heartbreak has made you hurt even more inside.
And now still resting your hand on your heart,
Sending yourself even more kindness.
Giving your whole experience in a container of kindness and love.
Giving yourself as much kindness as you would give to a wonderful friend who just had his or her heart broken.
Because you,
Just like him or her,
Deserve care.
And now keeping your hand on your heart,
Try to bring to mind all the things you've learned and are still learning through this heartbreak.
Maybe you're learning to let go.
Maybe you have learned that you wish to be treated with respect and love.
Maybe you've learned to be less impulsive.
Whatever you have learned,
Bring it to mind.
As you're doing so,
Allow yourself to feel a sense of personal growth,
Maybe even gratitude for those learning experiences that have come out of this painful experience.
And now before we end this meditation,
Bring your attention back to your breath.
Feeling the in-breath and the out-breath.
Feeling your lungs filling with air as you're breathing in and emptying off air as you're breathing out.
Following the natural flow of the breath.
Now when you're ready,
Letting go of observing the breath,
Then opening your eyes and coming back.
