00:30

Coping With Difficult News

by Mary Maddux

Rated
4.8
Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
554

We may feel shock or feel numb, or experience intense emotions when we receive difficult news. This meditation gives you space to absorb the news and decompress. If there are decisions to be made, or actions you must take, listening to this meditation can help you move ahead with greater calm and clarity.

CopingEmotionsMindfulnessBody ScanBreathingAcceptanceRelaxationFocusShockNumbnessCalmClarityDealing With Difficult NewsEmotional ProcessingPresent Moment AwarenessDeep BreathingManaging ResistanceMind Wandering

Transcript

This is a guided meditation to help you deal with difficult news.

You may be feeling a sense of shock,

Disbelief.

You may feel fear,

Anxiety,

Anger,

Grief,

Or you may feel rather numb.

You need some time to decompress,

To allow yourself to absorb this news.

Begin by finding a comfortable position,

And now close your eyes.

Simply be present to what you're feeling in this moment.

Notice everything that you're feeling,

The temperature of the air,

Noises in the room,

Sensations in the body,

Emotions,

Thoughts coming and going.

Simply be aware of all of that without trying to change anything,

Without resisting anything.

Allow yourself to be here fully,

Fully present to everything going on around you and inside you.

Let's take some nice,

Deep breaths.

Breathe deep into the lungs and relax into the exhalation of the breath.

Bring your attention to your belly.

If there's tension there,

Let it relax.

Let your belly soften.

Notice the breath moving into the belly.

Deep breaths all the way into the belly.

Good,

And now take one more deep breath,

And then allow the breath to return to normal,

Going on its own.

Now bring your attention again to what's going on right now.

Thoughts will keep coming,

And that's fine.

Just when you notice that you've been caught up in a train of thought,

Let it go and come back to the feelings in your body and to what you're noticing in the present moment.

For now,

We'll let go of the meaning of thoughts.

It's a time to let go of any effort,

Any effort to do anything,

To figure anything out.

It's a time to simply be.

There may be some very strong emotions present.

Not resisting them,

Allowing them to be there.

This is a painful,

Difficult time,

But trying to push out the painful feelings only makes things worse.

See how much you can relax with whatever is happening.

Bring your attention to your face.

There may be a lot of tension held in your face.

Allow your brow to be smooth.

Let all the little muscles around your eyes relax.

Let any tension in your jaw go.

Let your jaw relax.

Your mouth may drop open.

You can let your teeth part and let the muscles in your neck relax and your shoulders.

Let your shoulders drop.

Let your arms relax.

We're letting go of resistance.

Resistance to what is.

You may have many thoughts coming about what you've heard,

About what to do.

Your body and mind are absorbing the news and unwinding.

Emotions need to flow and be processed,

Allowing it all to happen.

Your inner intelligence and wisdom and the help of those around you will bring you through.

For now,

You need to allow your body,

Your mind,

To relax as much as possible.

Whenever you notice your mind has wandered off,

Easily bringing your attention back to what's going on right now in the present moment.

Noticing the emotions that are present and feeling them as sensations in your body.

How do you feel these emotions in your body?

Letting go of resistance to what is happening.

Being present to whatever is being experienced.

Being present to yourself.

And any time you notice tension in your body,

Let it soften,

Relax.

Easy,

Open awareness of whatever is happening right now.

It may be difficult to sit with all of this,

But it will help you to become clearer,

More able to deal with the situation.

Now bring your attention to your breathing.

Noticing the in and out of the breath.

You can continue with this process now on your own for as long as you'd like.

Whenever your attention has wandered,

You can gently bring it back to the present moment.

You can bring it back to the breath.

You can always use the breath as an anchor.

So continuing on your own,

And then whenever you're ready to end this meditation,

Take your time to come out slowly.

Meet your Teacher

Mary MadduxUSA

4.8 (81)

Recent Reviews

Deb

October 16, 2025

Mary is always a soothing voice to comfort the harshness of life at times.

Jill

October 3, 2025

Thank you Mary 🙏🥰

Liz

November 16, 2024

This is a great way to try to deal with the stress and anxiety and depression brought on by the election of the horrible Trump!!

KB

November 6, 2024

Thank you for the reminder to just be with all the emotions…That it’s not the time to figure it all out.

MaKayla

September 6, 2024

Great guided meditation. Calming voice. Applicable to all types of bad news. Really helpful for me.

Senga

August 23, 2024

Dear Mary, I am so happy that you are on my recommended list today. I am struggling with a situation of one of my friends at the moment who has sadly been neglected by the medical profession. Having been a palliative care nurse I am horrified and heartbroken for her and her husband. Your words are exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you so much. 🙏🙏💖🌟🦋

Karen

August 30, 2023

Thank you for a beautiful meditation and guiding me through the breathing portion. With the recent and sudden passing of my dad, there has been so much difficult news to cope with. It’s hard to know what to do next. This is a wonderful meditation to bring me back to my breath in those moments where it all seems like too much. Many thanks to you.

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© 2025 Mary Maddux. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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