Welcome to this guided meditation for grief and loss.
My name is Michelle and I will be your guide.
The first step to meditating for grief is to dedicate some time and space to yourself for this practice.
It's best to do this practice when you know you can be alone and undisturbed.
Let's begin by sitting down in a comfortable chair or lying down on a yoga mat or even in your bed.
There's no pose you need to take here.
Just relax.
Feel free to have your arms resting by your sides or place one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly.
Finally close your eyes.
Now invite in a few deep breaths.
Breathe in and out for eight cycles of breath.
Start to notice the emotions you're bringing into the practice.
Notice the grief but also notice emotions such as guilt,
Fear,
Confusion,
Anger,
Fatigue,
Or sadness.
Simply notice these feelings.
Try not to get caught up in them or allow yourself to follow these emotions with thoughts.
Simply notice them and where you may physically feel them.
If at any point the practice becomes too intense or you begin to feel overwhelmed,
Simply bring your attention back to your breath.
Notice the rising and falling sensations of the breath around the chest and stomach.
If it makes it easier to study your mind,
Count each breath as it passes.
When you're ready,
Turn your attention to your grief.
Notice the feeling of grief and the sensations you may notice around it.
Notice if there's any resistance here.
Remember that mindfulness also means acceptance of the present moment.
It's normal to feel grief and it's normal to experience it in waves.
Don't allow thoughts here to distract you.
Simply maintain an open awareness of the breath and noticing the feelings of grief and sadness here.
Notice if you're adding a story to your grief.
See if you can just notice the grief without adding or subtracting anything here.
Let go of any resistance as well.
See if you can truly see and be mindful of this feeling without the story.
Sit now and watch the breath again with an open awareness.
Allow it to steady your mind.
Allow each thought and emotion to come and go.
Don't allow yourself to be caught up in it with more thinking.
In the final few moments,
Allow the mind to do what it wants.
See if you can let go.
Simply open your eyes.
Take a moment here just to relax.
The grieving process takes time.
There's no easy way out of the pain and suffering that we endure as a result of losing something or someone.
But it is important to feel the emotions as they're moving through us rather than avoiding or burying them.
Acting as if we're fine when we're not is how we suppress emotional pain that will later on show up as any number of problems down the road.
Thank yourself for taking the time to practice this meditation.
And thank you for sharing your practice with me today.
Namaste.
