Somatic Meditation For Grief Relief And Heart Connection

In this meditation on Heartful Grief, you’ll be invited into a state of present awareness with your body, resourcing with somatic tools, and exploring grief in the heart. This meditation includes cues for breathing, and dialogue that invites softness and compassion for yourself in your process.

Note: The purpose of this meditation is to come closer to your grief. While it is designed with tools to help you be with any challenging emotions that come up along the way, it may bring up unexpected emotions related or unrelated to the grief you’re processing.

Listen to your body's feedback, and know that you can pause or stop the meditation at any time. Before you begin, take a moment to take stock of what forms of support and self-care are available to you, and use them as needed.

About This Work
This grief work is heavily inspired by the grief tending lineages of Sobonfu Somé, Martín Prechtel, and Francis Weller, and Nils has received training with Josh Fox and Siobhan Asgharzadeh.

Transcript

Hello, My name is Nils and welcome to this meditation on Heartful Grief. Let's start by taking a deep breath in. And out. Keep in mind for the rest of this meditation, Everything is an invitation. Listen to your body's yes and no. You're welcome to participate with your eyes open or closed. In today's meditation, We focus on heartful grief. This is grief that we can feel and access in our heart. So we'll start by getting comfortable. Notice how your body feels right now in your space. Whether you want to sink further into your chair or lie down. Do what feels best. Getting as relaxed as possible. Once you're there, Take a deep breath. Now from this more comfortable place, I invite you to bring some gentle awareness to your body. Resting into wherever the body is in this moment. Giving permission for however we feel to just be present. Bringing compassion and softness to wherever that place is. We'll start by doing some somatic resourcing. Take a moment to focus some of your attention on an area of your body that feels good. Really let that soak in. Let yourself relax into that. This place in your body that may feel relaxed. Comforting to be with, Comfortable. Lean into that support. Endless resource. Today we're exploring heartful grief. What is heartful grief? Many of us experience grief as either stagnant or heavy, Depressing, Maybe overwhelming. And what I want to offer today is a slightly different way of relating to it. Grief in the heart. Is full of love. I like to think of grief as a rushing river of love. So staying present with this resource in the body. Will take grief as a river. Feeling into whatever's on your heart today. Whatever grief you're with. Noticing how it's like a river. Feeling its power. It's intensity. This surge, This bounding river. Strong passion. As you watch this river and as you notice your heart. What does it say? What grief is on your heart. Just letting the answer come. It may come in a voice or a sensation or a story. Take a deep breath here. Watching this river and being close to your heart. What have you lost? What did you never receive? What love do you hold? What do you wish were a different way? What was never yours to carry? I invite you to bring some softness if there are any voices of judgment. For this time, I invite you to just give permission to what's coming up. And the way it's coming up. I wish it were a different way. No, Please don't go. I'm so sorry. Thank you. Take another deep breath in. And out. One more breath in. And out. I invite you to come back to that resource in your body. Staying with the grief. With the river if it's present. And just notice as any emotions move through your body. Noticing any feedback that may be coming from your body. Welcoming what's coming up. Take a deep breath in and hold. Home. And let go slowly, Breathing out slowly. And returning to regular breathing. Sing with the heart. Staying with the body. Staying with your love. And coming towards completion. Knowing that you can come back here anytime. We'll come to close with this practice by offering gratitude. Offer any words of gratitude to yourself. Opening your eyes slowly if they were closed. Taking in your surroundings. Wiggling your fingers a little bit and your toes. Starting to move your body a little bit. Holding gratitude for yourself. Taking a deep breath in and letting go. As you move through your day, Hold on to this idea of heartful grief. You may ask yourself the question, What love does my grief hold? Move slowly, Drink water, Go into nature, Spend time with loved ones. Thank you for listening. Much love and take care.