A gentle heart.
Find a quiet place to rest.
And soften your eyes.
And if it feels right,
Just close them.
Feel the weight of your body settling.
The way a deer settles into tall grass at Eek.
Edge over clearing.
Unhurried.
I'm guarded.
But present.
Breathe in slowly.
And as you exhale.
.
.
Imagine a deer stepping quietly into the space.
Beside you.
She doesn't rush.
She doesn't demand anything of you.
She simply arrives.
The way.
Grieve arise.
The way tenderness arrives.
Softly.
And without warning.
And then Notice your eyes.
Dark and white.
Endless.
Gentle.
She knows,
Lost too.
Every creature in the forest knows the ache of something ending.
But she watch how she moves.
She doesn't armor herself against the world,
She stays open.
Ears.
Turn towards every sound.
Heart.
Turns towards every feeling.
And her softness is not Weakness Her softness is how she of survives.
Let her teach you this.
In the quiet.
I can be soft.
And still be safe.
And just let that settle in you.
I can be soft.
And still be safe.
Feel that truth settling into your chest.
Into the place that still aches from what has ended.
You do not have to build walls around this paint.
You do not have to become hard to keep from breaking.
The deer shows you another way.
Staying present,
Staying tender.
Staying alert to the beauty that still moves through the world.
Even now.
And just breathe with her.
Breathing in.
And out.
With each breath.
Feel your body loosening its grip.
Just slightly.
The grip around your heart.
The grip around the story,
What was lost.
You and just whisper inwardly.
As if these words belonged to the deer herself.
I move through this grief with grace.
Not armor.
I do not have to harden.
To heal.
And let this affirmation echo through you gently and unhurried.
The way she moves through the trees.
There is no need to rush your healing.
There is no need to prove you are unaffected.
You are allowed to feel this fully.
To let this move through you the way the wind moves through a meadow.
Touching everything.
And passing on.
I am soft.
I am safe.
I am tender.
I am strong.
My heart can break open without breaking apart.
And stay here.
A while longer with the deer beside you.
Let her stillness become your stillness.
Let her open eyes remind you that Vigilance and vulnerability.
Are not opposites.
You can watch for what is coming,
While still keeping your heart unguarded.
To what is good.
And when you are ready to return.
Take one more breath together.
Feel her presence settling into your bones.
A quiet companion.
For the days ahead.
Reminding you that The ache rises again.
It does not.
To break you.
Gentle does not mean.
I can move through this with grace.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes slowly.
Carrying the dear stillness with you.
And welcome back.
And welcome home.
