Inviting you to find a comfortable position,
Either sitting with your spine comfortably straight or if you prefer,
Laying down,
Perhaps beneath a cozy blanket.
Wherever and however you feel the most comfortable and safe as we take a few moments today to explore grief.
Once you are settled,
Take a deep breath in and let it out slowly.
As you release your breath,
Take a slow and relaxed look around the room or space you're in.
Allowing your body to register the safety as you scan the room.
And then if it feels supportive,
I'll invite you to close your eyes here.
In stillness now,
I invite you to become more aware of the surface beneath you,
Whether that's the floor,
A chair,
A couch,
Your bed,
Or any other piece of furniture or earth.
Slowly take a moment to register all of the points where you're supported by the furniture or the earth.
Take in this support,
Allowing yourself to feel even more safety.
Take a few deep breaths here,
Allowing your mind and body to relax.
As you breathe out,
Allow yourself to let go of any tension or stress you might be holding onto.
Each breath taking you deeper into relaxation and further within.
And slowly and gradually allowing your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Grief is a natural response to loss.
This could be loss of a loved one,
Loss of an opportunity,
Loss of a relationship,
Or loss of a way of life.
You can also experience grief for something you never had.
Disenfranchised grief is a loss that's not openly acknowledged,
Socially mourned,
Or publicly supported.
But just because it's not openly acknowledged or socially mourned doesn't mean the feeling of grief isn't there.
We all have grief somewhere.
For someone,
Something,
Or some situation.
And it's okay to take the time to process your emotions.
You may feel a sense of sadness,
Anger,
Or numbness along with your grief.
And I urge you to allow yourself to feel these emotions without judgment as we sit together today.
Take another deep breath in here and a cleansing breath out.
And then I'll ask you to visualize or imagine a peaceful setting.
Perhaps this is a beach or a field of flowers.
Allow yourself to be transported there.
When you're there,
Notice the sounds and smells around you.
Be as detailed as possible as you build the scene in your mind.
You don't need to effort mentally here.
Just allow the peaceful setting to come to you and take whatever comes up for you to be your setting.
Experience what you may feel in the moment.
Perhaps the warmth of the sun on your skin or the cool breeze blowing through your hair.
Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing.
We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem.
But the truth is that things don't really get solved.
They come together and they fall apart.
Then they come together again and fall apart again.
It's just like that.
The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen.
There's room for grief,
For relief,
For misery,
For joy.
In this moment,
While you're in your peaceful setting,
Give yourself permission to fully feel your emotions,
To fully allow your grief to surface.
You don't even need to consciously know what caused this grief.
Just invite the emotion of grief to come forward and be witnessed.
As you spend time in this peaceful space,
Creating room for your grief and any other emotions attached to this grief,
Tune in to your body and start to notice any sensations arising with these emotions.
Know that if at any point you feel overwhelmed by these emotions,
You can return your attention back to your breath.
As you notice sensations arising or sensations that are present,
Acknowledge them and then really get a sense of what they feel like.
Think about the size of the sensation in relation to your body,
The weightiness or lightness of the sensation.
Get a sense of its consistency,
What texture it might be,
Or any colors associated with the sensation you're experiencing.
As you acknowledge these sensations and emotions,
It's common and okay for them to begin to shift.
They might want to take up more space and get bigger,
Which you can allow them to do if it feels okay.
They may change or transform or only be present for a short moment.
I'll allow you some additional time here to acknowledge the sensations.
Feel free to scan through your body,
Noticing any changes.
If you'd like to spend some more time with these emotions,
You can pause this meditation here to give yourself some more space.
When you're ready,
I'll ask you to visualize or imagine that you're gathering up all the sensations in your body,
All of your grief and any other emotions that came along with it.
As you gather all of these up,
You start to form a cloud.
Hold this cloud in your hands until you feel everything you've worked with today is contained inside of it.
The cloud will know once it's full and from your hands will start to rise up into the sky and atmosphere above you.
Take a breath here as you watch the wind catch your cloud,
Starting to shift it higher and further from view in whatever direction it wants to flow.
Take a few more deep breaths and let yourself feel any sense of release or peace that comes with this visualization.
Know that it is okay to continue to grieve and that you can return to this meditation whenever you need to.
I'll invite you to start to wiggle your fingers and toes coming back into your body,
Then hands and feet gently returning to the space that you're in.
When you're ready,
Gently open your eyes and take a moment to ground yourself.
Thank yourself for taking this time to honor your grief and your emotions and to make space for them.
Remember that healing is a process and that you're not alone.
