Somatic Grief Meditation

Grief is one of the most untapped sources of wisdom and knowledge. It is not something we are working to overcome but rather to befriend and transform our relationship. This meditation will take you through various somatic experiences that will help you move through the grief process.

Transcript

Grief is one of the most untapped sources of wisdom and knowledge.

It is not something that we are working to overcome,

But rather to befriend and transform our relationship with.

When we lose something we were attached to in some form,

We lose a part of ourselves.

Your pain and grief is real,

Important,

And has meaning,

And healing is an active process.

This meditation will take you through various somatic experiences that will help you move through the grief process.

Let's begin the process of healing by taking a moment to relax in a quiet place,

Free from others or distractions.

Find a comfortable position that makes you feel safe.

You might choose to use props,

Lie down,

Sit up,

But wherever you are,

Feel your body being held by the surface that you are on.

Take a breath in and let it go.

Make sound if that feels comfortable or if the need arises at any time during this meditation.

Breathe in and let it go.

Maybe even feel your shoulders shrug up towards your ears as you breathe in and let the shoulder slowly descend on the next breath out.

If that feels good,

Create the tension by feeling your shoulder shrug up and letting it go slowly on the next breath out.

Continue to breathe slowly and calmly at a pace that feels natural.

Feel yourself dropping in,

Dropping down into the comfort of being held.

Imagine you are being gently hugged by a warm,

Soft cloud.

You are supported,

Held,

And loved.

There is nowhere else to be and nothing else to do but be here in this moment,

Feeling held.

Your body is slowly becoming more relaxed with each breath.

Your body is letting go of tension,

Softening.

Grief can be very tiring.

You may be feeling overwhelmed,

Stressed,

Quite alone through grief.

You might feel numb,

You might be feeling shock,

Or you may be sensitive and feeling everything all at once.

You may be angry,

Wondering why,

Or be trying to make sense of whatever has happened.

Everything that you are feeling right now is normal,

And you may wade through these feelings back and forth in no particular order.

You are free to grieve in your own way,

On your own timeline.

Don't try to fight against any emotions or feelings.

Take this time to embrace yourself in this moment as if you were holding a tiny newborn kitten with gentleness and care.

Begin with loving kindness and recognition of where you are on your journey of grief right now.

Maybe it's a fresh loss,

Very tender and new.

Maybe it's an older loss that you are reliving at this moment.

With loving kindness and empathy towards the memory or the feeling of loss,

Hold these emotions that you are feeling in your body.

As you attune yourself to this practice,

Notice where you are currently feeling emotions in your body as you look inward,

As you pay attention with this gentle,

Loving awareness.

If your body begins to respond by crying,

Yawning,

Shaking or trembling,

Maybe even laughter,

Moaning,

Allow the sound and body response to occur without judgment or without trying to change it.

Be free with any emotion or memory and its response.

Acknowledge the response,

The feeling,

By sending a loving green light to the part of you that needs comforting.

You may wish to hold,

Touch or tap gently on the part of you that is feeling the intensity of this recognition,

Feeling and memory.

Practice being present with the emotion,

Quietly spending time with it versus reacting,

Pushing it away,

Judging it or ignoring it.

Embrace this part of you that seeks to be held,

Loved,

Nurtured and listened to.

Stay here as long as you need,

Sending loving green light to the part of you that needs comfort.

If new emotions arise,

Continue to be with those emotions as well,

Recognizing them and where they are felt in your body and send them loving green light.

Now focus on your body breathing and your body continuing to relax.

Breathe in,

Breathe out.

Begin to recognize whatever emotion is present in this moment as you focus on your body breathing and your body relaxing in and down.

Notice wherever you're feeling emotion arise in your body.

Again,

Placing your hand on a part of your body and lightly touching or tapping where you feel it arise.

And continue to imagine sending that emotion green light,

Embracing this emotion like a baby with much tenderness.

Making a gentle humming sound on your exhale if that feels right to you in the moment.

You may also find it soothing to gently rock yourself.

Holding and tapping,

Humming,

Rocking and soothing this part of you that feels the emotion.

Continue to practice coming home to yourself and to your emotions before responding.

If you are at any time feeling the need to move or dance,

Sing or shake your body,

Don't resist the urge.

Let it be a natural response to healing.

Continue to identify emotions we may be feeling in the body and use breath to move them through our system towards release.

The following somatic practices may feel silly,

Childish or strange.

But remind yourself that we have left our judging mind behind at the beginning of the meditation.

And we're here to grieve in a healthy way.

And access the untapped wisdom of our grief and take an active process in our healing in order to transform our relationships with this grief.

If you notice you're feeling overwhelmed,

Anxious,

Scattered,

Unfocused,

Afraid or worried.

If you feel your breath feels short or shallow or rapid.

Breathe in a nice equal rhythm for a count of three or four,

Five or six,

Depending on the length of your breath.

Breathing in for a count of three,

Out for a count of three,

Or in for a count of five,

Out for a count of five.

Once you find your easy equal rhythm,

Breathe in.

Where are you feeling these emotions of anxiety and fear in the body?

Imagine that you could sweep these emotions up with an in-breath to your throat.

Listen to the whisper sound of your breath as you breathe in.

Gather these emotions at your throat and as you exhale,

Stick out your tongue and pant like a dog on a hot summer day.

Keep pumping these emotions out through your mouth until you feel a shift.

Breathing in through your nose,

Feeling the breath in your throat and exhaling.

Feel your belly pumping as you pant and breathing in through the nose,

Panting out through the mouth.

And as you start to feel a shift,

The shift may mean you feel the urge to cry or yawn,

To laugh or moan or scream.

Allow the body to respond in whatever way feels natural at this moment.

Feel free to pause the meditation and continue this practice if you're feeling a lot of anxiety,

Overwhelm or fear.

And when you're ready,

Let your tongue relax in your mouth,

Gather your breath into your body,

Feel and notice what has changed.

What has shifted?

What do you observe with curiosity about your emotions?

Are you feeling more focused,

Less afraid?

Maybe your breath now feels more regulated or longer,

Smoother.

Maybe you feel more peace or calm.

And sometimes underneath our anxiety or fear is some other underlying emotions.

You might be feeling anger,

Irritation,

Frustration,

Pain or constriction.

Impatience,

Heated emotions like rage.

Start to breathe in for a count of four and out for a count of six or eight or ten.

Extending your exhale.

Breathe in for a count that feels comfortable,

Three,

Four,

Five and out for an extended exhale of six,

Eight,

Even ten.

Notice as you breathe where you're feeling these heated emotions in your body.

Imagine that you could gather these emotions into your body at your navel center as you take several deep sniffs in through your nose.

And exhale making a hiss sound through your teeth like a snake.

Repeat this sniffing in through the nose,

Gathering the heated emotions at your navel center.

And exhale through the teeth with a long,

Slow hiss.

Feeling your navel draw inward more and more.

Pause this meditation if you'd like to continue.

Releasing these heated emotions.

And then notice how you feel after a few rounds.

What has changed?

What has stayed the same?

Do you feel you've released some of the toxicity within the heated emotions?

Like anger,

Frustration,

Impatience?

And what's remaining as you take some normal breaths and relax your body?

Are you feeling sadness,

Aversion,

Remorse,

Stagnation?

Perhaps you're feeling darkness,

Depression,

Fatigue,

Heaviness.

Is your breath dull,

Motionless?

Does it take effort to breathe?

If you're feeling these heavier emotions,

Begin to breathe in for a count of six or eight.

And exhale only for two or four counts.

Making your exhales much shorter and your inhales much deeper and longer.

Feel the breath moving your lungs,

Your abdomen,

Your ribcage.

Moving the breath into your collarbones,

Into the back body.

Let the breath go with a whoosh,

Rapid and full of life.

If you are currently lying on your back or sitting in a chair,

Gather your legs up to your chest in a comfortable,

Protective pose.

Knees towards your chin.

And hold your body,

Hug your body close in a tiny ball.

And begin to cough.

Cough as if you want all of the stagnation and heaviness to depart from your body in the form of a black cloud.

And you may wish to rock your body side to side or back and forth as you cough.

Cough until you start to laugh at the silliness of this exercise.

And if laughing isn't coming naturally,

Force a laugh.

Fake a laugh like Santa.

Let yourself be as silly as humanly possible.

Laugh as if you are cleansing all of your emotional scars.

Natural laughter may arise,

And it may not.

Whatever occurs and arises for you is okay.

You may wish to pause the meditation and continue to practice this,

Or you can settle back in and down.

Quiet now and still in the body.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Let the breath move naturally through the body like a wave.

What are you observing now in your natural body?

Is there a different energy?

An expansion or sense of spaciousness?

Are you feeling more joyful or playful?

Less fatigued?

Lighter?

What emotions are arising now that you have allowed yourself a moment of rest and release without judgment or explanation?

Be curious about your breath and body sensation.

Be attentive and non-judgmental to whatever is present.

It's okay to feel whatever you are feeling right now.

You are going through the ebb and flow of grief,

Accepting,

Processing,

Adjusting,

And taking time to connect to yourself while embarking on a journey forward through your grief.

Feel and be wherever you are right now.

And return to this meditation anytime you need to be alone with your feelings and emotions and move through them in a healthy,

Somatic way.

Slowly begin to feel your body.

Hear the sounds around you.

Taste moisture or dryness in your mouth.

Notice the aroma.

Begin to awaken with small movements and stretches.

Reawaken to the present moment.

Breathe in as you slowly blink open your eyes to the light.

You are here now.

Reviews

So gentle and so deep, to whatever this touched/brought up. This is enough for now, but I already know I want more of THIS. Thank you so very much.

Oof that was such an emotional release! I’ve been struggling with the loss of my mom recently and I just want to say thank you. Thank you for sharing how to help deal with getting out all this hurt. I know I’ll have my ups and downs but I’ll be back here to help me work through it. 🙏🏻💕

Sarah that was lovely. I am experiencing anticipatory grief and grief for passed love ones. It's hard so I really appreciate this meditation