Welcome,
Thank you for joining me here.
As you settle in,
Know that this time is for you,
A gift of quiet presence,
For you to deepen your connection with your tender feelings.
So take a few moments to find a comfortable position,
Sitting upright or lying down,
Whatever feels right for you.
And begin by noticing your breath as it's coming in and going,
As you're inhaling and exhaling by your body's natural rhythm of breathing.
Allow your hands to rest open,
Ready to receive.
Close your eyes or let them rest in a soft gaze.
Your mind relaxed and alert as you listen to these words that will lead you into your heart.
And so often,
We wonder why we're sad,
Seriously,
We question,
We ask,
Why am I crying?
Perhaps the better question is,
Why aren't you crying?
We're losing something every day,
Right before our eyes,
Something fades away and we fail to catch it,
The feeling of it,
The emotion that found us,
Hoping to make its way through and from us,
Our sweet contribution from our essence to all the rest.
We resist,
We hold it within,
Then when least expecting it,
We cry and we think we're crying for no reason,
Yet we have so many reasons,
Good ones,
Pure heart knows true pain and how to be with it lovingly,
To rest with it before letting it go into the ether.
It is our heart's repose.
Our baby,
Our child first day dashes off into school by their self,
Independence,
So proud.
And there we stand,
Arms drooping at our sides,
Feeling foolish,
Wishing for their hug as they run and wave goodbye.
We turn away to walk home and alone,
Haunted by the ache,
By the tears that never came.
And yet,
We should cry and not later wonder why,
Just let the cry pour from the heart,
Let our tears flow out of us to carry with them the loss of losing what makes our life lovely and sweet.
Well,
When the leaves turn amber,
Red overhead,
When soaring geese take flight to leave,
Their wings writing goodbye across the sky,
Cry.
When the doctor advises,
Go easy on your heart,
Rest more,
At least an hour every day,
We nod politely,
Smile faintly,
Remembering when we used to jog a few miles easy,
When our bodies were firmer,
All our rhythms strong,
When laughter came quicker.
Now the heart demands our closest attention,
And still we've agreed by what's implied to whisk away the soft sadness inside.
Our sadness is part of the rhythm we're here to dance to,
We're meant to soften,
To slow,
To listen.
So cry,
Don't question why,
Just cry.
Every teardrop you shed is not a breaking,
But a cleansing,
A prayer in motion.
A release,
What waters your joy.
Tears are the river your soul drinks from,
Quenching the thirst for what's tender and true.
Cry for all that is,
How far away it seems at times,
For the beautiful mess of being human.
Cry,
Cry for what was and what longs to be.
Cry,
For to cry is to die a little,
And to be born again into tenderness.
Each tear,
A pearl of spirit,
Each sob,
A hymn to what you love and cannot hold forever.
This is the crying love of your spirit inside of you,
The sacred return of your longing soul,
Calling you home to dwell in your own heart.
So cry,
Free your heart,
Let your tears find their tone,
And listen as they sing to your own,
Your own extraordinary melody.
One of your songs,
From being here for a while,
Till you return home.
Take a slow,
Easy breath.
Let your body rest in the quiet that follows feeling.
You may notice a kind of peace here,
Soft,
Subtle,
Alive.
And tears have their own wisdom.
They arrive not to break you,
But to wash the dust from your seeing.
They clear the space between you and your own soul,
Reminding you of what is sacred,
What still moves,
What flows through you,
Envelops you in its kindness.
So when an emotion rises,
Don't turn away,
Let it move,
Let it speak.
Your tears are proof that your heart is awake,
That you're still participating fully in this human journey of love,
Loss,
And becoming.
Remember,
Every tear honors what mattered.
Every release nourishes what's still to come.
And each time you allow yourself to cry,
You come home again,
Again,
To your soul's quiet center.
Breathe once more deeply.
Place a hand on your heart.
Feel the rhythm of life still pulsing,
Still faithful to you for being you.
You are never alone in your tears.
They are the streams that connect you to every living heart that is ever loved and lost.
Right now,
In this truth,
Your sadness is sacred.
Your heart is the vessel through which the divine remembers itself.
As love.
And so now I'm going to provide you an opportunity to reflect upon and to integrate your experience.
And there's three questions I want to pose,
And I'll provide some suggestions for your further reflection.
So where do your tears live in you right now?
Reflect on a place in your life where some kind,
Any kind really,
Of emotion that feels just beneath the surface,
Perhaps tenderness you've held yourself back from,
Or a moment of quiet loss you've brushed aside.
What would it feel like to let those feelings move through you without judgment or story?
And second,
What has your soul been asking you to grieve?
Consider the transitions,
The endings,
Or the subtle changes that have shaped you.
What have you quietly lost that still calls for your acknowledgement,
Your tears,
Your love?
How might allowing yourself to grieve bring you further into peace?
And finally,
How does crying wed you to life's beauty?
Notice how tears can soften your heart and open you to gratitude,
To compassion,
And awe.
What do your tears reveal about your deepest capacity to love and to be alive?
