Hello and welcome.
This meditation has been created with the intention to help guide or sit with the process of grief.
Loss can come in many different forms and has a way of reshaping us.
There is no linear time for the process of grief.
There are tools to change and fix it,
But what we can start to do is offer ourselves space and gentle loving compassion.
If and when you feel ready,
Begin to find a space where you can allow yourself to relax.
Allow your body to settle in a way that feels supported.
Using pillows and blankets to add that extra comfort.
Feeling the weight of your body being held by the ground beneath you.
Fully allow yourself to exhale.
Placing one hand over the heart and another on the stomach.
Feeling the warmth of your own touch.
Slowly allowing your system to soften.
Connecting with the presence of your own breath.
Allowing the hands to rise and fall.
Knowing that we are creating the amount of time and space that we need.
We're going to begin to recognise what grief we might be feeling in this moment.
It can be a recent grief or one from a while ago.
Like I said,
Grief has no linear time of healing.
Once you have noticed it,
Can you start to see how this is making you feel within?
With loving awareness,
Slowly scan through your body,
Starting at your head and moving downwards.
Using the breath to help you through this part.
With each and every inhale,
Just breathing in to each part.
Starting at the head and with each and every exhale,
Just allowing yourself to soften.
If you need to pause the meditation,
You're more than welcome.
Taking as much time as you need.
Can you notice anywhere that begins to pull your attention directly to it?
If so,
Can you notice the sensations,
The textures,
The temperatures or any memories that might be coming to life right now?
Offering a nice deep breath to this point if it needs it.
Now gently bring your attention to your heart's beat.
Imagine in the heart,
Not as something that breaks,
But as something that reshapes.
It expands to hold more.
More tenderness and more life.
Keep breathing in to that space in your chest.
I'd like to offer you some words from my own journey of grief.
I wrote these words after a lot of deep processing and now reading them back from where I am today,
I'd really like you to know that wherever you're at in your process,
Things will get better.
That's my hope for you.
The voice of grief.
It's been waiting for enough space to step forward,
To be held,
To be valued,
To be noticed.
A big gasping hole that has deep dark depth.
It's been woven all around the other emotions,
Like ivy forever entangled.
Its roots read down and held back.
Its strong pull keeps back,
Reaching for high love.
It says no to situations,
People,
And places.
It's a cloud on even the sunniest days.
It masks as anger,
Defence,
Independence and isolation.
But in the wounded heart of grief is a deep well of sadness.
An innocent,
Unloved and terrified part that has been lost.
This is the part that gives us permissions to say I will never be the same again.
This I know is true.
Then in the moment the sun shines bright and the well feels a little warm.
Life says it's time.
Grief is a part of your life but is not who you are.
The well dries up with the sun and the ivy begins to fall away.
An acceptance washes peace over the wounds.
A healing water nurtures and a memory of love begins to fill the empty spaces.
Slowly and steady,
One step at a time,
A path begins to form.
In a once dark road,
A rainbow shines over and a remembering opens that without the storm that would not have formed.
Take as long as you need.
Maybe offering your body exactly what it needs right now.
Placing a hand somewhere.
Changing position.
Allowing some tears to flow or breathing deeply.
Let yourself feel and stay here as long as you need.
Allow this process to be as long as you need.
And know that your heart will find its way through.
