Thank you for choosing healing the deep ocean of grief.
You are not alone in your grief.
Give yourself this time to be deeply loved,
Guided,
And held.
Grief is powerful,
Heavy,
Painful,
And difficult.
It's often all-consuming.
Sometimes,
Grief can feel like the depth of the ocean,
Where it's so deep that sunlight cannot break through.
It can feel cold,
Dark,
And very still.
There's no sign of the waves crashing on the surface.
Instead,
It's a place of existing.
Not much is living here.
A feeling that your world has shattered.
But the rest of the world just keeps right on living without you.
We all know that death is a natural part of life,
But that doesn't make it any easier to face when it enters our life.
Life is change,
And yet we resist,
Trying to keep everything the same comfortable way we have come to expect.
Most of us don't want to let go of anything,
But through grief,
We learn to love and appreciate what we had and lost.
Whether it's friends,
Family,
A way of life,
A job,
Our youth,
We grieve it all.
This meditation will allow us to sit with our feelings and acknowledge them.
It will help us to realize that we are not alone in the darkness,
And there is no timeline of when we should get over it and move on.
This meditation will help you feel deeply connected and supported once more.
So together,
Let's venture into the deep ocean of grief,
Allowing this practice to meet you wherever you are,
Acknowledging our heartbreak as we face the difficult truth of impermanence.
Grief is a recognition of endings,
But it can also be a birth and a new beginning.
As we enter into a difficult and solitary journey,
We may realize that we don't have to walk this path alone.
No one knows exactly how you feel.
I will not use trite sayings or platitudes here.
Grief is powerful,
Heavy,
Painful,
And difficult.
There is no simple way through it,
And we all grieve in our own way.
There is no timeline or rulebook for your grief.
My intention is simply to give you some reprieve from all of the heaviness,
Some rest for your broken heart,
Your overwhelmed mind,
And your exhausted body,
Savoring a moment of calm within the storm.
So please simply find a comfortable position for your body.
Feel free to listen while lying in bed.
You may find that my voice guides you into a deep,
Healing rest that you didn't even know was possible.
It's okay that you're not okay.
It's okay if you fall asleep and don't hear everything I say.
It is perfectly normal to go in and out of conscious hearing.
The deepest part of you will hear everything you need.
So take some time now to get really comfortable.
You'll hear my voice again in a few moments as I allow you the space to really check in with your body.
Once you feel comfortable,
Notice the weight of your blanket.
Feel how your blanket and gravity wrap you in a protective cocoon of safety,
Comfort,
And ease.
Observe the weight of your body cradled and held.
Let go of the need to control or guide anything.
Feel your body completely supported by the surface beneath you.
Consciously accept the support being offered.
Begin to feel the love and deep understanding I am sending to you through this meditation.
There is no pity here,
No judgment or expectations.
Feel the deep understanding of one who has been in the dark place and made it out to the other side.
Now allow all of your attention to rest on the awareness of your breath.
Notice the feel of your breath on your nostrils.
Does the breath move equally through both nostrils?
Or does one nostril receive more air?
Then explore for a moment the temperature of the breath as it moves in and compare it to the temperature of the breath as it moves out,
Inviting your breath to just naturally slow down.
See if you can soften your belly and allow the breath to start to really fill you up On your inhale,
Feel your belly rising.
On your exhale,
Empty out completely as the belly falls back towards your bed,
Riding the wave of your breath in and out with as little effort as possible.
Total awareness of the wave-like motion of your breath.
When your mind wanders off,
It's ok.
The mind is designed to think,
Just lovingly guided back to the breath falling in and the breath falling out like the endless waves of the ocean lapping at the beach.
Awaken a sense of curiosity about your inner landscape.
In this present moment,
All is well.
Be willing to let go of all thoughts of today.
Release all of your worries of the future as we rest here together,
Riding the wave of our breath in and out,
In and out with total awareness.
Your only job right now is to notice what you are feeling,
Exploring the movement of the breath within the stillness of the mind and body.
Now let's shift that curiosity into the physical body,
Observing sensations and feelings that are stored in your physical body.
Begin by noticing your immediate somatic experience.
What feelings or sensations do you notice right away in your body?
Do you feel grounded,
Anchored,
And secure?
Or do you feel spacey and hollow?
Or maybe tight and full?
Do you feel edgy and squirmy,
Unable to settle?
Or is there a sensation of feeling numb,
Dull,
And out of touch?
We all experience grief in our own way,
So let's just become aware of how you are feeling in this moment,
Without judgment of yourself.
There is no right way to move through grief.
We will not cure it or get over it.
Instead,
We acknowledge grief and learn how to live with it.
What do you notice right now?
Try not to interpret,
Just feel.
What is your body saying to you right now?
Begin to feel your heart center.
Your broken heart was damaged for sure.
It may feel as if it has shattered into a million pieces.
Then notice that your heart may feel raw,
Tender,
And vulnerable.
Acknowledging where we are in our process is how we will make it through to the other side.
Allowing ourselves the time and space we need to heal and feel whole again.
Observe how your heart still holds the grief,
Despite being broken,
As if we were able to glue just enough pieces back together to create a fragile container for our grief.
Feel the heaviness of your heart,
Filled with your sadness and grief.
But your fragile,
Loving heart is still beating,
Strong and steady,
All of this heaviness.
Your heart has been broken open.
Your heart is more open than ever before.
Then direct your attention to what emotions are rising to the surface,
Like bubbles that began in the stillness at the bottom of the ocean.
See or feel your emotions rising up through the darkness,
Into the light.
As they reach the surface,
There may be a sense of intensity,
Or a sense of just being dull.
Simply notice what emotions are arising.
Don't be embarrassed or afraid to feel whatever you're feeling.
All feelings are valid.
We are supposed to feel them all.
We are not supposed to get stuck in them,
Allowing them to take over and color our perception of the world around us.
A bubble of sorrow rising up to the surface.
A bubble of anger rising up and out.
A bubble of resentment rising up and up.
A bubble of disappointment rising up and out.
A bubble of guilt rising up and out.
All feelings that no longer serve you moving up and out.
Just feel.
Just be.
Rest fully as you allow grief to do its work all on its own.
Allow grief to heal and transform you.
There is no need to push or try to control.
No need to be impatient.
There is no one timeline for grief.
It ebbs and flows like the tides.
Sometimes the surface is turbulent,
Waves tossing us about.
We may surface from the depths,
Struggling to catch our breath,
Before the next wave drags us down again,
The pain and pressure excruciating.
But then in the next moment,
We see the light of the sun and feel the warm breath enter us as we surface once more.
Remember no judgment of what you are feeling.
Simply feel.
Give your emotions the time and space they need to manifest fully.
Welcoming them all.
No labels of good or bad.
Do not attempt to suppress them.
Do not hold them in.
And also do not feed them running off on a tangent of thoughts.
Emotions are the energy of our grieving,
And they change.
They are always changing,
Like life itself.
Be kind and gentle with yourself.
If you start to feel overwhelmed,
Take a break.
Rest and breathe.
Resettle into the stillness at the bottom of the ocean,
Allowing the gentle current to rock you back and forth,
Back and forth,
Like seagrass gently rocked by the current.
Come back to the present moment and back to the wave-like motion of your breath.
Give yourself permission to grieve as you need to.
Permission to fully process this change in your life.
Allow grief to be your teacher and guide.
Be willing to learn from it and grow.
Reflect on other grief you have experienced in your life.
Remember how those losses connected you with so many others.
Just bringing your attention to remembering all that you have overcome can be so healing.
In our darkest times,
Angels show up.
People we never expected in the most kind and loving ways,
If we allow them to.
Allow your broken heart to be open to the love around you.
As challenging as it is to face what you are going through right now,
You are not alone here.
You are deeply connected and supported.
Deeply loved,
Guided,
And held.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
Shanti means peace,
Peace,
Peace.
May we all know peace within.
May we all be surrounded by peace.
May we bring peace to all those we encounter.
