Grief Meditation (44)

00;00;00;08 - 00;00;33;17

Over the last week, I heard from so many of you about how much Episode 43 with Litsa Williams on grief meant to you and I'm so glad to hear those responses because that conversation has been such an anchor for me as well. I'm really grateful that Litsa and Eleanor, the authors of What's Your Grief: List for Dealing with Any Loss, have agreed to gift you a copy of their book, and I will also be gifting you a handmade vessel for honoring grief and loss.

00;00;34;04 - 00;00;49;06

So to enter to win, all you have to do is follow this podcast and give it a review. And for an extra entry you can go ahead and follow @hollyzajur and @whatsyourgrief on Instagram.

00;00;52;08 - 00;01;30;07

So today we are going to sit together for a grief meditation. If this isn't something you feel up for right now, go ahead and download this episode and come back to it. When you have a space to really drop into what you're feeling and experiencing. I also recommend that if you're in the middle of grief, you download this episode and listen to it and practice it every day, giving yourself a designated time in space to really drop into grief and your experience.

00;01;31;02 - 00;02;06;23

So find a space that feels safe and supportive for you. And let's get started. So let's just start to shift our awareness away from whatever was happening before this and land right here, right now. So I like to start by using the senses. So using the sense of sight to notice where you are right now, maybe notice a few objects that are around you.

00;02;06;23 - 00;02;45;03

If it feels safe, you can gently rest your eyes or soft in your gaze at a point in front of you and start to notice any sounds that are present right now. And then notice where your body touches the earth, feel your spine lengthen and your head reaching towards the sky and take a big breath in and a big breath out.

00;02;45;15 - 00;03;29;12

Let's take two more breaths like this. Inhale. Fill your chest. Fill your belly with air. And exhale. Open your mouth. Let it all out again. Inhale chest and belly. Expand and exhale. Open your mouth. Let it all go and return to the sensation of where your body touches the earth. And take a moment to gently scan your body from the tip of your head to the tips of your toes.

00;03;29;12 - 00;04;10;10

And just notice what's present for you here. So we're really dropping into awareness right now. Become aware of the sensations, the emotions, the thoughts that are present for you right now. And there's no need to control or change them. There's no judgment around them. Just take note of what already is.

00;04;13;06 - 00;04;26;07

Maybe you feel a deep heaviness, an anger, a guilt, a joy.

00;04;30;08 - 00;04;50;15

Just notice what's present for you right now. And now I want you to unhook from this sensation or experience.

00;04;52;25 - 00;05;28;24

So I want you to still experience what's here, right? We're not going to run away from it. We're not going to push it to the side. But I don't want you to overidentify with it either. So imagine yourself unhook gain from this experience and taking a step back, almost taking a bird's eye view and acknowledge that you're the one witnessing this experience.

00;05;30;23 - 00;05;34;01

You're not the experience.

00;05;37;14 - 00;05;50;24

Inhale and exhale.

00;05;53;14 - 00;06;34;23

So as you remember that you are not the painful experience. You are the one who is witnessing it. I want you to allow those sensations to be present. So whatever emotion or thought or experience you identified, now that we acknowledge that we're not those thoughts, those emotions, those experiences, I want you to get really curious as the one who witnesses what that experience is like.

00;06;34;23 - 00;07;14;17

So can you really notice what it feels like in the body? And often, if it's a big emotion, it can be scary to let yourself fear feel it. So maybe there is some fear associated to and that's okay. Notice the sensations of that to and return to the comfort of feeling your connection to the earth beneath. You know that you're held here, know that you're supported.

00;07;16;09 - 00;07;57;04

And then notice where in the body you feel these sensations. Does it have a texture, a temperature, a weight, a smell, Even maybe even a taste?

00;08;02;14 - 00;08;27;14

And again, can you allow yourself to fully feel this experience and not identify with it? Allow yourself to witness the experience of this sensation.

00;08;31;12 - 00;09;58;28

And if it's too much to feel this sensation right now fully, that's okay to could you maybe rather than diving in the middle of it, could you just soft in around the edges of it? So maybe just getting a little bit closer to this sensation or experience? And can you breathe with it? Can you sit with it? Can you soften around the edges, even if only for a moment?

00;09;59;22 - 00;10;54;24

And now I want you to offer yourself and this experience that you're having compassion. So what do you need right now? What does this experience need right now? Is it a hug? Is it some chocolate? Whatever it is. I want you to meet that need. So after we end this meditation, you can physically do that. But for now, visualize yourself meeting that needs, offering this experience that which it's asking for right now, nurturing it, maybe even bringing the hands to some gesture of compassion in the body.

00;10;54;24 - 00;11;58;17

That might be one hand on the heart, one on the belly, maybe holding your hands, something that feels supportive here. And give yourself a hug, and give yourself a moment of gratitude and compassion for having the courage to show up and sit with the experiences that are present right now. Take a big breath then and a big breath out and then maybe take a little wiggle, get any residual energy out, and you can slowly open your eyes as you return to this space.

00;12;00;27 - 00;12;34;22

Thank you for having the courage to practice this difficult work of sitting with our experiences of grief. So download this practice, practice it every day, and sit with your grief in this safe container. Allow yourself to fully feel what is here. I hope this is something you can come back to again and again. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to how the wise one grows today.

00;12;35;28 - 00;12;58;20

If this podcast has been impactful in your life, can you support it by following and subscribing to this podcast on your favorite streaming platform? This will make sure you never miss an episode. All you have to do is go to the show page for How the Wise One Grows and hit the plus or the follow button in the top right hand corner.

00;12;58;20 - 00;13;18;22

While you're there, go ahead and leave a review, preferably a five-star review, and share an episode with someone you love in your life. And if you want to support even further, you can join the How the Wise One Grows Dream Team and become a part of a group of magical people who support this podcast every month.

00;13;19;05 - 00;13;27;24

And you'll even get a special shout-out in an upcoming episode. Until the next time, let's keep taking it one breath at a time.