We’ve all experienced hurt, loss, and grief. For most of us, the journey to recovery can be long and arduous. Thankfully, meditation can help calm the mind and ease anxiety. Below is a meditation you can do to process your emotions and heal.
Find a comfortable seat on a cushion or chair. Sit up tall, lengthen your spine, and keep your gaze soft and focused at an unmoving point in front of you. If it is hard for you to sit still, you may lie down on your bed or on your yoga mat instead. Then when you are ready, close your eyes.
Notice the shape of your body on your cushion, chair, or mat. Pay attention to the physical sensations you can feel—perhaps there are particular areas or parts that feel tight, fatigued, jittery, or stiff. Moreover, observe the energetic quality of your body. Do you feel tired or restless? When we experience grief, we can hold a lot of pain, tension, and stress in our bodies. Do not judge anything you are feeling at the moment. Simply scan the body, observing and acknowledging any discomfort, and then moving on to another area or part.
Now, become aware of the breath. Observe the rhythm and cadence of your inhalations and exhalations. Is there a tightness across your chest? Is it hard for you to breathe? Similarly, have you been holding your breath? Try to breathe more fully and mindfully, without forcing the breath to go deeper than it can at the moment. You may also take one hand to your belly, and one hand to your chest. Simply observe the belly and the chest rising and falling as you breathe. Stay here for a few minutes.
Next, become aware of the thoughts in the mind. You may be thinking of painful memories, playing back events in the past, or worrying about fears in the future. These are all part of the experience of grief. Do not try to resist them. Instead, allow yourself to be vulnerable. Hold them in your mind with a sense of understanding and compassion. At the same time, don’t allow one thought to linger. Allow each thought to pass, as though you were watching clouds in the sky.
If you feel the need to cry, allow yourself to. Shedding tears is part of the process of healing, and so let your emotions flow even if that would mean crying. In spite of the pain and hurt that you are feeling, trust that you are healing and recovering. Visualize your tears cleansing you, and washing away your grief.
Trust that grief is a process. There is no deadline for grieving, so give yourself the time, space, and allowance to heal. When you feel that your meditation is complete, come back to your breath and your body. Then, open your eyes. Know that you can practice this meditation any time.
