Welcoming Grief Guided Meditation

This meditation is part of a series that focuses on what we might typically see as our “harder” or less acceptable emotions. Many of us have learned to push away these less desirable emotions based on a variety of reasons, perhaps religious, cultural, or social. Yet we know that it’s not healthy for us to repress emotions, and our meditation practice helps us create space for what is present within ourselves, even if it’s hard to face.

We want to learn to understand our emotions better, what they’re trying to tell us, and identify how they show up in our body, so that we can then work with our emotions and use the gifts they bring us instead of fighting against them. In this short teaching before our meditation, we'll explore how grief invites us to mourn our losses and trust our body to carry us through that experience. My teachings and the following meditations have been greatly informed by my study of Internal Family Systems Therapy or “parts work,” Somatic Experiencing, and the book The Language of Emotions by Karla McLaren.

If you'd rather listen, you can hear a recording of the information in this email on Insight Timer.

Understanding Grief

We often think of grief as an acute period of mourning after a loss. This can be true, but grief also is so much more than that. Grief arises not only from death but from any profound ending—whether it's the loss of health, the betrayal of trust, or the absence of something we always longed for. Our culture often tries to sidestep grief, offering tidy explanations or spiritual bypasses that keep us from fully experiencing our sorrow. But grief asks us to wade into the deep waters of our emotions, to feel the weight of our loss, and to allow that weight to press us into our bodies, into the reality of what we’ve lost. If we allow grief, it is medicine for loss.

What must be mourned? What must be released completely? What needs to be transcended?

These questions are not meant to have immediate answers but to open your heart to the process of grieving. Grief allows us to touch the depths of our being, connecting us to the universal experiences of loss and love that bind us all. Grief helps us honor the losses that have shaped us, whether they be the passing of loved ones, the end of cherished relationships, or the loss of dreams we held dear.

Physical Manifestations of Grief

The movement required by grief is downward, down into the depth of this universal human experience. It may feel heavy, like a great weight pressing on you. This weight is what anchors you to your body, allowing you to truly feel and honor your loss. Grief can feel like an ache or physical pain like headache, stomachache, or tension. Grief can be incredibly draining, leading to fatigue. Grief can sometimes make you feel numb or impact your sleep patterns.  And of course, often the most immediate physical expression of grief is crying. Tears are a natural way for the body to release emotional tension, and crying can be both a relief and a physical manifestation of the pain of loss.

Ways Culture Bypasses Grief

Many of us live in cultures that feel uncomfortable in the face of grief.  In religious or spiritual communities, there may be a tendency to trying and bypass grief by talking about the afterlife. It’s important for us to experience our grief in this life, even if we have a belief in the eternal nature of souls.

Similarly, in our overly intellectualized culture, we often experience discomfort with raw, emotional experiences, preferring to try and rationalize them.

Grief doesn’t demand that we stifle our intellect or spirit but rather invites them to take their proper places in the sacred ritual. Your heart will break open, but it won’t break apart. Instead, it will expand, creating more room for love, more capacity to breathe deeply, and more connection to the fragility of life.

A Call to Ritual

In many ways, we've lost touch with community-based grief rituals, yet our souls still crave these sacred spaces. Grief is a lengthy and profound process, best held within ritual and sacred space. However, even in solitude, we can create our own rituals of mourning, trusting our bodies to guide us through the process.

Conclusion

As we begin this meditation, I invite you to welcome your grief. Trust your body to take charge of the process. Allow yourself to be carried into the river of tears, knowing that you will be brought safely out again, transformed by the journey.

LINK TO INSIGHT TIMER

Click to listen to the meditation on Insight Timer.