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For the evenings after a breakup, when the house is too quiet and your mind keeps going back. This meditation doesn't ask you to move on – it simply keeps you company, helps your body settle and lets you be gentle with yourself.
Read along
If you're here, something has ended. And it probably hurts.
You don't need to feel better by the end of this. Let's just spend some time together.
Find a comfortable place. Maybe in bed, wrapped in a blanket. Maybe on the sofa.
Let your eyes close, if that feels alright.
Take a slow breath in…
and let it out, as slowly as you can.
Again. In… and out.
Notice where the sadness sits in your body. Maybe a heaviness in the chest. A lump in the throat. An empty feeling in the stomach.
You don't need to push it away. Just let it be there, the way you'd let rain fall outside.
If you like, place a hand on the part of your body that hurts the most. Feel the warmth of your own hand.
It makes sense that this hurts. You cared. You hoped. You shared a life, or part of one.
Grief is what love looks like when it has nowhere to go.
Your mind might keep going back. To the last conversation. To the good times. To what you could have said.
That's what minds do after a loss. They try to make sense of it.
Each time you notice it, come back to the hand on your chest. To the breath under your hand.
Feelings will come in waves. Sadness. Anger. Relief. Loneliness. Sometimes all in one evening.
None of them are wrong. Let each one come, and let each one pass.
Now let's soften the body a little.
Let your forehead smooth out.
Let your jaw unclench.
Let your shoulders sink into what's beneath you.
Let your belly be soft.
Let your legs grow heavy.
Breathe in… and out.
Here are a few words you can offer yourself, silently, if they feel right.
This is hard.
I'm allowed to feel this.
I don't have to have it all figured out tonight.
I'll get through this, one night at a time.
You're not as alone as it feels right now. There are people who would want to hear from you. Tomorrow, maybe, you can reach out to one of them.
For now, just rest.
Whatever you're feeling now is enough. You've made it through another evening.
If you'd like to sleep, let yourself drift. The rain will keep going.
And if you're not ready yet, that's alright too. Just stay here, as long as you need.