So Let’s Begin…
SLEEP MEDITATION: COMFORT FOR THOSE LEFT BEHIND BY SUICIDE MEDITATION SCRIPT
September is National Suicide Prevention Month…it’s a time to remember the lives lost to suicide, acknowledge the millions more who have experienced suicidal thoughts, and the many individuals, families and communities that have been impacted by suicide.
It is really important to me to provide some meditations for those who might need them, so I asked my good friend, who has been personally impacted by suicide, to write tonight’s meditation. If you or someone you know could use it, please listen and share.
If you feel you need someone to talk with right now, you are not alone. In the U.S., you can call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you’re elsewhere, please look online for a local crisis number, or text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line).
I love you…
Check out our other two specific podcasts below that are featuring a lot of these meditations:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-meditation-for-women/id1546571992
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sleep-meditation-for-women/id1524688425
***
Lay yourself down,
and let your body feel the simple gift
of being held by something that will not leave you —
the steady support of your breath,
the support beneath you,
the softness of blankets drawn close.
LONG PAUSE…
Let your eyes drift closed.
Let your breath find you where you are —
you don’t have to change a thing.
PAUSE…
In this space,
there is no need to explain the ache you carry.
LONG PAUSE…
Tonight, you are allowed to rest.
You are allowed to feel heavy,
or empty,
or numb.
You are allowed to feel whatever comes,
and you are allowed to feel nothing at all.
LONG LONG PAUSE…
Loss by its nature leaves questions
that sleep in the quiet corners of your mind —
Why did they go?
Could I have done more?
Should I have seen it sooner?
If these questions have come knocking tonight,
let them pass through like mist.
You do not owe them answers right now.
LONG LONG PAUSE…
Breathe into the place inside you
that holds the memories,
the laughter,
the anger,
the confusion.
LONG LONG PAUSE…
Breathe into the part of you that wants to scream,
or hide,
or cling to a moment that cannot be returned.
LONG LONG PAUSE…
There is no right way to carry this grief.
No tidy place to tuck it in.
No straight line through the pain.
There is only this moment,
where your breath continues
despite the silence their absence left behind.
LONG PAUSE…
With each inhale,
gather what remains of the love you shared.
With each exhale,
release the weight of what you could not change.
PAUSE…
Inhale — love remains.
Exhale — guilt can rest.
Inhale — the bond you had is yours to keep.
Exhale — their choice does not define your worth.
PAUSE…
Let your shoulders drop.
Let your heart beat softly in your chest.
Feel how your body, battered and tender as it is,
still longs for rest —
still deserves it.
PAUSE…
Tonight, sleep does not mean forgetting.
It does not mean moving on.
It simply means pausing
so you can keep living tomorrow.
PAUSE…
Let the tears come if they need to.
Let the quiet come if that feels safer.
There is no wrong way to grieve here.
PAUSE…
Imagine, if you wish,
that somewhere, in a place beyond pain,
they are free —
unburdened by the storm that took them away.
And here, you are free too —
to grieve in your own time,
to love them still,
and to love yourself enough to sleep.
LONG LONG PAUSE…
May sleep cover you gently now.
May peace hold the pieces tonight.
PAUSE…
May your breath remind you
that you belong here —
that you are not alone —
that you are so very loved.
PAUSE…
Rest now.
Breathe.
Be held by the night that asks nothing of you
but to soften.
PAUSE…
Sweet Dreams, Beautiful
