A meditation for sadness

I remember when I thought I was inseparable from despair.

I once thought the flood in my heart would drown me, blindsided by the urgency of being underwater.

Now, from my center everything echos. Feelings ripple out and I come up for air.

Sometimes I can reach into this space and feel its expansiveness. Despair and hope holding hands, gently moving with everything else.

Sadness is a precious teacher.

It moves through the landscape of experience.

Everything lives here.

Insight orbits inside of me, packaged in the form of instantaneous emotion.

I let my heart soar.

I welcome sadness as it arrives, moving through the chambers of my heart like floodgates opening.

I am wading in the tides of my sorrow; floating as if I am flying.

This lesson I must learn a hundred thousand times.

My sadness is also my joy.

Everything lives here.

Independence, a recognition of connectedness to everything.

Sadness, a temporary storm in the vast open sky of my mind.

Awareness, an ever-present space that cradles my delicate heart.

A meditation for sadness:

Sweep or vacuum, open a window, light incense or a candle

Sit or lay comfortably on your floor, make sure you are not too hot or cold

Close your eyes and take a few breaths through your nose

Breath normally, and become aware of the sensations of the breath

Locate the place in your body where you feel sorrow

Be present to the physical sensations without letting the mind take control

You may notice the mind wants your attention, try to come back to the physical sensations

Sit with this, allow any tension or dis-ease to shift, continuously bringing attention back to the body

Inhale feelings of love, exhale feelings of sorrow

-KnowOther

Sometimes you need your God
to be a simple invitation
not a telling word of wisdom.

Sometimes you need only the first shyness
that comes from being shown things
far beyond your understanding,

so that you can fly and become free
by being still and by being still here.

-David Whyte