Mindfulness Mondays
Taking a Day Off
Today, for many of us in the United States, is a day off.
What would it feel like to give yourself a mental day off today? A day off from your worries, from the to-do list. A day off from wondering when you will feel the grief lift, the sadness lift. A day off from wondering if you could have done something different to save your pregnancy. It’s not to say that these things are being pushed away, or ignored. Today isn’t going to make them vanish forever. Rather, it’s a day to practice some self-love in its place.
Let’s get started.
Sit in a comfortable position. Whatever position feels most comfortable to you.
Close your eyes, or if that doesn’t feel comfortable, lower your gaze.
Take a few slow inhales and slow exhales. Do this as many times as you need in order to feel grounded in the practice.
Now, shift your focus away from the breath, and to your heart center. Notice your heart beating. How does your heart feel today? Does it feel heavy? Does it feel light? Is it aching? Or, is it simply there?
Our heart can tell us so much about how we are feeling, and what we need. By tuning into your heart center, your intuition, what can you give yourself today?
Identify one thing you can take a day off from today. Is it the feeling of guilt? The thought that I could have done more to save my pregnancy? The worry of when you’ll feel ready to become pregnant again? Or the pending doctors’ appointments that come after a pregnancy loss? How can you take an emotional day off today?
Breathe into that for a moment. What does it feel like to let go of that one thing, for even just a moment?
Sit here for a few minutes.
When you are ready, tuning back into your heart center, can you name just one thing you can do to honor this day off? What is one gift you can give yourself in place of that worry, that intense feeling?
Make a plan to give yourself that gift today. If you are having a hard time thinking of one, that’s OK. Even just sitting here, in this time, is a wonderful gift to yourself. You are honoring yourself right in this moment.
Sit for a moment. And when you are ready, start to bring yourself back to the room. When you are ready, open your eyes.
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