Body scan meditation for grief (7 min), on the way in

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for grief. A body scan session you can do on the way in. A guided session of about 7 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: grief

Grief is not a mood that lifts on a schedule. It arrives in waves, often triggered by nothing, and it changes shape over months rather than days.

It tends to show up as:

• Waves arriving without warning
• Exhaustion that rest does not touch
• Difficulty concentrating on ordinary things

This is not a practice for fixing grief. It is a place to sit while it moves through, so you are not alone with it in the middle of the day.

Doing this on your commute

• Headphones on, eyes open or closed depending on your comfort
• Keep one part of your attention on your stop
• Do it standing if sitting is not possible — nobody is watching

Commuting time is already dead time. Nothing is being given up.

How body scan works

A body scan moves attention systematically through the body, region by region. It does not try to change what it finds — it builds a map of what is actually there, which is often different from what you assumed.

• Move slowly, head to feet or feet to head, and do not skip the uncomfortable areas
• Meet each region with plain curiosity rather than a verdict
• Numbness and absence of sensation are findings too

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your eyes soften. Not closed, just less busy.
2. 0:11We will travel down through the body, one region at a time, and leave each one softer than we found it.
3. 0:28Let the breath get a little quieter, as if you were trying not to wake someone sleeping nearby.
4. 0:44Notice your own pulse somewhere. Wrist, throat, wherever you can find it.
5. 0:57Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
6. 1:10Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
7. 1:21Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
8. 1:34Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
9. 1:47Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
10. 2:00You have been carrying the ache that has no schedule for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
11. 2:21Think of the heaviness where someone used to be as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
12. 2:40Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
13. 2:51Let the pause stretch out.
14. 3:00Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
15. 3:14You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
16. 3:26A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
17. 3:37Your only job is to notice what is there, region by region, without fixing anything.
18. 3:51If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
19. 4:04Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
20. 4:18A short silence. Let it be empty.
21. 4:28If the wave that arrives without warning is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
22. 4:46You do not have to like the ache that has no schedule to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
23. 5:03Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
24. 5:16Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
25. 5:28If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
26. 5:43I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
27. 5:55If a region feels numb, that is a finding too. Note it and move on.
28. 6:09Take one last look at whatever your attention settled on.
29. 6:21Before you move, notice one thing that's fine right now.
30. 6:33Let this one be unhurried.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.