Guided Meditation for Resourcing In Ancestral Support
A lot is going on the world. Grief coach Naila Francis contributed this meditation to invite a moment to pause.
You can approach this meditation in many ways. You can read it to yourself, taking breaks to drop in somatically if you wish, and at your pace. You can gather with others and read this meditation out loud to them. You can treat a number of the phrases here as journaling prompts, we italicized some that make for great ones.
—Cassie Owens, Editor-In-Chief
You may do this meditation indoors or outdoors. If outside, please find a place soothing and/or grounding to you where you’re unlikely to be disturbed. If indoors, you may wish to light incense or candles, have a blanket wrapped around you or whatever else you need to create an environment that nourishes your senses and helps to settle you.
If you have access to an essential oil that you love or an herb/plant kin like lavender, rose, lemon balm, cedar, holy basil or motherwort, you may wish to inhale that scent or rub some on your palms before you start, drawing in a deep breath as you inhale, inviting their energy to help soothe you.
I invite you to find a comfortable seated position.
Before bringing your body to stillness, you may wish to do some shoulder rolls or neck rolls, to stretch your hands high above your head, massage your jaw or do some light spinal twists — just to begin to connect with the body and to create some space for this experience.
Then allowing the body to settle, you may lower your gaze or let your eyes drift closed.
Bring your attention to your breath.
Just notice the quality of your breath as it enters and leaves your body.
Follow the breath’s natural rhythm in and out, bringing your awareness to each contraction and expansion of your belly. Each inhale and exhale.
There’s no need to make any effort to adjust your breathing or try to fix anything here. This is about simply tuning into the breath as it does what it naturally does.
And then notice how just by bringing your awareness to your breath, it begins to slow down and deepen. Notice how each inhale and exhale lengthens, creating a little more space in the body. A little more relaxation.
See if you can allow the breath to be a moment of kind and loving connection with yourself.
Maybe coming back to the scent you inhaled at the beginning, drawing it in on each breath or if an oil or plant wasn’t available to you, call to mind the scent of a plant you love, or some aroma that’s pleasing to your senses and imagine you’re inhaling that scent on each breath.
Letting yourself be soothed.
You may spend as long as you’d like focusing on your breathing.
Start to bring a little more intention to creating a sense of spaciousness by just lightly scanning your body, beginning with the top of your head and moving down to the soles of your feet.
Notice where you might be holding any tension or tightness, where you might encounter any sensation of discomfort, tingling, warmth, coolness, jitteriness… And see if you can send a breath to that area to invite a little more softness and ease there.
Allow each breath to create a little more space inside to welcome all of you.
Then begin to shift your focus to the parts of you that are in connection with support right now. Maybe that’s your chair supporting your back, the cushion or seat or maybe the ground holding your sits-bones, your feet on the ground rooting into the Earth beneath you.
Just really allow yourself a moment to sink even more into that support. Let yourself be held by this benevolent living body beneath you.
As the poet Joy Harjo reminds us, “Let the earth stabilize your postcolonial insecure jitters.”
Rooting as far down as you can go, feeling into the Earth’s support and welcoming her grounding energy.
Breathe into that support.
And then see if you can listen, from this place of connection, for the footsteps of those who have gone before you. Can you, with your heart, your mind, your imagination, be open to their imprints, their whispers, the filaments of their living and loving and dreaming?
Allow yourself to listen for and remember with a sense of trust and receptivity to those voices, those beings that are a part of you… that you share a soul or blood lineage with.
And notice if there’s anyone in particular that wants to come forth, that wants to be with you in this moment.
Any ancestor that feels energized or curious to share in this space with you. That could be someone who shares your DNA, from your family line. It could also be a historical figure, a teacher, a spiritual leader, someone whose work and impact have held meaning for you.
And call them forward. You may make a gesture of welcome to invite them close. Perhaps there’s a song you share. Maybe you offer your thanks.
And listen for whatever wisdom, whatever messages they want to pass down to you in this moment… to help you meet these times. To support you in navigating your fear, your overwhelm, your exhaustion, your grief. To help you cultivate strength, fortitude and hope.
Maybe their wisdom comes in the form of sensations, ideas, insights, memories, images…
Try not to question what arrives but to trust that you are receiving what is meant for you in this moment.
Perhaps the message that comes through is one of resilience and bravery.
Maybe it’s one of creativity or compassion.
What might they have to share about finding joy even in times of suffering?
What does this ancestor want to pass onto you?
You may wish to ask them what they know about being in periods of long darkness. What are the capacities they have developed to navigate times such as these? What are the qualities that have best served them?
See if you can feel their hands at your back, can feel their support from behind you. And can you imagine that these same qualities are flowing into you, as you share these moments together? Let yourself receive their transmission.
Allow yourself to really feel into the bond that exists between the two of you, into the support and medicine they’re here to offer.
If there is anything you would like to say to them in return, you may also do so.
You may also ask if there’s anything you need from each other to stay tethered together, to deepen this connection.
Again, none of this is about striving or forcing but about being open and curious.
And when you feel complete with this interaction, take a deep breath.
Thank your ancestor with whatever words or gestures feel good to you.
Return your awareness to the places your body is in contact with support.
Take one or two more deep breaths.
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Naila Francis
Naila Francis is a certified grief coach and death midwife, ordained interfaith minister and writer/poet. She provides grief and loss support through one-on-one coaching, workshops and rituals.
