Guided imagery and meditation can aid in the process of grief by allowing a person to process their grief rather than suppress it. Guided meditation can help to declutter the mind and find peace and perception during periods of great change in a person's life.

Goal: To help my client process the loss of a parent using scheduled guided meditation and at-home meditation recommendations.
The metric used will be a pre- and post-questionnaire with simple questions allowing the client to express whether or not they found any solace, peace and perspective using the tools of meditation.

Gender: Male
Age: 54y

Health Condition: n/a

Brief History: My client is a 54y old male, married w/ 2 young daughters. He has recently lost his mother and has suppressed his emotions during this time, and does not talk much about the loss with myself or his loved ones. He lost his father 11 years ago. He is an active adult w/ no significant medical history to report. He also has no prior experience in yoga or meditation but is open to the possibility.

I envisioned working w/ this client by introducing the concept and benefits of guided meditation as a tool to work through the process of grief. In each session (4 45-min sessions weekly) I would lead my client through a guided healing meditation and then discuss how he felt afterwards in terms of the emotions that would come up and whether the meditation helped increase a sense of peace within him. Each session would end with a discussion surrounding various meditations and tools for meditation that he could use during the week, as needed, to support his healing process.

Raja Yoga - as Raja yoga is ultimately the path towards enlightenment through meditation, Raja yoga was the key branch of yoga used with this client. Through Raja yoga we achieve peace and contentment through a consistent practice of yoga and meditation. Through Raja yoga and a "practice that is firmly grounded for a long time, without break and in all earnestness" we can begin to heal ourselves and find a sense of peace even amidst all of the chaos in our day to day lives. By learning how to create space in our minds and declutter, we allow ourselves the space to heal from grief.

Each session with my client was met with an open heart and an eagerness to see how guided meditation with imagery could be of benefit to him. I found our sessions to be effortless and productive.

I suggested my client continue his meditation practice daily, even if just for 5-10 min. I suggested using tools such as Insight Timer for a variety of different guided meditations and recommended finding a local yoga studio that offered live meditations as an alternative. I also suggested perhaps trying to meditate sometimes first thing upon waking, if possible, as a way to start the day with a clear mind.

Yes I did apply my intended plan for my client. I do believe the goal was achieved, but I do believe he has a long road of recovery before him and the tools learned during our time together will benefit him from this point forward.

Not really. I kept a very simple plan with this client, meeting every week for 4 weeks for 45-60 min. Each session I led him through a guided meditation, we discussed what came up for him, and then wrapped up each session with what he can do for himself on his own during the week especially when he was having a difficult time emotionally.

I think what I learned from this experience is just witnessing how each person processes grief in a different way and each person has their own individual way of coping and healing. I am particularly interested in working with people on healing from grief so I'm looking forward to witnessing others processes' as well as helping them heal.

I do think I would approach the same kind of client the same way, but it will be interested to see how they respond to the intervention. I think each person will be handled differently so I think there will always be things to change, modify and go in a different avenue whether its the kind of meditation, length, holding space for them afterwards etc.

I'd like to continue to work on keep a compilation of different meditations used and continue to increase my library to use with clients moving forward.