Eliann

Oslo, Norway

Louisa

MaryBeth

Clifton Park, NY, USA

Persephone

St Louis

Deanne

Sydney

Kerry

Wales, UK

Maria

Livingston, CA, USA

Carole

Minneapolis

Roseann Wherler

Julie

Alexandria, Ontario, Canada

Dominika ‎

Lublin, Poland

Cathy

Utah, USA

David

Rivkah Standig

Kris Lingham

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Jennifer Orozco

Somerville, MA, USA

Stephen Casa

Woodstock, NY, USA

Dolores

Kentfield, CA, USA

Cynthia Goldstein

Secular

Recovery & Healing

Grief

Secular Mindfulness

Visualization

English

This gentle, guided meditation is designed for anyone grieving the loss of a beloved animal companion—whether a dog, cat, horse, or any other cherished friend. In this safe space, you are invited to experience your emotions fully while beginning a journey toward healing. This meditation can be used as often as needed—whether hours, days, weeks, or even years after your loss. It is a reminder that it is okay to grieve and heal in your own time.

Looking for more support? Julie also offers her talk, "My Dog, the Zen Master," where she shares the lessons learned from her beloved Boston Terrier, Janie, as well as "The Freedom of Unconditional Love," a reflection on the passing of Janie. Both are available on her Insight Timer profile.

Healing Meditation For Grieving An Animal Friend Or Pet

 Hello, and welcome to this healing meditation for working with the grief of losing a beloved animal companion. My name is Julie Ela Grace, and it is my honor to help support you today at this time. Like anyone who has found their way to this meditation, I too have lost members of my non-human family, and I have felt the profound grief that can come with that loss. In part, that loss is also often exacerbated by the fact that grieving for a non-human companion can be stigmatized, and thus it can create a sense of disenfranchised grief and compound the pain of that loss even further. You may feel embarrassed or even ashamed by the level of your heartbreak, but know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you or with the strength of your grief. Know that however you are feeling about this experience is more than okay. If you feel like your whole world has broken apart, that is okay. That is a normal response. Again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. In fact, your grief is a tribute to your deep shared love with your non-human companion, and that is a beautiful and wonderful thing. Likewise, if you are feeling relief for your pet who is maybe suffering, that is okay too. That is also normal. If you are feeling numb, that is okay too. And again, that is also normal. There is no right or wrong way to feel right now. In fact, there is no right or wrong way to feel ever. There are only sensations and experiences. Those sensations and experiences inform our understanding of the world, and in the best of circumstances, they allow us to become more empathetic and step more fully into living our lives. But there is no time cap on the grieving process. Everyone grieves and heals in their own time and in their own ways. So it is more than okay for you to do this meditation at any point on your journey, whether the loss was more recent or not. Understandably, the idea of sitting in meditation with our uncomfortable feelings can be incredibly daunting. So I want to remind you right now that, one, you are amazing for doing this, for creating a safe space for yourself to experience whatever you may be experiencing right now. And two, by creating this space for yourself, you may be able to experience a release of emotions that could help lead to some kind of healing. Healing in this instance, meaning to begin to flow forward into the future without the intense suffering or grief, and to be able to begin to accept this loss. Right now, you might feel like you may never get through this period, or that you will never be the same again. And the truth is that you won't be the same again, as every experience shapes us. But you can find peace and joy again, and these feelings will come through allowing for your grieving process. You will be able to smile into memories of your beloved friend again, letting them exist within you and become part of your journey forward as a human being. When acceptance does come, it does not mean forgetting your beloved friend. It just ultimately means letting go of the thought patterns that can exacerbate the heartache and pain of that loss. Remember that healing can take time, and that it takes whatever time it takes. Your healing journey is simply your own. So before this meditation now, try to find a quiet, comfortable place to be, and consider having a box of tissues on hand. Likewise, please make sure that you feel safe in your space. You may want to be alone for this, or perhaps you would like to have a loved one nearby. Again, whatever you feel is appropriate for you is what is right, and that is more than okay. Again, whatever you feel is appropriate for you is what is right. Whatever you need, and wherever you are, just see if you can find a place where you can feel safe to experience this meditation. Now, when you're ready, either sit or lie down, and again, the preference is entirely your own. Check in with what your intuition calls you to do. If sitting, try to make sure your back is either supported or you feel content sitting up tall. If lying down, just make yourself comfortable, either bending the knees or letting the legs extend and splay. Take any blankets or cushions or anything else that might serve you right now, and then find your centering position. Once settled into your space, close your eyes and take a few deep inhales through the nose, and then exhale, sighing or blowing the air out of the mouth. Do this a few times. Inhale, exhale. Feel the breath fully filling up your lungs and then likewise releasing the breath fully. Even through deep breathing, you may already begin to experience feelings related to this loss. If you do, that is okay. Just allow whatever comes to come and avoid judging anything that you find in this practice. Keep taking those deep breaths. When you're ready, come back into the natural rhythm of your breath and just notice your breath following it flowing in and out. Let your natural breath stay with you through the practice now, but allow yourself to take deeper breaths at any time that you may need. Simply let your body and your breathing respond to the experience. As you drop into this present moment, start to relax through your brow, then down along the corners of the eyes and the corners of the mouth. Loosen your jaw. Then take that same awareness down over the neck and the shoulders and all the way down into your hands and fingers. Relax anything else that you can relax here right now, checking in with your body and just becoming aware of any points of tension that you can soften through this noticing. Now, we're going to draw the awareness through the body and I want you to both notice how the body physically feels as well as how you energetically and emotionally respond within each area. Just allow your intuition to speak to you even if it doesn't make logical sense to you. Again, remember that whatever you are feeling, wherever you are feeling it is more than okay. Allow yourself to notice everything without any kind of judgment or labeling. Simply approach yourself with mindful compassion. So take the awareness now down to your feet. Notice your toes and the soles of your feet. Become aware of any sensations here. Draw the awareness up through the ankles, through the lower legs, knees, and into the upper legs. Notice if the legs feel heavy or light, achy or clear. Sometimes the physical body can provide signals for our emotional experiences. So for example, if your legs are feeling heavy, it could be a sign of an unwillingness or a fear of moving forward right now. And remember that is okay. It could also just be that you are actually feeling relaxed right now. So again, just notice whatever you find and let your intuition also guide your understanding of what you find. Take the awareness through your hips now and around to your lower back. Draw the awareness up the spine and through the muscles of the back. What do you feel here? Try to tap into your sensations with a sense of compassion. If judgments arise at any point, simply let them go once you notice them, as there is no need to identify with them. Take the awareness now around the belly. How do you feel at the center of your body? Allow whatever is there to be there, simply breathing into it and noticing. Continue to approach yourself with love and self-compassion. Take the awareness to your lungs now and into your heart. What is here? Again, allow whatever flows through you to simply flow. Notice the shoulders, throat, and neck now. Notice your face and the sensation within and around your head. Remember that anything you're feeling, even if you're feeling nothing, is okay. Take a few deep breaths here now. And on your next exhale, I'd like you to visualize yourself softly entering a beautiful field surrounded by light. See that light in any color or colors that you like. And imagine that there is light pouring in from all angles here, from the earth, from the sky, from any wildlife or plants that you might visualize here. Know that in that light, there is nothing but kind, safe, loving energy. As you step onto the field, imagine now your beloved animal friend coming to you, completely open to your energy. There is no need for you to have a belief in an afterlife or spirituality to have this moment or this conversation. You intuitively already know this creature with which you have shared yourself. Let your intuition continue to guide you. See your beautiful animal here, and if you'd like to embrace them, do so. Feel and smell them. Then step back and gently look at them. Now tell your beloved friend anything that you would like to tell them. Tell them anything and everything, your full truth without any judgments, and take as long as you need here. Then allow them to tell you anything that they have to tell you too. Again, remember that you know this animal and your intuition and your emotional intelligence will help you here. The audio of this meditation will be quiet for a few minutes now, so just allow yourself to take your time here. If you finish before I begin speaking again, that's okay. Just allow yourself to stay here with your beloved friend and in this beautiful field. But if they begin to fade when your conversation is over, that's also okay. Just feel yourself held by this loving light all around you. Let your intuition continue to guide you. See your beautiful animal here, and if you'd You Begin to wind down your conversation with your beloved friend for now. But know that you can come back to this space and conversation with your animal friend anytime that you need. Tell your loved one any last things that you would like to tell them right now. And then also offer them your thanks for their presence in your life. Begin to let them fade or step out of view. As your beloved companion fades from view, notice how you are feeling. If you are overwhelmed by grief, again that is okay. If you are feeling lighter, that is also okay. Breathe into your feelings and sensations. And imagine that with every inhale you are bringing that kind, loving light into your body. Feel that light touching the tender parts of yourself, the parts that are still grieving or numb or painful. Feel that light pouring in with every inhale. With every exhale, feel yourself easing into the experience of being held in this loving energy. Stay here, breathing into this sensation of love and light for a few moments. While I have said it many times in this meditation, I want to again remind you that your grief processes are absolutely valid. It is okay if you are having physical reactions to losing your beloved friend. Maybe sleeping is difficult right now, or eating, or having the energy to do things. If that is the case, I want you to visualize that beautiful light now beginning to move through you and extend to all your interactions and routines into all aspects of your life. Imagine that light growing bigger and brighter and moving ahead of you so that it can guide you through sleep, through eating, through every moment of the day. Imagine that loving light infusing your inner energy source. Imagine it holding you in all aspects of your life. Losing a companion animal can leave voids in our lives. It disrupts our routines and leaves gaps in our days. I want you to imagine that light now moving through those gaps and supporting you as you begin to flow into this next phase of your life. It is more than okay to move forward in your life. Feel the love of your animal friend fully infused in you. That love is always with you and you can take it with you wherever you go. Now feel yourself fully as a being of light infused with this loving, kind energy. Then perceive yourself gently coming back into your body and into your current space. Bring your awareness back to your breath again and take a few more deep breaths here and now. With every inhale, feel that loving light growing brighter within you and with every exhale release anything else that you may need to release right now. Take a few more deep breaths here. Now begin to feel your body in the space again and draw some soft movements back into your fingers and into your toes. Remind yourself that this body too is a gift and that it and you are worthy of loving kindness and deep care. If you are lying down, gently roll to one side and bring yourself back up to a seated position. Place your hands into prayer in front of your heart now and then gently bow honoring yourself, your practice, your life, your experiences and all that is. When you're ready, open your eyes and bring movement back into your body. And when you're ready, let yourself rise, take one step forward and just remember that it is always just one step at a time. Namaste. While we have concluded the meditation, I want to offer a final note, which is to please remember that while meditation can be extraordinarily helpful and healing, if you are really struggling right now, please consider visiting a health professional or access anyone in your support network that you trust to honor your grief experience. On a very personal note, when I lost my dog, Janey, I truly lost my entire world. She was everything to me and she kept me stitched together for 12 years. I rescued her when she was two and when I was only 22. Directly because of this loss of Janey's death, I quit a long term job and I left a long term relationship. It took me about a year and a half just to find my footing again. While I do not regret any of the choices I made, I had to not only utilize my yoga meditation practices, but I also attended therapy and utilized many other healing modalities. I leaned into my support network hard. It is okay not to be okay. It is more than okay to reach out when you feel called to do so and likewise it is okay to go inward too. Remember that when you do reach out, if you decide to do so, you also give others permission to do the same. Disenfranchised grief exists in part because people do not speak about this kind of grief for fear. So speak your grief to those you trust and please just keep taking care of yourself. Nurture your beautiful soul in whatever ways you can during this time. From across space and time, I am sending you much love, peace, and healing on this part of your journey. I hope you found this practice helpful today and again, I am honored to be part of your journey at this time. Blessings to you and all your love.