Has grief visited with you lately?
May you have ease and peace during your grief journey. I am writing to you with gentle and kind wishes for well-being.
3-breaths mini break you can try at any time
Allow yourself to wish for comfort and peace, in the midst of difficulty. What would a moment of peace and comfort be like for you?
How would it make you feel?
As you take 3 deep and intentional breaths, imagining peace and ease.
Feeling the peace and ease, if possible.
Then returning to what you were doing.
Speaking of ease and peace… and Grief
At any point during your grief journey, taking care of your needs is paramount. When I was grieving for my husband, I became quite picky in what was working and what felt right in my heart, while curiously looking for the best ways to support me and our young son. It was different than grieving for my parents, and each of those was different. And further different than grieving for my friends and other life events.
One of the things that grounded me towards healing was bringing kindness and patience to my grief process and to myself. Self-kindness is not something we may be used to in our culture that focuses on results and achievements by pushing ourselves. Self-kindness may sound like being weak, and yet it will be more motivating and supportive than our inner critic, including during grief.
Acknowledging that you wish for some ease and peace in the midst of difficulties, and offering it with self-kindness, as you feel it in your mind-body-heart, may be a wonderful practice. You may decide to do it first under the guidance of a teacher, if you feel too many emotions will rise to the surface at once. You can also go into this very slowly, maybe 3 breaths at a time, and slowly build up.
Stepping into self-kindness may take a bit of getting used to, and you may want to go slowly if too quick doesn’t work.
There is no one way to grieve. Even during your journey, you may find that what works will probably shift over time and over the processing of your loss.
If it sings to your heart, intrigues your mind, calls to your soul, or all of the above, give what works for you a try.
At another time, we can talk about turning towards discomfort. Through it all, if I were to recommend one thing, it would be to go slowly.
With Kind Wishes,
Yasemin
February 4, 2021