Grief is a very normal and natural process that we will all encounter on our life journey, yet it is not fully understood until it personally touches each of us. Grief does not discriminate and it certainly is not exclusive to those of us who have experienced the death of someone we love. It can also be experienced as we move through the milestone moments that mark our lives.

If we are able to open ourselves to it, grief can teach us a new way to experience our present moment and the future that is yet to unfold. When we move through the unimaginable, we have an opportunity to explore what the experience means to us and how it has changed us. 

Grief that accompanies loss is an inseparable part of loving and caring for someone; a broken heart is an open heart. Despite changes in your life, loss can provide for new goals and opportunities. After some time mourning a loss, many people feel they have developed a better understanding of themselves and others, but this is a process and takes as much time as it needs.

When you first lose a loved one, the initial weeks and months, may produce unsettling sensations in the body, many thoughts and feelings. This initial period is called the “mourning period”. It is generally defined as the period after loss in which we outwardly express our emotional reaction to our loss. It is not bound to a set period of time and your grief does not magically end after a defined time frame has passed. Bereavement (which quite literally means “to be deprived of death”) and grief are thought to be our internal process as it relates to our loss. It can feel overwhelming, like your breath has been stolen from your chest, before it begins to slowly transition into bursts. Eventually, the bursts become less frequent and the sharp edges of your grief start to soften as you begin to remember your loved one with more love than pain.  

Please be gentle with yourself …