No matter how much information we acquire about grief, the bottom line is still that when we grieve we experience pain. The pain of grief includes a full range of experiences such as fear, sadness, anger, emptiness, longing, numbness, helplessness and hopelessness.
The human tendency is to run away from our pain or at the very least distract ourselves from it. This may provide some short term relief or at least the illusion of it but it actually does nothing to address the pain which is calling out to us.
There is another way.
We can turn toward our pain, fully acknowledging it and giving it some loving attention which goes a long way toward healing our broken hearts. Using awareness, breath and imagination we stop… shift our focus inward to what we are experiencing in our body in the moment…we breathe into wherever we are feeling the pain…we imagine a gentle, warm, loving energy permeating the heart of the pain… we relax into the moment and we find peace. Then we shift our focus back to the outer world and we do what we need to do knowing that peace is just a breath away.
Being kind to ourselves and bringing soothing attention to our own pain also enables us to be present to others who may also be in pain with more compassion and understanding. If there’s anything this world of ours needs right now it is certainly that.
The benefits are many, the side effects all positive, why not give it a shot?
Namaste
Yvonne
