Self Care Practices to Move Through Grief.
““You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.””
Oh, sweet friend, I wish I could grant you a life without grief. A life where the pain never steals your breath and threatens to take you down forever. I wish I could give you that, but also I am glad I can’t. Grief is sanctifying. It opens your eyes and your heart and your soul up to the temporary nature of this life, of joy, of creation. Grief helps you to be present if you let it.
When my Dad died by suicide Memorial Day weekend of 2012, it was like everything went into high definition for me. I was 37 weeks pregnant with my 4th baby and the grief in my body was causing me to contract, my legs felt numb and couldn’t carry me very far, it felt like the very air I was breathing contained pins and needles. At any moment I could be struck with overwhelming feelings of incredible grief that would carry me away in an undertow in which I knew I would surely drown. But also, in between sadness too intense for me to put language to, there was love. Radiant gratitude and love for my sisters, my mom, my grandma, my babies, my husband, my best friend who dropped everything and flew to me; I vividly remember between the lines of pain there was the deep presence of love and I was there for it, I was intensely aware of it all. That is the gift of grief, gratitude, and presence. Gifts that you get when you allow yourself to move through the grief, rather than stuff it down and push it away.
This week #talesofthewarrior episode is with Abby of @flourishbodysoul as she talks about the grief of losing her mother, also suddenly and tragically. I would love to invite you to watch our conversation on the YouTube channel.
You can also find several self-care practices to help you move through grief in the PDF below.
As always feel free to reach out to me personally at beautifulandbeloved@gmail.com.
Love Amber
