Yoga Nidra and Journaling for Grief Grief, it is all consuming and yet different for every individual. For me it felt like a fog, a fog that I knew was there but I couldn’t get to the other side of. I hear that is what Seattle is like, I guess grief is like Seattle. I have never been but I hear it is beautiful but always cloudy. I think grief is similar in that it feels constantly dreary but also a weird comfort and connection to the true essence of life. I am sorry if you live in Seattle and that offended you. I truthfully have no idea what Seattle is like.
My grief journey has been a bumpy ride to say the least. I have struggled tremendously, found support, struggled again, learned to surrender and the ride keeps on going. I found that my biggest mistake was pretending to be OK. I held all of the burden of my losses inside of myself and made myself sick. Truly sick.
We run and hide from any negative emotions, but the more we tense and grip, the harder they hit. Instead, float on the tides. Let your emotions move you around without crashing over you; brutally. Wade into the fears, float with them, don’t judge yourself, and usually you can come out without drowning.
My true healing began when I learned how to surrender to the pain, the grief, and all of the parts that make this life. It is so sad that grief is such a large part of life and yet rarely spoken about. I believe that when we begin to speak about it we can all heal and find the beauty in our journey.
I found Yoga Nidra in a time when I truly needed it. I felt this constant pain of anxiety because I had this under current of grief that I just could not truly access. Yoga Nidra was the first time I felt peace for 45 minutes. I am not saying it healed me completely but it gave me a moment of reprieve and sometimes when we are deep in the grief journey that is all we can ask for. A moment of reprieve.
Yoga Nidra gives us the opportunity to float with the currents. During Yoga Nidra there are no moving postures, simply lie wherever you feel comfortable and allow yourself to feel supported. It is a guided meditation - you are not left alone with your thoughts, you are supported by the meditation. During this time you may be having trouble feeling rested, yoga nidra is equivalent to 3 ½ hour of deep REM sleep to the body. It also helps move energy through the subconscious mind and welcome what the mind needs to welcome without the tension and anxiety attached to it.
Yoga Nidra makes you an observer of the mind, an observer of grief, being able to welcome it without having it drown you. I invite you to just take a few deep breaths, allow what comes to come, and know that you can handle it.
There are scientific benefits that I can list but the truth is that grief is not some scientific formula, we just have to do what we can to get through and for me that was writing to my Mom and other loved ones when I truly needed her and Yoga Nidra. With loss of a key family member there is so much more loss that people don’t speak about- the family dynamics, your personality, a self identity, and so much more. So if you are deep in your grief all I can offer is my truest empathy and compassion because there are no magic words, it is just hard; and sometimes we just need people to understand how hard it is.
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