Where Do We Go From Here?
The funeral is over, thank you notes written, and condolence meals eaten. You’re exhausted. What’s next?
The real grieving journey begins.
That’s when you gather your friends and family. In community, you become aware of the nature of grief - a roller coaster of highs and lows. In community, you remember you won’t drown in the lows. Community becomes a life preserver.
Grief Relief Gatherings - a Special Community
I recently had the privilege of joining a Grief Relief Gathering. We sit together in a Circle of Love. We support one another, helping each get out of our fearful mind. We came together and became aware of the landmarks of grief. We connected with our shattered hearts. Where we could rest. The Grief Relief Gathering is a life preserver. A place to gain tools and let answers safely surface.
We remembered that grief is peaks and valleys. We gave ourselves and one another permission to feel the happiness of highs - for an instant, a minute, an hour or a day. We reminded ourselves that even in the darkest of moments, not to build a condo in the low valleys.
We Become Present to Our Grief in a Grief Relief Gathering
We all decided to show up every day to grieve as hard as it may seem.
So much has been taken from us. A diagnosis, divorce, lost dream, or death.
- Take twenty minutes every day. Sitting. Walking. Writing in a journal to empty the mind onto the page. It is an honoring of our self and who and what is no longer.
- Feel this loss and all that has been taken from you.
- Notice where you feel it in your body.
What I Experienced
While sitting in that Circle of Love, the Grief Relief Gathering, I felt the grabbing pain of a saber-toothed tiger in my left shoulder. The pain made me realize my heart was calling for attention. So, I simply floated my hand to my shoulder. Touching where it hurt. I focused. Breathed in. Breathed out. The contact and breathing were enough. The pain stopped within one minute.
In Community
If you are a woman who’s heart aches for dear children who have died or who are not actively present in you life, you are invited to join us in a Sacred Circle,
A Ceremony for Women Grieving Children. Thursday, May 10th, 2018. Doors Open at 6:45 and the Ceremony is 7:00-8:30 p.m.
If you are a woman who is mourning a beloved child-your own or another’s - who has died due to any cause (miscarriage, stillbirth, suicide, illness, accident) at any time, or is absent from you life, please join us in this safe and sacred circle. Click to Learn More.
