Rip currents are narrow bands of water in surf zones that flow away from the shore. One minute, you’re swimming in a manageable tide. The next, you’re being pulled out to sea at 5 mph. Grief can feel like an emotional rip current. And the strategies for riding out a rip current will also work for navigating grief.
We need to mourn the death of our loved ones. Mourning, the outward expression of grief, requires an audience. Traditional public rituals often aren’t enough. We need more time and opportunity to wake our lost loved ones and reconcile our grief. This post gives examples of doing just that.
The COVID pandemic has riddled our lives with uncertainty and loss. While we may be over the worst of the pandemic, the experience haunts us. Many of us may be struggling with mental anxiety over loss. Here’s how to manage the mental experience of grief.
Once we learn to trust our emotions, we become more skilled at noticing and attending to our resistance. We relax a bit and find our balance more quickly. Pain and tension subsides. Our calmer mind translates the emotional message and figures out how best to respond to the situation at hand.