Meditation and Grief
Meditation can be a wonderful support during grief. The hardest thing about it is getting started and having a regular practice.
Are you a first time meditator, or did you lose your practice during the process of caretaking, or in the aftermath of a big loss or transition (this is quite common)? The best way to get started, or resume, is to start small. Start off with a 5-10 minute meditation, if possible at the same time every day.
I like to meditate first thing in the morning, otherwise my day gets going and it is much harder to fit it in. If you have children, caretaking or other responsibilities that make your schedule unpredictable, meditating before sleep often works. Setting reminders helps!
Here are some tools and some good reasons to have a mindfulness practice:
My Favorite Meditation Timer
I usually use the app Insight Timer because I love the timer function, and I can also use it to track whether or not I have meditated. You can also set interval bells, so if you want to stretch for a few minutes and then move into meditation, or do a specific breathwork practice, you can set bells for all of this. The app now makes it easier to log meditations that you might do without the timer, which is great. They also have a ton of music, guided meditations and other supports. **I have no relationship with Insight Timer, and do not get any benefit from recommending it. I just love it!
Here are some good reasons to meditate, and some interesting articles to support the benefits I mention:
Meditation is good for our brains:
When we go through a loss or transition, our brains can get very disorganized. This is a natural process. Our brains need to adjust to how our life has changed. It needs to create new neural pathways that reflect the new landscape of our life. This is hard work, and meditation can give our brains a rest, and help the process of adjusting to our life changes.
It also helps us focus, which can be a major problem, especially if you were a caretaker, or if your loss or transition caused the loss of an important part of your life. If your brain was constantly planning for the next medical event or next caretaking responsibility, it needs to adjust and relearn how to focus on other things. Meditation helps our brains do this more effectively.
This article has some good information and tips:
https://stanfordmag.org/contents/what-happens-when-you-meditate
Meditation boosts your immune system
Our immune systems are often overtaxed after a loss, this can be due to increased stress levels and loss of sleep. Meditation can help with this. Meditating when you can’t sleep is a good option, and can also help you fall asleep.
Meditation helps with sleep:
Sleep problems are very common when we have big changes in our lives, especially painful ones:
It also helps with depression:
Depression is also very common during grief and big life changes. Meditation can help!
And finally, here is an article with some nice resources:
If you would like to meditate with others, I started a free meditation club to help support your meditation journey!
If you are in Lisbon, we have an in-person meditation group, and you can sign up here:
https://booksessionswithglowenergyhealing.as.me/LisbonMeditationClubsignup
If you are any place else in the world, please join the online meditation club:
https://booksessionswithglowenergyhealing.as.me/MeditationClubONLINEsignup
You can also sign up through meetup: