Claudia Coenen of The Karuna Project explains how creativity and the principle of karuna – or compassion – can help us “pick up the pieces to become whole again.”
I write to think about questions that are preoccupying me. In my novel Landslide, I consider how resilience arises out of catastrophic loss. When I started the novel, my mother and three close friends had died. My husband had battled cancer. I had gone through unexplained, early menopause which also felt like sorrow and loss.
MINDFULNESS & GRIEF PODCAST EPISODE 3AhimsaThe Yogic Path to Self-Care During Grief With Karla Helbert SHOW NOTES Yoga for Grief & Loss author Karla Helbert, LPC, shares how the yogic practice of non-violence, called “ahimsa,” can help us be our own best friend during the difficult days, months, and years after a major loss. Drawing
MINDFULNESS & GRIEF PODCAST EPISODE 2The Kindness Rocks ProjectWith Megan Murphy SHOW NOTES When my husband and I found our first “kindness rock” in Hagerstown City Park on Easter Sunday, I had no idea that I was stumbling upon a worldwide movement rooted in a woman’s journey of love and loss, and her longing for guidance
Major Griffith, USMC, was killed in action on December 14, 2011 by an enemy Taliban sniper. Sam was a beloved Marine Corps Officer who embodied perseverance and grit. His death greatly impacted the lives of all that knew and loved him and changed the course of Renee’s life forever. When Sam died, I realized I
Heather Stang interviews David A. Treleaven, Ph.D., author of “Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness,” for an closer look at the intersection of grief, trauma and mindfulness, so you can understand the benefits and pitfalls before you practice. Mindfulness meditation is highly praised for helping people reduce physical, emotional, and psychological suffering. But when trauma is involved, mindfulness needs to be handled with care, modified, or outright avoided.
Guilt and grief form a ubiquitous pair. We can find countless ways to blame ourselves. For that last argument we had. For not insisting they visit the doctor sooner. For sending them on that last errand. For not discovering the right healing supplement. For not being able to cure their addiction or ease the pain
Additional reading: I offer a brief overview of Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s work in a companion article: “5 Stages of Grief: Are They Real?” I hope you will consider reading it as well, as it pays homage to the great pioneer who started the very important conversation about dying people and the importance of compassionate care
Though it has been almost five years, I remember clearly the moment my father’s spirit slipped from this physical plane into the great unknown. Even though he had been ill for some time, until that moment I had denied the fact that his death was on the horizon because I knew—in the darkest places of
Years before I even thought about writing Mindfulness & Grief, I wondered… can meditation help with grief? After all, meditation has been helping people liberate themselves from suffering for thousands of years, thanks to the Buddha and other spiritual teachers. It helps calm anxiety, release tension in the body, and helps you feel more capable
People learn to meditate for many reasons: to calm anxiety, ease stress, be more productive at work, or less agitated at home. It can take some effort to establish a daily meditation practice, but the payoff is priceless. On good days, a regular meditation practice can help you savor all that life has to offer.
