Allow yourself to fully feel emotions like sadness or anger without judgment, as suppressing them requires enormous mental energy and prevents them from passing through.
Acknowledge and name the specific type of grief you are experiencing (e.g., loss of normalcy) to gain understanding and a sense of control over your feelings.
Accept your current circumstances to effectively deal with them, as freedom is found in reality.
Practice identifying what is within your control and what is not, then focus your energy on what you can influence and release attachment to what you cannot.
Engage in physical activity like yoga, running, or walking to help process emotions and regain balance after a loss, as ’emotions need motion'.
Use meditation to tune into and investigate emotions without fighting or feeding them, allowing you to develop a different relationship with your feelings and find peace.
Practice bringing yourself into the present moment, especially when dealing with trauma, to find safety and realize that the traumatic event has ended and future fears may not materialize.
Actively seek virtual connections through video calls (FaceTime, Zoom) or phone calls to combat isolation and witness each other’s grief, especially during times of social distancing.
Use virtual or phone connections to engage in deeper conversations beyond small talk, discussing big, difficult emotions with trusted individuals or professionals to metabolize grief and foster growth.
Seek out opportunities for your grief and pain to be witnessed by others, and in turn, witness the grief of others, as this is a crucial part of the healing process.
Avoid comparing griefs or minimizing others’ experiences; instead, validate all forms of grief and disappointment, recognizing that ‘grief is a no judgment zone’.
Create and allow space for yourself and others to grieve and feel whatever emotions arise, as acknowledging ‘what is’ is key to living through it.
Acknowledge anger as a natural emotion in grief and find safe, healthy ways to release it without harming yourself or others.
If experiencing grief, join online support groups (like the Facebook group mentioned at grief.com) to receive peer-to-peer support and connect with others who understand.
If you have processed your own grief and are doing well, consider offering support to others in online groups or communities, practicing collective love and care.
Actively seek to find meaning in challenging situations, as this can help manage grief and lead to post-traumatic growth.
Actively search for meaning in difficult experiences, as it can serve as a cushion to help cope with pain, even though it doesn’t eliminate the pain itself.
Understand that finding meaning after a significant loss takes time and cannot be rushed; it’s a process that unfolds when you are ready.
Look for and name small, meaningful moments in your daily life (e.g., community connections, simple interactions) to foster post-traumatic growth.
Instead of trying to shrink your pain or grief, focus on becoming ‘bigger’ yourself, expanding your capacity to hold and process the experience.
Refuse to let death destroy your love, relationships, or life after loss; instead, find your power to live a life that honors those who have died.
Actively work towards creating a better world and finding collective meaning from shared tragedies, honoring those lost by striving for growth and positive change.
Even when physically disconnected, actively work to create and participate in virtual communities to combat isolation and provide mutual support during grief.
If you feel hopeless, allow others to hold hope for you until you can find it again, recognizing that your loss of hope is temporary.
Once you reach a moment of acceptance, focus on what you can do to make the new reality work, finding power in what you can control.
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