When words fall short, the body still knows how to speak and how to heal.
Grief is one of the most universal human experiences and one of the most misunderstood.
While we often think of grief as something that lives in the mind, it has a quiet and persistent way of settling into the body. You may notice it as a heaviness in your chest, an ache behind your eyes, a restlessness that won’t let you sleep, or an exhaustion so deep that no amount of rest seems to touch it.
Grounded Resilience LLC is rooted in Trauma informed Yoga. What’s been witnessed again and again, is this: grief doesn’t just need to be processed, it needs to be moved.
There is no one right way to grieve. Your experience is valid, exactly as it is.
Grief Lives in the Body
When we experience loss, the nervous system responds. Grief can show up as a weakened immune system, shifts in appetite, difficulty digesting, profound fatigue, or a feeling of being disconnected from yourself. These aren’t signs that something is wrong with you. They are signs that something mattered to you and that your body is doing its best to carry that.
We may move through
Anger
Sadness
Anxiety
Emotional numbness
Moments of peace
And sometimes, we cycle through all of these in a single afternoon. That’s not grief gone wrong. That’s grief doing exactly what it’s meant to do: move us through something.
Loss Is Wider Than We Think
Grief visits us in many forms, too. We may grieve estrangement or separation, loss of ability or health, changes in mental health, economic hardship, loss of culture or identity, loss of freedom, relationship endings, or the loss of a future we once imagined.
If you are grieving something that others haven’t named or acknowledged, please know:
Your loss is real.
You deserve support just as much as anyone else.
Moving Through It
One of the most powerful things I’ve learned in years of trauma-informed practice is that movement, even gentle, intentional movement, can offer the nervous system something it desperately needs:
A way through
These practices aren’t about bypassing your grief.
They’re about giving it somewhere to go.
For Sadness
Try allowing your body to fold forward while seated, with your legs outstretched. Support your head with a soft pillow or bolster if you have one.
Turning your palms upward
Imagine you are holding the memories of what was lost
then gently draw your hands to your heart.
For Anxiety
Go for a walk or a run.
As you move, hold two questions lightly in your mind:
What am I running from?
And what am I running toward?
Let the rhythm of your body answer when words can’t.
For Anger
Press your hands firmly into your thighs.
Press your thighs back into your hands.
Use your voice
Speak or even sound out what feels unjust, while you engage your core
Anger held in the body needs an outlet; this practice gives it one that is grounding and contained.
Emotional Numbness
Practice orienting to the space you are in.
Slowly look around the room and notice different objects: their color, shape, texture.
Gently remind yourself of what you know to be true right now: your name, the time and day, the place you are in. You are here. You are safe.
Healing is possible. You don’t have to move through this alone.
If these practices opened something in you or if you’re ready for more personalized, trauma-informed support, where you can be met where you are. One-on-one yoga sessions are designed to honor your unique experience of grief, at your own pace.
Sessions are trauma-informed and held with care for your whole self.
Disclaimer: Trauma informed Yoga is not a replacement of psychological personal therapy. If you’re interested in booking a therapy session please learn more by booking a 15 minute consultation call here.
