Beyond Grief
Finding Closure & Embracing What Comes Next
Hey It’s Jenny, your home yoga hype girl!
Welcome to my weekly newsletter where I share personal insights & the best online yoga resources, handpicked just for you.
This is the fourth, and final, grief themed issue. Over the course of the last month, we have discussed the many causes and forms of grief. We have also explored the power of community in times of loss.
Today’s format is a bit different than usual. I poured my heart and soul into the last three issues and I need a break. So, I’m featuring the work of a few other teachers, writers & creators today.
Please enjoy this bouquet of carefully curated resources, gathered and presented lovingly to you. Engage with what feels resonant and leave, or come back to, the rest another time.
Yoga For Grief: A Sequence to Heal Your Heart
This 7-Pose Home Practice Will Help You Close (Yes, Close) Your Heart After Grief by Sarah Ezrin
I have never, in all my years as a yoga practitioner and teacher, heard anyone talk about using yoga to close the heart.
But, after reading what Sarah Ezrin has to say, it actually makes sense.
I have come to believe that our impulse to fold in when grieving is a way to keep the pieces of the heart together after it breaks.
Sarah Ezrin
As I read this thought provoking article, I was reminded of a particularly difficult and dark time in my life. What stands out, in my memory, is waking up every morning curled into a tight, fetal ball. This was unusual because I normally sleep sprawled out on my back.
It was like every layer of my being was trying to wrap itself around my vulnerability. Now, I can see that I was instinctively trying to keep my broken heart intact.
The featured “Yoga Sequence for Grief” offers a unique opportunity to honor this instinctual closing in, to cushion the heart intentionally while it heals.
Take your time with it. Tune in and make it your own.
RELEASE : Flexible Mind & Body | Yoga With Kassandra
15 minutes | All Levels | Beginner Friendly
After a full month of ruminating on grief, I think we are all ready for some release. This mind/body class duo is just what the doctor ordered.
The first class is a 10 minute, yoga asana sequence that opens with a supine twist. As we are settling in, Kassandra introduces the theme with a simple question: “When you think about release, what comes to mind for you?”
I like this approach because it creates space for reflection. We are all in different stages of grief. Some of us are just coming to terms with loss, while others are ready to move past mourning. Asking a question, instead of assigning an intention, leaves room for everyone work from where they are.
The second class is a short & simple invitation to take action - a great way to make the concept of release tangible.
Memory Boxes
7 Ways to Help You Cope With Grief: Memory Boxes
Here is an opportunity to get creative with the previous challenge. Instead of choosing five random items to part with, why not gather specific belongings and preserve them with a purpose?
I’ve had a shrine (for lack of a better term) on a shelf, in my bedroom for a while now. It contains small items and pictures that either belonged to, or remind me of, loved ones lost. For a while I would light a candle, sit in front of it and talk to the people represented there. It helped me feel connected to them and process my grief.
I’m finally ready to release the display. I’ve been rearranging my bedroom and it feels like a good time to put it away. It never felt right to shove It all in the bottom of a drawer or back of a closet though, so I just left it alone.
A memory box seems like a good transition.
Now, I can make a little ceremony of putting the items away, knowing they will be in a safe place and I can retrieve them any time I want.
Yoga For Depression w/ Yoga With Adriene
15 minutes | All Levels | Beginner Friendly
I do not think depression and grief are the same thing. But, I do believe they share a heaviness in the energy they carry.
They also tend to overlap, making this “Yoga for Adriene” class a good fit for our purposes.
Adriene is so uplifting. She has a way of making her students feel less alone and infusing hope into her offerings.
This class delivers everything you would expect. It’s short, gentle and hits all the right notes. I left my practice feeling calm and ready to face my day after practicing it.
Final Thoughts
I’m going to be brutally honest here…I have never been so happy to be done with a monthly theme. I’m ready to stop fixating on grief - thinking about it, talking about it, writing about it, posting on social media about it - and I am over the moon, excited to lighten things up with a brand new theme next Sunday.
Having said that. I’m glad we did the hard work of sitting with our grief…together. This topic has been on my heart for quite some time. I’ve experienced so much loss in the last few years and I felt compelled to write about the love, connection and growth I experienced as a result.
Some of my most treasured memories took place in the midst of my mourning. Every time I walked through the open door of grief, there was something precious waiting for me on the other side.
One of the most important relationships in my life was restored during a period of shared mourning. I traveled across the country for multiple funerals and got to spend the best quality time with beloved family members. I brought my son to a treasured childhood place and introduced him the wonders of it, even as we laid our loved one to rest. I felt my grandmother’s soft hand on my face, one last time.
All of these beautiful experiences happened as a result of loss.
Loss is not easy, but it is an unavoidable part of life.
If we let it, life will teach us how to step fully into the experience of grief and show us why it’s worth it every time.
I am glad we are in this together.
I hope you all have a wonderful week.
I’ll see you next Sunday.
I did the morning stretch. It was perfect. I love how we ended in OM