We Numb Ourselves So Much It Is Hard To Deal With Our Grief

The first part of this work centers on awareness.  This comes from the work of Paul Denniston in his Grief Movement Training.

The first step in grief work is awareness. 

Many of us try to find ways to distract ourselves from painful feelings and experiences.  This is the opposite of that.  We are creating space to sit with ourselves and our feelings.   

Here is how you can create awareness. 

Focus on our breath is the first step in becoming present and developing an awareness of what we’re experiencing.  We use our breath and our experience within our bodies to move into awareness.  Awareness is about experiencing the present moment and becoming aware of what is happening and asking ourselves, what we are feeling and where in our body we are experiencing it.  Many times with grief and loss we experience sadness, helplessness, anger, and sometimes even relief.

An important part of grief work is to create some space and cultivate the ability to sit with oneself and identify what we are feeling and where we are feeling it, our bodily experience of that feeling.

This can be very hard for most of us who have spent our lives not being aware. We are a society that numbs and crams feelings down deep so we don’t have to feel them. We numb ourselves with substance abuse, social media use, entertainment streaming, and almost anything else you can think of. 

Dealing with our grief and loss will require us to do the opposite of numbing ourselves. 

If you resonate with numbing or cramming your feels down after grief or loss and could use some support Harper Therapy is a great place to get help. Call us today at 813-434-3639.