The Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) features Dr. Lyn Prashant in a special episode where she talks about the loss of her husband. She used integrative therapeutic processes that aim to normalize the mind and body after a trauma. With a medical background herself, Dr. Prashant was eager to find her own best way of healing after her husband’s death. She’s a clinician, healer, author, and also public speaker who specializes in the somatic approach to grief and helping others to heal along their own grief journey.
How the barometer of your feelings registers and stores your grief can make a huge impact on your life. The guide Dr. Prashant wrote after her husband’s death, “The Art of Transforming Grief,” can be an important part of your own grief toolkit. The intelligence of the mind and the wisdom of the body can be controlled by you, for better or worse. Many times in grief, people turn to negativity because it’s briefly comforting. However, it can lead to a downward spiral.
Overcoming Grief
In many instances, grief will stay with you for life. However, you can transform how that grief interacts with your mind and body. “The awareness of being” is key. Degriefing is an oxymoron, says Prashant. We can’t degrief since it’s likely to be with you for a long time. However, your grief is your best fuel for transformation and healing. Fresh loss can stimulate past loss. In degriefing, you can re-stabilize with self-care.
An internal and external chaos is provoked by loss. Dr. Prashant recommends telling your story of loss, running your hands under cold water, and nostril breathing. Allowing your body to cry, but singing and dancing to honor your loved one, are equally important. “Trust your heart,” she says.
