Grief and Loss

Started a new yoga series with my "guru" Corinne Peterson, Click here to visit her site. (Opens in a new window.)

The ten session class was scheduled to run through the holiday season beginning two weeks before Thanksgiving and ending after the New Year. Corinne did it this way because for people dealing with grief and loss, the holidays are most often a very difficult time.

The first session consisted of sharing a little about why each of us were there, Yoga stretching and movement, focus on breathing, and a thirty minute guided meditation.

The energy in the room was heavy as people shared their reasons for signing up for the series and what they hoped to gain by attending. The the sense of community began to build almost immediately and as we moved into the Yoga and Meditation, I could almost sense, if only a tiny bit, the beginnings of healing for many of us there or at least leaving the grief behind for a brief period of time.

When asked to establish an intention for the session's practice, I looked into myself and came up with, "You need to re-establish you connection to JOY!" When I spent time at Lieberman visiting Gregory and the other residents I always felt so much joy at my ability to bring joy to others.

I felt joy helping a resident put the cloth napkin around their neck or  getting them another glass of juice or helping to cut up the food into bite size pieces. I felt joy at providing treats of chocolate, licorice, cookies, and more to Gregory and to the staff who dropped by his room to help or just to say "Hi" and grab a mini Butterfinger or Babe Ruth.

I felt joy during the resident's arts and crafts activities or the sing-alongs or the rhythm bands. I felt joy kissing Gregory or telling Martha, "I love you!" with her giggling and saying "You probably tell that to all the girls!" I felt joy clapping along to the Sunday Concert performers or helping to pass out cookies and juice to the attendees.

While I still feel joy in my daily life, the dosage is not large enough. So I need to think about how I can put more back into my life. Thank you Corinne. See you next session!