Growth from Grief
Grief is something we all experience; it's the natural reaction to loss. Grief is individual, and can be different for each loss you have.
Grieving is also something most people don't want to talk about! Well, we talk all about it here - the hard stuff but also the light stuff too.
We'll explore tools and techniques like yoga, meditation, ritual, journaling and more so you can begin to move from grief pain, heal, discover joy again and grow from your grief.
Growth from Grief
Light Up the World Through the Gifts Within You
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summary
In this episode of Growth from Grief, Susan Andersen, a grief guide and yoga teacher, discusses the importance of embracing and sharing the inner light that exists within each individual, even amidst grief. She emphasizes the significance of self-love and the gradual process of cultivating this light through emotional release and reconnecting with passions. The episode encourages listeners to recognize their inner flicker of light and to share it with others, fostering a sense of connection and healing.
takeaways
- Grief can feel heavy, but light exists within us.
- Cultivating inner light takes time and patience.
- Every emotional release helps our inner light grow.
- Engaging in activities we love can reignite our spirit.
- Sharing our light can positively impact others.
- Self-love is essential in the healing process.
- We can find joy in small moments, like sharing a smile.
- Meditation can help us connect with our inner light.
- It's important to acknowledge our emotions during grief.
- Grace and peace can be found on the healing journey.
Thank you for listening! Visit www.sueandersenyoga.com for Yoga for Grief classes and additional resources.
Susan Andersen (00:03.382)
Hello, I'm Sue Andersen, grief guide and yoga teacher dedicated to helping individuals navigate the challenging journey of loss. Welcome to Growth from Grief, where I aim to offer strategies to transition from the depths of grief to the path of healing. Whatever loss you are grappling with, here you'll discover support to ease both the physical and emotional burdens of grief. Together, let's embark on a journey towards strength, peace, and healing. I'm so glad you are here.
Susan Andersen (00:54.83)
Hi and welcome to this episode of Growth from Grief. I’m your host Sue Andersen. This is our last episode of 2024, so I look forward to seeing you in the new year as we start fresh with the podcast. My intention is to have more guests and I'm already planning that, talking to potential guests right now.
In today's episode, I'd like to remind you of something, and that is to shine your light, to not hide it inside of you. This is the season of light. We have Hanukkah, the festival of light. You have Christmas and talking about angels guiding shepherds by starlight. “He is the light of the world.” We hear all these references to light.
I'm also touched by a poem that I recently read in one of my yoga classes by Mark Nepo from the Book of Awakening. And this poem talks about how what's inside of us, you know, that spirit, that light that is inside of us, as we cultivate that with something that we love.
So he gives examples of the dancer becoming the dance. We're just, you take that gift inside of you and it just becomes you. You're one with that gift. That is “spirit lighting up”. That's what he calls it. And these spirit lighting up moments light ourselves, but they also light those that are near us.
In his meditation suggestions, he says, “watch someone doing something they love. Observe in detail how they attend their task. What lets you know that they love what they're doing? And is there a moment where they seem to be one with what they love?”
So this light inside of you, this gift that you have, as you begin to shine it, as you begin to embody this gift, this life, it just shines out there. People notice it. They notice that this is your act of love. It's self-love and love for others.
Susan Andersen (04:08.79)
We are sort of lighting up an entire room. We are sharing that gift with others. I know sometimes it can feel when we're grieving that the only thing inside is emptiness or fear or some other emotion that's sadness. You just feel heavy and can't imagine that light inside of you.
But it's there. It's there. It's a little flicker, but it's still there. And it's waiting for you to cultivate it. It's waiting for you to encourage it to grow. And every time we release some emotion, every time we let go part of our grief, if we release it, let it go, that light inside of us grows a little bit. It allows us to release our burden and to maybe give a smile to someone to turn our attention to something that we enjoyed prior to our loss, our gift, our gift. It takes time to come back to that.
Maybe you were a painter. And it's hard to get back to that craft. But slowly, slowly it happens. And you begin to embody that. You begin to become the painting, the picture, the music. the gardening, the flowers, and it shows. And you share that with others.
So today, as you're listening, I invite you to take a few moments and just breathe. Just breathe, just notice, just take that look inside of you and see that little flickering light, that shining light.
And even if it's just sharing a smile. Let the light shine. Share it with others in your life or strangers that you meet along the path.
Thank you for listening to today's episode. I wish you grace and peace.