Bereavement

Grief can affect our health in so many ways – here are a few.

Broken Heart Syndrome is not just folklore – it’s a real medical condition. The sudden loss of a spouse or loved one can cause a jolt of intense emotion and trigger hormones that lead to sharp chest pain and trouble breathing.  Your heart may not pump blood as well for a while.  It can feel like a heart attack, but it usually doesn't damage your heart or block your arteries. Most people get better within a few days or weeks.  

One of the many hormones released is cortisone - which is called the stress hormone - and your body may release more of it than usual into your blood stream in the 6 months after the loss of a loved one.  High levels of cortisol over a long period can raise your chances of heart disease or high blood pressure. 

The Base Chakra in Grief & Trauma - Essential Oils - The base chakra and is associated with our most basic needs of survival, safety and security, including our biological need for food, water, shelter and procreation. 

It's also associated with the sense of safety that comes with knowing we belong to a community, a tribe, a place and a planet - consciously or unconsciously. 

The base chakra's main function is to channel energy upwards from the earth into our feet, legs and spine to help us remain grounded, stable and connected, and this is what happens when it is functioning optimally. 

When it isn't functioning optimally, we don't feel safe and able to trust our own experiences.  In grief, our ability to enjoy basic sensory pleasures is diminished.   

I was first introduced to the chakras (which can also be described as 'energy centres'  in 1997 during my training in clinical aromatherapy.   Since then I have worked extensively with essential oils as an aromatherapist and on a personal level worked with the chakras during my yoga sessions.   Now, almost two years into my journey after the passing of my husband, I have started to work with the chakras in the context of grief and trauma.

There are seven main chakras.   Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning ’wheel’ or ‘circle’.  This word is accepted in the practice of energy work and energy medicine to be an all-encompassing term describing vital centres of energy that exist within each of us.  These vital parts of us are not visible to the human eye and are considered ‘subtle’ energy.  

However, whilst the chakras may not be visible, they are not only essential but crucial to our ongoing development and overall health as human beings, especially for those living in grief and those impacted by trauma.

When the Student is Ready, the Teacher will Appear

I received news yesterday of the passing of a dear friend.  The wave of emotions when someone you care for dies can really knock the stuffing out of you can’t it?

My friend, teacher and mentor was David Stewart PhD, he was born in 1937 and died on the 13 October 2020.   

The impact Dr Stewart had on my life was huge!   I was born into the Roman Catholic religion and went to Sunday School and church until I was 15 years old.   Then at 15, my sister, who was 22 wanted to marry the man she loved.  I remember going to the Catholic Club with my sister to talk to the priest, and I remember him telling her she couldn’t marry the man she loved because he wasn’t a Catholic.

In our ‘information overload’ world of social media and the internet, I was surprised at how little there was out there when I was looking for support groups, pod casts and other areas of support after bereavement.   

Any other topic and you are overwhelmed with articles, blog posts, books, groups, forums, but with ‘bereavement’ there was very little and this surprised me - and was one of the reasons I set up the FAB group.  

The group is still in its early days of development – as I am still working out the details of how to support group members but with keeping our personal stories personal.  

The person (or people) we have lost are indelible to us – which means that they are not able to be forgotten by us – ever.