Mar 14, 2022 Reporting from Niles, MI
Mar 14, 2022
Mar 14, 2022
The New Year and grief
SpectrumHealth Lakeland
The New Year and grief
SpectrumHealth Lakeland
https://www.spectrumhealthlakeland.org/ResourcePackages/SpectrumHealth/assets/img/sh_white_logo.png
Grief can come when we least expect it. It is especially hard during the holidays. We often have expectations of ourselves as we move into a new year, but this year consider forgoing the norm. Instead focus on finding new ways to continue working through your grief. It can be a new hobby, nourishing your spirituality, finding quiet time, and putting your self-care as a priority. Remember, a new year does not mean you have left the memory of your loved one behind. Grief can be overwhelming but there are tools available to help you manage your grief.
Here are 5 tips for the New Year:
Focus on self-compassion and self-care instead of self-improvement.
If you are grieving in the new year, you may want to skip the typical New Year’s resolutions and instead focus on self-care for your grieving mind, body, and spirit.
Simple things like getting good sleep, eating nourishing food, and exercising a little bit each day will help your body and mind support you during loss. However, do these things with an attitude of self-care instead of self-improvement, which is often implied in our resolutions.
Don’t add to your suffering by trying to attain an unrealistic goal. Instead, treat yourself as you would treat a beloved friend in the same position.
Create your own mantra to replace “Happy New Year.”
If you are like most grieving people, the idea of being happy is a bridge too far from where you are right now, but since you are going to hear these words again and again, you may as well incorporate them into your self-care practice. Instead of feeling bad for not feeling happy, or angry that someone would assume you could feel happy, use this example reminder in the next paragraph to send yourself compassion.
Try this: Each time you see or hear “Happy New Year,” offer yourself words of kindness that resonate with you. For example, “May I treat myself with kindness this year,” or “May I have a Compassionate New Year,” or simply “This is hard, and I am doing my best.” This not only puts you back in the driver’s seat so you have a way of control over your grief journey, but it is also a great level of awareness that can remind you to take care of yourself.
Know that you are not leaving your loved one behind.
When you cross the threshold of a new year without your special person by your side, it can feel like you are leaving them behind. That isn’t the case. Yes, the annual change of the calendar is a marker that time is passing, but you will never forget your special person, no matter how many years go by.
Take some time out early this year to reflect on the ways you carry your special person with you. What habits, likes, dislikes, hobbies, or mannerisms do you share with them? What are your favorite memories of your time together? If they are a blood relative, in what ways do you look like them? They have left their mark on your heart, and that will never go away.
Prioritize your grief-work with your new calendar.
Instead of just scheduling things you have to do, use your new calendar to plan what you need to do to support yourself this year.
While none of us have a crystal ball, most people find holidays and anniversaries especially challenging. Record them on your calendar, and plan how you want to spend those special days.
And knowing what you are going to do on these special grief-days may help reduce your anxiety. Whether scheduling coffee over Zoom with a supportive friend on your loved one’s birthday or joining a wider circle of friends and family to reminisce on the anniversary of their death, be sure to connect with others unless you really prefer to spend time alone.
Steady your mind in the present with meditation.
The human brain is rarely fully present, and this is especially true when we are grieving. Part of us wants to fast forward and leave this awful time behind, but an even bigger part wants to turn around and sprint back to the time when our loved one was still alive.
The reality, of course, is that we can’t control the passing of time, but we can control what we do with our attention. In the meditation world, we call this bouncing around “monkey mind.ˮ Although it is just a side-effect of being human, ruminating rarely reduces our suffering.
Try this: with your eyes open or closed, turn your attention toward your breath. As you breathe in, silently say to yourself – In. As you breathe out, silently say to yourself – Out.
The New Year and grief
by
Lenee Imler
|
Mar 14, 2022
Grief can come when we least expect it. It is especially hard during the holidays. We often have expectations of ourselves as we move into a new year, but this year consider forgoing the norm. Instead focus on finding new ways to continue working through your grief. It can be a new hobby, nourishing your spirituality, finding quiet time, and putting your self-care as a priority. Remember, a new year does not mean you have left the memory of your loved one behind. Grief can be overwhelming but there are tools available to help you manage your grief.
Here are 5 tips for the New Year:
Focus on self-compassion and self-care instead of self-improvement.
If you are grieving in the new year, you may want to skip the typical New Year’s resolutions and instead focus on self-care for your grieving mind, body, and spirit.
Simple things like getting good sleep, eating nourishing food, and exercising a little bit each day will help your body and mind support you during loss. However, do these things with an attitude of self-care instead of self-improvement, which is often implied in our resolutions.
Don’t add to your suffering by trying to attain an unrealistic goal. Instead, treat yourself as you would treat a beloved friend in the same position.
Create your own mantra to replace “Happy New Year.”
If you are like most grieving people, the idea of being happy is a bridge too far from where you are right now, but since you are going to hear these words again and again, you may as well incorporate them into your self-care practice. Instead of feeling bad for not feeling happy, or angry that someone would assume you could feel happy, use this example reminder in the next paragraph to send yourself compassion.
Try this: Each time you see or hear “Happy New Year,” offer yourself words of kindness that resonate with you. For example, “May I treat myself with kindness this year,” or “May I have a Compassionate New Year,” or simply “This is hard, and I am doing my best.” This not only puts you back in the driver’s seat so you have a way of control over your grief journey, but it is also a great level of awareness that can remind you to take care of yourself.
Know that you are not leaving your loved one behind.
When you cross the threshold of a new year without your special person by your side, it can feel like you are leaving them behind. That isn’t the case. Yes, the annual change of the calendar is a marker that time is passing, but you will never forget your special person, no matter how many years go by.
Take some time out early this year to reflect on the ways you carry your special person with you. What habits, likes, dislikes, hobbies, or mannerisms do you share with them? What are your favorite memories of your time together? If they are a blood relative, in what ways do you look like them? They have left their mark on your heart, and that will never go away.
Prioritize your grief-work with your new calendar.
Instead of just scheduling things you have to do, use your new calendar to plan what you need to do to support yourself this year.
While none of us have a crystal ball, most people find holidays and anniversaries especially challenging. Record them on your calendar, and plan how you want to spend those special days.
And knowing what you are going to do on these special grief-days may help reduce your anxiety. Whether scheduling coffee over Zoom with a supportive friend on your loved one’s birthday or joining a wider circle of friends and family to reminisce on the anniversary of their death, be sure to connect with others unless you really prefer to spend time alone.
Steady your mind in the present with meditation.
The human brain is rarely fully present, and this is especially true when we are grieving. Part of us wants to fast forward and leave this awful time behind, but an even bigger part wants to turn around and sprint back to the time when our loved one was still alive.
The reality, of course, is that we can’t control the passing of time, but we can control what we do with our attention. In the meditation world, we call this bouncing around “monkey mind.ˮ Although it is just a side-effect of being human, ruminating rarely reduces our suffering.
Try this: with your eyes open or closed, turn your attention toward your breath. As you breathe in, silently say to yourself – In. As you breathe out, silently say to yourself – Out.