How Mindful Grief Support Yoga Classes At Guided By Humanity in Denver Can Help
As the Winter Solstice approaches, the sense of time becomes altered. Night falls earlier and earlier. Dawn breaks slowly, only to succumb to the quiet darkness that envelops us, seducing us into craving sleep and warmth. Life retreats into burrows and nests. Despite our individualized fight to resist the slow descent, the cessation of life, and ultimate closure, energy slows, and we cannot help but sleep, embracing the deep and cold. Exhaling, we and the earth rest on the longest night of the year.
It is the in-between time between darkness and light.
It is here in the in-between where those who are grieving live. We are moving forward in our lives where now we are the sole keepers of the past shared with the person who died. The empty space at the table, the gift unpurchased, and the phone call that will never come.
The month of December is filled with holidays for many cultures from all over the world. For those of us who’ve lost someone close to us, it’s a time of year when we tread carefully, avoiding the dark and cold, attempting to keep those around us warm. A traditional song, a glimpse of a familiar jacket or hat, or a whiff of perfume while cutting through Macy’s can cause us to burst into tears that cannot be quelled.
Tightening our jaw and pulling up our scarf, we bury our emotions to not draw attention to ourselves or impose on others.
Our friends and family members attempt to cure us through distraction or suggesting self-care rituals like bubble baths and trips to the gym. It hurts too much, so we decline or plod through counting down the minutes until it is over. Burrowing ourselves into our nest feels preferable while we are in the in-between.
In this stillness, grief feels like the cold night will never end.
Darkness envelops you, and you fall into that deep yet fretful sleep and awaken again to the darkness. Your body doesn’t want to move, but you must keep moving. Kids need you. Work requires you. The cat wants food.
How do you get out of bed when the light never seems to return?
One step at a time.
First, sit up.
Next, feel your feet on your floor. Just feel.
Go refresh yourself and then grab your yoga mat. Today, unroll it and leave it on the floor.
Tomorrow, sit on the mat and roll it back up.
And the next day, unroll, sit back into the child’s pose, and stretch.
Practicing restorative yoga can help you negotiate this tender time in a manner that isn’t exhausting, trite, or too demanding. Gentle stretching and poses like down-dog or supported fish can help with grounding and breathing, releasing tight muscles, and calming the mind.
Sometimes, the darkness continues to creep in, and we know we need someone to help guide us back out into the light again. Traditional talk therapy seems exhausting and professional help can be expensive.
There is another way. A better way that blends yoga with a supportive space where everyone’s grief is accepted without judgment and witnessed with love.
Guided By Humanity, an inclusive yoga studio in Denver offers Mindful Grief Support classes. This 6-week class covers mindful approaches to grieving through meditation, journaling, art, movement, and personal growth work. In conjunction with the Grief Support Network, the class meets remotely for two hours a week.
Topics covered are:
- Guided Meditation
- Journaling
- Group Sharing
- Yoga
- Body Awareness
- Unconditional Love and Acceptance
- Evolution of Identity Through Grief
And much more.
The Guided By Humanity yoga instructors encourage students to learn to observe how and where grief is held in the body. Students are provided tools to be advocates or witnesses of their grief within a supportive environment. Being heard and validated allows the student to become more present by recognizing the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and physical symptoms related to that grief.
Yoga’s restorative poses release grief, facilitating healing by moving the student into an unknown future with more confidence, self-awareness, and self-compassion.
As we go through life, grief is compounded. Another family member, a pet, or a traumatic event may precede a recent death. Grief piles up. By mindfully addressing and releasing grief, old wounds can heal, along with new ones. The experience can be cataclysmic and painful, but in the end, healing.
At the end of yoga practice, we traditionally rest in Śavāsana, otherwise known as the “corpse pose.” It gives us a moment to be still, calming our minds and appreciating our bodies and breath. We feel connected to the earth, our mat, and each other. As we practice the yoga nidra in this pose, the mind and body die, releasing the past and the physical work, and in this calm, present moment, we slowly awaken to be here now. Moving out of the darkness, we emerge a little stronger from our Mindful Grief practice.
Just like the Winter Solstice.
The light returns.
