Struggling With Acceptance and "Letting Go" in Grief

The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday.  ~ Steve Maraboli

A reader writes: I send you a letter, asking for guidance and help, my father passed away two months ago, and it's very hard to accept that he is gone, my mom is angry and sad, can you help us.

Using Alternative Healing in Grief

A wise man ought to realize that health is his most valuable possession. ~ Hippocrates

Alternative healing refers to a broad range of medical practices and therapies that are used instead of conventional (mainstream) medicine. These treatments are often based on cultural traditions, holistic approaches, or natural remedies. While some alternative therapies have scientific support, many lack rigorous clinical testing to confirm their effectiveness. Still, alternative therapies can be valuable tools for coping with grief by offering holistic approaches that address emotional, physical, and spiritual healing. 

Alternative therapies that may help during the grieving process include the following:

Understanding and Managing Grief, February 9 - February 15, 2025

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week: 

While there's no single right way to navigate loss, for many, having support from others can make the grieving process a bit easier, research shows. A 2020 review analyzed over a dozen studies on bereavement groups for grief and depression symptoms. The findings showed that bereavement groups were slightly more effective than control groups immediately after treatment, meaning they provided some short-term relief for grief and depression symptoms. Group support might help you cope with grief, data shows « Cheny Free Press

In Grief: "Time For Me to Write My Experiences"

We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect. ~ Anaïs Nin

A reader writes: I'm not sure what I'm writing here..but felt compelled to say something.  I have been on a horrendous journey since my husband died 4 yrs ago.  Every trauma has hit the children and me.....tonight my son aged 13 who is very ill came to my bed.....he couldn't sleep and was in terrible pain...I don't know how or why..but for the second time over the past few years I did hands-on healing on his stomach....which was an incredible experience for him and me...and that resulted in our best chat together in four years, and he fell asleep.....all I realized was that I had not protected myself from taking his pain....and I became acutely aware of some "talents" that I have........I rushed downstairs and searched the Net, to find information on healing....and then psychic surgery...and then somehow I got to your site!!!

Understanding and Managing Grief, January 19 - February 8, 2025

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed:

[T]hat a man might actually feel a profound emotional connection to his unborn child as it lives—or dies—inside someone else’s body is not a truth we’re especially comfortable with.“My body, my choice,” the longtime rallying cry of abortion rights advocates, emphasizes exactly whose body and whose choice it isn’t. In the public imagination, men’s feelings on this topic are of no consequence; some find it inconceivable that they even have feelings at all.  The Men Who Lost Their Babies « The FreePress

Grief Rituals Can Help on Special Days

Part of my mourning is not “hanging out" with memories of the last years of mother’s life as dementia wreaked havoc. I am not ignoring the memories.  I am not afraid to go there. I just don’t stay long if I am summoned by a particular painful memory. ~ Harold Ivan Smith, in Grieving the Death of a Mother 

We’ve barely made it through the holidays of November, December and January, and now the stores are filled with hearts and flowers and candy, all of it in celebration of the gift of love.

But February 14 can be a difficult day for those of us who are grieving, and for some it will be the first Valentine’s Day since our precious Valentine died. For us there is no celebration; there is only grief.