When you are faced with any form of grief in life, it transforms your very being. It takes you on a multifaceted path filled with emotional whirlwinds that leave you shattered and adrift.
At a certain point, you start to withdraw yourself socially, from daily appointments and things that used to bring enjoyment, further exacerbating your distress.
But stifling your deep-seated feelings can only prolong your suffering. It is during these times of extreme despair that the need to incorporate healing becomes more crucial, and this is where the healing rituals find their true purpose.
Healing rituals are ingrained in tradition and spirituality, which can offer a safe place to navigate the sea of emotion. These rituals can give you structure and meaning, helping you build the resilience to overcome loss in a sense that honors both your emotions and the process of acceptance.
Following are a few soothing rituals that are here to provide you comfort. Each Practice offers you a distinctive route to healing and inner renewal, that opens the door to healing and draws out your emotions in a constructive way.
The Process of Coping with Grief and Accepting Healing Rituals
There are many ways grief can show itself in our lives. It is not always experienced through bereavement, but various events like the ending of a significant relationship, going through serious health conditions, and any major loss of goal and financial stability can trigger it.
We all are familiar with the five stages of grief [i.e., denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance], but the journey of coping with it is different for every person and deeply personal.
When you are in a mourning process, you are the most vulnerable. Your emotions may ebb and flow like the tide, making going through your daily routine a challenge.
But it is not a road about overcoming the pain, but rather it is a process of learning to accept and finding the moments of healing along the way through.
Healing rituals help you build a structured framework to process the longing that coils within you. These rituals allow you to actively take part in the healing journey and regain control over your life, giving you a space to be felt, acknowledged, and eventually, embraced.
This doesn’t make the grief disappear, but as time passes, the intensity of pain begins to dull, granting you more moments of acceptance and reflection.
7 Nurturing and Healing Rituals to Help You Cope with Grief
Image credit to Camille Brodard on Usplash
1. Journaling Ritual
Journaling is a time-honored practice that can offer shelter in the storm. It can give you a safe place in your head to express and explore your emotions, a wellness therapy that can provide you with a therapeutic expression to get clear-mindedness during moments of deep sadness.
But often, many people dread that if they start writing in their journals, they might get fixated on a disheartening string of thoughts, and their feelings might take over, leaving them mentally exhausted.
While writing, you might not want to relive hurtful moments in your head, but when you allow them to flow freely on the page, acknowledging them and setting yourself free from those memories allows you to find peace with self-expression and make room for new experiences.
Set the intention for your wellness journey between the pages of the journal. With which mindset you want to plan your healing and the strength you will cultivate to move forward. Your every intention will become the seed of growth that you will plant in your soul for growing resilience and renewal.
Finding healing, one page at a time.
2. Nature Therapy
Nature has the distinct ability to mirror the wheel of life. The vast expanse of nature can put your pain in a different perspective, prompting you that you are part of a greater calling, linking you to the world around you.
The changing season and the endless cycle of growth and decay remind us that life is a series of transitions and that grief and loss are the natural parts of this phase.
The calming beauty of nature has a way of rooting us in the present moment. It provides a soothing canvas for processing your feelings, boosting energy, and reducing the symptoms of depression, providing a holistic approach to healing.
The mere presence in natural surroundings—feeling the warmth of the sun on our skin, savoring the crisp breeze, or watching the soft rustle of the grass in the breeze—guides us to overcome many adverse situations and steers us through this journey with grace and resilience.
3. Daily Gratitude Ritual
Practicing daily gratitude is a profoundly healing ritual that shifts our focus toward blessings.
When we are faced with the finality of loss, we are consumed by negative emotions. Shifting our focus from what we have lost to the things that are still in our lives can counterbalance everything.
This doesn’t diminish the pain of loss, but it helps cultivate a more balanced outlook, by softening the edges of grief, reminding us that even in the face of adversity few blessings will always remain.
You can practice gratitude in many forms, from writing down your blessings in a journal to simply taking a moment’s reflection, or writing a letter of gratitude to yourself for staying strong.
You can also keep a gratitude jar where you write about things you are grateful for on a piece of paper and drop them into the jar daily. At those times when you need a pick-me-up you can read these slips of paper to remind you of good things in your life.
4. Engaging in Creative Expression
Engaging yourself in any creative expression or things you love offers an outlet for channeling your buried emotions.
When it is difficult to express yourself through words, it can provide a safe space where your emotions can be identified, considered, and validated. It has a way of transcending pain. The act of committing and creating can become a meditative and soothing experience, allowing you to express grief in a tangible form.
Through art, you can make something that honors your feelings and gives them a voice, allowing a means of communicating to the depth of our emotions in a way that is deeply personal and resonant.
Image Credit to Dane Wetton on Unsplash
5. Participate in Self-Nurturing Rituals
During difficult times, engaging in self-care activities is not just a necessity; it is a lifeline. A saving grace and a testament to the strength of your inner spirit.
When you feel like the world is closing in on you, self-care becomes a vital essence that revives your spirit and boosts your resolve. It is a way of comforting yourself, “I’ve got you, I hear you, and I’ll be there for you.”
Self-nurturing rituals are the grounding act of self-compassion that help you confront the chaos and confirm your values. Through daily rituals and ceremonies of self-love, you continue to show up for yourself.
6. Seek Out Support
Grief, hurt, and loss are complicated emotional experiences that can be hard to navigate on your own.
Grief can isolate you from your family and people closest to you. It can confine you in the darkest corner of your head, making you fumble for any ray of hope. Hence, allowing yourself to express your thoughts is crucial.
When someone tries to reach out to you, don’t lock yourself in your inner fortress. Any given support from your friends, family, or therapist can be a reliable guide, a helping hand that can share your burden and walk beside you on a long winding road.
7. Ritual of Remembrance
When you are going through the hardest trial in your life, it can be difficult to make peace with present circumstances. Especially when the remembrance of what you have lost agonizes you constantly.
Holding a ritual of remembrance can offer a way to honor your memories, weaving them into your life in a way that makes you cherish them without being consumed by them.
When thoughts of your loved ones or the loss you have experienced weigh you down and prevent you from moving forward in life, this healing ritual comes as the anchor. It helps you let go of its painful hold on you and gives you a sense of continuity and stability to move ahead in life.
It’s Up to You Now
Coping with any kind of loss is a painful and deeply transformative journey that requires patience, building resilience, and nurturing rituals that will heal your mind, body, and soul.
Practicing these healing rituals every day will provide you with a renowned sense of purpose to embrace them with an open heart and mind so they will guide you toward healing, acceptance, and eventually peace.
