Grief can be felt in the body for longer than we may realise
This week marked one year since my father passed away.
Anniversaries of loss often bring a complex mix of feelings—love, sadness, gratitude, and the deep ache of absence. Over these days, I’ve found myself reflecting on how profoundly grief resides in the body, not just the mind.
When we first experience loss, it can feel like a shock to the system. And that shock doesn’t just stay in our thoughts—it moves through the nervous system, changing how we breathe, how we move, how our muscles hold tension.
In the twelve months since losing my much-loved Dad, I’ve felt these changes in a very real, physical way. Some days I felt numb or disconnected. Other days brought anxiety. Often, I simply didn’t feel quite like myself.
Unprocessed grief impacts our body and our energy
Grief, especially when unprocessed, can leave us emotionally flat. Our bodies can carry what our minds aren’t yet ready to speak. And because grief can ebb and flow, it doesn’t always follow a clear path.
We might experience:
- Feeling fine one day, only to be brought to tears by a memory the next
- Emotional waves that come with physical sensations
- Tightening in the chest
- Heaviness in the limbs
- Inexplicable fatigue
- Physically depleted
Learning to recognize these patterns in the body is a way of honouring our experience, rather than pushing it away.
You can support your body and mind through grief
One of the practices that has supported me through this time is Heart-Brain Coherence breathing, a technique developed by the HeartMath Institute. It’s a simple yet powerful way to bring balance between our emotional and physiological states.
Here’s how it works:
- Focus your attention on the area around your heart.
- Begin breathing slowly and steadily through your nose—about five seconds in, five seconds out.
- As you breathe, gently activate a feeling of love, care, or appreciation. This might come from a memory, a person, or even a pet.
Just two to three minutes of this practice can ease the heaviness of grief, calm the nervous system, and create space for the heart to soften and heal. Over time, this regular tuning in to the heart can build emotional resilience. It doesn’t remove the pain of loss, but it helps us be with it more fully, without becoming overwhelmed.
Support with grief can be helpful if you feel stuck
At the Institute of Body Psychotherapy, we work with people who are open to using their body as part of their healing journey, to process blocked emotions, to recalibrate your energy levels, to feel more like yourself again.
To book a session: https://instituteofbodypsychotherapy.as.me/
Andrea Alexander offers body-centred psychotherapy with depth and care in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, or via Zoom.
Learn more about our core energetics therapy, somatic psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, core energetics training, core energetics techniques and workshops and how we can help you.
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Whether you’re on a healing journey or simply feeling out of touch with yourself, body psychotherapy offers a space reconnect and realign with what matters most.
Andrea Alexander offers body psychotherapy sessions in both Brisbane (Kelvin Grove) and the Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore), as well as online.
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Learn more about our core energetics therapy, somatic therapy, group psychotherapy, core energetics training, core energetics techniques and workshops and how we can help you.