When we experience a traumatic event, it’s normal to want to push away feelings of grief and loss that linger long after the experience has ended. But bottling up those feelings only makes them stronger and more likely to overcome us down the road.
According to an article from the blog of international nonprofit Art of Living, meditation can help one work through the complex feelings of grief and loss, while also mitigating the associated physical symptoms like depression, insomnia, and lowered immunity.
Denise Richardson is a senior faculty member at Art of Living, which uses evidence-based breathwork and meditation to help people through difficulties. Richardson says that a sustained meditation practice can work wonders for people dealing with grief, but that it’s not a quick fix:
“There’s a tendency to want to fix things fast. We wonder how we can download the solution and be done in 5 minutes or less, but you can’t do that with grief. It’s a process. Don’t wish it away. When you are with that process you are honoring that loss. You are honoring the space you are in. To move beyond grief there’s no pill you can take. There’s no quick fix.”