Tag: grief and the body

EOLPodcast

Ep. 566 Yoga for Living with Loss with Sheena Nancy Sarles

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Learn how grief shows up in the body and how simple yoga techniques can help us recognize and embody grief in a healthy way.

A woman with short dark hair smiles at the camera, wearing a purple top. To her right, there is a book cover titled 'Yoga for Living with Loss' by Sheena Nancy Sarles. The background features a gradient of teal and dark green.

About the guest:

My guest Sheena Nancy Sarles is a yoga teacher, author, and longtime communicator whose work focuses on times of loss and transition. She has decades of experience teaching yoga for grief that includes breath, subtle movement, reflection, and nervous-system regulation. She is the founder of Yoga for Living with Loss and author of a book by the same name and today she discusses how grief shows up in the body. Learn more about her work at the website:

yogaforlivingwithloss.com

Get the book here

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This episode includes:

  • How Sheena became interested in yoga and applying it for her own grief after experiencing several deaths
  • Her recognition that grief is in the body as well as the emotions and mind
  • How yoga, chakras, and grief come together in her classes
  • “Grief is not something to remedy, it’s something to incorporate”
  • We all carry some grief with us at all times over some part of life or another
  • The functions of each chakra as well as the shadow side
  • How to balance the chakras and improve the functioning of each
  • The emphasis is on feeling whatever emotions are there rather than resisting and pushing them away
  • There are no timelines or rules for grief – it is universal but also unique
  • The power of witnessing what your grief is bringing you each day
  • The value of simple things like the breath, movement, and shaking the body during times of grief
  • Yoga for grief is basically coordinating breath and movement with awareness

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Sheena Nancy Sarles InterviewDownload
EOLPodcast

Ep. 557 The Grieving Body: Loss as a Healing Opportunity with Mary-Frances O’Connor PhD

kwyattmd

Learn about the impact of grief on the physical body and how the stress of grief and loss can lead to healing.

About the guest:

My special guest Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor is a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, where she directs the Grief, Loss and Social Stress (GLASS) Lab, investigating the effects of grief on the brain and the body. Her book The Grieving Brain was included on Oprah’s list of Best Books to Comfort a Grieving Friend and was the subject of a previous interview on this podcast. Today she discusses her latest book The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing, which is being released in paperback format on August 1, 2026. Learn more at her website:

maryfrancesoconnor.org

Get the book here

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

In this episode:

  • How Mary-Frances was inspired to do research on grief
  • As a society we tend to ignore the body and grief can push us further in that direction
  • Why we need to pay attention to the messages from our bodies, particularly when we are grieving
  • The importances of social connectedness during grief and all of life
  • Sitting with someone who is calm can help us co-regulate when we are stressed in our grief
  • Why bereavement should be a public health issue
  • How we gradually build capacity to carry our grief
  • Why every experience of grief is different for us – and that’s natural and normal
  • How there is a lack of studies on crying in bereavement even though it has multiple functions
  • Emotional tears contain different hormones than irritant tears
  • Cardiovascular events related to acute grief
  • Strategies for managing grief holistically and growing through the process

Links mentioned in this episode:

Resources

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Transcript

Mary-Frances O’Connor InterviewDownload