The Wisdom of Grieving

Earlier this week, my Uncle made his transition. His name was Lionel Augustus Pitts, but he was affectionately known as Uncle Bian. And since this is the month of wisdom, I thought I would speak with you about the Wisdom of Grieving.

In New Thought, our view on death varies from the traditional view of death. We believe that life is eternal. We believe that there is a physical death that occurs. When the soul, the individuated expression of Spirit, no longer has use for the physical body. It will shed the body and move on, whether it is to another body, another plane of existence or back to the Divine source of life. We call it life after life. Every soul has a unique energy signature. And that energy signature will always exist. This is not only the belief of New Thought and many other religious and Spiritual traditions. 

This is a scientific fact. Science has proven that everything is pure energy including man. The law of conservation of energy states, that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but only changed from one form into another or transferred from one object to another.

In the past, four years, I have had 4 uncles and one brother transition, beyond other friends and family members. This perspective or view of death has brought a measure of comfort to me as family and friends have transitioned. So, the question is. If we believe that life is eternal, and the soul of a person never dies, why do we grieve? Or better yet what is the purpose of grieving?

We grieve because we are mourning the loss of the physical representation of the soul. When the frequency and vibration of the soul becomes focused and concentrated, it manifests physically as a body. The purpose or process of grieving helps us to make sense of this loss mentally, emotionally and physically.

Mentally, when you experience the loss of a friend or family member, your brain will sense that an energetic shift has occurred in your environment. Remember the focused and concentrated energy that was that physical representation of that person has now dissipated back into the universal divine source of energy. In trying to deal with this shift in energy, the brain will produce a flood of neurochemicals and hormones. This flood can cause a disruption in the normal flow of hormones which can result in symptoms, such as disturbed sleep, loss of appetite, fatigue, and anxiety.

When those symptoms converge, your brain function takes a hit. After all, if you’re overwhelmed, it stands to reason that you won’t absorb your environment the same way you would when you are content.

Emotionally, every relationship that we have is a mirror. A mirror designed to show us the perceptions that we have of ourselves, and the perspective we have on life. These mirrors are often tied to our emotions such as fear, guilt, anxiety, self- worth. When we lose those mirrors not by choice but by death, we sometimes lose perspective and in turn lose the ability for self-examination and introspection. And until we can re-establish another mirror or realize that we no longer need that mirror, life can be very unsettling.   

Physically, every person has their own energy signature. Remember the body temple is a concentration of focused energy, frequency, and vibration. Every relationship that we have creates a co-mingling of energy signatures. Whether we deem those energy signatures to be good or bad, beneficial or non-beneficial, we have become accustomed to them or even comforted by them. When that body dies and the energy signature is disbursed back into the Universal Divine Energy. Your body is affected often moving into what is known as fight-or-flight mode because that which you have been accustomed to or that energy signature that has comforted you is no longer there. Your body’s, sympathetic nervous system will begin to produce stress hormones. Prolonged exposure these stress hormones can cause harmful physical symptoms such as headaches, lowered immunity, insomnia, digestive problems, aches, pains etc. that can lead to long term dis-eases if not dealt with.

These mental, emotional and physical symptoms of loss are the reason we need to employ the wisdom of grieving. There are generally five stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. There is no correct order or time frame for each stage of grief, neither is it necessary that you will go through any or all stages. But being open to experiencing them will help you better deal with and move through the mental, emotional and physical symptoms that you may experience after the loss of a loved-one.

Employing the wisdom of the grieving process means acknowledging your pain. Suppressing your pain and not acknowledging the hurt can cause your brain to misinterpret what is going on in your environment and send the wrong signals and instruction to your body about what to do to return to balance. This only prolongs the grief and can create unexpected mental dis-eases. Trust that your brain can and will function best when it has access to truth what is going on.

Accept that many different and unexpected emotions can and will be triggered as you move through the grieving process. Recognizing that you’ve lost, must re-establish or finally give up the mirror provided by that relationship will help you to move through the grieving process with less conflict with others and more importantly less conflict with yourself.

Finally, you must move. Sometimes, we get stuck in this uncomfortable frequency and vibration created by the loss of a loved- one. Exercising is a way to shift your frequency and vibration until you can find a new balance in the universal divine flow of life. Exercising also helps to kick in the parasympathetic nervous system that helps bring your body back to homeostasis and balance after it has been flooded with all the stress hormones. Remember, we are all made up of energy and energy is not meant to be stagnant. Whether its yoga, walking, gardening, or swimming, continue to move, and you will find yourself back in the Universal Divine Flow of Life.

This Daily Dose is dedicated to uncle Bernard, Uncle George, Uncle Ned, Uncle Bian, my brother Mark and all my other family members and friends who have shared this world with me as beautiful, unique individual expression of Spirit. I love you all.

Today’s Affirmation:

“I Embrace the Wisdom of Grieving as a way to Acknowledge, Honor and Strengthen my Alignment with Spirit.”

~ Rev. Drea

To see a video of this Daily Dose of Truth, click here.

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash