From the Shadows to Light
When grief arrives, it takes over. You are not in charge. I think permission to just let grief lead sometimes is a big, big, big part of the healing process. I know from my experience not giving myself permission in those early years that it can be really damaging… That’s the thing about grief. It doesn’t always show up as sadness and wailing and depression. Sometimes it’s just love and peace and inclusion. ~Marisa Renee Lee, Grief Is Love on We Can Do Hard Things Podcast episode 110 (Listen to this podcast this month… it is a beautiful one.)
As we move into October, it is often a season of quiet reflection and letting go. The fall although beautiful, in my life it holds a tinge of sadness every year. Something about the closing of a year and reflection of all that is and was, all that has come and gone. In the last few years we have all had life events to grieve, individually and collectively. Part of our yoga is to embrace and hold space for both the light AND the dark. If we only spend time looking at the shiny parts of things, we aren’t fully integrated and cannot fully live in our authenticity. It takes a village to hold space for us as we grieve. It takes strong roots to hold us as we give ourselves permission to feel loss and let it move through us to rediscover the light. This Saturday, join your village at Greenville Yoga for a very special community offering led by Amanda Barbarito. This woman has experienced loss, but shines so brightly and smiles so big that you know she knows a thing or two. Here is what Amanda shared with me when I asked her what she’d like to lead on grief this month:
I had three big, heart crippling losses in 3 years and it wasn’t even 2020. As soon as I started to crawl out, the next one hit. I became so heavy, cried constantly, and withdrew from everything. I can’t pinpoint the day, week, or month that I started to feel myself again, but I know what it felt like. Our practice is going to focus on the feeling of lightness. In this class we are going to work on cultivating that levity and letting the heaviness fall, even if it’s only for the moment. We all have a well of energy to draw from. I want us to find our wells and draw our energy and strength from there.
All of us have experienced some form of loss, whether it be the loss of a beloved pet, friend, or family member. The loss may be a relationship that has changed or ended. Our society doesn’t like looking at these parts of life, so we often push ourselves to suppress these feelings. We may be telling ourselves that it is time to move on when it is not.
My intention for this gathering is to encourage you to honor the feelings of loss. All of them: despair, sadness, anger, and finally… ease. When we try to force ourselves to “move on”, ease and recovery are moved further from our grasp.
The movement element of this practice will pose as a metaphor for the different physical stages of grief and loss. We feel our heaviness, we will feel our burning energy, we will feel our lightness as we let go.
Join Amanda this Saturday from 2-4pm. This will not be “just a yoga class.” There will be a brief talk, whole group sharing time (sharing optional), yoga practice, and small group contemplative practice. Come find a safe place to land and a community that is here for you.
