Nothing to grieve, have you? Look around. It is not the plague of darkness it is made out to be.

How could it possibly be harmful to be honest about how one is feeling? It is simply the confession of what it was really like then and what it feels like now. Our thoughts around what grief should look like are the most surprising thing of all. It is not dangerous unless it is acted out in harmful and neglectful ways. It is a natural and normal way of dispersing energy through the body’s wise and impeccable systems. Toxic, amputated, dishonest, denied, neglected, mutated grief causes disharmony in the body and spirit. It directs our decisions, impairs or inflates our willingness to take risks, and continues to have its way with us. The whole map of our lives changes when grief is stored away silently. Grief remains in the systems of the body, informing our lives in subtle and subversive ways in the form of fear, anxiety, and depression. When the alternative is avoidance we actually become more fragile, though we are taught to believe the opposite. We are routinely cultured to “get on with it” from an early age, instructed not to waste time lingering in negativity. The task is to create a mindset for the deeper processes to take place. As natural feelings of suffering and pain are acknowledged, your body will rejoice at its ability to be in the world as it is. The body is a magnificent thing: when its systems come back online, it can bring a feeling of relief as it begins to do its job as nature intended. Numbing out feelings due to overwhelm turns them off, and we become accustomed to moving through the world unconsciously, detached, and dissociated from them. To thicken the plot even more, our nervous systems are operating at warp speed, and we are not yet fully equipped with the tools being modern requires in order to navigate through the obstacles of life. The brain is a complex, plastic organ, and it is becoming ever more apparent how it can become hyper-vigilant, triggered by trauma, confused, disorganized, and overwhelmed. Your feelings function is a sense not unlike a muscle that asks you to consciously exercise it. While it may feel counterintuitive to celebrate pain, what you can celebrate is your ability to access your feelings. To honor is to acknowledge and to celebrate. It allows us the secure and quiet space to be able to honor what we value. Prayer can connect us immediately and intimately to what we feel: what is current, and where the challenges are. It is during hardship that we can look both deep within and to the cosmic outskirts for guidance and wisdom.

Prayer is a means of connecting to our elevated natures during times of transition.

Prayers of Honoring Grief is the third book of prayers by Earth Medicine Educator, Pixie Lighthorse. Prayers of Honoring Grief PDF – $9.99 Wholesale List of Retailers

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