Author Archives: kripa

When we hear the word grief, we often think of death.

We think of losing someone we love.

We think of bereavement, funerals and the ache of a loved one not being around anymore.

But grief is much wider than that.

Grief is the response to any meaningful loss, change or ending.

It is what happens when something that mattered deeply to us is no longer the same.

Sometimes that is the loss of a loved one.

Sometimes it is the loss of a relationship, a role, a dream, a version of ourselves or the future we thought we were moving towards.

If something changed in a way that broke your heart, shifted your identity, or altered the shape of your life, grief may be what you are feeling.

And that grief is real.

Grief Can Come From Many Kinds of Loss

Loss is not always visible.

Grief can arise from:

• The death of a loved one.
• Separation or divorce.
• The loss of health or physical ability.
• Infertility or pregnancy loss.
• Retirement.
• Empty nest.
• Friendship endings.
• Moving away from home.
• Career or business loss.
• A major diagnosis.
• Children growing up.
• The ending of a life chapter.
• Loss of certainty or safety.

Sometimes we grieve possibilities too. This grief comes not from what we had but from what we hoped for.

We may grieve:

• The child we imagined.
• The relationship we longed for.
• The future we expected.
• The apology we never received.
• The version of ourselves before life changed.
• The life we thought we would live.

This grief can feel confusing because there is nothing concrete to point to.

But the loss is still deeply felt.

Grief Still Lives in the Body

Whether the loss is visible or invisible, the body responds.

In Yoga Sutra 1.31, Sage Patanjali beautifully names these very experiences:

duḥkha (sorrow/ sufferring), daurmanasya (dejection, negative thoughts or low mood), aṅgamejayatva (restlessness of the body), and śvāsa-praśvāsa (disturbed pattern of breathing). 

This is why grief often feels physical.

You may notice:

• Fatigue.
• Heaviness.
• Sadness or negative thoughts.
• Anxiety.
• Numbness.
• Difficulty sleeping.
• Shallow breathing.
• Loss of appetite.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Restlessness of the body.
• Restlessness of the mind.

The body does not only respond to what happened. It responds to what mattered.

In this way, the Yoga Sutras remind us that grief is not only an emotion. It is a full body-mind experience.

At the Heart of Grief

At its heart, grief is the body, mind and spirit adjusting to a reality it did not choose.

It is not something reserved only for death. It belongs to every meaningful loss.

What you are feeling is real.

And it deserves care.

Grief changes everything.

It re-arranges your inner world in ways you didn’t choose and weren’t prepared for. One day, life is moving along its familiar rhythm, and the next, something breaks open. You end up holding emotions that feel too heavy, too confusing or too unpredictable to name and no one to tell you how to manage these.

For me, grief was not a single event.

It was a series of waves, some calm, some crushing, that reshaped who I am and how I look at the world. It choked me. It frightened me. It made me feel helpless. It pushed me towards tools that helped me breathe again, even when I didn’t think I could.

Grief & Beyond was born from that journey.

• Not from theory.
• Not from a neatly organised process.

But from a lived experience, professional practice, and the belief that healing is not linear and doesn’t need to be.

Why “Beyond”?

• Because grief doesn’t end.
• We don’t “move on.”
• We move with it.
• We integrate it.
• We learn how to carry love and loss together.
• The “beyond” is not forgetting.

It’s the gentle, painful, beautiful process of learning how to live again — with new meaning, new patterns, new support, and sometimes, a new version of ourselves.

How Grief Yoga Therapy & Coaching Support This Path

Two approaches shaped my own healing, and now they shape this space.

Grief Yoga Therapy

• Not about flexibility.
• Not about performance.

Grief Yoga Therapy helps you reconnect with the breath, the body, and the deep inner landscape of the mind. When grief pulls you into chaos, it offers practical tools:

• Grounding practices linked to the breath.
• Restorative movement.
• Regulation for sleeplessness, anxiety, panic or anything else that you are experiencing.

Life Coaching

Coaching doesn’t rush you through grief — it supports you while you slowly make sense of what life looks like now.

It helps you explore questions such as:

• Who am I now?
• What do I do next?
• How do I create routines when everything feels uncertain?

Together, Grief Yoga Therapy and Life Coaching offer a compassionate roadmap back to yourself.

If You’re Reading This… You’re Not Alone

This space exists for you if you are:

• Grieving a loss.
• Supporting someone who’s grieving.
• Navigating change, uncertainty, or emotional overwhelm.
• Trying to rebuild your life after everything shifted.

Whether your grief is fresh or decades old, your story is welcome here.

Let’s Walk This Path Together

• You don’t have to have the right words.
• You don’t have to be “strong.”
• You don’t have to pretend.
• Just begin where you are.

And if you’d like to talk, explore tools, or simply be heard – I’m here.

Grief is not just emotional.

It lives in the body – quietly at first, and then suddenly, in ways that can surprise you.

• A heaviness in the chest.
• A knot in the throat.
• A tightness in the stomach.
• A restlessness in the limbs you cannot explain.

Many people tell me, “I don’t just feel sad, my body also feels strange.”

That is still grief.

Why the Body Reacts to Loss

Grief places the nervous system into a heightened state. You may notice:

• Difficulty in sleeping.
• Sudden fatigue.
• Digestive discomfort.
• Headaches or pressure behind the eyes.
• Shallow breathing.
• Tension in the shoulders, jaw, neck, or hips.

This is not weakness. It is the body doing what it knows: trying to protect you.

Sometimes protection looks like shutting down. Sometimes it looks like bracing for impact long after the event has passed.

The Body Remembers. But It Also Knows How to Heal

Your body is not your enemy during grief. It is communicating.

It is saying:

• “I am overwhelmed.”
• “I am carrying too much.”
• “Please slow down.”

And when we listen, we begin to understand something important:

Your Body Is Not Wrong

People often judge their physical symptoms:

• “Why am I so tired?”
• “Why am I so tense?”
• “Why does my chest feel heavy?”

If your body feels heavy, tight, or unfamiliar – you are not broken.

You are grieving.

And there is nothing wrong with you.

Grief is hard work. It demands energy

• Even sitting still needs energy. Moving the mind from the depths of sorrow needs energy.
• With gentle tools, patient awareness, and support, the energy slowly starts to revive again.

Healing often begins in the body before it becomes visible in the mind.

Even the smallest shift in breath or posture can soften emotional intensity and create room for clarity and gentleness.

Two Simple Practices to Support Your Body Through Grief

• You don’t need yoga experience.
• You don’t need flexibility.
• You only need a few quiet minutes.

1. Hand-on-Heart Breath

• Sit or lie down comfortably.
• Place one hand on your chest, one on your abdomen.
• As you inhale – focus on the chest expansion. As you exhale – focus on the abdomen.
• Continue for 2–3 minutes.

2. The longer Exhale

• Inhale naturally.
• Exhale slowly, extension the exhale comfortably.
• Continue for 2–3 minutes.

Practice these as often as possible during the day.

A longer exhale helps in calming the nervous system.

Grief exhaustion is real.

Many people feel completely drained after loss and don’t understand why.

You may find yourself asking:

Why am I so tired when I’m barely doing anything?

Why can’t I think clearly anymore?

Why do even small everyday activities feel so difficult?

This is known as grief fatigue and it is a normal response to loss.

This tiredness is not laziness.

It is not weakness.

And it is not something you need to push through.

It is grief working in the body.

Grief Fatigue: Where Your Energy Goes After Loss

Grief requires enormous internal energy.

Your nervous system is constantly scanning for safety.

Your mind is trying to make sense of what cannot be fixed.

Your body is holding emotion, memory, and shock all at once.

Even when you are sitting still, something inside you is working very hard.

This is why grief fatigue feels different from ordinary tiredness:

• Sleep does not always help.
• Rest does not feel refreshing.
• Concentration disappears quickly.

Your system is reorganising itself around a new reality.

How Grief Affects the Body and Nervous System

Grief is a full-body experience.

Loss affects:

• Breathing (often shallow or held).
• Sleep (light, broken or restless).
• Digestion (slow, irritable or unsettled).
• Muscles (tension or collapse).
• The nervous system (on high alert or shut down).

When so many systems are involved, exhaustion is inevitable.

The body is not failing.

It is adapting to loss.

Why Rest Is Essential for Healing Grief

In grief, rest is not a reward for doing enough.

Rest is part of the healing process itself.

When you give in to rest, you tell the nervous system:

“You are safe, even now.”

This is why Grief Yoga Therapy focuses on:

• Slowing the breath.
• Supporting the body gently.
• Reducing stimulation.
• Creating predictability.
• Allowing stillness.

These practices help calm the nervous system and restore energy gradually.

Redefining Productivity During Grief

In grief, getting through the day is the work.

Eating is work.

Showering is work.

Responding to a message is work.

Resting is work.

Your energy is limited — and that is okay.

Allow it to be used wisely: for survival, integration, and healing.

Feeling tired does not mean something is wrong with you.

It means you are grieving.

Will the Exhaustion Ever Go Away?

Yes. Gently, slowly and in its own time.

As the body finds safety again, energy returns in small, quiet ways. With compassionate practices, support and patience, the nervous system begins to settle and fatigue eases.

Until then, rest is not something you earn.

It is something you deserve.