Reader,

A couple of weeks ago, towards the end of the last Q&A for clinicians I hold monthly, I reflected on the fact that grief seemed to be the overarching topic of the meeting.

Some of us started feeling this grief with the pandemic; it escalated with the wildfires, got intensified by genocide, and now the elections.

There’s a lot of grief (and uncertainty) in the air right now—maybe more than we realize.

The tightness in our chests, that heavy feeling we get, the urge to do something… it’s all part of it.

And for some there’s also despair, numbness, rage, etc., all very valid.

I hope you have the time to feel all of it.

Western therapy doesn’t often talk about embodied grief and uncertainty—the kind where we:

1. Let emotions come up with or without judgment (and if there is judgment, we get curious about it, as it, too, is part of the grieving process).
2. Pause and rest to take it all in and thank our bodies/psyches for being this wonderful container of all experiences.
3. Metabolize the feelings of sadness, hopelessness, despair, rage, etc, into hope, plans, and actions that support you and your community.
4. Stand in awe of ourselves and recognize how badass you are at embracing the full range of your experiences.
5. Repeat as needed.

But I know that we're capable of moving through grief and uncertainty like the above, so that we can continue resisting oppression and challenging hate 🌻

In grief AND in hope,

Silvana @ Decolonize Your Practice​

PS.

My letters on building healing connections grounded in awareness of power and oppression come back next week.

PPS.

You can read previous Liberatory Letters here.

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Let's connect!