Finding Healing Through a Grief Retreat
Grief is a journey.
No one wants to feel grief, experience grief, or go through grief. Naturally, most of us resist carrying this grief and adjusting to a new life of loss. You tuck it away to get through your day but when it gets too heavy, you need to allow yourself to bring it out and unload the weight of it through your tears. Sometimes, the only thing to do is to scream—get on your knees with gut-wrenching screams—and weep. That's ok.
When you let yourself feel and process the pain of your grief, the weight is lifted, and it feels easier to carry. You can learn to live with it. It's not pretty, but knowing how to hold it and keep it moving is necessary.
The Five Common Stages of Grief
Grief is not a rigid process. However, there are some common emotions and sequences surrounding grief.
Psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross' "five stages of grief" model describes a sequence of emotions most people experience after a death or loss. Kübler-Ross originated the theory of the five stages of grief through her work on dying. Her radical idea was to talk to dying patients about dying at a time when most doctors wouldn't even tell a patient that they were dying. Out of that work, Kübler-Ross developed her theory about the five stages of grief to describe how people experience grief through the process of dying or a terminal illness diagnosis.
However, it's important to note that not all grief revolves around death. Grief is also felt from losing a job, a divorce, the end of a relationship, or any other massive change that alters life as you know it.
The well-respected stages of grief include but are not limited to:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
While these phases exist, people don't necessarily go through them all in a specific order. Also, there's no clear-cut definition of a healthy or complete grieving process—people may cycle through one phase multiple times.
There's No One Formula for Grief
No one grieving should feel like they're doing it wrong because their experience doesn't match the prescribed "Five Stages of Grief." It's just a theoretical model and a very specific one at that.
You could be feeling any of those things, a combination, or none at all on any given day. During the chronic phase of grief—the healing process—these stages are much less clear and ordered. People can find themselves all over the place, cycling through all the stages in one day only to have to start fresh the next day. It's complicated and messy to heal chronic grief.
The Kübler-Ross model describes grief for those going through it as a tool to recognize common emotional states and feel less "out of control". It's a valuable tool to differentiate when someone is going through intense grief, or other mental health symptoms are starting to appear as an outcome of grief.
David Kessler, co-author of two books with Kübler-Ross, says, "They (the five stages of grief) were never meant to help tuck messy emotions into neat packages. They are responses to loss that many people have, but there is not a typical response to loss as there is no typical loss."
Just like life, grieving can't be mapped out in a neat line or sequence. Healing from grief is a gradual and ongoing process, and there's no set timeline for when it should be completed. Be kind to yourself and, above all, be patient with yourself.
Are You Feeling Stuck in Grief?
For some people, grief is more than death or loss, and it never truly goes away. It's there every day.
While grieving is natural and personal, sometimes it can feel overwhelming or as though you're unable to move forward.
Sometimes, people coping with grief can unknowingly fall into unhealthy patterns, which may keep them feeling stuck. Do you find yourself stuck in any of these patterns?
Staying stuck in the past.
Avoiding your pain, not allowing yourself to grieve, expecting yourself to "just get over it."
Putting the person or situation you've lost on a pedestal.
Resisting making changes that help you move forward.
Getting lost in self-pity.
Neglecting your body.
Avoiding your emotions or shutting others out.
Turning to alcohol or drugs for comfort.
Expecting too much from friends.
Feeling resentment toward friends with intact families.
Feeling guilty about having good days.
Jumping into a serious relationship before you're ready (if you've lost a partner).
If you find yourself consumed with grief every day and unable to move your grief so you can resume your daily life and relationships—it may be a sign to explore healing through a grief retreat. The pain from a significant loss may never completely disappear, but it should decrease and ease up over time.
A grief retreat offers the proper care, support, and treatment so you can find a way to come to terms with your loss with a sense of peace and joy in your heart.
Healing Through a Grief Retreat at The Place Retreats Bali
Are you finding it difficult to process the conflicting feelings of grief and come to terms with the loss of a loved one? Do you need a supportive space to grieve and learn how to hold and live with your loss?
A grief retreat offers the safe, supportive environment needed to process these heavy feelings and learn how to carry them more lightly.
At The Place Retreats, our team designs unique programs for personal experiences. All of our work is confidential, affirmative, and nonjudgmental, welcoming of all races, genders, sexual orientations, religions, political beliefs, and nationalities. It is truly a unique place to heal and rediscover yourself.
In addition to luxury lodgings and meals prepared by our resident chef, all of our tailor-made retreats include:
Three individual sessions with our specialized therapist per week
A weekly session with our in-house psychiatrist
Two Introspective Development or Individual Personal Growth Tantra Sessions per week
Daily Yoga and Meditation Classes
Two Healing Therapy Sessions per week, such as Japanese Acupuncture or Medical Qigong
Three Balinese/Thai or Esalen Massages per week
And many more experiences while you heal in blissful Bali!
We know how isolating and lonely thegrieving process can be. You are not alone. Your grief journey is uniquely yours, but you don't have to walk it alone. Together, we can help you rediscover the joy in life while honouring your loss.
If you'd like more information on how grief retreats at The Place Retreats Bali can help you, contact us to schedule a free 15-minute consultation with a member of our team.
