Grief is a funny thing; it can completely debilitate us and/or it can completely liberate us.

"Joy lives concealed in grief."
Rumi
Dear Friend,

I hope you are enjoying the peak of summer energy!
We are in the high heats here in AZ, we naturally draw in to stay cool or travel to cooler summer climates near bodies of water. I’ve been turned in more than out, lots of shifts and changes in my world. I’ve had three of my four long-time canine companions’ transition in the last 7 months; Hannah 13, Angel 11 and Makena 12. In June my feline companion went missing for 21 days and returned. Makena my 12-year-old male most recently transitioned, 2 ½ weeks ago. It was the straw that broke my heart open the widest and I spiraled into grief. What was once a family of 7 is now a family of 4. It has been a lot of transformation in my heart and in our home.

Grief is a funny thing; it can completely debilitate us and/or it can completely liberate us. For me, grief is my response to a broken bond of belonging. Whether through the loss of my family, a loved one, relationship, business partnership, marriage, a way of life, a job, my youth, a circle of friends, or the path I didn’t take, or a long-held belief, my grief has been a reaction to being “separated from what I have cherished and loved”.

I’ve had clients grieve the loss of faith in their religion, unresolved childhood pain, loss of a parent, marriages ending, infidelity, miscarriage, abortion, children leaving home, addiction, a change in health, lifestyle or career change, an absence of the family they never had….and more.

Grief is not forever, but it feels like it when you suppress the feeling and keep it under a layer of protection and denial. Unconsciously it can become the foundation from which we create our life, wearing pain like a shroud shadowing our ability to connect to anything else. A constant knot of nervous energy keeps us feeling separated from our peace, ease, happiness, and genuine well-being.

In my experience, grief is an expression of healing and setting in motion authentic spiritual alchemy assisting my self-evolution. I’m grateful for my spiritual tools and practices.  Through ceremony, ritual, meditation, breathwork, nature, and journaling I allow myself space and grace to feel my grief deeply and source the medicine of the sadness, rage, shame and guilt I felt from my broken bonds of belonging.  The sadness, rage, shame, and guilt are themes in the experience of grief not just for me, but for my clients and collective humanity.

Throughout my life grief has played an essential role in my coming undone from previous attachments creating a necessary expansion for new beginnings.  The journey “through” exposes new conditions within me and it begins to move when I can compassionately see and feel into the experience of grief. Often my tears rise, streaming down my cheeks, riding on awful moans of despair. It is in these moments that my tears and sounds are the healing medicine for deep change within my body and mind. Often current events trigger healing I didn’t even know I needed, it's like finding a soul growth treasure chest laying deep in my body’s cellular memory that I’ve worked so hard to keep closed from earlier experiences in life. This opening creates a perspective shift within my awareness and understanding of a bigger picture.

While my grief looks and feels like an expression of suffering it is also serving my clarity and higher self’s acknowledgment of what I value and hold most dear to me. My connection to what is most dear serves as a catalyst to know how to move forward. My knowing is medicine guiding me, reminding of continual eternity and my capacity to create within the web of life.

I am feeling much better, clearer and happier than before I was polished and made whole through grief. Something has released in me freeing up my capacity for love.

I’m connected to the energy signatures of my companions in the life force that runs through all life seen and unseen. My true belonging! I feel them in the rays of the sun, the flight of a hawk, cardinal at the bird feeder, running water in our creek, breeze on my cheek or a lone young deer that has come up to visit with me.

I will meet up with them again on the breath of new puppies to come soon.  We will begin again on a new adventure showing ourselves the truth of continual eternity and love never-ending!

Are you experiencing grieving?

Are you moving through a life transition closing one door and opening another?

Have you experienced a sudden loss or life satisfaction change?

Do you feel stuck and unable to act?

Do you find yourself in repeating patterns of disappointment, sadness or frustration?

I can help you to experience the inner transformation you need in order to take the inspired outer action steps toward YOUR well being!

Let’s talk!
Contact me today cherylbourget@gmail.com or 978-378-0506

Love, Cheryl