Ritual: Grief

In every spiritual tradition there are prescribed periods of mourning the loss of a beloved. While the specific number of days, appropriate behavior and prescribed rituals vary from culture to culture, the message is the same: there is a time for mourning and there is a time to stop mourning.

We now recognize that grief does not have a specified time line. It comes; it goes and comes again.

In our workshop on Conscious Transitions: Living with Dying, we practice rituals for living, caregiving, grieving and dying. We know that rituals, when practiced consciously, build resilience and bring peace.

Whether you are grieving a small loss or the loss of a beloved, grief rituals help you accept, honor and integrate your grief. The process of integration is a life lesson for all of us who are living with loss, aging and dying.

This month we invite you to create a grief ritual using water and stones.

A daily practice of working with grief can lift your spirit and bring you joy as you discover the gifts of grief.You will find instructions for a grief ritual in Conscious Transitions – Summer 2019 Workbook (Part VIII).

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For more information about other rituals to prepare for death as a rite of passage, we invite you to explore our Guidebook to Conscious Transitions: Living with Dying.