From Shattered to Whole: A Mindful Path to Healing
From the moment Eve tasted the proverbial apple in the Garden of Eden, our lives ceased to be idyllic. That ancient story marks the beginning of awareness and with it, of discomfort. Trauma accompanies us from the very start. Even our first breath is dramatic: we leave the uterine warmth where we are fully protected and cradled, and enter a world that demands we survive, strive, and adapt every single moment.
As we grow, we attract those from whom we can learn the most. The closer we are to someone, the deeper the lessons, sometimes joyful, sometimes painful. Most great lessons involve change, and change is rarely comfortable. It requires loss. Every decision we make involves letting go of something to gain something else: a belief, a relationship, a version of ourselves.
But what happens when the loss is profound?
When we lose someone we love? When the loss is our innocence, our sense of safety, our trust in the world? What happens when the unthinkable occurs, the thing we never dared to imagine?
These are the moments that shake us to our core. The irreplaceable loss that feels irreparable, the grief that doesn’t seem to lighten.
And yet, even here, at the peak of pain, is where healing begins, not because we’re ready and not because it’s easy, but because we choose not to give up.
Being Present is a Mindful Path to Healing
Being present invites us to sit with the discomfort and the ache, to witness the pain without judgment, to feel it knowing that you survived it and you are still here.
Healing is becoming who we are now, accepting our new reality in which we are different than who we were before, and still accept, love and trust the new us without judgement, confident in our ability to meet life as it is.
Understanding the Stages of Grief
Grief doesn’t follow a straight path. It comes and goes in waves, sometimes gentle, sometimes overwhelming. We might feel okay one moment and heartbroken the next. That’s normal. Over time, experts have noticed that people often move through different phases of grief, like shock, sadness, anger, and eventually acceptance. But these stages don’t happen in order, and we might re-live some of them more than once. Everyone is different, and there’s no “right” way to grieve.
Psychologist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross identified five stages of grief, later expanded to seven:
1. Shock & Denial – Numbness, disbelief, emotional paralysis
2. Pain & Guilt – Deep sorrow, regret, self-blame
3. Anger – Frustration, resentment, questioning
4. Bargaining - “What if” thoughts, longing for reversal
5. Depression – Emptiness, withdrawal, hopelessness
6. Reconstruction – Beginning to rebuild, seeking meaning
7. Acceptance & Hope – Integrating the loss, finding peace
Steps Toward Healing
Here are mindful steps that can support you if going through a time of grief:
Allow yourself to feel. Let yourself cry, rage, rest, and reflect.
Practice presence. Use breathwork, meditation, or body scans to bring yourself back to the now. The past is gone and the future has not happened yet. In the present you are safe.
Name your emotions. Journaling or speaking aloud helps you process what’s happening inside.
Seek connection. Talk to trusted friends, join a support group, or work with a therapist or coach.
Create rituals. Light a candle, write a letter, walk in nature—rituals help honor what was and make space for what’s next.
Move your body. Gentle movement, dance, or yoga can help release stored tension and reconnect you with vitality.
Allow yourself to feel joy. Even in grief, joy is allowed and welcomed. A song, a walk, a moment of laughter, a hug, these are connections to what’s possible.
And as time passes, something may change. The pain may soften, you may start smiling without even thinking about it, a song may bring you warmth instead of ache, you may enjoy the comfort of the connection to someone close to you or even of a new friendship. You may even enjoy sitting still and loving yourself again.
Even after going through something really hard, there is still beauty in the world. There are still people who care, moments that matter, and reasons to keep going.
We can choose to keep living, to keep showing up. That choice, to keep moving forward, is powerful, because it is ours.
May we always find our way to joy, may we be light and may we share that light with all those open to receive it!
The Serenity Prayer, attributed to theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, embodies a profound invocation for acceptance, courage, and wisdom in the face of life's challenges. It serves as a timeless reminder of the power of surrender and resilience in navigating the complexities of existence.
