Providing a Safe Space to Move Forward and Heal

The intense emotion and sorrow of grief can be overwhelming and an isolating experience. A grief retreat can provide a safe space to learn ways to cope with loss, reconnect, heal, and move forward.

Grief abounds

Turn on the news for just a few minutes, and there’s reason enough to feel sorrowful. Since the COVID pandemic began, more than 6 million people worldwide have died from the disease. In 2020, 45,222 Americans died from gun-related injuries, more than half were suicides, and gun violence is on the rise. According to the United Nations, climate change is leading to “an accelerating depletion of species,” and devastating natural disasters have led to significant losses in communities across our country. And as the war in the Ukraine continues, we are touched by losses emotionally and economically, even if we don’t personally know a family in crisis.

Experts convey that many of us are dealing with a psychiatric state called prolonged grief disorder. The condition is “much worse than normal grieving,” says Katherine Shear, a Columbia University School of Social Work psychiatrist and founder of the Center for Complicated Grief. It can last for months, and people may have difficulty adapting to these losses.

How grief hurts

Being mournful isn’t simply about sadness. Grief can cause other physical and mental issues such as:

• Digestive problems
• Weight loss
• Headaches or migraines
• Joint, neck, back, or overall muscular pain
• Weakened immune system
• Cold or flu-like symptoms
• Increased inflammation
• Disturbed sleep or insomnia
• Stress
• Fatigue
• Depression

Having a broken heart isn’t just a cliche saying. The Mayo Clinic defines it as a physical medical condition where people report feeling as if they are having a heart attack, but tests show no signs of heart damage or blockage of the arteries.

Grief also impacts your chakras. When they are unblocked, you’re in balance and able to function your best. But stress and grief can block the 4th chakra, your heart chakra. Because it is always aligned to how you are feeling, if you are overwhelmed with sadness, then your heart chakra is as well. You can experience physical and emotional issues until it is unblocked, and balance is restored.

Help with healing

A grieving person may feel like the only one who has ever experienced such tremendous pain or loss. Fact is, everyone will either need help with grief (or already knows someone who needs help with grief) more than once in their lifetime. 

Taking a wellness retreat or grief retreat can help navigate such difficult times. These trips provide a safe, supportive, compassionate space for healing and grief recovery. Expert healers help facilitate emotional healing within a peaceful, non-judgmental space via individual or group therapy sessions and alternative healing modalities such as sound therapy, breath work, mindfulness-based practices, guided meditation, and past life regression.

Thrive Souljourns founder Susie Langley knows firsthand the healing effects travel can have for those suffering through grief. Six months after the sudden loss of her husband of 29 years in a horrific motorcycle accident, she was still in darkness and feeling her way through most days. Then everything changed when she traveled abroad.

Her life-changing experience led to designing Thrive Souljourns retreats that blend the best travel experiences with the health and wellness people need. Our boutique agency keeps the staff-to-participant ratio small, allowing for very individualized attention. Because grief work can be strenuous and individuals heal at their own rate, participants may adjust their level of engagement according to their needs. These grief retreats are not only an experience that regenerates your body, soul, and spirit, but provides support and allows you to understand you are not alone in what you face. If you’re looking to regain your balance, get the help you need during a Thrive Retreat.