The Body Remembers: Grief and letting go

There is a profound, unseen rhythm to our existence, a deep energetic pulse that connects every ending to a brand-new beginning. Our bodies, in all their wisdom, remember this rhythm even when our minds choose to forget.

​On a beautiful full moon this past June, I was given a powerful, heart-shattering, and ultimately breathtaking reminder of this truth. It was a day that reminded me not only of the incredible power of the animals who walk beside us, but of the absolute certainty of the body's intelligence and the medicine we all carry within ourselves.

A Healer in a Fur Coat

​Our five-year-old cat, Misty, was no ordinary soul. She was a healer through and through. If you burned sage, she was there. If you struck a singing bowl, she resonated with it. She was a constant, grounding presence in our home’s energetic space.

​During my husband’s energy sessions, she had a habit of curling up precisely on his root chakra, purring with a resonance so loud and deep it could calm an entire room. Every single morning, I would wake up to that same vibrational medicine as she sat directly on my sacral chakra. She was brought into my life at a time when the deepest kind of healing was taking place, acting as a bridge of comfort and light.

​But as the full moon pulled the tides outside, we found ourselves sitting in a quiet veterinary hospital room. Misty’s time on this earth was drawing to a close.

​Holding her close, I gently practiced Jin Shin on her little body to help release her fear, offering light Reiki to wrap her in a blanket of calm. As I sat there with my husband, an unfamiliar, heavy grief began to rise from somewhere deep inside me.

​When the Body Remembers

​When the moment came and I handed Misty over to the veterinarian, my heart completely shattered. But as the tears flowed, something extraordinary happened.

​In that exact moment of intense pain, my awareness shifted. It wasn’t just Misty my body was weeping for. It was a sudden, deep emotional unlocking of memory. It was the profound grief my body remembered, waiting for the right, safe space to finally let go. Sitting there, experiencing that overwhelming wave of raw emotion with my husband, the pain was immense, but it was a necessary clearing.

​And then, the universe spoke. 💫💫💫

The very moment she left the room, my phone buzzed. It was a message from my son’s girlfriend. Inside were the first 3D ultrasound pictures of my grandson.

​In the span of a single heartbeat, my tears of devastating grief transformed into tears of pure, radiant happiness.

The circle of life.

It was an undeniable reminder that our family in spirit never truly leaves us. They hear us when we speak. They support us from behind the veil in ways we cannot possibly comprehend. We are here to live, to love, and to carry the light forward—not to be swallowed by grief.🫂💖

​The Medicine Within

​The lesson, however, didn’t stop at the clinic. When we arrived back home, the emotional release began to manifest physically.

My elbow and upper arm grew incredibly sore and weak, my index finger became stiff and painful. A heavy tiredness settled over me, my body was sweating uncomfortably, and an intense sinus stuffiness set in. As I got into bed, my chest became congested and my cough became persistent filled with mucus. As a practitioner in the Art of Jin Shin, I knew exactly what my body was trying to tell me.

In the energy medicine of the Art of Jin Shin, the Lung function energy is the pathway of grief, sadness, and the difficult process of letting go. My body wasn’t sick; it was processing the immense emotional clearing of the afternoon.

​Lying in the dark, I placed my hands on the safety energy locations to practice the Lung flow. Slowly, beautifully, my chest loosened. The cough subsided, the mucus cleared, the arm pain dissolved, and I drifted off to sleep.

​When I woke up the next morning, the symptoms had crept back in. Once again, I listened to my body, applied the flow, and watched the symptoms vanish. I continued listening to the signals my body was giving and each time offering my body the energetic healing of Jin Shin. The self help was the support I needed until my practitioner appointment the following week. The images below are from the Art of Jin Shin by my mentor Alexis Brink.

Through Misty’s final, sacred act of love, I found my absolute passion and my true gift. I am deeply honored to have been guided to it. I realized that the journey of healing myself is the very path that allows me to offer authentic support to others on their own journey.

We are here to love all, to shine bright, and to support our healing. Regulating our emotions is the guiding light to living free and peaceful. Self awareness and listening to the emotional and physical body aids in supporting our journey.

Take a moment sit still, breathe, and listen to your body. What story is it telling you?