Stroke Recovery: Understanding Grief

Grief through stroke recovery.

Grief is here.

What is it?

We find acknowledging the grief,

Recognizing the grief,

Processing the grief,

A whole new challenge.

It takes time to process and recognize what that grief looks like,

Feels like.

What it feels like for you in this space today and what it feels like for you in this space tomorrow could be very different.

As we begin on this journey of exploring,

Recognizing,

And processing the grief,

Begin by opening.

Begin by sitting with that grief,

Accompanying the grief,

And being willing to sit with and accompany that grief.

An opening to that grief might look like letting those judgments go when the emotions come.

Letting that judgment go when the experience of the pain comes up.

Letting that judgment go when we feel we don't have space for the grief.

As you begin to navigate and recognize the grief,

Being mindful of it.

Being mindful of the differences and how it wants to be recognized and acknowledged.

How it wants to be held.

And recognizing the grief is showing up as you are.

Giving yourself permission to be where you are and empathy to be in that space.

Asking yourself each day,

What do I need?

And see what comes up.

It may be comfort.

It may be attachment.

It may be assurance.

Safety.

Connection.

Grief rearranges you.

Let that sink in.

As we journey through this stroke recovery,

The process of the stroke recovery is a lot in itself.

Accompanied by the grief.

The grief of the loss,

The changes,

The differences.

It alters your life and your sense of self.

And treating yourself kindly won't change the grief itself,

But it will make things easier on your mind and heart.

Comparison to former self is one of the many lenses that we can catch ourselves looking through during stroke recovery.

And this may bring up the grief even stronger.

As we look through those lenses to the former self,

The comparison,

We're staying in that space of judgment.

The grief comes into and the grief takes up space there too.

If we choose to open to the grief,

We can be present with it.

It may feel easier to have guidance through recovery and have guidance through the grief.

But being present with the grief and opening to the grief will allow that journey of heartfelt recognition,

Compassion,

Empathy to accompany you through the journey itself.