community Education
Grief and Loss:
Considering the Whole Self
Tending to all the different ways in which grief shows up in the body is a key part of overall health. In this video, facilitator, teacher, and herbalist Jovan Sage discusses various types of grief, including cumulative, ancestral, unacknowledged, anticipatory, collective, and traumatic, along with herbal and lifestyle supports. Encompassing so much more than death alone, grief and loss are a part of the human experience that deserve tender attention. Awareness and acknowledgement of grief breaks the cycle of it getting stuck in the body and manifesting energetically and physically. Herbal support for grief “stuck” in the digestive system and nervous system is discussed, including classic grief-tending herbs such as rose (Rosa spp.), hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), and borage (Borago officinalis).
In this video, you’ll hear Jovan discuss witnessing and holding space for grief–whether our own or our clients–through community care and supportive tools, resisting the urge to fix or bypass. From a whole person-focused, trauma-informed, and holistic perspective, she looks at grief as a whole body process needing skills and strategies for resourcing the entire self in the face of deep loss. This includes taking into account someone’s history, preferences, body, lifestyle, environment, and community. Additional modalities for addressing grief discussed include reiki, altar work, and flower essences.
Original grief education intensive for a community of herbalists and holistic practitioners.