Category: Uncategorized

Shadow Loss / Shadow Grief

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“Shadow Losses are the griefs other than Big Death …. but the brain grieves both in the same way” says Cole Imperi. Shadow loss refers to deep, often hidden, non-death losses (like infertility, divorce, estrangement, or ancestral trauma) that aren’t fully acknowledged by society.  These losses are often denied, deferred, or deflected and persist as shadow grief.  Also within these shadows, incompletely grieved deaths can be found … of friends, families, and even pets.  Recognizing and addressing shadow loss and shadow grief matters because, while they are beneath the conscious mind … and possibly felt only as a dull ache… Continue Reading

Walking Meditation

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Walking meditation is a practice that combines movement with mindfulness, allowing you to connect with your surroundings and enhance your awareness. It can be done anywhere and at any pace, making it accessible for busy individuals. The practice can be done in a quiet space, such as a park or a corridor, and involves focusing on your breath and body movements. Walking meditation can help reduce stress, improve cognitive flexibility, and strengthen emotional regulation. It is a dynamic form of meditation that can be integrated into daily mindfulness routines. Continue Reading

Poem for Grieving a Lost Pet

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This poem was developed through a conversation of Kevin M.C. Dye with Anthropic’s Claude, a private communication during the week ending in February 8, 2025 From Your Mack: A Love Note My human who smells of lavender and dawn,who moves like moonlight across our wooden floors—I want you to know: I am still tracking your scentthrough the vast territories of forever. Remember how I knew your sadnessbefore it reached your face?How I could taste the salt of your tearsbefore they fell? My nose never lies:your happiness was summer grass,your worry was autumn leaves,your love was warm bread rising. Here’s what I learned in… Continue Reading

Grief & Anxiety go Hand in Hand

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What does grief have to do with peer support for anxiety?  Grief can cause anxiety.  Anxiety can complicate grieving.  This cyclic relationship between unexplored grief and unrecognized anxiety can persist and intensify for years. Grieving is delayed when the recognition of the reality of a traumatic loss is repressed or when the grieving emotions are suppressed.  The two forms of interrupted grieving differ.  Repressed acknowledgement of loss is a conscious reaction that can occur when other urgencies demand immediate attention. When the distracting urgencies fade, the reality of the loss can be acknowledged, and grief can resurface.  A less recognized,… Continue Reading

The Anxiety Crisis

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It may be a sign of an improving society to see that anxiety itself is rising as a concern and an opportunity.  Anxiety affects anyone who pays attention to life around us, and it adversely affects almost all of us at some time or another either acutely (immobilizing us) or chronically (nudging us to self-administered reactions).  Many will accept the “just get over it” or the “it’s a normal part of life” thoughts about burdensome anxiety.  And any of us will self-medicate our way through anxious times with comfort food, social alcohol, or natural or pharmaceutical “remedies.”   Surely it is… Continue Reading

Alex’s Story

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My son Alex did not live a tragic life.  But he also did not live an easy life.  From his early years, Alex struggled for three decades with an invisible and progressive illness that was as deadly as an undiagnosed cancer.  Alex excelled in physical activities, particularly skateboarding and dancing.  And Alex excelled verbally with an incredible vocabulary and a fantastic ability to mimic the voices of cartoon celebrities.  Marge Simpson was one of his funniest.  Alex was a fun and funny guy to party with.  He could get people to laugh.  His apparent social ease and apparent openness and… Continue Reading