Holly Lyon-Hawk
Multi-award winning
Eco-friendly, Holistic Funeral Director/Undertaker
Bespoke, Heartfelt Funerals
that Celebrate Life
Covering Kent, East Sussex, South East & London
Tel: 07981 265 352
"We never knew funeral directors could ever be like you!"
Grief Support UK
Helping you understand your feelings, process them & find ways to self soothe
Grief can feel scary, we feel ungrounded & unsure of what our lives now mean. During this time it's important to surround yourself with people who will help & support you without judgement, just acceptance and an open heart.
Self care can be the first thing that's gets forgotten about, this is normal. It can be helpful to create a list of things that you can do that will help you in the first few days, weeks and months - please see below:
"The wound is the place
where the light enters you"
Rumi
Meditation to soothe
Grief and shock can cause our whole system to feel out of balance. Many people find that their nerves can be on edge.
In this meditation I take you on a visual journey to help bring your body to a place of peace.
You will find most benefit from doing this meditation after a brisk walk (preferably in nature if possible) or bike ride. Why? Because physically working grief out through the body is a powerful way to help shift stress chemicals from your system, follow this by a relaxing meditation and some healthy food and you will be doing the very best for your body to help process the grief you are feeling.
Try and do this at least twice a week to support yourself as best you can
'I See You'
'A Journey With Grief'
by Zoe Toussaint-Winchcombe
This is a beautiful poem I wish to share with you that was written by my dear friend and mentor, Zoe. This gentle, yet powerful piece of writing
encapsulates perfectly how I see all those I support as an Intuitive
End of Life Practitioner and Funeral Director
"I feel you in your devastation, your pain, your deep loss…… as if split and cracked wide open and every part of
you is scrambling to hold onto the fragments to keep it together .
I feel you in your desperateness to search for what has been lost only to find avoid an empty space.
I feel you as you scramble for breath and clutch your heart, Hold tight on to the parts of someone that has dissolved …
I feel you as you grab hold of the your loved ones garment they once wore and inhale deeply to catch that tangible
connection of their essence once more. I see you gaze endlessly at their photos with numb eyes.
I hear your wails and cry’s the wordless moans and noise that endlessly seeps out of you.
I feel the wrench, the wild thoughts of regret and the deep sense of wrongness that something
so deeply precious has been taken away...
I see the images that flash through your mind, the ones you so desperately want to hold onto and others impressed upon you that haunt your every moment the thoughts and visions you wish would stop punishing you.
I feel your anger and need to blame!
I see you drop to the floor with the weakness of loss as if somebody has pulled the plug on your life force
and the desperate pleading to a god to somehow make this nightmare NOT so!
I see you punishing yourself for thinking you could’ve been better, done better, saved better!
I feel you drown in a sea of tears that are never ending.
I feel your heavy weight of the burden like a mountain sitting on your chest that feels like it will never leave.
I witness you sink in the ocean of grief…
And here… I witness your stillness… As if you too have taken your last OUT breath.
I watch, witness and hold you as stillness, time and depth pass in the gestation of the darkness.
And then... so very slowly you uncoil …
I watch you slowly call the breath of life back into your body… As if some mysterious divinity has whispered you awake.
I see you slowly take off from the bottom of the ocean towards the surface …
and there eventually and tenderly you see a glimmer of light.
I watch you inhale slowly as you break through the hymen of the surface of the water.
I see you witness in yourself that you are not the same as you were before…
You are different, changed.
Reborn anew through death.
The depth of grief has taken you into the deepest richest parts of yourself to
explore the caverns where you find the pearls of wisdom, vulnerability, deep grace and SOUL.
This is a courageous place that can feel forced by the hand of loss. But it shimmers… calling you into deep knowing and interconnectedness and showing you a LOVE that can never be broken or spoken.
It’s in the silent caverns of the heart. Here we are healed and carry the transmuted wounds in our medicine pouch…
Here is the place we hold the torch for self and others.
We are forever different, we are alchemised through death and rebirth…
Here we are the pure knowing and embodiment of LOVE
I see you… I love you…. I AM you.
And so it is."
Grief Support Videos
There are so many emotions we can feel when we are grieving, from fear to joy, to pain and sadness to not being able to feel anything at all. These are all normal, grief is normal and our bodies have an innate wisdom to know how to grief. We have sadly all but lost the ability to trust this wonderful wisdom, feeling we are somehow wrong in our grief , that we are too sad, too fearful, too numb, too happy.
It's vital to understand that grief is not something to be 'got over' there is no 'end date', it's part of who you are, it becomes part of your life story. Grief is as natural to us as breathing and when we give ourselves permission to not worry what other's expect of us and grieve in whatever way helps us then we are connecting with our wisdom. Grief is not an illness, it is a natural response to the loss of someone or something momentous to our lives.
When we learn to embrace it, to become curious about it, what we can learn from it and how we can grow through it and from it, that is when we are grieving healthily. Grief is an active processes, something to actively engage with and in doing so we begin to make friends with it and understand it's there for a purpose, to help us adjust to a new way of living and being. It's an opportunity to discover a new you.
In these videos co-author of Surviving the Tsunami of Grief, Katrina Taee helps to reassure you about what to expect and how to cope amidst the Tsunami of Grief.
All of the families I have supported as a holistic funeral director & end of life doula get a lifetime free access to these videos - please contact me for more information.
Remembering in Light Meditations to Soothe Library
Here is a collection of previous meditations that are free for anyone to be able to watch again in your own time.
Please feel free to share with other's who you feel may benefit.
Here you will find the previous Grief Q & A's that are free for anyone
to be able to watch again in your own time.
Wendelien McNicoll & Katrina Taee, co-authors of the book, Surviving the Tsunami of Grief
Please feel free to share with other's who you feel may benefit.
Holly may send news, ideas and events information from time to time, you are free to unsubscribe at any time.
Grief Q & A's
Talking Grief Library
Grief Art
Grief Art Library
Here you will find the previous Grief Art sessions that are free for anyone
to be able to watch again and engage with in your own time. Do remember to share your experiences & art
with Nell at our private Facebook Group
Nell Price of Arty Farty Retreat
JOIN OUR ONLINE FACEBOOK COMMUNITY & CONNECT WITH OTHERS
Please feel free to share with other's who you feel may benefit.
Holly may send news, ideas and events information from time to time, you are free to unsubscribe at any time.
Nurture Retreats
These retreats are usually held over two days in Kent and are designed to give you time, some special care from us to help soothe your soul as well as guidance on how to navigate your journey through grief.
Costs start from £90 per day.
For more information please contact Holly via email