Mindful Grief

Quick answer: Mindful grief is an approach to loss that honors grieving as significant to health and well-being rather than something to fix or rush. A mindfulness-based counselor helps you sit with the vast, unpredictable feelings of grief, sort through thoughts and emotions, and move toward acceptance, resolution, and ultimately peace.

When we experience a significant loss, we are challenged to continue to find purpose. Our lives have been rewritten. Many of us seek out therapy from a counselor to cope—and a mindfulness approach offers an opportunity to honor grief and loss as significant to health and well-being, rather than as problems to be eliminated.

What does grief actually feel like?

Grief is not predictable or linear—it can feel erratic, out of control, and at times frightening.

People in the grieving process often describe it as a "roller coaster" or a "spiral," and it can feel deeply unsettling. That's not a sign anything is wrong with you. Part of the natural human experience is suffering, and grief is a prime example of a natural occurrence in a person's life.

Why do we grieve the way we do?

Because our attachment to the person we lost was part of how we defined ourselves—so in grieving them, we are also grieving how we ourselves will be changed.

Grief is a natural expression of losing something that ultimately helped us define who we are. That's why loss can shake our sense of identity. Awareness and acceptance of this are beneficial in the process: emotional vulnerability gives us opportunity for human growth.

Can grief lead to growth?

Yes—grief gives us the opportunity to pause, reflect, and re-navigate our lives.

We are called to transition as a person toward something more evolved, and many people hope to change their loss into something positive over time. This doesn't mean the loss was good or that you should hurry through the pain; it means the grieving process itself, honored mindfully, can carry meaning and purpose.

How can a mindfulness-based counselor help with grief?

A mindfulness-based counselor can help you sort out thoughts and feelings during the grieving process—sitting with you, guiding you through the vast emotions that arise, and helping you make sense of them.

Rather than rushing you toward "moving on," a counselor helps give the process purpose. The goal is acceptance and resolution about the changes that have occurred—and in the end, peace. This is the heart of grief and loss counseling, often combined with mindfulness-based therapy.

Honoring grief as part of being human

Grief is unpredictable, identity-shaking, and deeply human. A mindful approach doesn't try to fix it—it honors it as significant to health and well-being, and gently supports you toward acceptance, resolution, and peace.

Getting started. If you're navigating a significant loss, you don't have to sort through it alone. Our grief counseling team in Austin can help.

Frequently asked questions

Is it normal for grief to feel chaotic and unpredictable?

Yes. Grief is not linear—it's often experienced as a roller coaster or spiral, and it can feel unsettling or even frightening at times. That unpredictability is a natural part of the process.

Why does losing someone change how I see myself?

Our attachments help define who we are, so a significant loss is also a loss in self-identity. In grieving another person, we are also grieving how we ourselves will be changed by the loss.

What is the goal of grief counseling?

The goal is acceptance and resolution about the changes that have occurred—and ultimately peace. A counselor sits with you, helps you sort through the feelings, and helps give the process meaning.

Get started with a therapist at Austin Mindfulness Center—in person in Austin or online across Texas.