5 Ways to Begin Healing from the Loss of a Loved One

Losing someone you love is an inevitable part of life. With that loss comes grief and its many feelings and stages. It’s not always clear what to do when you’re experiencing a loss. For that reason, we’ll talk about 5 different ways you can begin healing from the grief and loss of a loved one.

1. Honor your grief and loss with acknowledgment.

For some, it’s natural to attempt to hide from the loss that occurred. Moving on in life and continuing as though nothing has changed, may feel like the easiest way to get by.

But in reality, masking your emotions doesn’t make them go away. Instead, feelings fester. It’s much better to acknowledge your pain and work to move through it.

2. Ask for help.

Grieving is difficult to do alone. But it can be awkward to do around others, too. If you show emotion you otherwise wouldn’t, you may feel weird opening up to friends and family about your loss.

A professional can be an unbiased resource in your healing journey. They also have the resources and training meant to help people like yourself.

Remember that help doesn’t need to last forever. You can work with a professional for a certain amount of time and then end that relationship.

3. Memorialize your loved one.

Memorializing a loved one can both honor them and help you acknowledge your grief.

In the past, it was custom to compile photos in a scrapbook or maybe in an online forum like Facebook. Keeping tokens that help us remember our loved ones is a great way to keep memories alive. Whether it’s a photo, recipe, or song, these are the things that help keep our memories of a loved one fresh.

Now though, we have other resources at our fingertips.

With a tool like Lalo, you can memorialize your loved ones in more ways than one. Using the Lalo app, you can upload photos, videos, and even voice notes to remember your loved one.

And the best part?

You don’t have to keep it all to yourself. You can share your memories with other people who knew your loved one. Or you can choose to share how great they were with someone new.

Lalo holds memories digitally. So there’s no risk of a scrapbook getting donated, or photos fading so much you can’t see the subjects. And with the sharing feature, you can keep your loved one alive with others who miss them.

4. Take care of your emotional & physical health.

Grief and loss can have an effect on you emotionally, sure, but it also impacts you physically. Physical symptoms of grief can look like anything from aches, pains, and insomnia to weight changes and nausea. And definitely fatigue! Grieving can be exhausting.

Make an effort to take care of yourself in all respects. Ask for professional help for your mental health. But don’t forget to be kind to yourself physically. Try and make sure you’re getting enough rest and regularly eating nutritious meals.

You don’t want to ignore your feelings, but having a routine can help. It gives you a focus and can provide a healthy temporary distraction.

5. Remember that Grief isn’t Linear.

You may know of the 5 stages of grief. These were introduced in the late 1960s by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. The 5 stages are:

Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depressing
Acceptance

These stages look different for anyone grieving. They also may not occur in the order above.

Grieving a loss and healing is not always a linear process. For many, grief consists of up-and-down emotions throughout the process. And some people skip a stage or two altogether.

While you’re grieving — recognize that there’s no one right way to do it.