Healing from grief and loss
and how to help others who are grieving, with Nishi patel
With grief awareness day coming up on August 30th, I thought Nishi Patel would be a great person to chat with because that is what she writes about often. Nishi has a background in the medical field and teaching and has always loved painting and writing since she was a little girl. Her passion for art and helping people has led her where she is today writing poetry about grief in the hopes it will help others.
The episode
In this episode, Nishi Patel and I discussed the grieving process: how it feels, what helps most when working through grief, and Nishi read poems from her new book, The Inheritance of Grief, which was released August 23rd! Nishi said she started to write this book because she wanted to spread awareness about grief and lessen that stigma that you have to do it alone or you get over it quickly. Other topics discussed in her poetry are connection and relationship with yourself, with other people, introspective journey, coping, and finding self-love.
Nishi goes on to explain that the inspiration of the title, The Inheritance of Grief, came to her when dealing with her father’s paperwork after his passing. That when a parent passes away you have like the materialistic things that you inherit, but for her it felt like she was inheriting his grief, his burdens, his worries that he felt when he was alive, and that inspired the title of her collection.
Through our conversation, it became clear that writing is a great outlet for working through grief and loss. I also asked Nishi what other things helped during her grieving process. Here are a few things from her response:
Working on self-compassion and allowing release, especially through yoga
Journaling
Walking and hiking
Painting, because sometimes words can’t express what you’re feeling
Allowing yourself to rest, and being gentle with yourself
Nishi read a few poems throughout the episode. one titled Consistently Healing (page 137 of her book) speaks on the healing process and finding ways to release grief.
“I will keep seeping into the hot tub so the water becomes bitter from my dreams. I will keep finding ways to release so that I can make room for happiness too.” -nishi patel
Small step
This episode’s small step to self-love is to find compassion for yourself. Whether you are grieving or whatever your mindset you might be in, focus on some self-compassion and finding something that brings you joy, that brings you release. Think about one thing that you can do maybe today or this week to show compassion to yourself.
where to listen
we talked about much more in the podcast episode! tune in by visiting the links below, or on your favorite podcast sites!
Remember that you are not alone in your grieving. it’s something we all experience in our lives. There is support out there for you and of course, community can play a big role in the healing process as well. Self-compassion is super important, and something we can all work on as a little step towards self-love.