Ep #89: The Mind-Body Connection in Grief

Have you noticed how your body feels different after a big loss? This isn’t about emotional exhaustion or processing thoughts. It’s your body keeping score of grief. Let’s explore healing with slight movement. Stay tuned.

Welcome to The Reinvention Lab: Where Ambitious Women Transform Loss into Legacy. Hosted by Master Certified Life Coach and fellow trailblazer, Sandy Linda, this is your space to discover how life’s biggest challenges can ignite profound transformation—where grief becomes growth, setbacks become stepping stones, and your unique story lights the way for others. If you’re ready to turn life’s challenges into opportunities for leadership, legacy, and forward momentum, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in.

Hello creative humans and fellow trailblazers. I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been walking outside more and doing simple strength exercises lately. Not just for fitness, but because I was carrying the impacts of grief. When my grief hit, it wasn’t just in my heart or head. My body started telling its own story. My shoulders hurt, sleep-deprived, and my stomach acted up. That’s when it clicked. Grief is not just sadness in your mind. It shows up in your body.

That inspired me to make this episode. If I’m feeling grief in my body, other women are too. And I wonder what we could do about it. That’s why I am so excited to share today’s episode with you. I have been learning about this whole body-mind connection with my grief and with others I worked with. What I have discovered is that it also affects ambitious women, especially as unprocessed grief shows up in their leadership. The physical toll of grief was impacting professional performance in ways I didn’t even recognize at first.

Grief hit hard as I led an enormous project. I couldn’t think straight, be creative, or connect with people. That’s why what I have found has transformed how I think about healing and leadership. When we address grief through our bodies first, we don’t just improve, we restore our capacity to lead. Today, I am going to explore some ideas about how our bodies process grief.

First, I’ll talk about how different losses like losing someone you love, losing a job, or losing a close friendship create different physical reactions in your body. And these are from my examples of myself and others I work with. Then I’ll share why walking outdoors might help you process grief better than just talking about it. And there’s science behind this and it’s pretty fascinating.

Finally, we’ll look at some simple body-based practices you can start using today to help you build strength, both physically and mentally while you’re navigating loss. So whether you’re in the thick of grief right now or supporting someone who is, today’s conversation might give you a whole new toolkit for healing. Let’s jump in.

Before grief became my unwelcome companion, I was this person. I wake up ready to take on anything. I was working out after work, meal prepping, and sleeping well. That was my normal. Then everything changed. I lost several family members, one after another, over what felt like an endless stretch of time. My body changed in ways nobody talks about. The sadness was there, but so were tense muscles, sleepless nights, and a racing heart. My grief wasn’t just in my mind. It lived in my chest, my head, my stomach.

Think about the last time you experienced a major loss. Where did you feel it in your body? Was it in the chest, like you couldn’t quite catch your breath? Your stomach, like a constant knot that wouldn’t unravel? Maybe tension in your shoulders that no massage could reach. Working out became impossible. I avoided the gym and even fun things felt like too much. I bet some of you know what that’s like, when the things that used to bring you energy now just drain it away.

I was sleep deprived, struggling to focus on work, and wondering if this was just my life now. What surprised me most was how different each loss felt in my body. When my dad passed, the grief settled in my chest like a physical weight. A 25-pound weight, by the way. When I lost that job I loved, it showed up as this persistent headache and brain fog. You know that feeling when you can’t seem to remember the simplest things? That’s your brain fog. And when my closest friendship ended, that lived in my stomach as a constant knot that wouldn’t clear up.

That’s when I realized that grief doesn’t just break your heart. It transforms your whole body. And if we don’t pay attention, it can even dim how we show up and lead.

Let’s look at what grief does to our bodies. The physical imprint of grief. When you’re hurting, your body can get inflamed. It’s like your body has an inner fire. That can make health problems worse. Your heart rate can even be affected. Sometimes it’s a condition called the broken heart syndrome. Your heart muscle changes so much that it feels just like you’re having a heart attack.

Sleep gets hard because grief loves to pop up at bedtime. Lack of sleep depletes your energy. Low energy makes grief harder to process. And round and round you go. I would replay memories or regrets lying awake for hours. The less I sleep, the worse my grief felt. And the harder it became to show up effectively for my team. I realized my body wasn’t just responding to grief. It was speaking a language. Learning to listen to what my body was telling me became the first step toward healing, both physically and mentally.

People say, don’t run from your problems. Walking with grief, why movement matters. When it comes to grief, I learned that walking with it is what helps. Walking is simple, but it’s powerful. The back-and-forth movement of walking helps your brain process memories and tough feelings. Yes, you can still see your therapist, but when you don’t have that therapist moment, you get to go outside and release those brain dumps, those memories, and those tough feelings.

You don’t have to run marathons. A short walk can boost your mood. Studies show even 11 minutes, 11 minutes a day is enough. That’s just walking to the end of your block and back for most people. Walking in nature resets something inside of you. When we walk outside, notice the sound of the leaves during a fall day. A silent breeze on the boardwalk at the beach or the birds chirping away. These nature sounds wake up your senses and give your grief space without shutting it down.

When I started walking with a friend and later walking alone, I noticed tears might come along the walk, but by the end I felt lighter and I had a bit of clarity. My walks became a kind of moving therapy, helping me think, breathe, and decide. Each step reminded me, I’m still moving even when things are hard. I remember thinking, wait, just walking can help my brain process grief? Why didn’t anyone tell me this before?

Without talking to someone, my walks became moving thinking sessions. Now, I see every uphill path as a reminder, grief is hard, but each step moves you forward. My daily walk became my lifeline. My moving therapy without the bill. I noticed a change. On days I walked, my thoughts were clear. I could make choices without feeling crushed by emotion. My body was helping my mind handle what felt impossible when sitting still.

Before I continue, please leave a rating or comment on your podcast app if you are enjoying this episode or any other episodes. Your feedback helps other creatives and leaders find these insights. And I love hearing how these ideas resonate with you. Every five-star rating brings this message to someone who needs it.

Now, let’s get back to ways to reconnect your body and mind after loss. Let’s talk about things you can do when grief feels stuck in your body. You don’t need any fancy gear, just a willingness to try something simple and real. These are real-world practices that have helped me and other women find our way back to ourselves. Think of these as permission slips to heal in ways that worked.

Number one: The Grief Shake. Yes, I am serious. Have you ever seen a dog shake after they’re scared? They shake it off. It turns out humans can do this too. Sometimes when emotions get stuck in your body, you need to physically shake them loose. We can do that too. Stand up. Shake out your hands, arms, and shoulders. Let that shake move down your body. Feels ridiculous? Good. Laugh about it. That’s part of the healing. I do this before hard meetings and it helps clear that heavy feeling in my chest. Who knew that shaking like a wet dog could help rebuild professional confidence.

And number two: The Hands-on-Heart, Feet-on-Ground Reset. This simple practice helps reconnect your body’s wisdom to your thinking brain when grief makes you feel disconnected from everything. Try this. Place a hand over your heart wherever you are right now. And if you’re driving, carefully, and listening to this podcast, just use one hand, please. Feel your heartbeat. Now notice where your feet are. Can you feel them touching the floor, your shoes, your car mat, the ground? This simple act resets your mind and body.

After my friendship’s losses, it reminds me that no matter what happened, my heart’s still beating and my feet are moving me forward. I started doing this during meetings when the grief brain would make me forget what I was saying mid-sentence. It was like hitting a reset button between my emotions and my professional presence.

These physical practices aren’t just about feeling better in your body. Though, they definitely help with that. They are about rebuilding the foundation that grief shook. When you reconnect with your physical strength, even in these tiny ways, your emotional confidence follows. Your body retrains your brain to remember, “I can handle hard things. I have carried this grief and I am still standing.”

Grief isn’t something you just get over. It changes your body, your energy, and how you lead. But by listening to your body, moving even a little or trying a simple reset, you can heal. You might even discover new strength you didn’t know you had. So, the next time someone tells you to “think positive” after a loss, maybe just smile politely and go shake it off instead, privately if you can. Your body already knows how to heal. Sometimes it just needs your permission to lead the way.

Now, I love to hear from you. Has movement helped you with grief or does even moving feel hard right now? You’re not alone. Your body has wisdom. Let it help you heal. We live in a world that wants us to move on. I say, move at your own pace. Walking and small steps aren’t about leaving grief behind. They are about learning to carry it differently.

Until next time creative humans, keep trailblazing through your healing journey. Thank you for joining me on this exploration of the body and mind connections in grief. May you find moments of peace, comfort, and new rituals in the days ahead. Have a wonderful week everyone. Bye.

Thanks for joining us on The Reinvention Lab. If today’s episode inspired you, don’t forget to follow and share it with someone who’s ready to turn their challenges into opportunities. Want to take your journey to the next level? Visit sandylinda.com/program and apply for coaching today. Together, we’ll turn your story into a legacy. Until next time, keep moving forward with purpose, passion, and power.