The Grief Protocol

The Grief Protocol contains a series of movements and exercises drawn from various sources that I have studied over the past three decades. As a practicing licensed massage since 1997, I engage daily in various somatic practices for self-care to maintain my capacity to provide consistent and high-quality therapeutic massages for my clientele. In 2023, while experiencing another wave of multiple losses that unleashed a surge of grief, I was inspired to combine certain techniques from my arsenal to address my symptoms, thereby abating my physiological reaction to my grief, stress, and intense emotions. By using these techniques for this purpose, I noticed an increase in the flow of my electromagnetic energy, thereby augmenting the voltage of my body’s life force. I realized that restoring the flow of our Qi reduces our physical symptoms of grief such as brain fog, fatigue, pain, or any flare-ups of existing medical conditions. In addition to addressing our Qi, movements from The Grief Protocol soothe our bodies’ central nervous system (CNS) whose reactions are hardwired in our brains. When we experience grief, our nervous systems go into a “freeze/collapse” response. The freeze/collapse response shuts down our bodies. This is why we experience brain fog, extreme fatigue, or heaviness in our bodies, all contributing to abnormal functioning. Despite the physiological benefits The Grief Protocol has on our bodies, its use will not stop nor end the emotional outpouring of grief. Rather, these techniques enable us to discharge the intensely complex energy of grief, so it doesn’t blow our electromagnetic circuitry or throw us into a state of dissociation that damages or even severs our mind-body connection. A very common, yet harmful, coping mechanism is dissociation, when people don’t feel their bodies because of emotional pain. But- we must “feel it in order to heal it.” This famous mantra from the original twelve-step program, is at the core of all somatic healing. Our mind-body connection is therefore crucial to our vitality. The Grief Protocol helps restart normal functioning of our nervous systems out of the freeze/collapse response and allows us to detach from the intensity of these emotions without needing to dissociate or to numb our bodies. I put this information to the test. As I mentioned earlier, The Grief Protocol was born out of necessity for me to address the physiological effects of grief on my body. Performing these techniques allowed me to feel the intensity of my emotions within my grief without causing a system shutdown or disconnecting me from my body through dissociation. This new approach to grieving was groundbreaking to my body. I no longer desired to use the destructive grieving patterns I had picked up in my youth. These techniques augmented my resiliency, allowing me to bounce back more quickly from future setbacks. I hope you begin to implement these solutions into your life as a daily routine. They will become the building blocks for the new normal you will eventually create as you move forward. Before we begin to release our bodies’ reaction to grief, join with me in support of one another. Quantum entanglements theorizes when we individually process our own grief, we contribute to the processing of collective grief. Extending love and compassion to all who mourn is healing. “Shared sorrow is half sorrow.” —Swedish Proverb The Grief Protocol focuses on addressing our bodies’ reactions to grief after we have experienced losses or a death which produce periods of mourning or bereavement. Just like how our neurological hardwiring protects us as we grieve, we are also hardwired to heal. However, in our modern world with its breakneck speed and constant distractions, we rarely pause long enough to engage our innate ability to heal. This keeps us in a constant state of freeze/collapse or fight/flight response. Loss triggers a hardwired physiological reaction: We freeze, collapse, or both. This reaction helps humans avoid detection from predators by freezing in our tracks. It also reduces the pain endured if attacked. We have all experienced the freeze/collapse response in some way. Time stops and the memory of that moment is frozen in our minds, even decades later. Even when a loss is expected and foreseen, we still encounter the freeze/collapse response, depending on the gravity of the loss. For example, when my father finally succumbed to his cancer, I could not remember anything for two weeks following his funeral. Brain fog is a classic grief symptom. When we experience the freeze/collapse response, our electromagnetic energy flow is disrupted, and our bodies receive signals from our nervous systems indicating we are in danger. People in this state may feel helpless or stuck. “Nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong.” —N.R. Narayana Murthy Let us begin by laying out a sequence of movements and techniques which address the physiological effects grief has on our bodies. Please make sure you are well hydrated prior to practicing these techniques. We need adequate amounts of water to support optimal physiological functioning.