Touching on the wave of collective grief cresting the planet, Dr. Svoboda offers practical Ayurvedic wisdom on working with negative emotions like loss and fear in the body.
In this episode of Living With Reality, Paula Crossfield introduces a timely dharma talk from Dr. Robert Svoboda outlining both the collective and personal nuances of working through grief. Shedding light from the Ayurvedic perspective on how to transmute feelings of loss, fear, and emptiness into feelings of wholeness and fullness through proper breathing, eating, and acceptance, Dr. Svoboda relays wisdom of growth through the discomfort.
Check out Dr. Svoboda’s Online Courses & Satsangha for teachings and community around Ayurveda, the Senses, Vastu, our Microbiome, Hanuman, Ganesh, and more. Learn more about Paula Crossfield’s new podcast and ongoing offerings in Astrology, Ayurveda, Essential Oils, & more, at WeaveYourBliss.com
The Wave of Collective Grief
Touching in on the wave of collective grief which has washed over and crested society due to the radical loss of life, jobs, homes, meaningful roles, and purpose due to the planetary karma of the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Svoboda shares an Ayurvedic perspective on the causational connection between Vata and grief.
“Loss promotes grief and loss also promotes Vata. Vata and grief go together… The death of a loved one will leave an empty space in your life. That empty space will cause Vata to become increased first, and then potentially aggravated.” – Dr. Robert Svoboda
Learn how to honor the process of grief to restore meaning and purpose into life, on Ep. 155 of the Metta Hour
Vata: Grief, Fear, & the Breath (5:55)
Exploring Vata in relation to the emotions of grief and fear, Dr. Svoboda speaks to the detrimental ways they become expressed through the physical body. Highlighting ways to work past constricting feelings of grief, Dr. Svoboda invites us into deep breathing, completely filling our lungs to promote a sense of wholeness and fullness in our system, rather than a feeling of empty loss which will only further perpetuate the intensity of the grief.
“When you feel that there is a part of you missing, when you feel there is an emptiness inside, that’s the time that you have to pay extra attention to your breathing so that your lungs will not feel empty. Because if they feel empty they will promote a sense of emptiness in the system, and those two things together will make the grief all the more poignant, intense, and difficult to address.” – Dr. Robert Svoboda
Open yourself to a meditation practice surrounding the healing power of the grounding breath, on Ep. 49 of Healing at the Edge
Bereavement: Helping With Grief (12:18)
Dr. Svoboda offers concise and direct wisdom on how to properly and effectively help those who are grieving.
“Of all the things you can do for someone who is grieving, the most important thing to do is: shut up and listen. Listen to whatever they have to say. Do not comment on it. Let them know you care about them, let them know you that you support them, let them know that you are available for them when they need you at that moment, whenever that moment is.” – Dr. Robert Svoboda
Allowing Grief: Acceptance & Moving Forward (20:23)
Diving into the inner depths of our beings, Dr. Svoboda welcomes us into a space of fully allowing one’s grief. Rather than attempting to suppress loss and push it under the rug, Dr. Svoboda prescribes (when the time is right) a full acceptance and a moving forward in life, as a glowing tribute to the being who has past on.
“Allow yourself to really acknowledge that this is a loss, it’s your loss. Without suppressing it and without trying to forget it, it is part of the past now. And you can find a way, because you are still living, to move forward. And as you do that, that is, in many ways, a worthy tribute to the person who has passed on.” – Dr. Robert Svoboda
Join Anne Lamott, Duncan Trussell, and Raghu Markus in an exploration of grief, death, and fear, on Ep. 241 of Mindrolling
