Joyful Grief & Loss Classes: Grief & Senses

Strategically activating each of the five major sensory systems can increase positive emotion and regulation during difficult times. Join us as we learn how to use our sense of smell to connect with the emotional brain, which includes our mind, our heart, and our intuition.

Learn different sensory activities, mainly aromatherapy, to support the physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual symptoms of grief. Make and take home a 5mL rollerball of one of the six Essential Oil Blends from the Emotional Aromatherapy System. The remaining five blends can be made and purchased for an extra $5 each.

Suggested donation of $30; 12 participants max.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Life After Caregiving Afternoon Meetup – IN PERSON

Amid the tranquil surroundings of the Iris Respite House in Moon Township, join us to remember, reflect, and re-discover. Our tea and coffee meetups provide a haven for those who have journeyed through caregiving and are now navigating the waters of grief and healing, as our Root of Good Care Counseling team offers solace and understanding. Find strength in shared experiences and the promise of new chapters. Whether you’re seeking to reminisce, find support, or both, sign up to share a cup brewed with memories and hope for the future.

RSVP to intake@hopegrows.org or call 412-369-HOPE (4673), extension 101.

*Please note, all times are EST time zone.*

Growth

August is typically a productive month in the gardens, with many plants reaching their peak growth and yielding a bountiful harvest. Right now, watering, weeding, and deadheading is what August is all about in the any garden, and certainly at the Healing Gardens at the Iris Respite House.

Continuing to keep up with what nature is NOT providing us right now has resulted in round-the-clock watering. It has become a challenge, but a necessary challenge that gardeners must endure when nature doesn’t cooperate with what the growing season needs.

“Is it worth it?” mumbles the gardener’s pure exhaustion. Hints of learning and implementing a rain dance surface with a constant check of the weather app to learn of any new weather patterns that may inspire a reprieve.

Negative thoughts start and another question ensues: “What is nature trying to teach within all of this oppressive heat and dry temps?” The response is resistance and the uttered word is just “Ugh!”

Stop. Don’t bring that energy into the gardens – reframe to a positive outlook and repeat, “I can handle this, and it will rain.” Mindset! Shift the focus of control! Look at what is resilient, beautiful, and still growing. The fresh herbs, the flowers for cutting, and the produce.

I begin to water again, pull some weeds, clean the flower beds, and water again. Despite the struggle, the flowers look great. I focus on the extra attention of the watering and think about night fall providing the needed respite. Positive thoughts continue. When the sun rises the next day, new growth will be noticed. Ahhh, hope!

Faith is restored. The flowers and plants rebound overnight and the cycle continues. I notice the trees though; they are losing leaves as if the autumn season has already begun. No. Focus on the positive: the trees will sustain. Back to watering and the continued support, which is crucial, along with the weeding and deadheading and the pest and disease management.

Sounds relentless, right? Sometimes life struggles are, too. Understanding growth in relation to nature can be a profound way to find acceptance, teaching us to reframe our thinking, and then soon, our thoughts become peaceful and joyful. It is a process that can be applied in all areas of life, not just in cultivating garden wellness. Perhaps that is the lesson. When gardens – with their cycles of growth, decay, and renewal – become challenging, it can offer a natural metaphor for life and death.

The cyclical nature of life is a natural relatable concept, one to embrace as we cultivate our own growth and wellness. Understanding life and death as it relates to nature is a profound way of accepting, adjusting, processing, and embarking on a new identity in the wake of loss. As we evolve from the loss, growth abounds. Like the spent flower from the heat, the attention and support it receives radiates beauty. As I wrapped up this month’s focus of growth, our area of the world received several days of moments of rain. Was it reframing and letting go, or was it just sheer coincidence? No one will ever really know…

Written by Lisa Story, MSCP, LPC, CT
Hope Grows Founder & Clinical Director

Joyful Grief & Loss Classes: Grief & Flowers

THIS CLASS HAS BEEN CANCELED AND MAY BE RESCHEDULED FOR A LATER DATE

With grief and loss comes uncertainty and doubt. Join us in learning that our identity and personality exist beyond grief. You’ll arrange a floral bouquet to take home and connect with the symbolism of flowers and nature to help find joyful moments in your journey of grief. By using flowers and its symbolism to find those joyful moments, “flowers” become a path to specific roles in healing.

Attendees must be willing to work with flowers in and from nature. Walking through the healing gardens, (if able, but not necessary) is also part of the class.

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The Joyful Grief & Loss Classes at Hope Grows are part of an educational and supportive program that promotes the concept that while grief can be painful, it can also present moments of joy. Learn about the emotional pain of grief by way of tactile activities to process and let go of difficult moments and feelings. While building a sense of community, the journey becomes finding moments of ease and glimpses of the beauty that can surface. Each class builds upon the other; however, it is not necessary to attend all.

  • October 19 – Grief & Senses: A Sensory Class with Hope Grows
  • Early December – Community Gathering

Joyful Grief & Loss Classes: Grief & Mud

Join Hope Grows and Stray Cat Studios for a unique clay class that is both healing and enjoyable as we process our loss and understand the important concepts of memorializing. The tactile activity of creating and making a memorial
wind chime will serve as a practical and beautiful piece to honor our loved ones.

Suggested donation of $65
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
**12 participants max**

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The Joyful Grief & Loss Classes at Hope Grows are part of an educational and supportive program that promotes the concept that while grief can be painful, it can also present moments of joy. Learn about the emotional pain of grief by way of tactile activities to process and let go of difficult moments and feelings. While building a sense of community, the journey becomes finding moments of ease and glimpses of the beauty that can surface. Each class builds upon the other; however, it is not necessary to attend all.

  • July 20 – Grief & Flowers: A Flowers in the Garden Class with Hope Grows
  • October 19 – Grief & Senses: A Sensory Class with Hope Grows
  • Early December – Community Gathering

Reluctancy

Leonard Cohen, from his song, Anthem, once said: “there is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” I find this to be fascinating. As we all know, our first reaction to a significant loss is a crack, if you will, in our life, and we choose, from the pain, to be reluctant to let any light shine in.

At least it was for me. I remember when I first heard the words, “Dad has pancreatic cancer,” no light was getting through, and for a long while his dying process was handled with busy-ness and avoidance of the reality. While in the mode of visiting him and caring for him, adrenaline kept me going. I thought if I kept myself busy, attending to the family, working, visiting my dad, and taking care of all of the paperwork for him, I could avoid the inevitable: his death.

Boy, was I wrong. If you know me, watched any of the Hope Grows historical videos, or read any of my blog articles, I didn’t just mourn my dad when he died…I mourned my mom who died 20 years prior as well. You see, I was reluctant to believe she died when I was 22 years old and, more importantly, thought that if I didn’t think about her death and got on with my life, I would be just fine.

Wrong! All I did was delay my grief. It came back with a vengeance and bit me in the butt rather hard when my dad died. I mourned both of them, as if they died together. It wasn’t until I let the light shine in, did I then evaluate and learn what I had to offer from my pain.

At that time, I was reluctant; unwilling and resistant to see and learn what was ahead of my pain. Luckily for me, my dad spoke to me through a dream. I was NOT reluctant to believe in a divine intervention through that particular night’s dream. My dad loved being outside, in nature, doing something adventurous, so it was apropos that the dream was of nature. The night of his visit – dream, divine intervention, whatever you what to believe or call it – he took me for a walk in a beautiful garden. The sun rays, the light from it, if you will, was the focus, shining down on me with his smiling face in it.

After waking, I allowed my higher self to begin to see that there was something beyond the dark. I got to a place where I eventually provided a “gift of grief,” as Therese Tappouni shares in her book, The Gifts of Grief, Finding Light in the Darkness of Loss. You see, I had to address the past, the pain and loss, to heal from it. As a grief counselor and educator, I’ve always said, there is no way to heal from grief other than to go through it. And that became the journey of my grief: going through it and not being reluctant from the lesson it was teaching me. From there, my higher self allowed for the gift: the creation of Hope Grows.

So, where does the reluctancy of grieving stem from? Various ways in which we grieve, with the main one stemming from the emotional pain and heartache that comes from loss. Grieving can be emotionally draining, not to mention it can affect us cognitively, physically, spiritually, socially, financially, and behaviorally. Other than the avoidance of the emotional pain and heartache, reluctance can come
from:

  • Time and Energy Constraints: Other obligations, such as work or family requires a significant investment of time and energy.
  • Financial Concerns: Closing out an estate is expensive and time consuming; putting death affairs in order is daunting.
  • Lack of Support: Mourning the loss from death leads to feelings of isolation and burnout. Even with adequate support from family, friends, or community resources, grievers may feel reluctant to reach out.
  • Impact on Personal Life: Balancing all duties with personal needs and aspirations can be challenging. Grievers may feel reluctant and/or think they have to sacrifice their own goals, hobbies, or social life to process loss.
  • Health Concerns: Mourning a loss can take a toll on one’s physical and mental health. Reluctance may arise from concerns about the impact on one’s own wellbeing.

Addressing reluctancy with grief often requires a multifaceted approach that involves recognizing and addressing the underlying causes, seeking support from others, and implementing strategies to manage stress and maintain a healthy balance between all of life’s responsibilities, including personal well-being. This can include seeking respite care, joining support groups, setting boundaries, and practicing self-care techniques. With all of that, Hope Grows is here to support you through your loss and to help with any reluctancy you may be experiencing.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our essential oil and flower for the month of March. Oregano essential oil is powerful. According to Spiritual Scents, “The calming properties of oregano oil can relax the mind, balance the emotions, and banish mental fatigue.” Wealthful Mind tells us that the oil is “an herb of joy, safety and lightness of spirit.”

Now let’s take our flower of the month, the sweet pea. Sweet peas are popular ornamental plants grown in gardens and used in floral arrangements for their beauty and fragrance. Symbolically, sweet peas are associated with happiness, pleasure, gratitude, friendship, and delicate beauty – the opposite of what we feel when we are grieving. Pleasant feelings are helpful for any reluctancy.

If you find yourself in a dark place and need to see the light, consider the above blog, talk to someone about the use of oregano oil, and seek out growing some sweet peas this spring. Jess, our Hope Grows, horticulturist, could talk with you about the growing properties of sweet peas and I can chat with you about oregano essential oils.

Written by Lisa Story, MSCP, LPC, CT
Hope Grows Founder & Clinical Director

Disclaimer: This site offers information designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on any information on this site as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or as a substitute for professional counseling care, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional.