Bocchinfuso Funeral Home is hosting a four-week mindfulness for grief seminar. This program is offered for free to pre-registered guests and is led by Cheryl Gordon, an instructor with more than 20 years of experience in mindfulness and teaching others techniques to release stress and grief from the body.
Grief, be it from the loss of a loved one, the loss of health/self-sufficiency or the loss of a beloved pet has a very strong physical impact.
Grief increases inflammation in the body, lowers the immune system response, raises blood pressure and can lead to emotional distresses (depression, anxiety, rage). Learning how to cope with grief through a mindful, whole body approach is instrumental for healing.
“During this seminar, guests will learn practical tools that will help them manage their grief at any time or in any place,” says Gordon. “Guests will learn to shift their mindset; when a wave of grief is experienced, rather than thinking something is ‘wrong’ they will learn to identify lessons and leverage them in the moment.”
One of the skills Gordon looks forward to sharing is a practical three-minute breathing exercise.
“We practice this as a group and it is homework to be practiced three times a day,” shares Gordon. “Start by noticing your body, wherever you are and the sensations and emotions within. Next, refocus your attention on your purpose to re-orient your breath. Expand your awareness to see what has changed.”
This is just one of the tools that will be learned and practiced during the seminar.
The protocol for this grief mindfulness training has a history that can be traced back to a hospital in Massachusetts where a resident doctor, who was a highly skilled meditator and yogi, developed a program to help patients. This resident used the science of mindfulness to help improve patients’ coping skills. The results were so impactful that the hospital adopted his approach.
Now, this mindfulness meditation approach is a well-established, evidence based practice that has been helping people cope with grief for more than 30 years.
Gordon has been pleased to teach this technique for 20 years.
She says, “Dropping into the body and feeling the sensation and seeing the movement of breath is a way to make things more manageable for our overall being. Everyone needs that break for the brain. The original program has been modified to make it accessible to those new on the journey. Please take advantage of the free seminar. It really does change lives.”
Although there is no cost to attend, pre-registration is required.
Call 905-227-0161 to enroll or to learn more. Classes start on October 15 and continue on the 22, 29 and November 12, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.