June 11, 2025

146: Inflammation, Touch, & the Grieving Body (with Mary-Frances O’Connor)

56 minutes

🎙Grief is not just an emotion—it’s a full-body experience. In this episode, Til Luchau talks with neuroscientist and psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor, author of The Grieving Body, about how grief changes the brain, affects inflammation, and alters our physiology. They explore how attachment loss rewires the brain, how inflammatory responses shape behavior and mood, and how the body experiences grief via physical sensations.

They also discuss the role of touch, bodywork, and therapeutic presence in supporting people through grief, and together they reflect on the profound connections between grief, the body, and the healing power of human connection.

🔍 Key Topics:

04:30 – Grief and the brain: What happens in the mind-body connection

10:45 – Grief is not toxic: A new understanding of pain and loss

16:00 – How inflammation shapes behavior and mood in grief

24:00 – Attachment loss and the nervous system: Polyvagal insights

32:45 – The physical sensations of grief: aches, tension, and holding patterns

38:00 – Touch as co-regulation: What bodywork can offer in grief

44:15 – Grief as a lifelong, embodied process, not something to get over

50:10 – Practical insights for bodyworkers supporting grieving clients

55:30 – How understanding the body’s role in grief can transform our approach

💡 Join the Conversation: Share your thoughts with us! [email protected]

✨ Rate, review, and share! Help others discover The Thinking Practitioner podcast.

📄 Get the full transcript at Til or Whitney's sites!

Whitney Lowe’s site: AcademyOfClinicalMassage.com

Til Luchau’s site: Advanced-Trainings.com

Resources discussed in this episode:

Two of Mary-Frances O’Connor's books:

The Grieving Brain https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-grieving-brain-mary-frances-oconnor

The Grieving Body https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-grieving-body-mary-frances-oconnor

Sponsor Offers:

Books of Discovery: save 15% by entering "thinking" at checkout on booksofdiscovery.com.

ABMP: save $24 on new membership at abmp.com/thinking.

Advanced-Trainings: try a month of the amazing A-T Subscription free by entering “thinking” at checkout at a-t.tv/subscriptions/,.

Academy of Clinical Massage: Grab Whitney's valuable Assessment Cheat Sheet for free at: academyofclinicalmassage.com/cheatsheet

Fascia Research Congress: save $100 when you use the coupon code "THINKING" at https://www.frscongress.org/

About Whitney Lowe | About Til Luchau | Email Us: [email protected]

(The Thinking Practitioner Podcast is intended for professional practitioners of manual and movement therapies: bodywork, massage therapy, structural integration, chiropractic, myofascial and myotherapy, orthopedic, sports massage, physical therapy, osteopathy, yoga, strength and conditioning, and similar professions. It is not medical or treatment advice.)

...more