In this solo episode, I explore a side of grief that is often overlooked but profoundly important: the way grief shows up in the body.

We tend to think of grief as emotional or psychological - but our bodies feel it just as deeply. From exhaustion and sleep changes to physical tension, aches, heaviness, digestive issues, and that sense of being stuck, the body often speaks before the mind can make sense of what’s happening.

Drawing on personal experience, therapeutic insight, and the somatic wisdom explored in The Body Keeps the Score, Louise gently explains how grief impacts the nervous system and why these physical symptoms are not signs of weakness, but natural responses to profound loss.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

How grief affects the body

• Stress responses like elevated cortisol, racing heartbeat, and weakened immunity
• Physical expressions of grief: tightness, heaviness, insomnia, aches, digestion changes
• Why symptoms like globus sensation (a lump in the throat) can appear during grief
• How tension, pain, and sensation can reflect emotional states
• Why the body remembers what the mind tries to manage

I lead listeners through a gentle body scan, inviting awareness of breath, tension, and sensation without judgment, without needing to fix anything.

Somatic tools that help grief move

• Gentle yoga for grounding, breath awareness, and emotional softening
• Breathwork to calm the nervous system and create emotional space
• Somatic therapy to help release stuck grief
• Everyday movement, as simple as walking or swaying, to help your body process loss

I share my own personal experience of using EFT tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and EMDR therapy.

Somatic tools that help to regulate the nervous system, release stuck emotion, and reconnect with a sense of inner safety.

Recommended Reading:

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

Connect with your host Louise Bates: https://linktr.ee/louisebates

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