Mackenzie - From Grief to Healing: A Holistic Guide to Rebuilding Mind, Body & Spirit After Loss

v Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

vi From Grief to Healing: A Holistic Guide to Rebuilding Mind, Body, and Spirit After Loss 2022 by Amanda Mackenzie.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2022

E-book ISBN: 9780738766751

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Editing by Holly Vanderhaar

Interior art the Llewellyn Art Department

Interior standing figure Mary Ann Zapalac

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mackenzie, Amanda, author.

Title: From grief to healing : a holistic guide to rebuilding mind, body &

spirit after loss / Amanda Mackenzie.

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Publications,

2022. | Includes index. | Summary: Using holistic arts to get through

grief. This is a practical book on moving from grief to recovery that

provides support to the bereaved for healing of mind, body and spirit-

Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021053226 (print) | LCCN 2021053227 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738766751 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780738767031 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Chakras | Mind and body therapies. | Healing--Miscellanea.

| Loss (Psychology)--Miscellanea. | Grief--Miscellanea. |

Bereavement--Miscellanea.

Classification: LCC BF1442.C53 M33 2022 (print) | LCC BF1442.C53 (ebook)

| DDC 155.9/37--dc23/eng/20211206

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021053226

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021053227

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

vii

Dedication

For Paul, with love and gratitude.

Introduced

The seed for this book was planted on the day my husband was diagnosed with cancer in his mid-forties. During Pauls illness we began with traditional medicine, then quickly and painfully discovered that it had little to offer him. On the day of his diagnosis he had to undergo a procedure under anaesthetic in hospital. I was trying to process what it all meant and was pacing around and around the block. I was relieved to find the library, only to be told that it wasnt available to patients or their families. That experience proved to be emblematic for our encounters with conventional Western medicine.

As we began to read more widely and talk with a range of holistic practitioners, we discovered a broader range of traditions from across cultures to support healing. We began qigong and meditation; we refined our diet and engaged with a number of new modalities. After Pauls death five months later, I continued my exploration and extended my personal practices as I searched for answers, for comfort, and for wisdom.

Over several years I made changes in my work life, broadening my base as an educator to become a leadership coach. While my business was thriving, some of my clients were not and I could see that Western approaches that segmented the person into a number of parts could reduce their well-being, sense of agency, and possibility.

I undertook a post-graduate course in holistic psychotherapy and counselling, which reinforced my beliefs about the human experience and broadened my repertoire about how to help my clients integrate and develop all parts of themselves.

This book shares what I have discovered: what helped and what didnt. Its not a personal narrative; its not a how-to book; but rather its an integrated approach to healing after grief that draws on the deep wisdom of my experience, both as a woman and as an influential, holistic counsellor and coach.

To be human is to experience grief. Every year millions of us die and each one leaves behind family and others who try to make sense of their loss. This book is designed as a companion and guide to the bereaved to support healing of mind, body, and spirit.

It provides a collection of simple practices to support those who have experienced the death of a loved one; it will help them to remain present to their grief and move towards recovery. I regularly use some of these myself and teach them to others in therapy and in workshops, integrating cultural and spiritual practices that have demonstrated their value. These resources focus on those parts of us that are affected when we grieve, and demand our attention as we heal.

My experience of grief and healing is captured by the energy of the spiral. There were many moments in grief when I felt myself fall lower or spin out of control. As my recovery and healing began, I had moments where I was aware of a shift or a change, a glimpse of peace or hope, and my energy spiralled upwards and outwards in incremental steps. Most importantly, my path from grief to healing was not a one-way trip. Many times, I thought I was on my way out of it, only to discover that my recovery was slipping away. Wherever you are with your grief and healing, the structure of the book is designed to assist you to navigate your own spirals by dipping in and out of pages that grab or hold your attention, or by finding something of value and following that thread across chapters.