Deborah Morris Coryell has worked in the health field developing wellness programs since 1974. She founded the Wellness Education Department for Canyon Ranch Spa Resorts as well as for the Pritikin Longevity Center. She is a visiting faculty member for Dr. Andrew Weil's program for Integrative Medicine and is co-founder and executive director of the Shiva Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the education and support of those dealing with loss and death. This tenth anniversary edition of Good Grief includes a 60-minute CD of the author reading select passages from the text.
"To bear our grief," writes Coryell, "to carry our grief, like a pregnancy, 'to term,' means that something is born from it. And that act of birth heals. In that active process, we become whole. . . . We are part of life's mystery. We have been initiated into life's wisdom." The loss of a loved one leaves us empty and aching. But within that loss is the love that enables us to carry on and to begin our lives anew. It helps to pay attention to the little losses such as the end of a friendship or the passing of a dream. We can use these occasions to practice accepting the impermanence of life and letting go.
Coryel presents intention, self-observation, and mindfulness breathing as tools for simple presence in the face of loss. Another helpful tool is healing in the imaginal realm by looking at the images we hold in our minds. We can also learn from the Tibetan Buddhist teachings about dying and the teachings of Judaism on grieving. Coryell concludes that we can never "complete" our grieving. It is an ongoing process that leads to wholeness.
