19/11/2025
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ธ๐พ๐ป ๐๐ธ๐ญ๐ ๐ข๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ต๐ต ๐ก๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ
(and why it matters more than you think)
One of the biggest myths about grief is that it only belongs to the moments we can name โ a death, an ending, a collapse of something we loved.
But for many midlife women, grief is far more layered.
Some grief never had a funeral.
Some doesnโt announce itself โ it gathers quietly in the body as tension, irritability, exhaustion, emotional reactivity, or numbness.
We often label it burnout, hormones, or even personality, when underneath itโs unprocessed loss.
Not just who you lostโฆ but what you never had:
๐โ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐๐๐โ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐โ๐๐๐
๐โ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐โ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐กโ๐๐๐
๐โ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐กโ๐๐โ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐๐
๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐กโ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐
๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐ข โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐, ๐๐ ๐ ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ โ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข
๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐
These, too, are forms of grief. And the nervous system treats them much like death itself โ through:
๐ป๐๐๐โ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐โ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐ข๐โ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐ก, ๐โ๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐ธ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ, ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐ท๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐
๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
Not because youโre unstable, but because grief is a physiological process โ one your body may have been trying to complete for years, even decades.
When grief goes unmoved, it doesnโt disappear. It crystallises into perfectionism, over-functioning, people-pleasing, and the โgood girlโ identity we create to outrun the ache.
This is why so many women reach a breaking point between 40 and 55.
Itโs not a crisis โ itโs the accumulation of every ungrieved moment finally asking to be met.
And hereโs the truth: when you allow that grief to move โ somatically, safely, and in community โ it doesnโt destroy you. It frees you.
The parts of you locked in sorrow return as strength, boundaries, intuition, and self-trust.
Grief becomes a resource, not a ruin.
This is why Bron and I are co-facilitating The Five Gates of Grief: A Midlife Reclamation Retreat in May, 2026.
Because midlife grief is different โ quieter, more complex, woven through identity, self-loss, motherhood, caregiving, masking, menopause, and all the lives weโve held together while pieces of us went missing.
At the retreat, weโll work with:
๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐โ๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
๐ผ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐
๐ด๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก
๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐
Through ritual, nervous-system-first practices, memory reconsolidation, body-led release, and community witnessing โ the way humans are meant to grieve.
Not rushed. Not sanitised. Not alone.
If this speaks to you โ not as drama but as truth โ and youโd like to explore whether this retreat is calling you, message me the word RETREAT.
No pressure, just clarity.
Because the grief you havenโt yet met might be the doorway to the woman youโve been becoming all along.
