What do we give someone for the holidays who is grieving?

What do we give someone for the holidays who is grieving? This is such a hard question since anyone who has grieved knows you just want this to go away.  You wish this never happened and you just want things to go back to the way they were before losing your loved one.  We certainly wish we could wrap that request up and give it to our loved ones but, as life would have it that is the one gift we just can’t give them.  Instead, give them a way to feel comforted.  Give them a way to feel warmth.  Give them a way to help heal their physical bodies and emotions. 

It is simple and easy but will ultimately give them so much more than the simple gift itself. Give them a heating bag (one of the rice bags you throw into the microwave for two minutes).  One of these heating pads will feel like a warm hug when you heat it up and hold it.  That nice warm heating pad hug is just the starting point of where their healing will begin this holiday season. 

According to Eastern Medicine, grief energy resides in our lungs and our emotional energy resides in our livers.  When we place the heating pad on these different parts of the body, we bring blood flow to that area which will nourish and begin to move the stagnant energy from that space.  It feels really warm and comforting but it also oxygenates that area with all the blood that is attracted to all of the warmth.  It creates a perfect environment for healing, both physically and emotionally.  

And let’s face it, one of the things we miss the most about our loved one being gone is their warm body and their loving hugs.  There is great healing in hugging something warm that allows us to soften our hearts and let the love for our loved one flow.  This is especially helpful now, during a time of year where we find ourselves missing our loved ones even more.

So don’t ignore the season. Help your loved one get through this season by giving them this thoughtful, simple gift that will help them warm and heal their hearts this holiday.