*Special holiday promo*

Do you want to learn more tools to work through the many holiday emotions?

From now until November 30, 2023, our powerful workbook, “Grief & Gratitude”, is 50% off with code GRATITUDE50.

Take a meaningful step toward healing during this holiday season and find solace, support, and practical tools for your unique grief journey. 

Our workbook teaches the power of affirmations in addition to several other tools to guide you through difficult dates. If our affirmations blog below piques your interest in using affirmations, be sure to check out our workbook to dive deeper to create personalized affirmations to get you through any difficult time. 

By Ilana Shapiro Yahdav & Kim English Hanlon

The holiday season can elicit a whirlwind of emotions. Thanksgiving is marketed as a joyful time of togetherness, gratitude, and good food. However, for those whose emotions are caked in grief, it can add an extra layer of pain to already feeble hearts. Sometimes, when we feel like there is nothing else to grasp, having an anchor, affirmation, or some preplanned thoughts, sentences, or whatever you’d like to call it, can act as a lifeline. It can give a sense of focus and a modicum of ‘control’ to help get through a difficult time. 

We know that the word “affirmation” can be a buzzword and can also sound “woo woo” to some, right up there with “manifesting”. So, we honestly don’t care what you call it, but that you have this as another tool for your toolkit. We truly know that there is value in having an anchor/affirmation/centering thought. Therefore we’d like to offer a few affirmations for different areas of life that we know can be triggering. We hope you can take these suggestions as a starting point and make them your own. We hope, should you need them, that they can help you and be a comforting anchor for your mind and heart. 

Affirmations for:

• Reaching out to our support people
• I have people who love me and care about me and want to support me during this difficult time. 
• Changing traditions
• It is okay for traditions to look different this year. They may change again next year, which is okay, too…
• Feeling our difficult feelings
• Feelings come in waves, and accepting one feeling will allow it to flow past me and make space for the next emotion. 
• Accepting grief is hard
• It is okay to be angry and/or disappointed that things are not as I wish or had hoped (e.g. my loved one is dying/dead, or my ex is gone)
• Allowing joy
• It is okay for me to have joy during this time.

Reflection:

• How do you feel about having affirmations? Do you think - if you’re open to it - that it can be helpful to you?
• Which affirmations resonate with you, if any? 
• Why or why not? 

We encourage you to use any of our affirmations or create your own. There is no right or wrong way to do this. And it’s okay if it changes over time. 

 Other blogs to help with holiday grief:

• The Jewish New Year: Welcoming the New & Cherishing the Old
• A blog on giving our Grief a seat, but not the whole table
• 3 Myths That Perpetuate Negative Coping Mechanisms
• Reflect on how phrases such as “Don’t feel bad”, “Grieve alone”, and “Time heals all wounds” can keep you stuck in your grief
• Bouncing Back After An Emotional Grief Date
• Tips to recover from the emotional toll holidays can have on our hearts