This that you are feeling? That’s grief (with a side of anxiety), with Parijat Deshpande

Canceled fertility cycles, face-to-face appointments, bodywork sessions, baby showers, having as many people as you want at your birth, a postpartum period surrounded by a loving village… These are just a few of the anticipated experiences you may have lost during these times. And all that loss can be bringing up a lot of grief. So, how can you work with your body to process that grief, along with the anxiety and fear you may be carrying? Will all this result in trauma? Parijat Deshpande has answers. Go listen.

What we talked about:

• Grief is not just for the loss of a life
• Why you can’t rank or compare grief
• All the losses that you may be grieving right now
• Naming it
• Some ways that grief manifests
• The physiology of grief
• “Feel it so you can heal it”
• What if you ignore it?
• The difference between grief and anxiety
• Being stuck in survival mode
• When taking deep breaths and meditating don’t work
• Signs of survival stress
• Moving out of survival mode
• What about when you are in a pandemic, and terrified of going to the hospital, but have to go anyway?
• Does this mean that people giving birth right now will definitely experience birth trauma?
• Slowing down, and making decisions from a place of intuitive and informed knowing, not out of panic, grief or despair
• Permission to feel

Helpful resources & links*:

• David Kessler and Brené on Grief and Finding Meaning, from the Unlocking Us podcast by Brené Brown
• Pregnancy Brain: A Mind-Body Approach to Stress Management During a High-Risk Pregnancy, by Parijat Deshpande
• With only ‘shaky data’ to go on, it’s tough to practice evidence-based medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic, article by Dr. Neel Shah

Related Birthful episodes:

• Shaking and the Primal Nature of Birth, with Lesley Everest
• Your Anxious Mind During Pregnancy, with Parijat Deshpande
• Effects of Stress During Pregnancy, with Parijat Deshpande
• An IVF and Surrogacy Rollercoaster, with Parijat Deshpande

Courtesy of Parijat Deshpande

About Parijat Deshpande

Parijat Deshpande is the leading high-risk pregnancy specialist, somatic trauma professional and speaker and author who guides women to improve their pregnancy complications so they can reduce their risk of preterm birth. Her unique neurobiological approach has served hundreds of women to manage pregnancy complications and reclaim the safety and trust in their bodies that they thought were eroded forever. Parijat is the author of bestselling book Pregnancy Brain: A Mind-Body Approach to Stress Management During a High-Risk Pregnancy. She is also the host of the popular podcast Delivering Miracles®, that discusses the real, raw side of family-building including infertility, loss, high-risk pregnancy, bed rest, prematurity and healing once baby comes home. Learn more at parijatdeshpande.com or follow the conversation on Facebook and Instagram (@healthy.highriskpregnancy)

Jump on the chance to join Parijat’s Pregnancy Brain course!

Title music: “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, from the Free Music Archive / CC BY (edited for length).

Sponsorship music: “Air Hockey Saloon” by Chris Zabriskie, from the Free Music Archive / CC BY (edited for length).