What To Do If You're Feeling Overwhelmed By Loss Right Now, From A Grief Expert

But for those particularly difficult days when the grief feels overwhelming, bestselling author and grief expert David Kessler offers some tips to help you wade through the hard-hitting emotions. As he shares on the mindbodygreen podcast, "We grieve for the rest of our lives, but that doesn't mean we're always going to be in pain."

First and foremost, Kessler says it can be helpful to discover which emotions signal your underlying grief. It differs for everyone: For some, it might be sadness or despair; for others, it's fear. As for Kessler? He tends to feel anger: "Anger is pain's bodyguard," he says. "I have to remind myself if I'm starting to feel anger, it means I'm in pain." Whatever your specific go-to emotions are, try to dig a little deeper and figure out whether those emotions are your telltale signs of grief. 

That said, even though it might feel painful in the moment, try to embrace those feelings of grief. When you truly let those emotions run their course, Kessler says they should move through you in a few minutes. It makes sense: When you suppress those emotions, they're going to bubble up at some point. As Kessler notes, "If you've got 1,000 tears to cry, you're not going to stop at 99." It's only a matter of when those tears eventually show up. So if you can, it's best to experience those feelings all in one go, even though it feels painful, rather than facing a roller coaster of grief later on. 

If you're feeling overwhelmed by loss right now, one of the best things you can do is to simply let those emotions run their course. While there's no tried-and-true way to completely "overcome" grief, embracing the feelings you have and staying compassionate with yourself can help you move through the different stages—whatever they look like for you.