Grief Blog: Emotional Resilance

I recently lost a really close friend.

It hit me super hard.

Grief is something every one of us will face eventually, and if you haven’t yet, it’s something that will one day touch your life in some form. I recently experienced a difficult loss of a friend, and it reminded me just how deeply grief lives in the body. Even when your mind understands what’s happened, your hormones and nervous system are still trying to catch up.

As an athlete, I’ve always thought about recovery in terms of training, it's how the body needs time and care to heal after intense effort. Grief feels similar, except the injury is invisible. The stress response kicks in, cortisol climbs, adrenaline lingers, and suddenly, sleep, appetite, and motivation all feel unpredictable. It’s your body doing its best to protect you but it also means your normal hormonal rhythms get thrown completely off.

Oxytocin, the hormone that helps you feel connected and safe, dips sharply when you lose someone close. That’s why even surrounded by love, grief can feel isolating. Serotonin and dopamine, the mood and motivation hormones, also fluctuate, which explains the fog, the exhaustion, and even those sudden emotional waves that seem to come out of nowhere.

Your body isn’t betraying you, it’s adapting. It’s learning how to find safety again in a world that feels changed. The same principles that apply to physical recovery matter here, too: consistency, nourishment, rest, and grace. Healing your hormones after loss isn’t about fixing what’s broken, it’s about supporting what’s trying to heal. And often, it’s through the most difficult things we experience that the most beautiful growth begins, the kind that reshapes us from the inside out and reminds us just how resilient we really are.

Tips for Navigation Grief: Growing Through Grief

Feed the healing, not the numbness.

Choose foods that stabilize blood sugar (protein + slow carbs + healthy fats). Cortisol calms when your body feels nourished.

Don’t rush emotional recovery.

Hormones need time to re-regulate, just like muscles need time after training. You can’t “think” your way through it; you have to live your way through it.

Cry!! it’s biochemical release.

Tears literally help lower cortisol and flush stress hormones from your system. Let it happen.

Move gently, not intensely.

Walks, stretching, or light resistance training help reset your nervous system without overstressing your adrenals.

Anchor your mornings.

Sunlight within the first hour after waking stabilizes cortisol and boosts serotonin which is the key for mood regulation.

Connect with safe people.

Oxytocin (connection hormone) rebuilds through hugs, conversation, prayer, and service. Isolation delays healing.

Rest like it’s your job.

Your parasympathetic system (recovery mode) is your body’s repair crew. Sleep, stillness, and deep breathing turn it back on.

Practice meaning-making.

Journal, create, serve, or share stories about your loved one. Finding purpose in the pain helps rewire your brain from “loss” to “legacy.”

Accept the waves.

Hormones and emotions will ebb and flow. The goal isn’t to control them, but to honor them.

Give yourself grace in the process.

Healing isn’t linear. Neither is growth. Both are proof you’re still becoming.