Phoenix Rising With Dr Z: Conversations About Grief and Loss
Aug 18, 2026 · 43 min · 14 segments
Ritual & Grief: Creating Sacred Containers for Loss with Gyani Richards In this episode, Christina and Gyani discuss ritual as a structured, therapeutic container that supports presence, safety, and…
Gyani RichardsGuestBecause every year there might be a marker, right? And each year might feel a little bit different.
I know that with Damien, my brother having died on Christmas, I don't, I cannot put it in a space where I can tolerate the intensity of the grief that comes up and also the love and the missing him and the memories and all of that, if I don't give some sacred space to acknowledging him and our relationship and our family now in the morning, I don't necessarily, I have struggles being present with the rest of the day where people are getting together and they're doing this and they're opening presents and all of that.
And so if I'm able to acknowledge that and still bring him with me into the day.
If
I had the space to be able to do it, it makes those difficult times intolerable.
great example of how of how it's so critical that we bear witness to our own grief so that it has a place to share itself in our being.
And when it doesn't have that place, it gets rowdy and scratchy and does things.
But if we can give it the presence, then it's like, oh, then we can breathe again together.
This idea of just giving it space, giving it presence and space, The grief phenomena has an amazing intelligence and wisdom of its own, but it needs some room and some presence to sort of wiggle its way and then we'll fall into breathing with it.
Like when you describe it and you move your body like that, it feels a little personified.
You know, I mean, as we've spoken about before, grief is so deeply physical, so deeply physical.
And, um, so I, I think it makes sense just as our, as we navigate our own grief and also support others that, that we, we, we know that and we work with it from that way.
And to me, the, the, the very fabric of grief has such, um, You know, sometimes I think about grief this way.
Because every year there might be a marker, right? And each year might feel a little bit different.
I know that with Damien, my brother having died on Christmas, I don't, I cannot put it in a space where I can tolerate the intensity of the grief that comes up and also the love and the missing him and the memories and all of that, if I don't give some sacred space to acknowledging him and our relationship and our family now in the morning, I don't necessarily, I have struggles being present with the rest of the day where people are getting together and they're doing this and they're opening presents and all of that.
And so if I'm able to acknowledge that and still bring him with me into the day.
If
I had the space to be able to do it, it makes those difficult times intolerable.
great example of how of how it's so critical that we bear witness to our own grief so that it has a place to share itself in our being.
And when it doesn't have that place, it gets rowdy and scratchy and does things.
But if we can give it the presence, then it's like, oh, then we can breathe again together.
This idea of just giving it space, giving it presence and space, The grief phenomena has an amazing intelligence and wisdom of its own, but it needs some room and some presence to sort of wiggle its way and then we'll fall into breathing with it.
Like when you describe it and you move your body like that, it feels a little personified.
You know, I mean, as we've spoken about before, grief is so deeply physical, so deeply physical.
And, um, so I, I think it makes sense just as our, as we navigate our own grief and also support others that, that we, we, we know that and we work with it from that way.
And to me, the, the, the very fabric of grief has such, um, You know, sometimes I think about grief this way.
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