Activity: Make a Body Treasure Map of Your Grief
Did you know your body and mind are Super Heroes, doing everything they can to help you heal in your own special way?
Grief can show up in our bodies in different ways and places. It might feel like a rock in our bellies or like our heart is sinking into quicksand. It might feel like we can’t breathe or like our head is too heavy to lift.
Your grief is unique to you and your body. Where your grief shows up may change from day to day.
Just like you would follow a treasure map to find a treasure, you can make a map of where you feel your grief in your body. This map helps you and other people see where you are hurting and give extra love and attention to these areas.
Make Your Body Treasure Map:
1. Download and print the Body Treasure Map. Gather some colored markers, pencils or crayons.
2. To make your map, first find a place where you feel safe and supported. Choose a shape with your body that feels comfortable and safe.
3. Notice how your body feels right now, without changing anything.
4. You choose whether your eyes are open or closed. Feel your feet without looking at them. Feel how the earth is holding them up. Squeeze your leg muscles. How does that feel?
5. Keep a lot of your attention on your feet and legs. Put a little attention on a part of your grief that doesn’t feel too scary.
- Is it a memory of your loved one while they were alive?
- Is it a memory of how you felt after they died?
- Is it something else?
6. Keep looking inside your body for the treasure or focus of what you feel. Look for things that change. A few things to notice and focus on while you are looking inside your body:
- Did your breathing change?
- Do you feel warmer or cooler than before?
- Did you smile or frown?
- Did your shoulders lift or fall down?
- Did you feel something change in your belly?
- What else do you notice?
7. After exploring for a while, grab your Body Treasure Map and draw or color in the areas you noticed or felt were related to your grief. Sometimes the safest thing for our bodies is not to feel. If you don’t have anything to color in, that’s OK.
8. When you are done mapping the feelings you found today, you can say “Thank You” to your body for the amazing job it is doing trying to take care of you. You can make up your own Thank-You or try one of these:
- Put a finger on your heart and take a few special breaths right into your heart, like you are giving your heart a bath in Love.
- Put a hand on your belly and take some big breaths out, like you’re blowing out a birthday candle.
- Find someone you love and ask them for a big, long hug.
- Sing a song about how you feel.
- Talk to someone you trust about the treasures you found and how it makes you feel.
The treasures you find in your body will change. You might want to make another map in a few days or next month and see what is the same and what is different.
When we step inside our bodies like this and make a map of what we find, some big feelings can come up. Feelings are like a big wave, they like to move.
Shaking our bodies lets some of the big waves of energy move through our bodies and can be a “reset button” for our bodies and minds. Watch the Shake & Ground Video to invite some of the energy in your body to move.
This Body Map practice can be found in the “Practices” section in The Grief Practice book. This is a wonderful, large-format book and workbook that invites you to explore and record your personal grief story. Also, visit The Grief Practice website for more activities and practices.
Want to learn more about your amazing body? Here are some yoga videos that welcome grief appropriate for kids 12 and up: Body Scan and Active Yoga
