Episode 45: UnBroken - How To Deal With Grief
Episode 45 of M3CS’s Contemplative Science Podcast saw Dr Rachel Taylor come on to the show to talk about the internal workings of grief and loss - and the importance of our environment in shaping our response.
For the full podcast, check out the episode here.
In this episode, we cover...
The role of levels of acceptance and expectancy in determining the impact of grief.
Emotional repression and emotional regulation: the key differences.
The physiological and psychological effects of alcohol and its relationship with grief.
Dr Rachel Taylor is a neuropsychologist, founder of UnBroken and host of The UnBroken Podcast. An expert in the cognitive mechanics of grief and loss, Rachel is our very first neuropsychologist on the show!
Here are some of the key insights from the conversation...
Rachel is a great believer in educating, not dictating, people’s lives.
”What I do in all of my work is, I don't tell people how to be because that's really disrespectful. I like to provide people with explanations of how they work and how they interact with the environment and then they can choose who they are going to be and how they're going to be. And as long as they own that and take responsibility, I'm fine with that! And I'm fine if you want to listen to everything and still choose to do it. I understand completely.”
Everything has an impact on how we respond to situations in our own lives.
”Grief and loss are exhibited in a certain way in films and TV programmes and in books and in magazines... like anybody's story. So therefore, because we have a mirror neuron system in the brain, if the mirror neuron system is reading something, watching something... it's behaving as if it's happening within your own brain. So if our experience of death and grieving is all cut and dried within two hours, our brain is going to have an expectation that that's how quick the process is.”
Maintaining wellbeing is a constant process.
”Stress is systemic. You can’t just get over it by one little release valve. You need to be changing your morning routines and the way you exercise and what you’re eating and the people you’re spending time with and the job you have... that’s a systemic change, you can’t just go to the forest once a month.”
The best place to find Rachel is here.
See you next week!
