The Body Keeps Score in Grief

Mirabai's devotion was expressed through the body: through dance, through hunger, through physical presence. For grieving children, the body is often where grief lives most intensely. They may experience heaviness in the chest, tightness in the throat, numbness, restlessness, or hypersensitivity to sensory experience. They may seek movement—running, dancing, rocking—as a way of processing grief their minds cannot yet articulate. Adults supporting grieving children can honor this embodied dimension of loss through somatic practices: movement, dance, massage, time in nature, and simple physical comfort. Rather than asking children to 'talk about' their feelings, adults can say: 'Show me how your grief feels in your body. Can we move it? Can we draw it?' Practices like yoga, swimming, or walking can help children metabolize grief somatically. This approach recognizes that trauma and grief are stored in the nervous system and require body-based healing, not just talk therapy. By honoring grief's embodied reality, adults help children access wisdom their bodies carry about transformation and resilience.