We're diving deep into Francis Weller's third gate of grief: the sorrows of the world. This gate reminds us that collective losses like wars, violence, injustice, and environmental destruction impact us whether we acknowledge them or not. We are interdependent beings, wired for connection, and when we try to shut down our caring to protect ourselves, we sacrifice our capacity for joy, flexibility, and resilience. The challenge is to trust our intuitive drive to care and connect, even when it feels uncomfortable. We'll offer some practical strategies to meet that challenge and to help you stay open to collective grief without being overwhelmed by it.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses gun violence.
About: The Joy Lab Podcast is an Ambie-nominated podcast that blends science and soul to help you cope better with stress, anxiety, and depression. It's hosted by integrative psychiatrist Dr. Henry Emmons and holistic mental health researcher Dr. Aimee Prasek.
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Sources and Notes for this full grief series:
- Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life.
- Grief Series:
- Why We're Doing a 10-Part Series on Grief (And Why You Need It) [part 1, ep 248]
- Everything We Love, We Will Lose: Navigating the First Gate of Grief
[part 2, ep 249] - Welcoming Back the Parts of You That Have Not Known Love [part 3, ep 250]
- Other related Joy Lab episodes:
- Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller
- Skye Cielita Flor & Miraz Indira, The Joyful Lament: On Pain for the World. 2023 Access here
- Learn more about Joanna Macy's work from the Commons Library.
- "Interdependency is not a contract but a condition, even a precondition." — Dr. María Puig de la Bellacasa
- "Let me keep my distance always from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company, always, with those who say, look and laugh in astonishment and bow their heads." — Mary Oliver
- "The mind pays for its deadening to the state of our world by giving up its capacity for joy and flexibility." — Joanna Macy
- "Don't be afraid of your sorrow or grief or rage. Treasure them. They come from your caring." — Joanna Macy
- "Joy is the practice of our entanglements." — Ross Gay
- "Grief is brought forth by the safety and holding capacity of the communal nervous system. We cannot and should not do it alone. We have evolved to open together and carry each other into the places that scare us just as we have evolved to sing and praise and dance and grow together." — Skye Cielita Flor and Miraz Indira
- Beckes & Sbarra, Social baseline theory: State of the science and new directions. Access here
- Beckes, et al. (2011). Social Baseline Theory: The Role of Social Proximity in Emotion and Economy of Action. Access here
- Bunea et al. (2017). Early-life adversity and cortisol response to social stress: a meta-analysis. Access here.
- Eisma, et al. (2019). No pain, no gain: cross-lagged analyses of posttraumatic growth and anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress and prolonged grief symptoms after loss. Access here
- Kamis, et al. (2024). Childhood maltreatment associated with adolescent peer networks: Withdrawal, avoidance, and fragmentation. Access here
- Lehrner, et al. (2014). Maternal PTSD associates with greater glucocorticoid sensitivity in offspring of Holocaust survivors. Access here
- Hirschberger G. (2018). Collective Trauma an d the Social Construction of Meaning. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1441. Access here
- Sheehy, et al. (2019). An examination of the relationship between shame, guilt and self-harm: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Access here
- Strathearn, et al. (2020). Long-term Cognitive, Psychological, and Health Outcomes Associated With Child Abuse and Neglect. Access here
- Yehuda et al. (1998). Vulnerability to posttraumatic stress disorder in adult offspring of Holocaust survivors. Access here.
- Yehuda, et al. (2018). Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects: putative role of epigenetic mechanisms. Access here
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