The Yoga Therapy Toolbox #13: Navigating Loss & Grief

Working with older clients, and with people living with chronic illness or cancer, means that as Yoga Therapists we will sometimes experience the passing of a student or client. This is part of the reality of our profession, and it requires recognition and care.

Why it matters

The passing of someone we have been supporting cannot be brushed off as “part of the job.” It can bring up genuine feelings of grief, sadness, and even confrontation with our own mortality. Unlike compassion fatigue, which is linked to overexposure, exhaustion, and burnout, grief in this context is about the real and personal experience of loss.

Distinguishing Grief from Compassion Fatigue

Compassion fatigue is a state of depletion — emotional, mental, and physical — from prolonged caregiving. It can lead to burnout and disconnection.

Grief is the natural process of mourning when we lose someone we have known and cared for. It is not a sign of professional weakness, but a very human response to loss.

Support for the Therapist

Allow yourself space and time to grieve. Suppressing it can lead to unresolved feelings that may come up with future clients and in your own personal life.

• Seek personal or professional support — colleagues, supervision, therapy, or spiritual guidance.

• Integrate your own self-care practices: breathwork, meditation, embodied movement, connection with nature, journaling.

• Honor the memory of your client in a way that feels meaningful and respectful (lighting a candle, dedicating a practice, or simply holding them in your thoughts).

  
  

Recommended Resource

“Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet” by Roshi Joan Halifax has been a valuable companion in my own journey.

Joan Halifax explores how qualities we consider strengths in caregiving and social action — altruism, empathy, integrity, respect, and engagement — are also “edge states.” At their best they bring deep meaning, but when unbalanced, they can lead us into harm, exhaustion, or despair.

She shows how to work with these edge states so that we do not fall off the “edge,” but instead find resilience, freedom, and courage.

Self-reflection:

• Am I going through compassion fatigue, or am I going through a grief process in my professional life?
• What practices help me process and integrate the loss of a client?
• Write down your acknowledgement of your own humanity, while continuing to serve others with presence and integrity.

About the Yoga Therapy Toolbox

The Yoga Therapy Toolbox is a collection of practical, experience-led tools drawn from decades of clinical yoga therapy practice and refined through real-world use with a wide range of clients and health conditions. Alongside clear, usable applications, we sometimes share insight into where these tools come from and why they work, so they can be used immediately or returned to when needed. New Toolbox posts are published regularly – subscribe to receive email reminders whenever a new tool is added, so you never miss one.