The following are some techniques that you can use to process grief and nurture a sense of connection with your loved one. I sincerely hope it helps. I send love and blessings to you, Lizzy

1) Write your emotions out freely. Journaling helps us to understand what we are feeling and helps to allow emotions to be released in their own way and at their own time.

2) Writing out whatever you would like to say to a passed on loved one can help you express what you would like and feel more connected to them.

3) Art can be very therapeutic for children and adults. Painting or drawing using colors with the intention that each color is an emotion; drawing freely and then later reviewing your own work ( for adults) or having a child explain the colors in their drawing can also raise an awareness of the different feelings being experienced and allow them to be expressed. Looking at old drawings and comparing them with more current drawings can help to show what has been released and what one is still experiencing.

In the worksheet of my children's book "Where Did My Friend Go?A Children's Book About Death As A Transformation", I included drawing pictures of loved ones that have passed on in a happy place, enjoying things they liked or things that you shared together as a way to foster a sense of security for a child that their loved one is ok. It also helps children and adults to send a wish/ energy of love to the passed on loved one. Drawing a picture of everyone together again in the future can be comforting as well.

4) Continuing communication with our departed loved ones. Part of the pain of death is the belief that our loved ones are gone because they are no longer physically with us. Continuing communication in whatever way feels right for you helps a lot to overcome the feeling of loss and nurture a continual connection which can be very comforting.

5) Being in nature is extremely powerful. Going on hikes, walks and/or picnics on the beach help to create a pleasant experience and get us moving which helps get energy moving and is comforting. It opens us up to experience beauty, joy, and spirit.

6) Meditation is also very powerful and increases our awareness and ability to connect with our own spirit, each other, and source. Just sitting or lying and fully breathing in and fully exhaling out is enough to relax the conscious mind which creates a state of relaxation and sense of well-being that can also help with depression which often accompanies grief.

7) Participating in activities that our loved ones once did is another way that we can feel close to them. Even preparing or enjoying meals that they liked can help us feel close to them. For example personally I am a Dodgers baseball fan from watching the games with my grandfather for so many years. I will never eat a peanut m&m without thinking of him with a smile and I sign all my paintings with my grandmother's brush.

8) Be open to the signs of loved one's communication. As I mentioned above my grandmother was a wonderful artist and at one of the hardest times in my life I felt drawn to her sketch book where I found a sketch with the words, "The many struggles in my life bring strength, enrichment, and fulfillment." It was exactly what I needed to see, helped carry on and inspired me to start painting again. I wrote the children's book I mentioned above after I found out my friend had died and I felt his energy so beautifully that it inspired me to write before I had even conceived the idea of it becoming a book. I have heard so many stories from others about signs from loved ones and it never ceases to amaze me.

9) Creating a special place where you can meditate and relax and decorating it with things that remind you of a passed on loved one can help to create a feeling of connection. Meditating in the same place also helps one to enter meditation more easily.

10) Acknowledging all the qualities that one admired and appreciated about a passed on loved one and any things learned from a passed on loved one can help to honor them and show how they have contributed to our own existence and our connection to them.