A Program for the First Year of Loss
Hello
Grief
You are not alone in this.
Your photo will appear here

If you are here, it's likely because someone you love has died — and you are now learning how to continue living in a world that no longer looks or feels the same.

The days and months after death can feel unfamiliar and disorienting. Life often moves on around you, while your inner world has been profoundly changed. Grief may be present in obvious ways, or it may sit quietly beneath the surface, arriving when you least expect it. However grief is showing up for you, please know there is no right or wrong way to grieve.

Your photo will appear here
Welcome to Hello Grief
5–10 minute introduction video

Your video will appear here once uploaded.

How to use this program
Move through the modules at your own pace. There is no timeline and no expectation. You may work through them in order, or return to the module that feels most relevant on any given day. Each module includes a short video introduction, reflective exercises, and a private journal space.

Your writing is saved privately in your browser — nothing is shared or stored online. You can return to these pages at any time.
About
About Me
Meeting you where you are, with compassionate support.
Module 1
Share Your Story
A place to begin — to allow your story to exist outside of you.
Module 2
The Mourning Checklist
Create a gentle daily routine to support yourself through grief.
Module 3
The Language of Grief
Naming what you feel — the feelings wheel and body awareness.
Module 4
Understanding Your Patterns
How situations, thoughts, feelings, and behaviours connect.
Module 5
Grief & The Body
Breathing, grounding, and body-based practices to support release.
Module 6
Life After Loss
The life compass — gently finding your bearings again.
Bonus Module
Continuing Bonds
Significant dates, remembrance, and the love that continues.

"Dedicated to the lives I have witnessed end, and to the loved ones who continue to live after loss."

We gon' be alright — Kendrick Lamar

Your photo will appear here
About
Bek Beechey
Grief Guide
My work is about meeting you where you are and offering compassionate support as you live in a world that has changed.

This program is designed for those navigating the first twelve months following a death — a time that can feel disorienting, heavy, and deeply personal. There is no roadmap for grief, and no fixed way through it. What I can offer is a gentle, grounded, and compassionate space in which to find your footing, one module at a time.

I believe that grief is not something to overcome, but something to move with — carrying the love and the loss together, as life continues to unfold.

Meet Bek Beechey
5–10 minute about me video

Your video will appear here once uploaded.

If at any stage you feel you would benefit from additional one-on-one support, you are warmly invited to book a private session. This program is a complement to, not a replacement for, personal therapeutic support.
Module One
Share Your Story

This module offers you a place to begin by sharing your story. Not to organise it, explain it, or make sense of it — but to allow it to exist outside of you. Your story may arrive as memories, moments, emotions, or fragments. All of it belongs here.

Share Your Story
5–10 minute module introduction

Your video will appear here once uploaded.

There is no expectation to tell the story clearly or all at once. Grief rarely moves in a straight line. You may find yourself returning to certain details, skipping others, or simply naming how things feel right now. Nothing needs to be edited, improved, or resolved.
Writing Prompts
Where would you like to begin?

Choose a prompt below to guide your writing, or write freely without one.

Who have you lost, and who were they to you?
What do you remember about the time around their death?
How has this loss changed your world?
What emotions have been most present for you?
What do you most want to remember?
Write freely — no prompt needed
0 words ✓ saved
Reflection
How are you feeling as you write?

Noticing what arises as you share your story is part of the process.

✓ saved
A Note for When It Feels Like Too Much
If at any point writing feels overwhelming, please pause. You can close this tab, take some slow breaths, or return whenever feels right. There is no urgency here, and no expectation to complete anything in a particular way or time. You are doing something quietly brave simply by being here.
Practice
Breathe With Me
▶ Listen to Recording

Add your recording link to the href above when ready.

Module Two
The Mourning Checklist

Grief makes even simple tasks feel exhausting and overwhelming. This module invites you to create your own mourning routine — a gentle daily structure to support yourself through the days and weeks ahead.

The Mourning Checklist
5–10 minute module introduction

Your video will appear here once uploaded.

Things like eating, drinking water, showering, or remembering what needs to be done can suddenly feel hard. This is a normal part of grief. A simple daily routine helps reduce decision fatigue and creates a sense of structure when the world feels unsteady.
Please refer to your workbook to complete your Mourning Checklist. The following descriptions are here to support your understanding of each element.
Sleep
Grief is exhausting — emotionally, mentally, and physically. Your nervous system is working hard to process an enormous change. Sleep is one of the most important forms of care you can offer yourself right now. If sleep feels difficult, try reducing screen use before bed, keeping the room cool and dark, and allowing yourself to rest even when full sleep doesn't come. Rest is not weakness — it is part of healing.

NSDR Breathwork — a recorded practice to support sleep and rest.
Nourish
During grief, appetite often changes — you may forget to eat, feel nauseous, or find that food brings no comfort. Nourishing your body is still important, even when it feels difficult. Simple and familiar foods are enough. Ready-made meals, toast, soup — whatever feels manageable counts. Eating regularly helps stabilise your energy, mood, and nervous system. You don't need to cook elaborate meals. You simply need to eat.
Hydrate
Grief involves a lot of crying, sighing, and emotional exertion — all of which can leave you dehydrated without realising it. Dehydration contributes to fatigue, brain fog, headaches, and low mood, which can make grief feel even heavier. Keep a glass of water nearby and sip regularly throughout the day. Warm drinks like herbal tea can also be soothing. Set a phone reminder if needed — this small act is a form of self-care.
Movement
Grief is held in the body. Movement — however gentle — helps the body process and release what emotion alone cannot shift. A short walk, some light stretching, time in the garden, or simply shaking out your hands and shoulders can all make a difference. There is no requirement to exercise in a formal sense. Listen to what your body is asking for, and offer it movement in the way that feels most accessible today.
Connection
Grief can be deeply isolating — and yet human connection is one of the most powerful supports through it. Connection doesn't need to be deep or grief-focused. A text message, a phone call, sitting quietly with someone you trust, or even being near other people in a café or park can help. You don't need to talk about your loss. Simply being in the presence of another person can ease the weight of grief. Choose the people and spaces that feel safe.
Stillness
Stillness is not the same as doing nothing — it is an intentional pause. Sitting quietly and allowing your emotions to be present, without needing to fix them or push them away, is one of the most courageous acts of grief. You might sit with a cup of tea, rest your hands in your lap, or simply gaze out the window. Stillness creates space for grief to move through you, rather than accumulating beneath the surface.
Journalling
Writing is one of the most powerful tools for processing grief. It gives your thoughts and feelings somewhere to go — outside of your body and onto the page, where they can be witnessed and held. There is no right way to journal. You might write in full sentences, bullet points, fragments, or simply a single word that captures how you feel. Write what is present. It does not need structure, resolution, or sense. Return to the journal pages throughout this program whenever you need to express what words cannot otherwise hold.
Grounding
When grief pulls you into the past or floods you with anxiety about the future, grounding brings your awareness back to the present moment. Simple grounding practices include: bare feet on grass or sand, holding something cool or textured in your hands, noticing five things you can see around you, or taking slow deliberate breaths. Grounding doesn't resolve grief — but it can interrupt overwhelm and bring you back to a place of steadiness.
Keeping Busy
There are times when stillness feels too heavy and activity offers relief. Keeping busy is not avoidance — it is a valid way of moving through the day. Cleaning, gardening, cooking, a creative project, watching something absorbing — these activities give the mind a rest from grief while still allowing the body to be present and engaged. On the days when sitting with your feelings feels too much, it is okay to keep moving. Grief will still be there when you are ready to meet it.
You may notice that some days you need activity, and other days you need rest. Both are valid. The mourning checklist in your workbook is a guide, not a requirement. Some days completing one item is enough.
Today's Note
How did today feel?
✓ saved
Practice
Breathe With Me
▶ Listen to Recording

Add your recording link to the href above when ready.

Module Three
The Language of Grief

By gently noticing what you feel, you create space for those feelings to move, change, and soften over time. This is not about forcing yourself to feel more — it is about learning to recognise what is already present.

The Language of Grief
5–10 minute module introduction

Your video will appear here once uploaded.

Emotions & Feelings
The Feelings Wheel

Emotions are felt in the body. Feelings are how the mind makes sense of those emotions. The wheel below helps you move from broad emotions toward more specific language. Use the image to explore, then select what resonates using the cards below.

Feelings Wheel — emotions from core to specific
Select Your Feelings
What are you feeling today?

Tap a core emotion to expand it, then select the specific feelings that resonate with you.

Tap a core emotion to expand it. Then select specific feelings that resonate with you today.
What I'm feeling today:
Your selected feelings will appear here...
Reflective Writing

Looking at the feelings you've selected, write anything that arises.

✓ saved
Interoception
Listening to the Body

Grief is not only felt emotionally — it is experienced in the body. You may notice heaviness, tightness, fatigue, restlessness, numbness, or changes in breathing. These sensations can come and go, or linger without clear reason. Often, they appear before we have words for what we are feeling.

When we notice bodily sensations without judging or resisting them, we support the natural processing of grief. Sensations are one way emotions move through the body.
Common sensations in grief — which do you notice?
What are you noticing in your body today?
✓ saved
Guided Practice
Interoception — A Gentle Body Scan

This practice invites you to turn attention gently inward. There is nothing you need to do with what you notice. We are simply observing — and awareness is enough.

Find a comfortable position. You may soften your gaze or gently close your eyes. Begin by connecting with your breath — breathing gently in and out through your nose.
1
Settle and arrive
Allow yourself to follow the rhythm of your breath for three slow breaths. Let the body begin to soften.
2
Notice without changing
Without trying to change anything, notice: Where does my body feel most affected right now? Is there anywhere that feels neutral or slightly easier?
3
Heart and breath
How does my heart rate feel in this moment? What is my breathing like — shallow, held, deep, uneven?
4
Simply observe
There is nothing you need to do with what you notice. Awareness itself is a form of care. Remain here for as long as feels right.
After the practice, write what arose:
✓ saved
Practice
Breathe With Me
▶ Listen to Recording

Add your recording link to the href above when ready.

Module Four
Understanding Your Patterns

As grief continues, you may notice that certain moments feel unexpectedly intense. A person, a place, a date, or a situation can suddenly bring a strong emotional or physical response. This module is about awareness and understanding, not change.

Understanding Your Patterns
5–10 minute module introduction

Your video will appear here once uploaded.

The Cognitive Triangle
How Situations, Thoughts, Feelings & Behaviours Connect

A situation can trigger thoughts. Those thoughts influence feelings, which may be felt emotionally, physically, or both. Feelings then shape behaviour. Seeing this pattern written out can help you recognise that what you are experiencing is a grief response — not a personal failure.

Example: You are going to a family gathering → thoughts arise ("I can't do this," "everyone will look at me") → feelings of dread and anxiety build in the body → behaviour shifts toward withdrawing, arriving late, or cancelling.
Situation / Trigger Thoughts & Beliefs Feelings & Body Behaviour
Understanding the Pattern
Once you begin to notice the pattern between situations, thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, it can help to know there are ways to support yourself at any point in the cycle. There is no right place to start. These tools are simply options you can return to before, during, or after a difficult moment.
Explore a Grief Pattern
Map out a recent difficult moment

Use the sections below to explore a situation that felt triggering or difficult. Click each node to record your experience.

Situation
What happened or triggered this?
Thoughts
What went through your mind?
Feelings
What did you feel emotionally and physically?
Behaviour
What did you do or want to do?
The Situation or Trigger

Describe the situation that felt difficult. This might be a gathering, a date, a place, a song, a comment someone made, or simply a moment when grief arrived unexpectedly.

💡 If possible, you can adjust the situation — arrive later, take breaks, choose not to attend
Thoughts & Beliefs

What automatic thoughts arose? These are the messages that appeared quickly, without effort.

💡 Ask: Is this absolutely true?
💡 Ask: Is this grief speaking right now?
💡 You don't need to argue with the thought — just notice it
Feelings & Body Sensations

What emotions were present? What did you notice in your body?

💡 Try slow steady breathing
💡 Ground your feet into the floor
💡 Place a hand on your chest or stomach
💡 Gentle movement or stretching
Behaviour & Response

What did you do? Grief often shifts behaviour toward withdrawal or avoidance — this is normal and understandable.

💡 Stay for a shorter time rather than not going
💡 Sit with one safe person
💡 Return to your Mourning Checklist
Supporting Yourself
Tools for Each Part of the Cycle

Once you begin to recognise the pattern, you can choose to support yourself at any point. These are gentle options — not prescriptions.

🌿 The Situation
If it feels possible, you can adjust the situation itself — arriving later or leaving earlier, taking breaks, or choosing not to attend this time.

Adjusting the situation is not avoidance. It can be an act of care.
💭 Thoughts
When grief is triggered, thoughts can become urgent, harsh, or absolute. Rather than arguing with the thought, ask yourself: Is this absolutely true? and Is this grief speaking right now? Simply noticing a thought as a thought can create a small amount of distance.
Strong Feelings & Body
Emotions are often felt physically. Try: slow, steady breathing; grounding your feet into the floor; placing a hand on your chest or stomach; gentle movement or stretching. Even one slow breath can begin to shift the state of the nervous system.
🚶 Behaviour
When grief is active, behaviour often shifts toward withdrawal or avoidance. At times, you may choose to stay for a shorter time rather than not going at all. Return to your Mourning Checklist, and do something grounding once you return home.
A Gentle Reminder: Grief is carried in the body. You may notice it settling as heaviness in the chest, tightness in the shoulders, knots in the stomach, or a general sense of fatigue. This is why gentle, body-based practices matter.
Your Own Toolkit

What has helped you in difficult moments? Write your own list here.

✓ saved
Practice
Breathe With Me
▶ Listen to Recording

Add your recording link to the href above when ready.

Module Five
Grief & The Body

You may notice grief settling as heaviness in the chest, tightness in the shoulders, knots in the stomach, or a general sense of fatigue. Approaches that involve movement, breath, and awareness help the body feel safer, restore balance, and create space for relief.

Grief & The Body
5–10 minute module introduction

Your video will appear here once uploaded.

Practice
Breathe With Me
▶ Listen to Recording

Add your recording link to the href above when ready.

Vocal Release
Letting Sound Move Through You

Grief often carries sounds — sighs, sobs, the words we didn't get to say. Allowing sound to move through the body can release emotional weight held in the chest and throat.

This practice is private. You might feel self-conscious at first. That is normal. Allow whatever sound is present, even if it is very small.
1
Take a deep breath in
Inhale deeply through your nose, filling the belly first, then the chest.
2
Let out a long, audible sigh
Exhale through your mouth with sound. Let the breath go completely. Repeat 3–5 times.
3
Allow humming or toning
If it feels safe, allow yourself to hum or make any sound that wants to emerge. Let the sound vibrate through your chest and throat, releasing emotional weight.
4
Cry or wail if that feels natural
This is a normal and healthy grief response. The body knows what it needs.
After the practice:
✓ saved
Body Awareness
A Gentle Body Scan

Bringing attention through the body helps reconnect areas that may feel tense, numb, or distant. Use the guided recording below, or follow the written steps.

Guided Body Scan Recording
Your audio recording will appear here once uploaded.
1
Settle
Find a comfortable position — seated or lying down. Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take three slow breaths.
2
Head and face
Bring gentle awareness to your head, scalp, forehead, jaw, and neck. Notice any tension. Soften without forcing.
3
Chest and heart
Move awareness to your throat, chest, and heart space. This is often where grief is felt most deeply. Simply notice — there is nothing you need to do.
4
Belly and stomach
Bring attention to your belly, noticing the rise and fall of breath. Notice any tightness, heaviness, or knots. Allow them to be there.
5
Arms and hands
Scan down through your shoulders, arms, and hands. Notice any aching, heaviness, or warmth.
6
Legs and feet
Move awareness down through your legs to your feet. Feel the contact between your feet and the floor.
7
Butterfly Hug
Cross your arms over your chest and gently squeeze your shoulders. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Say to yourself: "I am enough. I am healing. I am whole."
✓ saved
Grounding & Orienting
Returning to the Present Moment

When grief pulls you into the past or future, orienting helps bring awareness back to the present. Grounding reconnects you with the physical world around you.

5-4-3-2-1 Orienting Practice
Without rushing, bring your attention to your surroundings. You do not need to name these out loud or remember them. Simply notice.
5
Things you can see
Look around slowly. Notice colours, shapes, light. Let your eyes rest on each thing for a moment.
4
Things you can touch or feel
The texture beneath your hands, the temperature of the air, the weight of your body in the chair.
3
Things you can hear
Listen for sounds near and far. Distant traffic, birds, breath, the hum of the room.
2
Things you can smell
The scent of the room, fresh air, coffee, something familiar or comforting.
1
Something you can taste
The taste in your mouth, or take a sip of water and notice it fully.
🌱 Rooting Practice
Stand or sit with your feet on the floor. Gently close your eyes. Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Imagine roots growing from the soles of your feet deep into the earth, anchoring you. With each breath, feel the roots deepen.

Say to yourself: "I am here. I am safe. I am held."

Other grounding practices: bare feet on grass or sand, swimming in the ocean, holding something cold or textured in your hands.
✓ saved
Module Six
Life After Loss

Grief can make it hard to know which way is forward. The Life Compass is a gentle way of finding your bearings again — not about setting goals or fixing grief, but about gently noticing what still matters, and allowing that to guide you, one small step at a time.

Life After Loss
5–10 minute module introduction

Your video will appear here once uploaded.

This is not about setting goals or fixing grief. It is about gently noticing what still matters, and allowing that to guide you, one small step at a time.
The Life Compass — Eight Areas of Living
The Life Compass invites you to reflect on eight areas of life — physical wellbeing, rest and sleep, nourishment, connection, purpose and meaning, remembrance, inner life, and daily routine. After loss, some areas may feel very difficult, while others remain more stable. There is no right or wrong way to be in each area.

Please refer to your workbook to complete the Life Compass reflection and exercises. Work through each area gently and at your own pace — these reflections are information, not judgement.
Remember: the Life Compass is not about achieving balance. It is simply a way of seeing where you are right now, with honesty and compassion.
Manifestation
A Recorded Practice

Use the recording below to support your manifestation practice for this module.

Manifestation Recording
Your audio recording will appear here once uploaded.
Practice
Breathe With Me
▶ Listen to Recording

Add your recording link to the href above when ready.

Bonus Module
Continuing Bonds

You may notice that after the funeral, after the messages slow, and after people return to their own lives, you are left carrying grief more quietly. Life resumes externally, while internally everything may feel unfamiliar, tender, or changed. Life after loss is not about moving on.

Continuing Bonds
5–10 minute module introduction

Your video will appear here once uploaded.

Anniversaries & Significant Dates
Preparing for Difficult Days

Anniversaries, birthdays, and significant dates often bring grief closer to the surface. Sometimes the days leading up to these moments feel heavier than the day itself. Preparing ahead of time can help reduce overwhelm.

Some years you may want to acknowledge the day. Other years you may not. Both are valid. Grief changes, and so can the way you approach these moments.
How to prepare for a significant date
You might choose to:

• Clear your schedule or reduce commitments
• Plan time off work if possible
• Decide how much social contact feels manageable
• Let trusted people know what you may need
• Choose rest over productivity
• Plan something meaningful — or plan nothing at all
Your Significant Dates

Add dates that may feel significant — anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, the day of the death.

How do you want to approach an upcoming date?
✓ saved
Remembrance
Ways of Remembering

After someone has died, remembering does not need to be formal, public, or consistent. Some people find comfort in intentional acts of remembrance, while others notice that remembering happens naturally, without planning.

Select the ways of remembering that resonate with you:
Lighting a candle
Cooking a favourite meal
Visiting a meaningful place
Keeping a photo nearby
Speaking their name
Continuing a small tradition
Honouring values they lived by
Writing to them
Listening to their music
Tending a garden or plant
Reading something they loved
Sitting somewhere they loved
A letter to the person you have lost:
0 words ✓ saved
Protecting Your Energy
Responding to Unhelpful Comments

After loss, you may hear comments that are meant to comfort but feel hurtful, dismissive, or frustrating. You are not responsible for making others comfortable with your grief.

You are allowed to offer a brief response, change the subject, say nothing at all, set gentle boundaries, or step away from conversations.
"They're in a better place now."
"Thank you. I'm still finding my way with it all."
"At least they lived a long life."
"It's still a big loss. I appreciate your kindness."
"You need to stay strong for [others]."
"I'm trying my best. Some days are harder than others."
"I know exactly how you feel."
"Every loss is different. Thank you for being here."
"You should be over it by now."
"Grief doesn't have a timeline. I'm going at my own pace."
"Everything happens for a reason."
"I'm still sitting with that. It's not something I can make sense of yet."
Write your own responses:
✓ saved
Continuing Bonds
Moments of Continuing Connection

Many people notice moments that feel like continued connection after loss. These moments are often subtle and deeply personal. They are not something you need to explain or justify to anyone.

These experiences may show up through repeated numbers or patterns, the sky, rainbows, light, or weather, songs or familiar sounds, the behaviour of animals, a scent, a dream, a thought that arrives unexpectedly. Trust what feels meaningful to you.
The Theory of Continuing Bonds
Continuing bonds is a concept in grief research that describes the ongoing relationship between a bereaved person and the person who has died. Rather than needing to "let go," continuing bonds allows for a transformed relationship — one that honours the love that remains, while also allowing life to continue.

This is not about avoiding grief. It is about recognising that love does not end with death, and that the relationship you had continues to shape who you are.
Journal your moments of connection:
0 words ✓ saved
When you are ready, visit the Final Note tab in the sidebar for a closing message and video from Bek.
Practice
Breathe With Me
▶ Listen to Recording

Add your recording link to the href above when ready.

A Closing Message
Final Note

You have shown up for your grief — not to fix it or rush it away, but to meet it with honesty, care, and presence. That matters more than completing any page or exercise.

Final Note
5–10 minute closing video

Your video will appear here once uploaded.

A final word

If you are reading this, you have already done something courageous. You have shown up for your grief — not to fix it or rush it away, but to meet it with honesty, care, and presence. That matters more than completing any page or exercise.

Grief does not move in straight lines, and neither does healing. There is no finish line here. No moment where grief is "done." There is only the ongoing work of living — carrying love, loss, memory, and meaning together, in ways that continue to change.

You are allowed to return to these pages whenever you need. You are allowed to put them down and live your life. You are allowed to rest.

There is no moving on from what mattered. There is only moving forward with — with love, with grief, and with yourself.

With care and compassion,
Bek Beechey