Signs You’re Carrying Suppressed Grief
If you’ve been thinking grief is something you “don’t have time for” or “just doesn’t apply to you,” it’s time to take a closer look at the signs.
Grief isn’t just the pain we feel when a loved one dies, or a chapter of your life.
Grief is an unspoken thread that runs through our entire narrative.
Grief is our natural response to loss, to the impermanence of life, to the things we cling to that are slipping through our fingers.
Grief is our relationship to the true nature of this reality—nothing lasts forever.
It’s both personal and universal. Grief is a companion to love, to loss, to every corner of the human experience.
Yet, we’re often told to hide it, bury it, or push it aside.
Often we don’t even recognise it.
So many of us were never taught about our emotions, let alone be role modelled what it is to grieve and have a healthy relationship with the cyclical nature of death and life.
So many of us live in fear of dying—yet we never truly live.
But grief doesn’t disappear just because we ignore it.
It buries itself inside us. It lingers in our bodies, in our habits, in our exhaustion, in the way we show up (or don’t) in our lives.
Where Does Our Suppressed Grief From?
Life moves fast. The world keeps you busy—always pushing forward, always filling the space. There’s little time to pause, to breathe, to acknowledge what’s been lost. Grief doesn’t fit neatly into the rush of everyday life, so it sneaks into the background, waiting. You may not even realise the ways it lingers—woven into exhaustion, frustration, or that deep sense of something unspoken.
These are the unspoken griefs the body holds:
The loss of a friendship, a sense of connection, or a supportive relationship.
A loved one’s passing you never had the time, space, or support to mourn.
The death of a pet or animal companion.
The end of a job, career, or professional dream.
Moving away from a home, place, or community that shaped you.
Carrying the weight of the world—vicarious trauma, systemic oppression, or the grief of care professionals who hold their own pain and everyone else’s.
The destruction of the natural environment.
The existential grief of modern life—the pressure, the disappointments, the slow erosion of meaning.
Parts of your identity that no longer fit who you are or who you were meant to be.
Dreams you’ve let go of, or ones that never came to fruition.
The loss of childhood innocence or safety.
The version of yourself before a major life shift (becoming a parent, partner, or going through a big transformation).
Watching your children grow older (even though you want them to).
Watching your parents age and grow frail.
Changes in your health, vitality, beauty, or physical abilities.
A belief or ideal you once held that no longer serves you.
A major life transition—a move, a shift in lifestyle, a loss of stability.
These are all forms of grief. And because we were never taught how to honour them, they become suppressed within us.
Signs of Suppressed Grief
Numbness or emotional shutdown – Feeling disconnected from life, unable to feel deeply.
Chronic fatigue – A constant sense of exhaustion, as if carrying an invisible weight.
Physical symptoms – Tension, headaches, digestive issues, chronic pain—often with no clear medical cause.
Anxiety & hyper-vigilance – A constant state of alertness, like you’re waiting for something bad to happen.
Avoidance & distraction – Using work, alcohol, food, or keeping busy to avoid emotions.
Emotional exhaustion & burnout – Feeling drained even when doing what you love.
Chronic health issues – Unexplained symptoms, tension, pain, digestive issues, frequent illness. (The stress of suppressed grief weakens the immune system and fuels inflammation.)
Over-giving & depletion – Giving more than you have, struggling to receive.
Disconnection from your true self – Feeling lost or unsure of who you really are.
Struggling with trust – Closing off, fearing people will leave or hurt you if you let them in.
Fear of endings – Avoiding difficult conversations or decisions because you fear what it will mean.
Broken boundaries – Letting others take more than you can give.
Over-functioning – Holding everything together, overextending yourself, to avoid the vulnerability of allowing grief to surface.
Depression – Deep sadness, numbness, or hopelessness masked as “holding it together.”
A cycle of striving & rushing – Always chasing “enough,” but never quite feeling it.
Why This Happens
In some families and cultures, there is a deep understanding of the impermanent nature of this world, and children are raised with the wisdom of how to express grief and let life move through them.
These children grow with a the psychological and physiological infrastructure of how to face endings and transitions with openness.
But for many of us, we never grew up with this.
Instead, what I call our internal grief template, is locked into a default suppression-based way of relating to grief - rather than expression-based.
When that template is in suppressed mode, it drives burnout, exhaustion, and disconnection.
But here’s the truth: your grief template can be rewritten.
We can shift from suppressed grief to expressed grief. And when we do, everything changes.
What Becomes Possible When Grief is Expressed
Personal power & freedom – Grief, when fully expressed, liberates you.
Creativity & playfulness – Making space for grief also makes space for joy.
Energy & vitality – Healing grief reduces stress and restores your energy.
Healthy boundaries – You give from a place of abundance, not depletion.
Receiving & nourishment – You stop over-giving and start allowing love & support in.
Deep wisdom & intuition – Sitting with grief opens access to profound inner knowing.
Trust in yourself & life – No longer bracing for loss, you trust in life’s unfolding.
Deeper relationships – Letting yourself grieve allows for more open-hearted connections.
Capacity for endings & change – You face life transitions with grace instead of fear.
It’s Time to Rewrite Your Grief Template
If you’re ready to stop carrying the weight of suppressed grief and step into a new way of being:
Revolutionary Grief is for you 🔥
The 5-Week Personal Alchemy Program is a transformative space and guided process to rewrite your Internal Grief Template from suppression to expression.
Release the weight of past hurts, free your mind, body and heart - and learn how to cultivate an incredibly freeing, open-hearted relationship with grief.
(It’s life changing).
It’s not just about healing—it’s about breaking free from the systems that keep us trapped in suppression, burnout, and disconnection.
The same systems that tell us to “keep going” while profiting off our exhaustion.
This program is my loving f*** you to the systems of care keeping us sick; it’s designed to liberate you at all levels.
Move over Trauma-Work, it’s time for Grief-Work.
Enrol before Thursday 3 April for receive your Bonus 90-Min 1:1 Session with me.
Remember, this all ends.
Everything is temporary but love.
We both know the stuff you’re worried about right now is not going to be what you care about on your death bed.
Let’s truly live while we are alive 😘 xx