Wind down
Naming what you're missing
Write one honest sentence about the version of yourself you're grieving
5 min
How to do it
If there's a part of your old self you miss, energy, certainty, a body that behaved predictably, write one honest sentence naming it. You're not fixing it, just letting it be real on paper instead of vague and heavy.
What the evidence says
Grief for a former version of yourself during a major life change is recognized in research on identity and change, and naming a difficult feeling in words is shown to lower the activity of the brain's alarm system. This is a real feeling worth naming plainly, not a sign anything has gone wrong.
