Grieving Mindfully

Many people who suffer the death of a loved one cling to the experience of grief long after the actual pain of loss goes away. This is because grief itself is a complex issue, fraught with misinformation and unrealistic expectations, often leading to interpersonal isolation at the times people need connection the most. Ironically, it is often by embracing the experience of grief that people become most fully mindful of life. Grieving readers will find, in this book, a new understanding of their own grief process. They will learn about the spiral staircase, a metaphor used to describe the ebb and flow of emotional pain that typically follow loss. The book offers readers ways to cope with the events and situations that trigger personal grief by using mindfulness exercises and radical acceptance, a concept that encourages the experience of grief rather than its denial. Ultimately, the book presents strategies for making life more meaningful by acknowledging death and working to embrace life.

"Grief and loss are dreaded experiences that many wish to either avoid or to rapidly solve. In Grieving Mindfully, Kumar offers the alternative of welcoming the experience as an opportunity to develop our humanity. This book offers a path to healthy grieving for people encountering losses of many kinds." --Richard Tedeschi, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, "Kumar's approach to dealing with grief and loss is creative and radically transformative. Drawing on his experience as a practicing psychologist and his training in the Buddhist enlightenment tradition, he suggests that instead of hiding from our grief, trying to forget or get over it, we take a more demanding and rewarding path--walking straight through grief with mindful awareness, fearless observance, and profound compassion. His book has the potential to bring strength and healing to the millions who grieve and to revolutionize the approach of psychologists and counselors working with those in profound grief." --Glenn H Mullin, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of Living in the Face of Death: The Tibetan Tradition

Sameet M. Kumar, Ph.D., is a psychologist and Buddhist whose areas of expertise include palliative care, spirituality in psychotherapy, mindfulness meditation, stress management and relaxation, and grief and bereavement. He received his doctorate at the University of Miami and has trained with several leading Tibetan Buddhist teachers. He has traveled extensively in India, China, and Tibet and works at the Mt. Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami Beach and Aventura, FL, and at the Wellness Community in Miami, FL.Foreword writer Jeffrey Brantley, MD, is a consulting associate in the Duke University Department of Psychiatry in Durham, NC. He is founder and director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program at Duke University's Center for Integrative Medicine, as a spokesperson for which he has given many radio, television, and print media interviews. He is the author of Calming Your Anxious Mind.