Grief

Grief and the Brain: A Wound You Can’t See

When my daughter Hannah died by suicide in 2014, I was shattered in a way I couldn’t explain. There were days I felt like I was walking through concrete. Days when I couldn’t remember why I entered a room. Nights when my body ached from crying. The heaviness wasn’t just emotional—it was physical. And now, science confirms what many of us grieving have felt all along: the brain responds to deep grief the same way it responds to a severe concussion.

MRI scans show that grief activates the same pain centers in the brain as physical injury. That fog, fatigue, memory loss, even slurred speech—those aren’t signs of weakness. They’re evidence of your brain trying to survive something it doesn’t know how to process.

And here's the thing: there’s no "right" way to grieve. Some of us cry for weeks. Some feel numb for months. Some get angry. Some keep moving. Some can’t get out of bed. Every single one of those reactions is normal. Grief is as individual as a fingerprint.

But there is healing. And it can come in many forms.

At The Wellness Center, I’ve seen how our full-body pulsing red light therapy supports people in their grief journey. I’ve experienced it myself. Red light therapy calms the nervous system, increases serotonin, reduces inflammation in the brain, and helps release trapped emotions—yes, even the ones we’ve buried deep for years.

Grief may not have a cure, but we can care for our wounded brains. We can give our bodies light, calm, and time to breathe again.

If you’re grieving, or if someone you love is, know this: You are not broken. You are healing. And we are here to help.

Come in. Let us love you. Let the light do what it was made to do—help your brain and heart come back to life.

💛With all my heart, Laura