That might sound like a strange testimonial, but I knew exactly what she meant.
Because grief is exhausting.
Not just emotionally.
Physically.
The poor sleep.
The tension.
The endless thinking.
The feeling that you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.
Sometimes what helps isn’t doing more. Sometimes it’s finding a way to put some of that weight down for a little while.
I run these free monthly movement and meditation sessions so you get a chance to see if it makes a difference to you.
They take place inside my private Facebook community for widowed people, where you’ll also find my weekly wids newsletter, details of upcoming free sessions, retreats and events, practical support for navigating this sh*tshow called widowhood, and a community of people who understand because they’re walking the same road too.
If that sounds like something you could do with right now, I’d love to welcome you.
Link is in my bio.
Orla Blackburn - Grief Guide for Widows
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Holistic Widow Guide | Nervous-System-Led Grief Support
Talking alone isn’t enough when grief has hijacked your body. Join us inside the free group today.
I help widowed women settle their nervous systems, rebuild a felt sense of safety, and gently reconnect with life — from the inside out. Welcome to a space where grief is not rushed, fixed, or ignored. I’m Orla Blackburn, a widowed woman, grief guide, and movement teacher who helps women after loss find a way to feel safe again — in their body, their mind, and their life. Inside my free community,
29/05/2026
What if you didn't have to carry your grief every second of every day?
One of the women who joined one of my free sessions recently said:
"For 30 minutes I was able to shut off from the horrible grief I'd been carrying."
Not because her grief disappeared. Not because she was "healed".
But because her body finally got a chance to rest.
After my husband died, I thought everything I needed to do involved thinking.
Figuring things out. Understanding grief. Researching grief. Talking about grief.
What surprised me was discovering that sometimes what helped most wasn't another conversation.
It was helping my body feel safe enough to soften.
That's why I share simple practices like Yoga Nidra, breathwork, movement and nervous system support.
If you're widowed and looking for practical, down-to-earth support, you're welcome to join my free Facebook community.
I share a weekly newsletter, monthly free sessions, and plenty of reminders that you're not losing your mind - even when grief makes it feel that way.
To join, please answer the 4 questions to keep this space safe. Link to Beyond Bereavement into Bravery is in the comments below.
The women I work with are often incredibly capable.
CEO’s.
Business owners.
Leaders.
Women who are used to making decisions, solving problems, carrying responsibility, and functioning at a very high level even under pressure.
For most of their lives, their mind has been the thing that gets them through.
And then grief arrives.
Not just sadness, but the full-body experience of loss and trauma. The anxiety. The exhaustion. The inability to switch off. The strange feeling of no longer recognising yourself.
And suddenly the thing that has always worked — thinking harder, doing more, pushing through — no longer touches it.
Because grief is not just happening in the mind.
It’s happening in the nervous system.
That’s usually when they find me.
Not because they want to become a different person, but because they want to feel like themselves again. Or perhaps meet this version of themselves with a little more softness and understanding.
The work we do together is gentle, body-led, and deeply human. Less about “fixing” grief, more about creating enough safety in the body that life begins to feel possible again.
If this resonates, send me a DM and we can have a quiet conversation about working together.
Join us in 2027
For widows wanting to feel hope deep within.
To learn more and jump on the waiting list, see link in bio.
Or dm and I’ll send you the link
Widowhood shone a great big shining light on all the things about me that needed to adjust, to grow, to transform, if I was going to make a life that felt good again.
This enormous grief can also make you want to hide, to diminish, run away from yourself.
And in that first year (or so) of grief, you’re simply trying to survive all of that shock and pain.
Will you notice when the torch starts to shine on the changes you need to make to work out life as a solo?
Do you need support to transform into the woman that not only survives this pain, but can climb onto the top and scream - I can do this AND really like who I’m becoming?
I support you holistically
- physically, by encouraging a feeling of safety deep within the body,
- energetically - the vibrancy you are holding in body and mind
- and neurologically - we work through the thought patterns that are struggling to accept and adapt to so much change.
Be pleasantly surprised at the version of you that emerges
Discover the various ways you can do this work with me - from the lightest touch, to the bespoke deepest dives.
⭐️ find the Support link in my bio
⭐️ or drop me a DM
This is one of the ways I support widowed women regain some calm in the body, and therefore the nervous system, and the mind, when the overwhelm and exhaustion of grief are too much to bear.
I share this monthly free session so please come along. It’s online so you can be anywhere in the world to join in.
To keep the group safe, I ask 4 questions when you request to join my FB group.
Link to join is in my bio or send me a DM and I’ll get the link direct to you that way.
25/04/2026
Grief has this way of making self-care feel like a betrayal.
Like the moment you let yourself breathe a little, or feel something that isn't pain, you're somehow moving on.
You're not.
Taking care of your body — the body that is carrying this — is not a statement about your love.
It is not disloyalty. It is not forgetting.
It is how you stay present for the people who need you.
It is how you keep going when keeping going is the hardest thing you've ever done.
You have permission to do something gentle for yourself.
Even if it doesn't feel like that yet.
Join my free community for widows where you can gain access to discovering how this feels and works for you.
There is a free monthly session, so please do join now so you don't miss the next one.
TO JOIN: link in bio for FREE COMMUNITY SUPPORT
24/04/2026
I hear it a lot.
"I'm not really into that sort of thing."
"I wouldn't know what to do."
"I don't think I'd be able to relax."
"It feels a bit indulgent right now."
I understand all of those thoughts. Every single one.
And I also know - because I've seen it so many times, and because I felt it myself - that the women who say those things are often exactly the women who need this the most.
Not because they're broken.
Because they've been so busy being strong, and holding it together, and keeping going, that they've had almost nothing that is soft, slow, or just for them.
WHY NOT TRY A 30 MIN SESSION AND FIND OUT HOW IT FEELS?
This session is 30 minutes.
Camera off is absolutely fine.
No experience needed.
Nothing is required of you except to be there.
Check the pinned post at the top of this grid for the next Sunday we will be doing this.
But join the FB widows support group now so you don't miss the next one.
join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beyondbereavementintobravery
xorla
23/04/2026
In the early years after I lost my husband, I was doing everything the "right" way.
Talking. Processing. Trying (badly) to keep going for our son.
And I was absolutely exhausted in a way that nobody around me could really see — because on the outside, I was managing.
What I couldn't manage was my own body. The tension I carried. The way I braced every time something tiny felt challenging. The nights when anxiety made it impossible to breathe easily.
What shifted things for me wasn't more talking. I wasn't even able to fully access my thoughts as the trauma was so loud.
It was learning to work with my nervous system instead of against it. Slow movement. Breath. Learning what safety feels like in the body — not just believing it intellectually, but actually feeling it.
Seven years on, that is the work I now share with other widowed women.
Have you at least tried my free monthly session?
Join the free FB group for the widowed to gain access to this opportunity to see if this is the way forward for your body.
A soft, gentle session where you can simply arrive exactly as you are.
If you've been curious about what this kind of work actually feels like, this is the gentlest possible first step.
JOIN HERE:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/beyondbereavementintobravery
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