Grief affects everyone differently. There is no “right” way to cope with the loss of a loved one. Alongside support from family, friends, or professionals, exercise can help you navigate this difficult time.
Research from the University of Bedfordshire highlights several ways physical activity can support emotional wellbeing during bereavement:
- Boosts mood and confidence: Exercise releases natural endorphins that can lift your spirits and build confidence.
- Provides an emotional outlet: Activities like walking, cycling, or yoga can help release sadness, frustration or anger safely.
- Encourages social connection: Group walks or fitness classes can reduce feelings of isolation.
- Restores routine: Regular activity can help bring structure when grief disrupts daily life.
- Offers a mental break: Distracting you from grief and intrusive thoughts, as physical activity involves mental focus and body awareness.
- Supports overall wellbeing: Exercise can improve sleep, energy, and physical health, which indirectly helps emotional resilience.
Exercise is not a cure for grief and everyone’s bereavement experience is unique. Even small steps, like a short walk, gentle stretch or time outdoors, can be a meaningful way to care for yourself while grieving.
Someone who has the experience and the expertise to recommend exercise to help cope with grief is Nicola Church. She is the founder of Elevation Personal Training and a qualified personal trainer and mindset coach.
How exercise helped Nicola to manage her grief:
Nicola from Elevation Personal Training talks about her bereavement journey and how exercise helped: ‘2013 was a tough year as I had lost my dad and Stepmum to cancer within a few months of each other. In addition to that I had also been diagnosed with post-natal depression following the birth of my youngest daughter who had been born exactly a week after my stepmum died’ says Nicola.
‘Despite having been given antidepressants, I still felt quite lost and bewildered and I’d also put on a lot of weight during my pregnancy and wasn’t fit at all.
‘It was talking to a friend who had recently completed an obstacle race, that gave me the motivation to start exercising; I enlisted the help of a Personal Trainer who taught me to actually really love exercise and I felt so empowered that my body could lift weights and run for a distance! The feel good endorphins that are released during exercise really helped to lift my mood and engaging in something else also gave me so much more focus. Often when we are exercising, we aren’t focusing on anything else!
‘Although my new training regime didn’t extinguish the grief I felt, it really helped with my mood and confidence; I completed my first obstacle race in 2014 and raised money for the hospice that had looked after my dad and stepmum in their final days. I know that they would be really proud of what I’ve done and how it has given me the confidence to launch my own personal training business.’
The team at Austin’s family funeral directors is grateful to Nicola for sharing her story.
Nicola is a fully qualified personal trainer who offers training solutions suited to you and your lifestyle. She has a wealth of experience in dealing with clients of all ages and backgrounds. Find out more at Elevation Personal Training.
