Overwhelming, all-consuming, and unavoidable — grief is the natural human response to loss. Knowing everyone goes through the grieving process doesn't make it any easier to bear when grief comes knocking at your door.
 
Your loss could be anything, from a breakup, getting fired from a job, an illness that affects your lifestyle, or the death of a loved one. You start off feeling blissfully numb, but then all the feelings hit. Your emotions may range from being overwhelmed and disbelieving to being angry and depressed. Whatever the cause, you'll eventually need to find ways to deal with the overwhelming emotions, and exercise is one way to do it.

 
After the initial grieving process, finding ways to support mental and emotional healing is the best path forward. Most people are familiar with the physical benefits of exercise, but it's also helpful in supporting a healthy brain. Exercise improves cognitive health and memory, balances emotions, and reduces anxiety and depression. It's also a known way to calm the fight-or-flight response.

The hardest part about starting to exercise is finding the right motivation. Most people who begin exercising quit within a couple of weeks or months due to a lack of time or enjoyment. However, if you're going through an intense grieving process, exercise might be what you need to propel you through the sadness and onto the next phase of your life.
 
Emotional stability is a great motivator. Exercise snaps you out of a self-pity routine and boosts your mood through the release of endorphins. Endorphins are the feel-good hormones released by the brain in response to pain or stress.
 
During the initial phases of grieving, your brain releases endorphins to get you through it. In some cases of continued grief, the brain begins associating the feeling with reward, prolonging the mourning process. Unfortunately, this neural adaptation sets a dangerous precedent since it encourages you to continue suffering even when the healthier choice is moving on.
 
However, most people will need more than the occasional dose of endorphins to truly move forward with their lives, and that is where exercise comes in.

When you're in fight-or-flight, you need to choose your exercise carefully. The body is already experiencing a moderate to severe amount of stress. In addition, cortisol is typically higher six months after losing a loved one.
 

Most experts recommend moderate exercise, paired with a healthy diet while you're grieving. You're essentially using exercise as a form of self-care. So, if exercise feels strenuous or you find yourself fatigued, constantly sick, or overwhelmed at any point, you might want to ease up.