Grief & Money Psychology

A Daily Healing Habit for Grief: A 10 Minute Reset

When I lost my son, Aslan, I felt untethered – until I rediscovered a 10-minute daily healing habit that grounds me every morning. 

And when I came back to it, I realized how much that I desperately missed it – it grounds me to today, reminds me to look beyond my sorrow and resets my perspective in just 10 minutes.

Daily-Healing-Habits

What Is The Daily Healing Habit Morning Priming? 

Morning Priming  is a science-backed, four-phase, ritual that includes breathwork, gratitude, visualization and power posing – that rewires your neurochemistry for calm, clarity and purpose. 

Completing priming leaves me feeling calmer, and more grounded.

I can now tell the days that I do this to the days that I don’t. 

Even on weekends, even on days off, even if I’m just in bed, I do this routine because it’s one of the grief habits that I’ve learned helps.

The 4 Phases of the Daily Healing Habit: 

Phase 1 – Breathwork for Grief (3 Minutes)

Benefit: Rapidly oxygenates the brain and boosts stress resilience. 

Steps: 

  1. Sit upright, eyes closed, arms raised overhead. 
  2. Inhale deeply through the nose, and exhale forcefully through the nose while lowering arms. 
  3. Complete for 3 sets of 30 times. 

Why It Works for Grief? 

  • During the active part of this breathing –  your heart rate and circulation increase, waking you up.
  • During the relaxation phases, the vagal nerve, triggers increased stress resilience in your body. 
  • That feeling through your nose? Clearing out stale air and mucus, increasing the amount of oxygen available to your brain. 

If you are like me, the first times you do this are really tough. Your head may spin at first, and that’s okay – keep going. It’s a small investment for profound calm. 

But it does prime you for what’s coming next. At this point, you should feel calmer, energetic and grounded. Ready for Phase 2. 

Phase 2 – Gratitude while Grieving (3 Minutes): 

Benefit: Triggers reward centres in brain and lowers stress hormones. 

Steps: 

  1. Place both your hands over your heart. Feel it beating. 
  2. Remember either 3 people, moments or gifts that you deeply appreciate. 
  3. Remember what was said, where you were, the feeling of wind on your face. The more memorable, the more realistic, the more your body will feel it. 

Whatever your 3 things are – make them yours. And here’s the key – be detailed and vivid, like re-watching a movie – sights, sounds and even smells.

Why It Works? 

Gratitude is well documented as being one of the single easiest things you can do in one moment to improve your mindset. 

In the literature, the benefits are incredible:

This Phase wasn’t always easy, either. Why would I be grateful when something so terrible happened to me? 

I previously had to start very small – I remember writing in my journal that “I’m grateful for no more nightmares” was one of my gratitudes in Priming for a long, long time. 

Phase 3 – Visualization For Purpose: Three To Thrive (3 Minutes)

  • Benefit: Primes your brain to pursue and achieve key goals

Steps: 

  1. Focus on 3 key outcomes you intend to achieve (today, this month or this year)
  2. Vividly imagine each result as though it’s already happened – who would you be? What would you feel? Who would be with you? 
  3. Feel the emotions of success, feel the rush of purpose

3 To Thrive is my favourite part of this process – helping me focus my energy on 3 things in my life. Currently, my 3 things are: 

  • Dropping from 24% body fat to 14% body fat. When I imagine this, I picture what I’ll look like at my ideal body fat %. I’ll picture how tall I’ll stand, what kind of energy I’ll have, and the strength to always pick up my daughter when she asks
  • Writing 1000 words a day – every day, my aim is to take 1000 words out of my brain and type it onto a paper. I imagine where I”ll type (right now, it’s a coffee shop in the sun), what I’ll type (this blog post) and who I’m typing for (you). I imagine how good it will feel when I finish. 
  • Lastly, the next date with my wife. I imagine our next date, which is weekly, which will probably be at a lunch place we’ve never visited and what we should be celebrating. I imagine holding hands, spending quality time together, ordering from a menu, seeing the food, being genuinely content with my person. 

3 To Thrive didn’t used to be my favourite. For 9 months, all 3 of my items were around having a healthy, happy baby boy. When it didn’t happen, I soured on not only the 3 to Thrive, but the entire Priming process. I blamed Priming in part for losing my boy. Heck, I blamed a lot of people. 

Why It Works? 


– Studies show that vividly imaging the completion of a goal “primes” your brain to actually achieve this in the real world. 

Phase 4 – Power Pose Anchoring (1 MInute)

Benefit: Seals your priming state and boosts confidence 

Steps: 

  1. Stand tall, feet width apart, hands on hips
  2. Close your eyes
  3. Take three deep breaths

Why It Works? 

It’s a very simple final minute to end the daily healing habit Priming, but meta-analyses find that “standing tall and wide” (or “power pose”) like standing tall and putting your hands on your hips, or linking your thumb and forefinger, boosts self-confidence and improve the perception your have on yourself. 

You can even take this pose later in the day and find that your body will recall being calm, grateful and focused on your goals. 

Ready to reclaim your mornings with this healing habit? 

Download my free Priming PDF – it includes a printable checklist!

Download THE free priming pdf

Frequently Asked Questions of The Daily Healing Habit Priming Method:  

  • Q: Can I do Priming from bed? 
  • A: Yes – just sit up for Phase 1 – even in pajamas.
  • Q: How often should I do this?
  • A: Once a day is great 
  • Q: What if I miss a day? 
  • A: Start fresh the next morning – consistency builds habit, not perfection. 

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