If you’re feeling prickly lately, this might be why

Friend, lately, I’ve been noticing a thread running through so many of the conversations I’ve been having. It’s there in the emotional pauses with clients, in stories shared inside Circle, in our Artist’s Way discussions, even in everyday chats with friends and family.

We don’t always have a name for it.

Often, it shows up as frustration or irritability. Or as that prickly feeling that something’s just… off.

It can surface when life feels like it’s shifting faster than we can process – and often in ways that don’t feel especially safe or supportive.

In the realization that a once-meaningful relationship now feels distant. In the hollow ache of a job that no longer brings us joy. In the feeling that nothing quite fits anymore.

Under all of that?

The experience of transitional grief.

Not necessarily the kind that floods in with tears or tragedy, though sometimes that’s there, too. But the quieter, less obvious kind; the grief that follows change, whether we asked for it or not.

Grief can meet us as we age, as we notice our bodies changing, as our children grow more independent, or as retirement leaves us wondering who we are now.

It can emerge in the spaces left behind after a divorce, a friendship that faded, or a diagnosis that demands more than we feel ready to give.

And sometimes, it shows up when we look in the mirror and no longer recognize the person staring back.

So many of us are grieving past versions of ourselves without ever naming it as grief.  We are mourning the roles, rhythms, and relationships that once anchored us, while wondering why we feel so completely untethered.

Every time we grow into a new version of ourselves, something old has to be released. Like a snake shedding its skin, this process can be tender, disorienting, and sometimes just downright painful.

But what if this is not a sign that you are falling apart, but rather a sign that you are becoming?

What if what feels like unsteady ground is, in fact, a threshold into a more aligned version of you?

If things feel prickly or “off” right now, I invite you to pause and notice what’s trying to emerge.

What’s expanding within you? What’s asking to be seen and honored? What’s ready to be released?

Healing begins when we let ourselves feel. When we meet ourselves right where we are – not where we used to be, or where we think we “should” be.

You don’t have to do that work alone.

At Arden Healing, my private studio in Lewiston, I offer one-on-one sessions in Reiki with Sound Healing, Somatic Energy Coaching, and Private Yoga; sacred containers crafted to support you through whatever expansion you’re in.

If you’re craving the warmth of community, you’re also invited to join an upcoming healing gathering.

In grief, you might feel pressured to be “healed” or “get over it.” Try to be gentle with yourself. Being right where you are might be exactly what is needed.

And I’ll be honored to meet you there.

In Love, Light, and healing,

P.S. – The state of the world right now can trigger another deep layer of grief. It is so much to carry, and so many of us feel it. Remember to take care of your heart, protect your energy, and look for the glimmers