Stephen Levine teaches of the hardness of heart that comes with unattended grief and sorrow. The "unfinished business" of our lives accumulates and layers our hearts with fear, anger, and self-judgment which in turn prevent us from accessing the life empowering qualities of loving-kindness, wisdom, and compassion. Grief comes not just with death and trauma, but also with the day-to-day losses and disappointments of life. A failed project, a lost dream, or a broken relationship may induce the same sense of loss and grief that arises out of death. In a world packed with high expectations and little room for forgiveness, it is easy to accumulate a heart full of sorrow and regret. Attending to grief means attending to all of the ways we feel separate, broken, and less than. Working with grief is a letting go of what we think should be and an affirmation of what is.

Trauma is one of the most detrimental effects of a world torn apart by extreme poverty, oppression, violence, and objectification of the human body. These experiences have the potential to break down the mind, body, and soul leaving only fragments of understanding. Those suffering from trauma can become locked in states of survival that both robs them of the ability to move forward and further seeds patterns of violence, addiction, and mental unrest. 

An individual that has experienced trauma is not necessarily more at risk than the average person walking down the street. Due to the traumatic events, however, their bubble of safety has been destroyed. The human nervous system is built to regulate our sense of safety and danger. For someone who has experienced trauma, the option for safety no longer exists. The nervous system is set to high alert for threat and repeatedly finds ways to whisper "danger, danger" be it through seemingly irrational emotions, insomnia, body tension, or avoidance of normal life routines.

This hypervigilance can cause a wide range of symptoms including sleep disturbance, nightmares, paranoia, physical and emotional numbing, irritability, depression, muscle tension and body soreness, difficulty concentrating, suicidal thoughts and tendencies, and anti-social or self-destructive behavior. Someone impacted by trauma may also experience intense reactions to scenarios related to their specific trauma.

All symptoms of trauma point to the body and mind's inability to register that the danger has passed. In a sense, traumatized individuals are stuck in the moment of impact; dismembered and forced to relive a terrifying experience over and over again. Even when there are no conscious thoughts or memories associated with the incident, the body continues to remember. This aspect of living in the present while repeatedly experiencing the past causes one to feel confused and fragmented. This constant disorientation heightens the need to protect oneself and can ultimately lead to deep isolation and despair.