Walking Together in Sorrow

This is written in reference to the shooting at Annunciation Church in South Minneapolis on Wednesday, August 27th, 2025.

I was traveling when I heard the news this week.  My daughter and I were on the road, headed one last time to her campus for the start of her senior year.  While we listened in sadness and terror to the information and photos being published over the course of the week, we were shocked, grieving and fearful.  But we felt separation from it.  We were in our little capsule, able to dip in and out of the news as we could handle it.

But being back at my home in Minneapolis, just five minutes from the church, the grief and pain is palpable.  Our city has been through so much but this feels different.  These are our children.  They were just beginning, shining brightly with the promise of a new school year.  Sitting in the church service praying for love, support, comfort, joy and a new beginning.

Walking around the lake, being at the local grocery store, talking with neighbors - everything feels heavy.  I can feel the collective grief and pain of our entire community.  I’m on edge, tense and jittery.  Until I really settle in and feel into what’s happening for me, it seems like I’m just crabby.  But it’s the weight and sadness that is taking its toll.  

While there will be much to do in the days and weeks going forward - ways to stand up, ways to come together and ways to heal, I wanted to offer a few homeopathic remedies that can help you move through with greater ease.  I’m turning to these myself this weekend.

Arnica montana - the most well known remedy and one that’s used most commonly for physical trauma.  Typically used for bumps, bruising, overtraining, strains and accidents, this remedy is indicated when the body is tensed up, waiting for the next blow.  Often when asked how they are doing, a person who could heal from this remedy would reply, “I’m fine.  It’s all fine.  Everything is fine.”  Even though they clearly either emotionally or physically are not fine at all.

Aconitum napellus - one of the most common remedies for use after shock.  Typically used immediately following the shock but if the symptoms linger, this remedy is still indicated.  There can be flushes of heat in the face, numbness, anxiety, coldness alternating with intense fever, physical restlessness and panic.  It is as if the initial feeling of shock is still present. Sensitivity to loud noises, jumping at the slightest touch - these are indications that the nervous system is on high alert and is continuing to be in a state of shock.

Ignatia amara - one of the most common remedies for grief.  There is nothing that will take away the pain and incredible sadness of this horrific event.  I just wanted to be clear on this.  But using homeopathic remedies for intense emotions is helpful in allowing you to flow with the ups and downs of grief with more ease.  It will allow your body a relief from the tension and emotion held within the tissues and viscera.  Using this remedy can give some space between the acute experiences of grief in order to do things that need to be done - making meals, bathing, going to work, handling daily tasks.  

Using these remedies in a 30c potency, taking them up to every one to two hours, is a good place to begin with dosing.

Many people in our community are hurting right now.  Our instinct is to offer help to others when we see their pain.  This is a gentle invitation to put on your own oxygen mask first.  The road to healing this kind of trauma and this insidious propensity toward gun violence is long.  When we become weary, we cannot help others.  Remember to take care of yourself as a way of continuing to help others.  Say no to doing too much when you need rest.  Feel and nourish your body.  Rest.  Knowing that you are loved and caring for yourself is a small but radical act that moves toward healing the larger community.

Be loved,

Desirée