Dealing with grief through running

Hyderabad: Grief is a hard road to navigate and although running won’t provide all the answers, it helps many to find a way forward during the most painful periods of their lives. Says Johannah Hall, a communications manager in an IT company from Hyderabad, “we have the power to make our own choices about our […]

Hyderabad: Grief is a hard road to navigate and although running won’t provide all the answers, it helps many to find a way forward during the most painful periods of their lives.

Says Johannah Hall, a communications manager in an IT company from Hyderabad, “we have the power to make our own choices about our health and happiness and all you have to do is take the first step.”

Ahead of the Hyderabad Marathon on Saturday and Sunday, Johannah Hull says that running gave her the courage, strength, and confidence to take back control of her life and health after the loss of her 19-month-old baby boy.

“Though some of us may have friends and families to lean on during tough times, at the end of the day, we’re the ones who go to bed trying to make sense of the void we’re left with. Running became my guiding light towards healing. I needed something to hold on to, a reason to keep going even when it hurt too much,’ she says.

Johannah says that running and completing many 5Ks and 10K runs have helped improve her mental health. “I have days that are hard, but I also have days that are incredibly beautiful. And for me, running is remembering and noticing my boy everywhere I go, is living,” she says.