161: New Life Perspectives with Liz Larson and Bill McKenna - it's all about The hidden Grief Pattern161: New Life Perspectives with Liz Larson and Bill McKenna - it's all about The hidden Grief Pattern
UK Health Radio Podcast
Liz Larson and Bill McKenna talk about grief as a hidden pattern in the nervous system that can drive illness, fatigue and life choices. They describe how physical signs, social expectations and repeated rumination reveal unresolved grief, and share how their Cogno Movement System aims to help the body release these patterns.
46:22•18 May 2026
The Hidden Grief Pattern: How Unresolved Loss Shapes Your Body and Your Life
Episode Overview
- Grief is described as a repeating pattern in the nervous system that drains energy and can affect physical health, including the heart, lungs and immune system.
- Major shocks like bereavement, betrayal or divorce, as well as quieter losses such as ageing or missed opportunities, can all set up long-term grief patterns.
- The body often shows grief through heaviness in the chest, tight throat, collapsed posture, fatigue and recurrent respiratory or sinus issues.
- Social expectations about how a ‘proper’ grieving person should act can keep people stuck in pain and judged if they don’t fit the script.
- The Cogno Movement System is presented as a way to help the body recognise and rewrite these patterns so that past loss no longer dominates the present.
“"Our body will express for us the emotion that we can't process."”
What can we learn from those who have battled grief that lingers long after the loss? This UK Health Radio episode with hosts Liz Larson and Bill McKenna looks at grief as a "pattern" in the nervous system that can shape health, mood and even life choices for years. Instead of treating grief as just an emotion, Liz and Bill talk about it as a repeat loop the body keeps trying to solve.
They link unprocessed grief to inflammation, chronic fatigue, lung issues, stubborn infections and even serious illnesses appearing months after a major loss.
As Bill puts it, "our body will express for us the emotion that we can't process." They share stories of heart surgeons who’ve noticed a “broken heart” backstory in every serious cardiac case, examples of aggressive cancers following emotional shocks, and everyday losses that often go unseen – ageing, missed opportunities, lost dreams, or the end of a relationship. You’ll hear how these quieter losses can still fuel a low-level sadness, resentment and a sense of life having “stopped”.
Liz and Bill also unpack how society expects people to grieve in very specific ways, even to the point where someone who doesn’t “act right” is treated as suspicious. They contrast this with cultures that treat death as a celebration, showing how our nervous systems can get stuck trying to meet those social rules while silently breaking down inside.
Central to the conversation is their Cogno Movement System, which they say uses movement and focused attention to show the body its own patterns and help it “rewrite the code”. They describe people releasing long-held grief in surprisingly short sessions, shifting from being trapped in the past to being able to feel okay about life again.
They close by talking about their intensive Mount Shasta event, where participants systematically work through layers from shame and guilt up to joy and peace. It leaves a clear question hanging: how much of your energy is tied up in grief you haven’t yet recognised?
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