Our natural response to grief / painful feelings is to push them aside. Instead, we often try to draw in that which feels good and comfortable. This keeps us removed from our emotions and doesn't help. Tonglen meditation, an old Buddhist meditation technique, teaches you to breathe in that which is uncomfortable, and breathe out healing - for yourself and others. The purpose is to work with emotions that destabilize us. This might feel counter-intuitive to some, but try it, it dissolves the fixation and clinging of the ego and helps you to understand the impersonal nature of suffering and pleasure.