Grief is a universal human experience, especially when it’s a collective grief we can all feel. And in those moments, in order for us to do our part in the world, we must also take care of ourselves. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and as grief and trauma therapist Gina Moffa, LCSW tells mindbodygreen. Collective trauma impacts everything down to our nervous system.

“With loss, there’s a profound full body experience we don’t fully understand,” she explains, adding, “Society’s always equated grief with the loss of a loved one, but it’s really triggered by so many things, and it can be incredibly deeply personal.”

Grief can be thought of as the felt loss of anything that is significant or important to us, according to Moffa, who recently authored Moving on Doesn’t Mean Letting Go: A Modern Guide To Navigating Loss. “Even the loss of safety—and that can can come from collective stuff, even if it’s not necessarily happening near us,” she adds.

Here’s what Moffa recommends to her clients who are feeling the impact of collective trauma and grief.