{"id":744074,"date":"2026-06-18T08:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/744074\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T08:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:20:11","slug":"when-my-brother-died-only-one-thing-helped-me-through-the-grief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/744074\/","title":{"rendered":"When my brother died, only one thing helped me through the grief"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growing up, my brother and I were always active<\/a>. We both played various sports most days after school, and from the age of three until my mid-twenties, I did ballet, tap and modern dance. I still danced when I was at uni; my ambition was to be on stage in the West End. <\/p>\n

Obviously, things didn\u2019t pan out that way, but exercise<\/a> is still a huge part of my life, partly because it gives me structure when the nature of my job means that my life is here, there and everywhere. If I have a boxing show or am presenting something else for work, without fail, I will do some kind of exercise<\/a>. It\u2019s an essential part of the set-up for my day: a bit of headspace plus an endorphin release<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"AnnaAnna Woolhouse\u2019s brother, Harry, who passed away 10 years ago (Anna Woolhouse)<\/p>\n

Running<\/a>, in particular, played a huge part in managing my grief<\/a> when I lost my brother 10 years ago. He was a chemical engineer living in Singapore when he was killed in a bus crash in Malaysia, where he was spending the weekend with friends kite-surfing in Redang. The bus flipped, and he was killed \u2013 he was the only one who died. It was devastating. <\/p>\n

My brother and I did a lot of runs together \u2013 so he is often in my head when I am running<\/a>. He was super fit; that is something we had a shared interest in, and we would always go for a run together. He also did ballet and dance, I am proud to say, as well as playing rugby.<\/p>\n

When I heard the news, the first thing I did was run, and I ran most days afterwards. It was partly to add structure to my day and to use the time to think \u2013 or deliberately not to think. It really helped me just to put one foot in front of the other. Running was a huge part of my grief<\/a> journey. It really helped in the chaos and became almost a non-negotiable for me. It is still a huge crutch for me; so much of my training is for my mental health<\/a>. Whenever I am feeling a bit wobbly, I reach for my trainers. I always say that once you step out the door, you never regret that workout. <\/p>\n

There is no time limit on grief; you just learn to live with it. I still have days now when I could be just walking along and a memory or reminder will hit me from nowhere, and I feel overwhelmed by sadness. But equally, I have moments of joy and so many good memories. <\/p>\n

Sadly, since my brother died, I have also lost my granddad and auntie and then my dad passed suddenly four years ago. Grieving is an ongoing process and everyone responds in a different way \u2013 there is no right or wrong way \u2013 but for me the one thing that really helps is exercise and being outside. <\/p>\n

When I heard the news, the first thing I did was run, and I ran most days afterwards. It was partly to add structure to my day and to use the time to think \u2013 or deliberately not to think<\/p>\n

It also helps with physical pain<\/a>. In 2017, I was diagnosed with endometriosis<\/a>, a chronic condition which causes tissue similar to the lining of the womb to grow outside of it, and the pain<\/a> is absolutely debilitating at times. There is less of a taboo around endometriosis<\/a> these days but 10 years ago it wasn\u2019t discussed and the delay in my diagnosis is similar to the experience of many other women: for many years when I went to the doctor, I was just told that I had heavy periods and offered the pill. <\/p>\n

\"AnnaAnna and her brother were always active, something that has stayed with her throughout her life (Anna Woolhouse)<\/p>\n

It was only when I paid to go privately that I had scans and the word endometriosis was mentioned. I had my first laparoscopy in 2017 and they removed a lot of endometrial tissue. I thought that would be it but sadly it grew back and I had another operation last year, when they discovered adenomyosis – where the tissue that lines the uterus grows into the muscular uterine wall: a double whammy. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had times when I was in front of the camera, and the pain was so bad that I thought I would pass out. It has literally taken my breath away. I put the first operation off for a long time \u2013 but I remember waking up 3am one night and was bent over in so much agony that I literally thought I was going to die. The operation did alleviate some symptoms, but sadly the only \u201ccure\u201d is a hysterectomy and I am not at that stage.<\/p>\n

My advice is always to find something that you enjoy. There is no point forcing yourself to go to a hardcore spin class if you hate cycling because you won\u2019t stick to it<\/p>\n

There is a mental health<\/a> aspect to managing a chronic condition and exercise has always been there. With endometriosis comes fertility struggles and all the things that go with that and the one constant through that, for me, has been some sort of exercise and fitness<\/a> regime. If I am in the thick of a painful episode, I don\u2019t go hell for leather, but moving does help with the pain: a gentle cycle or a walk. It gives me structure, release, and headspace. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe endometriosis diagnosis has given Anna a reason to slow down, but keeping moving does help with the pain (DAZN)<\/p>\n

And sometimes I train in a group because it is nice to be around people and have a bit of a community as well. Run clubs are becoming a really big thing \u2013 they are almost like the new dating apps! So if I can\u2019t be bothered to run on my own, I\u2019ll go and join a run club or an exercise class because I\u2019m around people and it\u2019s fun. I\u2019m also training for a triathlon <\/a>at the moment because I have worked out that I function better in terms of my training if I have a goal. <\/p>\n

For the past 20 years or so, I have done strength training and I\u2019m a big advocate of getting women to lift weights. The older you get, the more important it is for bone density. Plus, it makes you feel stronger and helps prevent injury. I know a lot of people think that exercise is not for them \u2013 maybe because they had a bad experience at school \u2013 and I am often asked how people can get started. My advice is always to find something that you enjoy. There is no point forcing yourself to go to a hardcore spin class if you hate cycling because you won\u2019t stick to it. <\/p>\n

I understand that walking into a gym can be intimidating, but once you get into a routine, it becomes easier. If the free weights area is too daunting, then a class is a good place to start because it\u2019s usually a motivational and safe space. <\/p>\n

There are no negatives to exercise. It prevents everything from diabetes and obesity to mental health issues. The more you do it, the better you will feel. There are literally no downsides: you will never ever regret a workout. And that is a fact. <\/p>\n

As told to Victoria Young<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Growing up, my brother and I were always active. We both played various sports most days after school,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":744075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[64,63,538,137],"class_list":["post-744074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/744075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=744074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=744074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}