The Mindfulness & Grief Podcast

Coping With Grief During The Holidays

Let’s face it, the winter holidays can be particularly tough on us when we are grieving. What is supposed to be the happiest time of the year is anything but, as we are constantly reminded that someone is missing. During this episode author and thanatologist Heather Stang shares her favorite tips for coping with grief during the holidays to help you reduce your suffering, weave in the memory of your loved one, and approach this holiday season mindfully.

Healthy Lifestyles After Loss with Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki

Grief is a natural and healthy reaction, but if you are like most people, healthy is not a word you would use to describe how you eat or sleep when in the throes of loss. The stress of grief disrupts our sleep cycle, incites cravings for comfort food, and does not usually inspire physical activity. While this is normal behavior in the early period of loss, the sooner we can start taking care of our physical body, the sooner it will become our ally in our mental and emotional health. In this epis...

Widowed Parents with Justin Yopp, PhD

Coping with your own grief when a spouse dies is hard enough. But what do you do when on top of that you need to raise a grieving family, get everyone to school on time, pay all the bills, and run the household all on your own? These are just some of the challenges widowed parents face. While grief professionals may offer helpful insights, our guest and psychologist Dr. Justin Yopp explains why peer support groups for widowed parents may be one of the most helpful resources for bereaved fathers ...

Chakras in Grief & Trauma with Karla Helbert

Learn how the yogic chakras can help you navigate grief and trauma, whether you believe in them or not! In the 20th episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast, Karla Helbert explains how the chakra system can act as a model (or metaphor) to help us understand the energetic response to grief and trauma. She also shares tips to find balance during this chaotic time, and even closes the podcast with a guided meditation you can try at home (but not if you are driving please!). Just like having a...

Grief In The Workplace with R. Glenn Kelly

In the 19th episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast, R. Glenn Kelly (Ron) shares on the job self-care tips, as well insights into how business leaders and colleagues alike can cultivate a grief-literate work environment. A bereaved father and business leader, Ron is the author several books, including Grief in the Workplace and Sometimes I Cry In The Shower . For some, work can feel like a safe haven, a normal experience in the midst of the worst time in your life. But for most of us, the...

PauseFirst Project with Kim Colegrove

Kim Colegrove is the founder of the PauseFirst Project , which offers Mindfulness for First Responders, and was founded in honor of her husband, Special Agent David M. Colegrove, who died by suicide in 2014. Kim learned the practice of transcendental meditation at the age of ten. After her husband's death, Kim used her practice to cope with her own grief and loss. Now, with more than 40 years of practice under her belt, she is helping police, firefighters, EMS, paramedics, dispatchers, correctio...

Liberate Your Grief with Claire Hoffman

At the age of 38, Claire Hoffman became a widow when her husband experienced a drug overdose. A mother of one, Claire describes this event as having a butterfly effect over her entire world. In an effort to cope with the loss and gain wisdom and insight, Claire has gathered together grief experts from around the world for the Liberate Your Grief Spotcast, a 5 day event offering hope and healing to anyone who has experienced a major loss. Learn more about Claire at http://liberateyourgrief.com ....

Pet Loss & Grief with David Roberts, LMSW

Pet loss is often a grief dismissed by people who have not formed a deep bond with an animal, but those of us who have non-human best friend know the love and heartache that comes when a special pet dies. In the sixteenth episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast we explore our deep love for our pets, why we mourn them, and how they can help us feel connected to our deceased loved ones when they are alive. Guest Dave Roberts, LMSW, shares how two cats, Bootsy & Angel, helped him cope wi...

Grief Dreams with Joshua Black, Ph.D.

In the fifteenth episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast , we dive deep into the world of grief and dreams with author and grief dream researcher Joshua Black, Ph.D. If you have ever wanted to know more about your grief dreams, or have wondered why you have not had one yet, this episode is for you. Dr. Black shares the three different types of dreams that occur after loss, plus the different themes that have emerged in his studies of spouse/partner loss, pet loss, and prenatal loss relate...

Grief Day by Day Author Interview with Jan Warner

In the fourteenth episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast, I interview Jan Warner, author of Grief Day by Day: Simple Practices and Daily Guidance for Living With Loss . During this episode, Jan shares how her deep love for her husband Artie lives on, how to deal with people who just don't understand, and how Grief Day by Day can help you become your own "grief whisperer." What I love about this interview with Jan is her honest and unfiltered view of life after loss that balances the real...

Songs That Heal with Molly G. Hicks, MMT, MT-BC

In the thirteenth episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast, I interview Molly Hicks, music therapist and bereavement counselor with Penn Wissahickon Hospice in the Philadelphia, PA area, where she serves adult bereavement clients through individual counseling and support groups. During this episode, Molly shares the principles of music therapy, and how music can help you cope with grief and express how you really feel. 13:22 minutes in, you will also get to hear Molly's original recording ...

A Father's Journey with Dave Roberts

Walking With Our Loved Ones With Laurie Cameron of Purpose Blue

In the eleventh episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast , I interview Laurie Cameron, author of The Mindful Day , founder of Purpose Blue , and certified meditation teacher. She shares mindful ways we can navigate the emotions that accompany grief, reconnect with ourselves, and continue to relate to the people in our lives that we mourn. Learn more about Laurie Cameron and join her community at at http://www.lauriejcameron.com. Show Notes from Heather Grief can make us feel like our loved...

Feeding Our Grief with Maria Mora of Integrated Eating

In the tenth episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast , I interview Maria Mora, a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian. She shares ways we can help our body help itself by giving it the proper nutrition, and how we can use self-compassion to work with an eating disorder or disordered eating during grief. When we have had a major loss, nourishing our body can feel like a struggle. Many of us will feel nauseous just at the thought of food, while others will use food to distract fro...

Children & Grief with Jana DeCristofaro of The Dougy Center

In the ninth episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast , we learn helpful and compassionate ways we can help children cope with grief. More importantly, we learn how to help them help themselves, so they can build coping skills that will last a lifetime. Jana DeCristofaro, LCSW and Community Response Program Coordinator of The Dougy Center shares her wisdom on Children & Grief, including how peer support can empower children, and the many ways we can help at home and at school. Find res...

The HOPE Process with Hope Zvara

Hope Zvara has turned her suffering into a mission: Help Others Purposefully Excel by using the three Bs: Breathe, Body, and Belief. In this episode, you will learn how Hope turned to yoga and mindfulness to help her overcome her struggle with bulimia as a young woman, and manage the pain after her first born daughter Faith died only twenty minutes after her birth. Listen and then learn more about Hope & her work at http://hopezvara.com .

Mindfulness & Grief with Heather Stang

Meditation for grief can help you cope with the pain and overwhelming emotions of loss, provide much needed self-care, as well as find new footing in your very changed world. It may even lead to posttraumatic growth. Author Heather Stang discusses the second edition of her book, Mindfulness & Grief, with guest host Karla Helbert. Learn more about Heather & her work at http://mindfulnessandgrief.com .

Compassion & Creativity for Grief with Claudia Coenen of The Karuna Project

When her husband died unexpectedly while on vacation together, Claudia Coenen felt as though she was hovering above herself, thinking "Your life has radically changed, now what?" She used every resource - journaling, poetry, crafts, dancing and moving meditation - and eventually studied grief theory and counseling. In the sixth episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast, Claudia, offers creative and compassionate practices from her new book, Shattered by Grief: Picking Up the Pieces to Becom...

Passed & Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive with Allison Gilbert

Learn inspiring ways to celebrate family & friends and the importance of actively engaging in your grief-work from Allison Gilbert, author of Passed & Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive and Emmy Award Winning Journalist. Learn more about Allison and subscribe to her newsletter at http://allisongilbert.com.

Always My Hero: Reflections on Sibling Loss From a Gold Star Sister with Renee Nickell

Renee Nickell, Author of Always My Hero, shares how equine therapy & evening devotions help her find hope & healing following her brother's death in Afghanistan. Learn more about her at http://reneenickell.com.

Ahimsa: The Yogic Path to Self-Care During Grief with Karla Helbert

Yoga for Grief & Loss author Karla Helbert, LPC, shares how the yogic practice of non-violence, called "ahimsa," can help us be our own best friend during the difficult days, months and years after a major loss. Drawing from her own experience as a bereaved mother, a yoga therapist, and specialist in traumatic grief, Karla shares how she applies the principle of "ahimsa" to her own waves of grief over a decade after her loss, and how you can start your own practice in just minutes a day. Lea...

Find Your Inner Wisdom Through Grief With The Kindness Rocks Project featuring Megan Murphy

Heather Stang interviews Megan Murphy of The Kindness Rocks Project , and explores how painting rocks and spreading kindness can help us maintain a connection with our departed loved ones and tap into our own inner wisdom as we navigate life after loss. Hear how one woman's grief experience unexpectedly launched a worldwide movement, and how you can be a part of the mission to offer "one message of kindness at just the right moment" to yourself and your community....

Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness with David A. Treleaven, Ph.D.

Heather Stang interviews David A. Treleaven, Ph.D., author of " Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, " for an closer look at the intersection of grief, trauma, and mindfulness, so you can understand the benefits and pitfalls before you practice. Mindfulness meditation is highly praised for helping people reduce physical, emotional, and psychological suffering. But when trauma is involved, mindfulness needs to be handled with care, modified, or outright avoided. Please subscribe to the Mindfulness and G...