When's the last time you asked for help?  This short episode touches on our interconnectedness and the importance that we all play in each other's lives, as well as a time-sensitive request:  Lauren's casting a net to help build a care support team for her friend undergoing a bone marrow transplant.  If you or anyone you know is available for a unique caregiving opportunity near Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for mid-April through mid-June 2024, whether it be a nurse, retiree, or someone simply with a big heart and a flexible schedule, please contact Lauren directly at [email protected]

Any leads are greatly appreciated.

You can connect with Lauren on Instagram via @lauren.samay and @mymourningroutinepodcast, on Facebook @lauren.samay.coaching or through www.laurensamay.com

If you are tuning in and finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to rate and review My Mourning Routine on Apple Podcasts-- it means so much and helps make a bigger, connecting splash in the podcasting pond:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mourning-routine/id1654068541

Sign up for Lauren's newsletter here.

Spring is nigh, daffodils are popping, and it's time to let life flow!  Lauren shares how learning to recognize and accept all parts of your being is imperative for stepping through the threshold into the next season of your blooming.

You can connect with Lauren on Instagram via @lauren.samay and @mymourningroutinepodcast, on Facebook @lauren.samay.coaching or through www.laurensamay.com

If you are tuning in and finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to rate and review My Mourning Routine on Apple Podcasts-- it means so much and helps make a bigger, connecting splash in the podcasting pond:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mourning-routine/id1654068541

Sign up for Lauren's newsletter here.

In this episode, Artist + Intuitive Medium Allison Pharmakis shares how she has come to find beauty and deeper connections in loss; how grief has shifted the ways she interacts with humans, at large; what led her to fully embrace and offer mediumship; and how Spirit is ever-present and ready to be of service, if we know how to invite it in.

Pharmakis has possessed the unique gift of connecting with the deceased since her childhood.  She is a facilitator of healing between the living and the dead, and uses automatism (spirit guided writing and drawing) to help channel and connect the past and the present.  Although this was an intuitive ability bestowed upon her, she fine tuned her role as vehicle and vessel.  As a teenager, Pharmakis realized that utilizing the medium of automatic drawing helped her to see her visions more clearly.  She uses the medium of automatism to connect with spirits, as well as the Tarot.

Her Visual Mediumship Sessions and Multi-Deck Intuitive Tarot Readings are hands-on and intimate, yet create a safe environment for beginners, and the more experienced, alike.  During each Visual Mediumship Session - which is tailored and personalized to her client - Pharmakis creates an original piece of artwork.  She not only aims to heal and inspire, but to supply her clients with the tools to integrate the experience and to strengthen themselves from within.

Allison is part of a large team of Psychics, Mediums and Federal Agents (Find Me Group) who assist law enforcement task forces by helping to locate missing people internationally.

You can connect with Lauren on Instagram via @lauren.samay and @mymourningroutinepodcast, on Facebook @lauren.samay.coaching or through www.laurensamay.com

If you are tuning in and finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to rate and review My Mourning Routine on Apple Podcasts-- it means so much and helps make a bigger, connecting splash in the podcasting pond:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mourning-routine/id1654068541

Sign up for Lauren's newsletter here.

This is a short episode to remind you to keep things in perspective.  Lauren's behind on recording this week, shares why, and how choosing a less reactive response to things that happen in life helps maintain one's peace-- because who doesn't need that?!

You can connect with Lauren on Instagram @lauren.samay and @mymourningroutinepodcast, on Facebook @lauren.samay.coaching or through www.laurensamay.com

If you are tuning in and finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to rate and review My Mourning Routine on Apple Podcasts-- it means so much and helps make a bigger, connecting splash in the podcasting pond:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mourning-routine/id1654068541

Sign up for Lauren's newsletter here.

A special Valentine's Day message... with a twist!  Freshly emerging from a silent retreat, Lauren introduces a concept she resonated with that was shared by a fellow participant and ties it to a Hallmark Holiday.  It's a short episode that very well may change the entire course of your life!  No joke. 

You can connect with Lauren on Instagram @lauren.samay and @mymourningroutinepodcast, on Facebook @lauren.samay.coaching or through www.laurensamay.com

If you are tuning in and finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to rate and review My Mourning Routine on Apple Podcasts-- it means so much and helps make a bigger, connecting splash in the podcasting pond:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mourning-routine/id1654068541

Sign up for Lauren's newsletter here.

In this tearful episode, Lauren reflects on recent highs and lows of life that she experienced in a matter of hours: from meaningful connections to news of a friend's death, and dancing her way through it all.  This vast spectrum of emotion is Life-- will you let it inspire you to lean into living, just a little (or substantially) more?  

You can connect with Lauren on Instagram @lauren.samay and @mymourningroutinepodcast, on Facebook @lauren.samay.coaching or through www.laurensamay.com

If you are tuning in and finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to rate and review My Mourning Routine on Apple Podcasts-- it means so much and helps make a bigger, connecting splash in the podcasting pond:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mourning-routine/id1654068541

Sign up for Lauren's newsletter here.

Shawn Decker is a musician, author and internet pioneer and has commandeered a life driven by creativity and shaped by medical adversity.  Diagnosed with HIV at age 11, before the advent of the effective treatments, Shawn’s parents were told that he had six months-to-two-years to live.  That was in 1987.

At age 14, he skipped his exams to meet Depeche Mode through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  He was crowned Homecoming King at Waynesboro High School in Virginia in 1992, and credits his poor attendance record for the win.

At age 20, Shawn opened up about living with HIV by posting one of the first online blogs in 1996. After moving from Waynesboro to Charlottesville, Virginia, Shawn fell in love with the local music scene and, most importantly, a fellow HIV educator, Gwenn. 

Educating together as a sero-diverse couple- where one partner is HIV positive and the other is HIV negative- Shawn and Gwenn have shared their love story with millions of people.  And in some very unique ways.  From educational programming on the BBC, MTV, VH1 and even Hong Kong TV, to a Bed In in a Grand Central Station storefront on World AIDS Day.  Their candor, humor and openness inspired the inclusion of a sero-diverse couple’s storyline on the scripted MTV series, Shuga which has educated teenagers and young adults around the world. 

Shawn has been a contributing writer for Poz Magazine since 1997 and his humorous memoir, My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure, was published by the Penguin Group in 2006.  From 1992 until 2022, he wrote and performed music as Synthetic Division, cutting his teeth in the basement of Tokyo Rose restaurant, an iconic Charlottesville music scene. His new band, Nouveau Vintage, makes their debut on March 9 at the Please Don’t Tell Album Release party, sharing the stage with Charming Disaster and DJ Cadybug.  This Spirit Ball takes place at the Southern Cafe & Music Hall in downtown Charlottesville, VA.

In this episode, Shawn talks about his life; the importance of breaking down the stigma and discrimination around HIV; his thoughts on death and living; how music has influenced and supported him through many ups and downs; the song that his mother used to contact him from beyond the grave; words of wisdom; and what lies ahead.

You can connect with Shawn, his writings, and music at shawnandgwenn.com; raredisease.net ; poz.com and through Instagram @shawndecker & @nouveauvintagemusic

You can connect with Lauren on Instagram @lauren.samay and @mymourningroutinepodcast, on Facebook @lauren.samay.coaching or through www.laurensamay.com

If you are tuning in and finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to rate and review My Mourning Routine on Apple Podcasts-- it means so much and helps make a bigger, connecting splash in the podcasting pond:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mourning-routine/id1654068541

Sign up for Lauren's newsletter here.

Marsha Gray Hill was born and raised in Kinston, North Carolina, before marrying her husband, Gregg, and becoming Mrs. Marsha Hill in 1976.  Her adventurous life of raising five children alongside her eldest son’s burgeoning professional tennis career included lots of love and way too many drives down I-95 in a massive Southwind camper.

Fifteen grandchildren later, Marsha is still a southern girl, splitting her time between Georgia and Florida.  Her family is her pride and joy, and while caring for her mother throughout the COVID pandemic, she experienced firsthand what it’s like to advocate for a deteriorating parent.

This experience inspired her to become a voice for compassion and human dignity, which led her to write her debut book, Grief and Grit(s): A Daughter’s Journey of Love and Loss When the World Was Upside-Down, published by Forefront Books and distributed by Simon and Schuster-- hitting shelves far and wide on February 13, 2024!

In this episode, Marsha shares her touching story of caring for her mother with Alzheimer's in the especially challenging time of early-Covid-19; how this experience led her to write a book, both to honor her mother and be a source of support for caretakers and grievers alike; and offers words of advice for anyone facing the responsibility of caring for a loved one who is no longer able to advocate for themselves.  

You may connect with Marsha through her website:  https://marshagrayhill.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshagrayhill/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marshagrayhill

You can connect with Lauren on Instagram @lauren.samay and @mymourningroutinepodcast, on Facebook @lauren.samay.coaching or through www.laurensamay.com

If you are tuning in and finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to rate and review My Mourning Routine on Apple Podcasts-- it means so much and helps make a bigger, connecting splash in the podcasting pond:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mourning-routine/id1654068541

Sign up for Lauren's newsletter  here.

The world is war-ridden; scores of innocent people are dead and actively dying.  What can we do, when we feel powerless in the face of human suffering?  Mother Teresa said "Small things done with great love will change the world." 

Here, Lauren invites you to three minutes of silence, to strengthen our collective heart-centered-consciousness and tap into the most loving stream of energy to send out to those whose lives have been completely devastated by the most unimaginable losses.  May our collective light fuse and grow brighter, for the sake of humanity.

Sign up for Lauren's newsletter  here.

You can connect with Lauren on Instagram @lauren.samay and @mymourningroutinepodcast, on Facebook @lauren.samay.coaching or through www.laurensamay.com

If you are tuning in and finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to rate and review My Mourning Routine on Apple Podcasts-- it means so much and helps make a bigger, connecting splash in the podcasting pond:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mourning-routine/id1654068541

"Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives."

Last week, in Episode 57, Re-envisioning by Releasing: How to Make Space for the New, by Courageously Letting Go of the Old , Lauren spoke about how many people use the New Year as a time to re-envision what they would like to bring into their lives.  But there's an often over-overlooked step needed to welcome all that is waiting: Make space for the new!  This episode is about examining what you would like to make space FOR, while remembering that life is swiftly passing, like sands through an hourglass. 

The world needs you doing the little things that light you up, so that you can light the way for others, and share and strengthen the love that is so desperately needed on this earth, far and wide.  What's one thing that you can do TODAY to awaken your spirit?

Listen to the music of We Are Star Children here.

To learn more about the significance of being a Star child, the gift of being in a band during Lauren's journey through grief, and how music has been a buoy to her spirits, Listen to My Mourning Routine Podcast, Episode 31: We Are Star Children here.

Sign up for Lauren's newsletter  here.

You can connect with Lauren on Instagram @lauren.samay and @mymourningroutinepodcast, on Facebook @lauren.samay.coaching or through www.laurensamay.com

If you are tuning in and finding value in these episodes, please take a moment to rate and review My Mourning Routine on Apple Podcasts-- it means so much and helps make a bigger, connecting splash in the podcasting pond:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mourning-routine/id1654068541