Holidays can be tender when the world expects sparkle and your heart feels heavy. In this episode, I begin with warm Thanksgiving wishes and then get honest about why December needs to be slower: to protect our energy, honor real limits, and let grief breathe without apology. 

Instead of pushing through, we talk about what easing up actually looks like—fewer commitments, simpler routines, and permission to choose rest over perfection.

I share why nervous system care matters when you’re carrying loss, and how small comforts offer real relief. Think weighted blankets, a hot drink, a walk outside, a few minutes watching kids play, or a favorite comedian to coax a laugh. These aren’t distractions; they’re grounding tools that tell your body it’s safe to soften.

 We also explore the myths that keep people stuck—the idea that grief has a deadline, that other people get to judge your pace, or that you must keep producing like nothing happened. You don’t. Your timeline is yours.

Looking ahead, I announce a lighter release schedule in December and a return for season two in January. 

This community is building a healthier culture around loss—one honest conversation at a time. 

If you’re grieving, I’m holding space for you. If someone you love is hurting, we have discussed ways to show up: bring something warm, handle a chore, sit in quiet company, and ask what would help today. 

Subscribe to stay close as we continue this work, share this episode with someone who needs gentle support, and leave a review to help more people find tools for hard seasons. Your presence here matters.

I am here for you. 

Frances, The Caring Death Doula.

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In this episode, we acknowledge a week where losses stacked up—canceled plans, a dream that slipped away, and a mentor relationship that ended. We share how grief lives in the body, why rest is needed, and how small choices protect energy while we find the next step.

• naming layered grief from canceled plans, lost dreams, and relationship endings
• validating physical sadness and emotional fatigue
• simple body-based tools for nervous system relief
• choosing texts over calls to conserve energy
• dropping guilt about productivity during grief
• understanding depression as a normal phase of grief
• respecting that grief has no timetable
• taking honest next steps without forced positivity

If this episode met you where you are at, share it with someone who needs gentleness today and leave a review to help others find these conversations. Your sharing helps build a space where grief is met with care and not a calendar. 

~ The Caring Death Doula

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In this episode, we discuss how when holidays, birthdays, and family celebrations collide with loss, the result can be a confusing mix of love, pressure, and exhaustion. We walk through a compassionate, practical approach to navigating celebration when your heart is heavy—without forcing a smile, apologizing for tears, or following someone else’s timeline.

We start with permission: there’s no map for mourning, and your way is valid. From there, we explore gentle tools you can tailor to your needs. Writing a private letter to your person—or to your future self—creates space for the memories, anger, gratitude, and questions that don’t fit at the table. Then we offer ideas to consider: setting an empty chair, sharing one story, or serving a favorite recipe.  If that feels like too much, we scale it down to small experiments, like saying their name in a calm moment. 

Family dynamics often complicate even the best intentions, so we share language to set expectations with care. Propose an opt‑in time for remembrance so those who want to participate can gather, and those who aren’t ready can step back without judgment. 

Each idea is an invitation, not a rule, designed to help you carry love forward rather than “move on.”

By the end, you’ll have a toolkit for the weeks ahead: options for remembrance, scripts for boundary‑setting, and reassurance that connection doesn’t end when a life ends. 

If this helped, follow the show, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help others find support when the season feels heavy.

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The calendar says it’s time to celebrate, but your heart and body might be telling a different story. We open up about how grief doesn’t just live in feelings—it settles into muscles, breath, and the nervous system, and it can get louder around holidays and big traditions. Rather than forcing yourself to “move on,” we explore a kinder approach: learning to carry love forward while caring for your body’s limits.

I share simple, repeatable practices that calm the nervous system when the season feels overwhelming: grounding breath before gatherings, short walks to release tension, and small rituals that create a sense of safety. From there, we lean into the power of words. You’ll hear practical ways to use journaling to give shape to heavy emotions and make sense of mixed feelings. 

We also walk through letter-writing as a healing ritual. Write to your God, to the person you miss, or to yourself, and say the things that need saying: the joy, the absence, the way traditions ache and still matter. Set the letter aside for days or months, then return to witness how you’ve changed.

If the season feels too bright for your eyes right now, you’re not alone. Press play for gentle guidance, grounded practices, and words that make room for both pain and celebration. If this resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who is grieving, and leave a review to help others find support.

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Some days a scent in a store aisle, a word in a meeting, a song on the radio—and your chest tightens, your thoughts race, and a memory barges in uninvited.

 We call it activation, and it can make ordinary moments feel impossible. I’m talking through what activation is, and how to meet it with a plan that actually works.

We start with the nervous system and why breath, touch, and orientation can interrupt the alarm. I share simple, discreet tools you can use anywhere: a longer exhale, a hand on your heart, a quiet phrase like I am safe. I encourage you to prepare for these times by checking out last week’s episodes where we went into more detail of ways to release the grief we hold in our bodies. Know yourself and have a few ways in your tool chest for when activation happens. For it will. 

Then we get honest about the social side. People can’t read our history. A shirt color or a plant on a desk might be a landmine for one person and nothing to another. Instead of demanding a bubble-wrapped world, we prepare a small safety plan, prime your system before known stressors, and have an exit or pause strategy for when it hits.

You’ll hear a candid example from grief educator training that shows how wildly different activation points can be, and why compassion and practicality must go hand in hand. 

If you are longing for grounded, realistic support you can carry into work, family gatherings, or the grocery store, this conversation offers gentle guidance and actionable steps to help you feel steadier, even when the world doesn’t change.

If this helped, follow the show, share it with someone who might need it today, and leave a short review so more grieving hearts can find these tools.

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We explore how grief lives in the body and why the nervous system is the doorway to healing, rest, and safety. Simple tools like touch, movement, breath, sound, connection, and tears help shift from overwhelm to regulation.

• grief as a physiological experience held in the body
• nervous system as protector and pathway to healing
• soothing touch, hugs, and the butterfly hug
• movement and shaking to complete stress cycles
• grounding in nature, water, and the healing power of tears
• breath practices including box breathing and hand-on-heart
• sound therapy through music, harp, nature such as rain, and frequencies
• building safety and connection to allow rest and recovery
• listening to body signals with compassion and consistency
• resources, guides, and support for deeper practice

Please share this episode with someone you know who's grieving. Join me in this movement to change how the world views and handles grief and those grieving. 

If you want to go deeper with a guided journal, reach out to me. [email protected]

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In today’s episode, we explore how grief shows up in the body and why physical symptoms like tightness, shallow breathing and brain fog are normal responses to loss. We guide simple practices—butterfly hug, shaking, and box breathing—to help the nervous system find safety.

• recap of grief’s physical signs and why they occur
• reassurance that symptoms are normal, not a flaw needing to be fixed 
• butterfly hug for grounding 
• shaking to discharge stress and release tension
• box breathing to steady breath and heart rate
• tips for using practices at home, work, or anywhere
• encouragement to listen to the body and build trust

I am the caring death doula and I am here for you. If this helped please subscribe, leave a review and tell me which practice you will use this week. Please share what shifts with you and help someone find these tools by passing along this episode. Thank you.

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Grief isn’t just emotional - living in our thoughts only. It inhabits our breath, our bones, and the spaces between heartbeats. When the mind can’t carry the weight of loss, the body takes over—ramping into fight or flight, collapsing into numbness, or quietly storing pain in tight jaws, aching shoulders, and uneasy stomachs. 

In this episode, we walk through these patterns with care, naming what so many feel but rarely have words for, and show how the nervous system tries to protect us even when it feels like it’s working against us.

You’ll hear a clear map of the body’s grief responses: the wired-but-tired urgency of anxiety, the heavy fog of freeze, and the somatic signals that appear as headaches, throat tightness, and disrupted sleep. We dig into why breath becomes shallow, why spontaneous sighs matter, and how loss can make even familiar rooms feel unfamiliar. 

To support healing, I share three simple practices you can use right away: hand on heart, slow exhale breathing, and grounding with bare feet in grass. Pairing gentle words—“I’m safe, I’m okay, what I feel is okay”—with steady breath begins to regulate the nervous system and restore a felt sense of safety. 

If you’ve wondered whether your aches, restlessness, or sudden fatigue might be grief, this conversation offers validation, language, and a path forward. 

Press play, try the practices with me, and share this with someone who needs a softer way to meet their loss. If this resonated, subscribe, leave a review, and share with me what your body has been trying to say.

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We share why grief has no timeline and how changing roles, endings, and losses can erase the map of your life. We offer a challenge to show up for others  and become the presence we once needed.

• grief as lost roles, dreams, and deaths
• why support fades after ceremonies
• there is no timeline but your own
• how to redraw your life map with care
• being a buffer against pressure to move on
• simple ways to show up month after month
• replacing shame with compassion and presence

Grief is hard, but let’s not walk it alone. Let’s do this journey together. There is no timeline but your own.

If this episode helped you in any way, Please share with others. Rate the show or leave a review so others can find this podcast. Email me with your stories. I’d love to share about your loved one in a future episode. 

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When loss rearranges your life, it’s easy to wonder whether you’re grieving “the right way.” We open a calm, safe space to remind you that there is no right way—only your way. 

If you wake up angry, cry at noon, and laugh by evening, that mix is not a mistake. It’s a sign that your heart is still working, carrying love and absence at the same time.

Together we acknowledge that grief is exhausting work. It takes energy and what you feel can be all over the place.

You’ll hear repeated permission to feel without apology—tears without explanation, laughter without guilt, quiet without pressure to perform.

If you need a companion on a hard day, this conversation sits with you, not to fix your pain but to honor it. Expect validation for mixed emotions, and a reminder that you are not alone. 

Press play for grounded comfort from a caring death doula who walks beside you through the fog and helps you find a rhythm that respects your limits and your love.

If this episode helped you feel seen, follow the show, share it with someone who needs a gentle word today, and leave a review so more people can find this support.

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