The Grief Portal

Grief isn't only found in death. Sometimes it lives in the space between the life we imagined and the life we're actually living. In part two of my conversation with Sara, we talk about the grief of a lost trajectory—how her car accident at 19 and traumatic brain injury changed the course of her life. Together, we explore what it means to hold gratitude and grief at the same time, the ways anger can protect us from deeper sorrow, and how telling the truth about grief can become a doorway into tending what's underneath. My hope is that this conversation reminds you that you're allowed to grieve what didn't happen while still being present in the life that is here now. Mentioned in this episode: The Grief Portal Care Packages: Join the waitlist for the grief care packages mentioned in this episode at www.thegriefportalpodcast.com Stay connected: Follow The Grief Portal on Instagram at @thegriefportal for episode reflections, grief-tending practices, stories, and care package updates.

Content note: This conversation includes honest descriptions of witnessing death and being present during a loved one's final moments. In part one of my conversation with my friend Sara Howe, we begin with the loss of her grandmother, Betty—but her story opens into something much larger: what happens when we lose someone who felt like home. Together, we explore how grief lives in the body and the ways those we love continue to live through us. We also talk about the coping strategies that can surface when grief feels too big, learning to make room for sadness, and how allowing ourselves to feel grief can widen our capacity for joy. This is a conversation about continuing connection with our loved ones, inner-child grief, and learning to carry both the love and the loss as life continues to grow around us. Mentioned in this episode: Dani Hickman, Grief Notes Sara Howe's blog post, Early Stages of Grief and 8 Things that Have Helped Me The Grief Portal Care Packages: Join the waitlist for the grief care packages mentioned in this episode at www.thegriefportalpodcast.com Stay connected: Follow The Grief Portal on Instagram at @thegriefportal for episode reflections, grief-tending practices, stories, and care package updates.

*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:c68d5177-bca7-43f8-9c76-71c511442649-19" data-turn-id-container= "request-WEB:c68d5177-bca7-43f8-9c76-71c511442649-19" data-testid= "conversation-turn-38" data-turn="assistant"> What do we do in the meantime—when grief still feels impossibly heavy and we can't yet imagine that it will ever feel different? In this episode, I offer a few invitations for meeting yourself there: creating safety and grounding, releasing expectations around how long grief "should" take, and gently softening into what's present rather than fighting against it. We'll also explore the idea that grief moves on soul's time and how our capacity to be with sorrow can deepen as we continue tending it. I'll close with a simple body-led breathing practice for creating a little more spaciousness when grief is asking to be felt. Mentioned in this episode: Francis Weller Jan Richardson, How the Stars Get in Your Bones & Blessing in the Storm The Grief Portal Care Packages: Join the waitlist for the grief care packages mentioned in this episode at www.thegriefportalpodcast.com Stay connected: Follow The Grief Portal on Instagram at @thegriefportal for episode reflections, grief-tending practices, stories, and care package updates.

Grief asks more of us than simply finding ways to "get through it." In this solo episode, I explore what it means to cultivate a different relationship with grief—one rooted in presence, reverence, compassionate curiosity, and a willingness to let sorrow be here rather than continually trying to fix, reframe, or move beyond it. We'll talk about becoming a student of grief, welcoming grief as a companion, and finding simple ways to ground when what we're carrying feels bigger than us—from nature and movement to journaling, breath, body awareness, and the everyday rituals that remind us we are held. My hope is that this episode helps you find even one small place of steadiness where your grief can be held—not fixed. Mentioned in this episode: The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller Rosemerry Trommer, "For When People Ask" Holly Truhlar, "Spell for Endurance" The Grief Portal Care Packages: Join the waitlist for the grief care packages mentioned in this episode at www.thegriefportalpodcast.com Stay connected: Follow The Grief Portal on Instagram at @thegriefportal for episode reflections, grief-tending practices, stories, and care package updates.

In this opening episode, we explore the heart behind the podcast and what it means to enter the Grief Portal after sorrow ushers us across a threshold that changes who we are. Together, we'll explore grief not as something to overcome or move beyond, but as an experience that can feel disorienting, lonely, and overwhelming while also inviting us into a deeper relationship with ourselves. In this episode, we'll explore: What the Grief Portal means Common experiences within grief, including fear, exhaustion, anger, numbness, and disorientation The difference between pushing grief away and learning to engage with it How creating more spaciousness can help us tend to grief with compassion The intention behind this podcast and the community it hopes to cultivate Whether your grief has come through the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, illness, unmet expectations, or life unfolding differently than you imagined, you are welcome here. Thank you for being here. It's an honor to be your companion within the Grief Portal. The Grief Portal Care Packages: Learn more and join the waitlist for the grief care packages mentioned in this episode at www.thegriefportalpodcast.com Stay connected: Follow The Grief Portal on Instagram at @thegriefportal for episode reflections, grief-tending practices, stories, and updates on the care packages.

What if grief isn't something we move on from — but something we learn how to be in relationship with? The Grief Portal is a grief-tending podcast hosted by psychotherapist, author, and fellow griever Dani Hickman. Here, grief is not treated as a problem to solve, a stage to complete, or an experience we should hurry through. Instead, we explore what becomes possible when we create enough spaciousness in our bodies and our lives to actually meet what is here. Together, we'll explore grief through lived stories, conversations, ritual, somatic practices, reflection, and the wisdom of people who have learned to walk alongside sorrow. Some episodes will offer practices and new ways of tending grief. Some will hold stories of the thresholds grief has carried people across. Some will simply make room for the things we rarely know how to say out loud. Because the portal isn't only the loss itself. It is the threshold grief ushers us across. The person who enters is not exactly the same person who emerges. There is no timeline here. There is no hierarchy of grief. And there is no expectation that your suffering must become meaningful before you are ready. All gates of grief belong here. The hope is that when you leave an episode, you feel a little less alone, a little more resourced, and a little more courageous in your willingness to be with your own grief.