With everything that is going on in the world right now, In this new episode, I am just doing a general check-in on our hearts and where we are at in this moment in time. As an introduction to the topic: what pain and grief taught me through heartbreak, a topic I will be exploring into more depth in a part 2, I start by sharing with the listeners how I have been doing the past month and why I have been absent here. I then introduce a little bit the listeners to what I will be talking about during part 2 and I end the episode with some prompt or questions for listeners to reflect on their own relationship with grief, how have they been tending to their body and if they've been able to be present with themselves lately amidst all the intensity in the world right now. 

In this part two episode on grief, I am joined by my dear friend and sister Victoria Cernjak. Victoria and I's friendship started while we were both going through a massive spiritual transformation and we were on our own individual healing journey. We met purely by Divine providence when we both signed up for a year long program and it included a 5 days in person retreat in Halifax. We ended up being roommates and that first day we met, we talked non-stop. It felt like we've known each other many lifetimes before and we were finally being reunited in this one. We became very close friends ever since, chatting on the phone almost every day. Victoria and I talk about pretty much everything and we've had so many deep conversations over the years. Actually one of our intimate conversations inspired the start of this podcast, and that's why she had to be my first special guest. 

During this particular episode, we start with an introduction of the guest, then talk a bit about our friendship before diving into our conversation on grief. And believe me, it is really just that, a conversation with a dear friend, where we explore her recent experience of loss and how she navigated her grief. We've talked for instance about her previous and current relationship to grief; what surprised her most about her grief this time around; how grief moves through her body; and what tools and rituals have been most supportive to her in expressing her grief. 

I can't wait for you to discover this magical woman and I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we've enjoyed recording it. 

It is interesting how we all have the capacity to feel grief but grief can sometimes feel like such an isolating experience because we are too often afraid to be vulnerable and honest with ourselves and others about the depth of our emotional state. So, we often experience grieve and don’t really let ourselves mourn. 

Mourn not just the loss of a loved one but the old versions of us who died in our process of becoming, our journey of transformation. The old versions who are longing to be acknowledged, witnessed and sometimes even celebrated for having carried us through life until now.  

In this episode I explore grief and how grief had the ability to change us, shake us, bring us to our knees, move us, uproot us, and in the end, deepen us and break our hearts open to more love if we allow it to. I provide a potential pathway to embody grief in a way that heals us and gives us permission to let go of the past through Ancestral rituals examples from the Akan culture. 

In this debut episode, I share a little bit about my story and introduce you to the Liberated Self podcast. This is the first of many episodes, where we explore topics like personal transformation, the complexity of being a human and a woman, emotional alchemy, grief, pain, love as well as the concept of home and belonging. This podcast is for all the deep feelers, tender hearts, highly sensitive and multifaceted Souls like me out there, especially those who are afraid to fully feel and struggle to be present to themselves as well as their intense emotions. Also, this is for anyone curious to explore, uncover and understand their inner emotional world because they are longing to return home to themselves, trust and feel safe again in their bodies.