Widows, widowers, and anyone who has lost a partner knows just how hard it is to cope with grief on Valentine's Day. Claudia Coenen, widow and creative grief counselor, shares creative ways to cope with grief and heartache on Valentine's Day, as well as activities and practices to honor and celebrate you love that undeniably very much present. She also shares tips from her upcoming book release, The Creative Toolkit for Working with Grief and Bereavement: A Practitioner's Guide. Heather Stang's guided meditation, a Journey To Your Heart Center, follows the interview. Both Heather and Claudia hope this special Valentine's Day edition of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast will bring you some peace.

• Shattered by Grief: Picking up the pieces to become WHOLE again
• The Creative Toolkit for Working with Grief and Bereavement: A Practitioner's Guide
• Karuna Cards: Creative Ideas to Transform Grief and Difficult Life Transitions
• The Karuna Project: Compassion & Creativity for Grief with Claudia Coenen on the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast

Claudia Coenen became a certified grief counselor after she was widowed suddenly. She focused on creativity in her Masters in Transpersonal Psychology program at Sophia University and holds an Advanced Grief Counseling Certificate from Brooklyn College. Claudia has been certified in Thanatology for 9 years and is now a Fellow in Thanatology, through the Association of Death Education and Counseling.

Claudia's lifelong experience as a performer and creative person provided her with techniques to process her own grief which in turn led her to help others through expressive modalities. In private practice, Claudia helps bereaved clients find resilience in the midst of their losses - through compassionate presence, creative process, somatic and expressive therapy techniques. While working with dying patients and family members in a hospice program in New Jersey, she developed the Karuna Cards, a deck of creative ideas for grief and difficult life transitions. Claudia presents workshops on Grief, living with illness as well as the use of creativity in counseling. She has delivered in-service training on vicarious trauma in the workplace at conferences, hospice agencies, and mental health clinics.

Claudia is the author of Shattered by Grief: Picking up the pieces to become WHOLE again. Her newest book, The Creative Toolkit for Working with Grief and Bereavement: A Practitioner's Guide, explores some well-researched grief models and 30 creative activity sheets that can be reproduced to use with bereaved clients.

Richie Pryor's son and namesake, Richard, sadly died in his sleep a few weeks after a family vacation to Hawaii. Naturally, Richie felt great heartache after the loss of his son, but has found a way not only to live again, but to live fully and in honor of his son while helping others find their path through grief and life.

In the 24th episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast, Richie shares his story along with valuable insights about compassion and communication for partners who have lost a child. He reflects on what worked - and what didn't - for himself and his family, and recommends valuable books and community resources for the grieving family.

Richie models how you can develop mental toughness while maintaining a kind heart, and offers ways to refocus your attention and cultivate new meaning in life. He really inspires hope for all of us who are grieving.

• Warriors Of Life by Richie Pryor
• When Bad Things Happen To Good People by Harold Kushner
• 41 Signs of Hope by Dave Kane
• Everything Happens for a Reason: Finding the True Meaning of the Events in Our Lives by Mira Kirshenbaum

Richard Pryor is a Parent Counselor & Author. After losing his son 5 years ago his world ended and he saw no purpose to keep moving forward. He eventually discovered his warrior and found his true self by developing his mental toughness, changing his focus and giving a new meaning to his loss which helped him RISE out of the ASHES of his grief with more love, empathy, compassion and a burning desire to change the world. He then wrote "Warriors Of Life" as his first step in serving the people in the world that have losses in life and struggle with grief. Richard also servers people in prisons, shelter's, substance abuse clinics to help them find hope and meaning in life, regardless of their situation and provide them with an opportunity to take advantage of second chances in life. He has also created a growing community of educational and coaching programs for parents where he helps them by Serving, Supporting, Inspiring, Empowering and Transforming them so they can discover their WARRIOR, find themselves and Move Forward through any life challenge that they encounter. "We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us."

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.

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 episode of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast, yoga teacher and wellness expert Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki shares how the death of his sister, Lauren, inspired him to live more fully and honor his lifelong mission of helping others. He offers helpful tips on how to get more sleep, work wholesome foods into your diet, movement into your day, and how smelling something good via aromatherapy can radically shift your mood. We even discuss how media - social and otherwise - can help or hurt your ability to regain emotional balance after loss.

Don't let all this talk of health and wellness scare you off - both Jason and I know grief is hard! But if you pick just one or two things to try from this episode (which is chocked full of health tips for grief), you will be taking the first and most important step to helping yourself reengage with life after loss. There is no one-sized-fits-all solution for health and well-being, but there are some time-tested tips and tricks that work.

Jason closes by sharing a little about being a bereaved sibling, as well as some insights he gained from presenting with his wife at the Compassionate Friends Conference. If you have questions or comments, or would like to connect with Jason, use the links below!

Jason closes by sharing a little about being a bereaved sibling, as well as some insights he gained from presenting with his wife at the Compassionate Friends Conference. If you have questions or comments, or would like to connect with Jason, use the links below! Or visit him at the Shine Yoga Center in Cliffside Park, NJ.

Reach out to Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki:

• Email with Questions or for a Free 30 Minute Wellness Consultation with Jason!
• Connect with Jason on Facebook
• Jason's Essential Oils Website
• Shine Yoga Center Facebook Page
• Twitter
• Instagram

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 and mothers.

This episode is for widowed parents who are looking for inspiration and practical advice on parenting after loss. Based on insights gained by facilitating widowed parenting groups and academic research, Dr. Yopp offers compassionate guidance that respects each individual's journey.

His book, The Group: Seven Widowed Fathers Reimagine Life, is based on the "Single Fathers Due to Cancer" project, a group facilitated by Dr. Yopp and his colleague Donald L. Rosenstein at the University of North Carolina. They now collaborate with other colleagues at UNC to run The Widowed Parent project, which is committed to supporting widowed mothers and fathers with children in the home. Proceeds from The Group are all donated back into the project in order to benefit the families.

Learn More about Justin Yopp and the Widowed Parent Project:

• Widowed Parent Website
• Widowed Father's Facebook Page
• Widowed Parents on Twitter
• Widowed Parent Story on YouTube

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 map or GPS can help you when you are lost in the woods, a system to help you cope with grief can help you feel less overwhelmed and frightened when the tsunami hits. Going beyond the outdated prescribed stages of grief, the Chakras in Grief and Trauma can help you learn to grow through, rather than heal from, your loss.

Rooted in her own experience of being a bereaved mother, as well as her yoga training and years of helping others through loss as a licensed professional counselor, Karla Helbert is the author of the Chakras In Grief and Trauma, Yoga for Grief and Loss, and Finding Your Way To Grieve: A Creative Workbook for Kids and Teens on the Autism Spectrum.

Learn More about Karla Helbert:

• Author/Speaker Website
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

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 two or five days of bereavement leave just isn't enough. The reality is that most of us have to earn a paycheck whether we feel like it or not. After a major loss, work may feel like the last place any of us wants to be. There are many challenges that were not present before, including debilitating brain fog, uncontrollable emotional swells, preoccupation with our loved one and the business of grief, not to mention the unskillful platitudes offered by well-meaning but ill informed colleagues.

Over 4 Million active U.S. employees experience the death of a spouse, life-partner, or child every year. Research indicates that in addition to the pain the employee feels, companies are losing an estimated $100 billion in direct and indirect costs due to staff bereavement. But this statistic does mean there has to be a battle between employee and employer. In fact, with Ron's help, organizations like Delta Airlines have found ways to support their bereaved employees that benefit both company, employee, and the people they serve, and cultivating compassion and care along the way.

Learn More about R. Glenn Kelly:

• Author/Speaker Website
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Grief in the Workplace: Recover Hidden Revenue and Productivity Loss Driven by Employee Bereavement and Grief
• Sometimes I Cry In The Shower: A Grieving Father's Journey To Wholeness And Healing

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, corrections officers, and other first responders cope with the daily stress and trauma of the job.

Whether you are a first responder or not, we all experience personal and public tragedies that can leave our assumptive world shaken if not completely destroyed. This conversation explores how mindfulness can help us all build resilience and take one step closer to a more peaceful society. Thank you Kim for doing this true Warrior Work!

PauseFirst Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Website
• Publishizer (Book)

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 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 with the death of his daughter, and the impact their deaths had on him.

Dave Roberts, LMSW, is an author and founder of Bootsy & Angel Books, LLC, and most importantly, the father of Jeannine, who died of a rare form of cancer when she was 18. Dave supports other grieving parents through his work with The Compassionate Friends, in his private practice, and through writing, speaking, and teaching in the psychology department at Utica College. Learn more about Dave at Bootsy & Angel Books, LLC., where you can also purchase his book on pet loss and holiday grief.

Read David's Article, 3 Reasons Why Pet Owners Repeatedly Visit the World of Grief, and find him on Facebook and Twitter.