This week I am talking to the wonderful Julie New.

Julie is an experienced personal recovery coach specialising in helping people after difficult and sometimes traumatic life change. Prior to starting her coaching Julie spent 20 years in the NHS as a senior nurse and midwife, she also worked on various pioneering NHS community projects.

Since becoming a professional coach in 2006 she has developed a unique New Chapter recovery program which has helped many people to reach new fulfilling phases in their lives, which they hadn’t thought possible.

Julie is an author of popular unique personal growth gift books including ‘The Grief Garden path and is a well-known inspirational and motivational wellbeing conference speaker.

In this episode Julie shares her own personal stories of loss, how she supported her two girls through grief towards health, healing and happiness and also shares her golden nuggets of wisdom.

We discuss anger, widowhood, rebuilding and finding glimmers of sunshine in a dark place.

Julie now supports others in their own journeys of grief and helps them to create something truly meaningful after loss.

‘Change is forever, but the pain doesn’t have to be…’

Website: Julie New – Personal recovery coach

Follow Julie’s journey on Instagram: Julienewpersonalrecoverycoach

Join Julie on Twitter: @julienewcoach

Like Julie’s Facebook page: Julie New – Personal recovery coach

You are also welcome to join Julie’s private Facebook group ‘Forever Flowers’, a place for people who care for ongoing motivation, inspiration, support and understanding:

https://facebook.com/groups/ForeverFlowers/?ref=share

This podcast is from September. However, I wanted to share it with you again.

Coming into the new year with the thoughts of more anniversaries, birthdays and holidays arising, really makes this Podcast resonate with me.

These are often huge triggers for us in our grief leaving us unsure of what we should do to mark the occasion and how we can best support ourselves through them.

In this episode I talk about things you can do to honour your loved one, ways you can nurture your own needs and how our grief evolves over time.

It is a journey and we will all travel it at different paces and in different ways, there is no right or wrong, it's just finding the way that works best for you and being ok with that.

As hard as these days are it's important not to think of them as setbacks, but as an invitation to connect with our loved one, remember them and celebrate their life, eventually we will be able to do this with more love than pain.

Resources:

Join The Widows Membership:

https://www.karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Website: https://www.karensutton.co.uk/

Dina Gachman, Pulitzer Center Grantee and award winning journalist discovered grief when her family lost the lives of her mother and her sister.

For Dina, she found comfort in putting pen to paper and in 2023 she wrote a book of essays about grief, SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS.

Dina shares her story of grief, love, loss and even humour as she navigated her way through the passing of two family members and how the rest of the family came together for support.

Listen as we talk about:

Dina Bachman: Website: https://www.dinagachmanwrites.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dgachman/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dinagachman

Resources:

Join The Widows Membership:

https://www.karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Website: https://www.karensutton.co.uk/

In this episode, I want to give you a widow pep talk.

I want to give you some words of encouragement to help you see how courageous, inspiring and incredible you are.

In our journey through grief, acknowledging the things that we've done since our person has died can be challenging.

Some people find this a little easier while others may feel disloyal. It can be hard to acknowledge the things that we're doing and giving ourselves credit for that.

Listen as we discuss:

Resources:

How do we find hope during the holiday season when there’s grief?

In a season that can be filled with emotional challenges, I hope you find solace and peace in this special Christmas episode.

With the help of some of the members in my community we have brought together tips to honour the memories of your loved one, carry on with holiday traditions and practice self-care during the holidays.

Join me on a journey of rediscovering joy while honoring the memories of our loved ones.

Listen as I talk about:

Resources:

Join The Widows Membership:

https://www.karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Website: https://www.karensutton.co.uk/

In this episode of The Widow Podcast I discuss three important factors to guide you on your grief journey. These factors haven’t been scientifically proven, they’re just from my own experience and from the experience of the people I help in one to one sessions, and in groups.

In my experience, the three most important factors are:

Rely on your support system, don’t say no to help. It’s important to remember that accepting help isn’t weakness, it doesn’t make you a burden or a bad person. People WANT to help, they want to be there for you, so let them in.

Change the narrative. Don’t let your loss define you. Don’t let it impact you negatively for the rest of your life. I had a burning desire to not become a victim, to believe life could be good again. I had no idea how to do it, or even if I fully believed it, but it was a belief and a desire within me, and it can be within you too. 

And finally, have an open heart and an open mind. Your life isn’t over, even if in that moment and moments to come it feels like it is. It hurts, and it’ll carry on hurting, but don’t close yourself off to new opportunities. Instead of saying no, never, say not right now, maybe in the future, maybe soon. Allow yourself to be open to the possibility of a happy future.

What would life look like to be widowed twice?

Clare and Moira are two incredible women in my community who have both been widowed twice. 

They share their stories of loss, love and the journey of what it’s like to  go through widowhood for a second time. 

Listen as we talk about: 

Resources:

David Kessler, one of the world’s foremost experts on grief shares his wisdom and his experience of working with thousands of people on how to move past grief and loss.

He’s been featured by The New York Times, Unlocking Us with Brene Brown, TODAY Show, GQ, and more.

He's written six bestselling books and has just released the workbook, Finding Meaning: Grief Workbook: Tools for Releasing Pain and Remembering with Love.

In this companion workbook to David’s bestselling book Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief, you’ll begin to understand your unique and personal experience with grief and learn how to work through your loss with more love than pain.

Listen as we talk about:

Resources:

Join The Widows Membership:

https://www.karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Website: https://www.karensutton.co.uk/

For more information on David Kessler and live events, www.Grief.com

Have you ever wondered how to find hope again and the resilience to carry on after experiencing a profound loss?

Pete Cohen is an expert in human behaviour and performance, business consultant, coach, motivational speaker and the founder of Mi365.

Pete has dedicated his life to helping others discover their true passions, living life intentionally and become the best versions of themselves.

The author of 20 published books, the Host of the Mi365 Daily Intentions podcast, the resident and life coach on GM TV for 12 years and the coach to numerous world-class sporting stars and teams, Pete has helped inspired and empowered so many people to live their lives with purpose and meaning.

Pete also recently lost his wife, Hannah who had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and given 18 months to live. When she passed Pete went on his own journey to find inner strength and resilience.

Listen as we talk about:

Resources:

Join The Widows Membership: https://www.karensutton.co.uk/the-widow-membership

Website: https://www.karensutton.co.uk/

How soon is "normal" enough for a widow to start craving intimacy? Is it even possible to have a genuine desire for someone new after the death of a loved one? The simple answer is yes. But unfortunately, widowhood has traditionally been constructed as an asexual period. A widow may look to move forward, but not without the risk of being judged. A widow may crave intimacy from another, but not without feeling guilty. 

So, how can widows find space in their hearts to be intimate with somebody else and still love and grieve their person? 

In this episode, we'll discuss sexual desires and the loss of intimacy in widowhood. We'll also go through some practical tips to help you reconnect with your desires and rediscover your sexuality.

What You'll Learn:

Resources: