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Yoga for Grief and Finding Self-Compassion with Nancy Watson
Nancy Watson has been practicing yoga since the year 2000. In 2019, she experienced a traumatic loss and realized that the only thing that made her feel a tiny bit less awful was continuing to show up on her yoga mat. She completed her yoga teacher training (YTT-200) in 2022 and knew that she wanted to help others to discover the ways that yoga can be helpful in grief. She went on to achieve a certification in Compassionate Bereavement Care Yoga from the MISS Foundation and began offering Yoga for Grief classes in January 2024. Nancy is currently the only yoga teacher in the Northeast Texas area who leads yoga classes specifically for grieving individuals. She loves sharing what she calls "the yoga magic" with her participants, both in her grief-focus classes and in her "regular" yoga classes. Find her on Instagram @yogaforgriefdallas or on Facebook @yoga.for.grief.dallas.
yogaforgriefdallas.com
Contact Kendra Rinaldi to be a guest, get the newsletter or for a complimentary coaching session: https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/
Show Highlights:
- A History of Silent Grief: Nancy reflects on losing her father to a brain tumor at age six in 1967, and how her family’s refusal to talk about him shaped her early inability to process loss.
- The Loss of Adam/Emily: Nancy opens up about the sudden death of her child, who was born Emily and later transitioned to Adam. She discusses the complex layers of her grief, including the feeling that she had to grieve her child twice.
- A Tiny Bit Less Awful: In the harrowing months following her child's death, Nancy found that stepping onto her yoga mat—even if she cried the entire time—was the only thing that made her feel a "tiny bit less awful".
- The Parallels of Grief and Yoga: Nancy and Kendra explore how grief, much like yoga, should be non-competitive and non-comparative. They discuss how grievers must honor wherever they are on a given day, just as a yogi must accept their daily balance on the mat.
- Quieting the "Mean Mind": Nancy explains how yoga breathwork helps regulate the nervous system and how mindfulness can help grievers step back from the cruel things their "mean minds" tell them.
- The Yoga for Grief Workbook: Nancy shares the journey of creating her workbook, which is designed for all bodies and includes short, accessible yoga flows (both floor and chair versions) and guided meditations
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By Kendra Rinaldi
4.8
4848 ratings
Nancy Watson has been practicing yoga since the year 2000. In 2019, she experienced a traumatic loss and realized that the only thing that made her feel a tiny bit less awful was continuing to show up on her yoga mat. She completed her yoga teacher training (YTT-200) in 2022 and knew that she wanted to help others to discover the ways that yoga can be helpful in grief. She went on to achieve a certification in Compassionate Bereavement Care Yoga from the MISS Foundation and began offering Yoga for Grief classes in January 2024. Nancy is currently the only yoga teacher in the Northeast Texas area who leads yoga classes specifically for grieving individuals. She loves sharing what she calls "the yoga magic" with her participants, both in her grief-focus classes and in her "regular" yoga classes. Find her on Instagram @yogaforgriefdallas or on Facebook @yoga.for.grief.dallas.
yogaforgriefdallas.com
Contact Kendra Rinaldi to be a guest, get the newsletter or for a complimentary coaching session: https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/
Show Highlights:
- A History of Silent Grief: Nancy reflects on losing her father to a brain tumor at age six in 1967, and how her family’s refusal to talk about him shaped her early inability to process loss.
- The Loss of Adam/Emily: Nancy opens up about the sudden death of her child, who was born Emily and later transitioned to Adam. She discusses the complex layers of her grief, including the feeling that she had to grieve her child twice.
- A Tiny Bit Less Awful: In the harrowing months following her child's death, Nancy found that stepping onto her yoga mat—even if she cried the entire time—was the only thing that made her feel a "tiny bit less awful".
- The Parallels of Grief and Yoga: Nancy and Kendra explore how grief, much like yoga, should be non-competitive and non-comparative. They discuss how grievers must honor wherever they are on a given day, just as a yogi must accept their daily balance on the mat.
- Quieting the "Mean Mind": Nancy explains how yoga breathwork helps regulate the nervous system and how mindfulness can help grievers step back from the cruel things their "mean minds" tell them.
- The Yoga for Grief Workbook: Nancy shares the journey of creating her workbook, which is designed for all bodies and includes short, accessible yoga flows (both floor and chair versions) and guided meditations