This episode explores death, loss and grief and how Aware Parenting can support us in the deeply painful process of grief. It is another conversation with my wonderful friend and colleague Danni Willow. Danni is an aware parenting instructor and mother to 2 girls. If you are currently experiencing grief, we are sending so much love to you and encourage you to reach out for support.
In this conversation, we share some of the ways that we experience grief in our lives and some of the many intense, mixed feelings that we often experience in response. We talk about how our imprints around grief were not very supportive and we therefore often have a lot of accumulated unexpressed feelings about loss and death. We talk about the on-going, individual journey of grief and how Aware Parenting is so helpful in grief because it validates and welcomes all feelings. We share how grief can be a portal to access and release lots of other intense painful feelings. We share some of our own experiences of grief and how aware parenting helps us to support our children to process and integrate their grief. And we talk about bringing ceremony and ritual to support the on-going grieving process.
Here are the resources that Danni has found helpful for her and her children on their on-going journey through grief.
For kids:
The invisible string and the invisible leash by Patrice Karst
The Memory Tree -Britta Teckentrup
Beginnings and Endings with Lifetimes in Between – Bryan Mellonie & Robert Ingpen
Let’s Talk About When Someone Dies – Molly Potter & Sarah Jennings
Adult books:
The wild edge of sorrow by Francis Weller
The grief deck by Adriene Jenik
Bearing the unbearable by Joanne Cacciatore
If you want to know more about Danni’s work, please visit her website https://www.thewayofthewoman.com.au and follow her on social media at Danni Willow, The Way of the Woman.