MINDFULNESS & GRIEF
Living With Grief, 3rd Edition
The third edition of my original mindfulness-and-grief book, offering practical mindfulness and self-care for living with loss.
GRIEF EDUCATION · MINDFULNESS · PRACTICAL SUPPORT
Mindfulness-Based Grief Training for Professionals
Grief theory matters. So does knowing what to do when a grieving person is sitting right in front of you.
I’m Heather Stang, an award-winning thanatologist, author, keynote speaker, and creator of the Mindfulness & Grief System.
I help professionals bring more confidence, compassion, and practical skill to grief support without losing sight of their own boundaries and well-being.
Start with 5 quick questions and get a personalized mini masterclass and practical resource
Heather Stang, MA, C-IAYT
Thanatologist · Author · Creator of the Mindfulness & Grief System
2025 ADEC Clinical Practice Award
Recognized for innovation in grief support
Master's in Thanatology
Death, dying, grief & bereavement
Creator of the Mindfulness & Grief System
Practical, evidence-informed grief support
Author, Trainer & Keynote Speaker
Professional grief education for more than two decades
FREE GRIEF SUPPORT TOOLKIT
Find the next area to strengthen in your grief-support work
You may already have training, experience, and good instincts. The question is where your next layer of growth belongs.
Answer five quick questions and get a personalized result based on your current knowledge, practice, and professional well-being.
I will also give you a short mini masterclass and a practical resource you can begin using right away.
5 Quick Questions
About 2 minutes
Personalized Focus
See where to grow next
Instant Masterclass
Learn with Heather
Your result includes a personalized focus, mini masterclass, and practical resource
WHEN GRIEF IS ACTUALLY IN THE ROOM
Knowing about grief is not always the same as knowing what to do
You may understand grief theory and still find yourself wondering: What do I say? What can I offer? When is it better to simply be present?
One person may be overwhelmed. Another may be numb, angry, guilty, avoiding what hurts, struggling with identity, or trying to understand how to live in a life they did not choose.
And while you are supporting them, you may also be thinking about scope, boundaries, whether you are doing enough, and how not to take their pain home with you.
You do not need a rigid script. You need a framework you understand deeply enough to use with flexibility.
FREE MINDFULNESS & GRIEF TRAINING
See how grief theory becomes real-world support
If the Toolkit shows you where you want to grow, this free training helps you see the larger framework behind my approach.
I will introduce you to the 8-Step Mindfulness & Grief System and show you how mindfulness, grief theory, self-compassion, journaling, embodied practices, and continuing bonds can work together without reducing grief to a formula.
This is a good place to start if you are curious about certification, want to understand how I teach, or simply want a more practical way to support grieving people.
YOU WILL EXPLORE
- Why grief requires more than familiar stage models
- How a framework creates structure without becoming rigid
- How to connect practices to what a grieving person actually needs
- Why your own presence and self-awareness matter
- How practical tools can support grief without trying to fix it
FROM GRIEF THEORY TO REAL-WORLD SUPPORT
What do you offer when listening and validation are not enough?
You may already know that grief is not linear, there are no perfect words, and grieving people need to feel heard rather than fixed.
But sometimes the person in front of you is asking, “What do I do with this grief?”
In this short video, I explain why practical grief work needs both structure and flexibility, and how the Mindfulness & Grief System helps you connect what you are seeing with what you can actually offer.
FLAGSHIP PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
Become a Certified Mindfulness & Grief Coach
Go beyond knowing the ideas. Learn the complete system, experience the practices yourself, and develop the confidence to use them with grieving clients and groups.
The Mindfulness & Grief Coach Certification is a 12-week professional training for helping professionals who want more structure, more practical tools, and more confidence in grief-support work.
You will learn how to guide the 8-Step Mindfulness & Grief System while strengthening your own mindfulness practice, boundaries, discernment, and practitioner well-being.
INSIDE THE CERTIFICATION
- 12 weeks of live training with Heather
- The complete 8-Step Mindfulness & Grief System
- Client-ready session guides and worksheets
- Practice exchanges and feedback
- Trauma-sensitive mindfulness principles
- Grief theory, scope, boundaries, and referral awareness
- Practitioner mindfulness, self-care, and reflection
- Certification exam and professional credential
FROM PROFESSIONALS WHO HAVE TRAINED WITH ME
More confidence, more practical skill, less pressure to fix grief
“Professionally, I really appreciated how practical everything felt for grief work. It’s already changed how I think about holding space, less fixing, more allowing, and trusting the process.”
“Both personally and professionally, the program helped me find my center through mindful breaths so that I can step into situations at the hospital with a clearer mind and heart.”
“I feel I can better accommodate my clients during their time of grief as I now have the tools to assist them.”
GRIEF KEYNOTE SPEAKER & PROFESSIONAL TRAINER
Bring practical grief education to your conference, team, or organization
Need this work for more than one person?
I offer grief keynotes, continuing education workshops, half- and full-day trainings, virtual programs, and customized professional education for organizations whose people support grief, loss, caregiving, serious illness, and major life change.
Programs can focus on grief literacy, practitioner well-being, mindfulness-based grief support, caregiving, grief and the holidays, non-death loss, and the challenges your audience is facing right now.
POPULAR FOR
- Hospice & palliative care organizations
- Healthcare teams
- Social workers & counselors
- Funeral professionals
- Chaplains & spiritual care teams
- Grief & bereavement conferences
- Caregiver and employee programs
- Professional associations
THE MINDFULNESS & GRIEF SYSTEM
Structure without forcing grief into a formula
Grief is universal. How each person experiences it is deeply individual.
The Mindfulness & Grief System gives you a practical framework for noticing what may need attention and choosing tools with intention, while leaving room for each person's story, culture, needs, and pace.
It integrates contemporary grief theory with mindfulness, conscious relaxation, self-compassion, journaling, movement, continuing bonds, meaning-making, and trauma-sensitive practice.
THE PRACTITIONER MATTERS, TOO
Supporting someone deeply does not require carrying their grief for them
We are going to be affected by grief work. We are human beings sitting with other human beings in pain.
The goal is not to become untouched by grief. It is to learn how to notice what is happening in you, stay clear about what belongs to you and what does not, and care for yourself with the same intention you bring to the people you support.
Practitioner well-being is not an extra in my work. It is part of supporting grief ethically and sustainably.
PRIVATE GRIEF PROFESSIONAL MENTORING
Sometimes the person holding space needs a place to land, too
Bring a difficult client or group situation, questions about scope or boundaries, uncertainty about what to offer, the emotional impact of the work, your own grief, or the places where personal and professional experience overlap.
You do not need to have the question perfectly formed before we meet.
Book Professional Mentoring
70-minute private session · $150 · Online
AWARD-WINNING GRIEF EDUCATION
Recognized by the Association for Death Education and Counseling
In 2025, I received ADEC's Clinical Practice Award for my contributions to innovative, evidence-informed grief support.
Past recipients include influential leaders in the field such as J. William Worden, Therese Rando, Dame Cicely Saunders, and Robert A. Neimeyer.
I hold a Master's Degree in Thanatology from Hood College, with graduate study focused on death, dying, grief, and bereavement, and I am a Certified Yoga Therapist, C-IAYT.
BOOKS BY HEATHER STANG
Practical, compassionate books for living with grief and supporting others
My books bring mindfulness, grief theory, reflection, and practical self-care into everyday life.
View the Book →
AWARD-WINNING · DEATH & NON-DEATH LOSS
Navigating Loss
A compassionate guide for navigating death and non-death losses with practical tools, reflection, and support for adapting to unwanted change.
8-STEP MINDFULNESS & GRIEF SYSTEM
From Grief to Peace
A guided journal based on the 8-Step Mindfulness & Grief System, with practices for reflection, self-compassion, meaning, and continuing bonds.
PRAISE FOR HEATHER'S WORK
Recommended by leading voices in grief and mindfulness
“Heather Stang offers those who are grieving a wise and practical guide. The stories, teachings and meditations in this book will help you find your own inner strength and awakening heart in the midst of great loss.”
“Heather Stang's Navigating Loss is a valued compass for navigating a wide range of life's losses. Grieving individuals will find it both informative and full of activities and exercises to assist in coping with grief. It is a wonderful resource for the bereaved.”
“When we are more firmly grounded in our bodies, as Heather Stang demonstrates, we are better able literally and metaphorically to find a new footing in the world, and to restore a life of meaning and coherence.”
“Navigating Loss is a clear and compassionate guide for people coping with various types of death and non-death losses. Heather Stang does a wonderful job weaving the evidence-based/research-informed current thinking about loss and grief with very relatable stories and practical tools to cope with and adapt to life’s unwelcome changes.”
ABOUT HEATHER STANG
I care about what happens when grief theory meets a real human being
I have spent more than two decades working at the intersection of grief, mindfulness, embodied practice, and professional education.
I created the Mindfulness & Grief System because I kept seeing the same gap: professionals often understand grief intellectually, but still want clearer guidance about what to actually do when someone is hurting.
My teaching combines thanatology, mindfulness, self-compassion, nervous-system awareness, reflective practice, and practical tools with the belief that grief support should honor both the humanity of the grieving person and the humanity of the practitioner.
I am the author of Living With Grief, From Grief to Peace, and Navigating Loss.
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BEGIN?
Start small and go deeper when you are ready
Find the area of your grief-support work that may be ready to grow, experience the Mindfulness & Grief approach in the free training, and explore certification when you are ready for the full framework.
LOOKING FOR SUPPORT WITH YOUR OWN GRIEF?
There is support here for you, too
I also work directly with grieving people through Awaken, private grief coaching, relationship loss coaching, books, and mindfulness-based grief resources.
Important: This page and the practices shared here are for educational and supportive purposes only. They are not a substitute for mental health care, medical care, or crisis support.
If you are concerned about your safety, struggling to function, or experiencing thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, please contact a licensed mental health professional, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room right away.
If you are in the U.S. or Canada, you can also call or text 988 for immediate crisis support.
Copyright 2026 Heather Stang, MA, C-IAYT, All rights reserved.