Ronald Mathias talks to us about his field of medical illustration: the art of taking complex medical procedures, descriptions, or concepts and turning them into something visual for ease of understanding. He spends most of his time translating traumatic injuries and building empathy for the pain someone has suffered into a visual medium for litigation.

#48 The Art of Visualizing Grief: Translating Pain Into Pictures with Ronald Mathias

The tables are turned as Heather Stang, the regular host of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast, is interviewed by guest host Audrey Hughey about the new guided journal for grief, From Grief to Peace, which releases on June 1, 2021. Heather shares how she began journaling about her grief over her Uncle Doug’s death in high school

#47 From Grief to Peace: Guided Journaling For Mindfulness & Compassion

In episode 46, lifelong friends Shelley Buck and Kathy Curtis share their journey of childhood friendship, staying in touch through college, and the comfort that Kathy provided to Shelley following the devastating loss of her son, Ryder. Ryder was a talented musician and world traveler who continued to live his life to the fullest even after his Stage IV cancer diagnosis.

#46 Leave Your Light On: Friendships & Continuing Bonds After Loss with Shelley Buck and Kathy Curtis

In episode 45, Angela Kennecke shares with us her story of losing her beautiful 21-year-old daughter, Emily, to overdose. Angela and her family were just a normal family. Emily was a gifted student and cheerleader. But Emily was struggling with one of the most common problems in America — addiction. Her sudden and unexpected death changed the lives of her family forever.

#45 Emily’s Hope: Coping With Grief & Erasing The Stigma Of Overdose Loss with Angela Kennecke

In episode 44, we talk to Author Jenny Lisk about her experience of parenting and caregiving for her husband during his aggressive form of brain cancer and eventually becoming a single parent and widow.

#44 Future Widow: Losing My Husband, Saving My Family & Finding My Voice with Jenny Lisk

In episode 43, New York Times Bestselling author, Adam Mansbach, talks with us about his new memoir “I HAD A Brother Once” which details his grief of losing his brother by suicide a decade ago. As a writer, he struggled for nine years before he was finally able to write about his brother. Although he is known for his very successful novels, Adam’s new book is written poetry style with dramatic storytelling about his life. In it, he shares how his brother David felt he had to wear masks to hide his real self, and the importance of removing the masks of shame and guilt to save lives.

#43 I HAD A Brother Once: Unmasking the Grief of Sibling Loss by Suicide with Adam Mansbach

In Episode 42, Dr. Amy Novotny shares her emotional journey of living with a mother that was bipolar and suffered from borderline personality disorder, being tutored by her throughout higher education, and eventually losing her to cancer. The grief left Amy struggling with an unexplainable physical illness that she was eventually able to overcome, and now she teaches how to ease your physical pain when grief is stored in the body.

#42 How Grief Is Stored In The Body & What We Can Do To Help Ourselves Ease The Pain with Dr. Amy Novotny

When two health scares hit Katherine May’s family, she was forced to slow down and learn a valuable lesson — staying busy doesn’t always mean you’re doing something productive with your time. The idea of wintering creates the opportunity to slow down the pace of life, observe as it transitions from one season to another, and find hope in the next phase of your life.

#41 Just A Boy Blaming Himself: Revisiting Childhood Loss Through A Grown Up’s Eyes with Daniel Hess

When two health scares hit Katherine May’s family, she was forced to slow down and learn a valuable lesson — staying busy doesn’t always mean you’re doing something productive with your time. The idea of wintering creates the opportunity to slow down the pace of life, observe as it transitions from one season to another, and find hope in the next phase of your life.

#40 Wintering: The Power of Rest & Retreat in Difficult Times with Author Katherine May

Neil Beresin never set out to become a chaplain. In fact, he worked in the nonprofit world for 20 years. But everything changed for him when both his parents became ill and passed away within 5 weeks of each other. This devastating loss changed the trajectory of his life. Neil is now a chaplain and grief counselor who specializes in healing through poetry.

#39 Grief & Poetry: Creating Sacred Space Through Language & Presence with Chaplain Neil Beresin

Can you remember a time that you felt different when you were a child? Either through a learning disability or a loss of a family member or friend, we all have experienced times throughout our lives when we felt different. When you compound the feeling of being different with grief, the emotions can be overwhelming — especially for a child. Through her book, Jimmy, Toughest Dog Ever, author Sally Hill Mills takes us on a special journey through the eyes of Jimmy, who is experiencing both being different and experiencing loss.

#38 Grief, Dogs, & Storytelling: How Relatable Characters Help Children & Adults Cope With Loss with Sally Hill Mills

It’s hard to feel like a superhero while amid tremendous grief. But through her work composing Superhero Grief: The Transformative Power of Loss, Dr. Jill Harrington shows us how we are more like superheroes than you might think. Each superhero that you can think of has experienced some level of trauma that they’ve had to overcome. While their superpower may seem more significant than yours, the motivation to stand up and put one foot in front of the other is the same, whether you can fly or not.

#37 Superhero Grief: The Transformative Power of Loss with Dr. Jill Harrington

What I learned as a neophyte orphan building a log cabin in the wilderness and living there alone is relearned as a middle-aged woman living alone in a newly built modern house during a rampant pandemic. Orphaned at age fourteen 14, widowed at 58, my best friend and colleague dying a year later reignited a disciplined

Surviving Grief in a Log Cabin as an Orphan and Widow

After 27 years of marriage, Marla Polk found herself dealing with the sudden death of her husband. Losing her spouse created a hole in her life that she didn’t know what to do with. She shares her journey and what helped in episode #36 of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast.

#36: Love, Loss, & Survival: How I Healed After Losing My Husband With Marla Polk

Rabbi Steve Leder is no stranger to grief. As a rabbi, he has consoled hundreds of families over the years during their most difficult times. In his new book, The Beauty of What Remains, he walks us through his experience of losing his father. He takes us on the journey of self-discovery of how he

#35: The Beauty of What Remains with Rabbi Steve Leder