Heather Stang, MA, C-IAYT, is the author of Living With Grief: Mindful Meditations and Self-Care Strategies for Navigating Loss (formerly titled Mindfulness & Grief, and also available in French: Deuil et Pleine conscience) and the guided journal, From Grief To Peace. She created the 8-step Mindfulness and Grief System, which is featured as a contemporary grief therapy in The Handbook of Grief Therapies (Steffen, Milman, & Neimeyer, 2023). This system combines evidence-based grief therapy practices with yoga, mindfulness, self-care, and expressive arts. Heather will release her third book, Navigating Loss: Wisdom and Self-Care for Times of Grief and the Challenges of Life, in November 2024. This book explores the invisible, often minimized nature of grief in various losses, along with practices to alleviate suffering. She also hosts the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast, and is currently writing a textbook for yoga therapists working with a grieving population.

Heather has a Master's Degree in thanatology (Hood College, 2009), is a certified yoga therapy practitioner (Phoenix Rising Yoga, 2002), and has a Bachelors of Arts in Art History (St. Mary's College of Maryland, 1996).

As the founder of the Frederick Meditation Center and the Mindfulness & Grief Institute, Heather facilitates private sessions, group grief support, and professional training for a wide range of helping professionals. These include those working in hospice, home health care, the funeral industry, first responders, and community advocates. Her mission is not only to share skills that help others but to inspire professionals and volunteers to view self-care as an ethical mandate.

Discovering yoga and mindfulness while serving as the CEO of a web development company and dealing with a stress-related illness, Heather was inspired to live a life in service to others. She became a suicide/crisis hotline call specialist in honor of her uncle, who died by suicide when she was a child. Mindfulness training helped her maintain a calm and compassionate attitude both on the job and at home after difficult shifts. Heather also volunteered as a trainer and call specialist on the New Orleans hotline just weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. Additionally, she served as a research assistant for a NIMH-funded National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Research Project. This experience led her to pursue a Master's in Thanatology (Death, Dying & Bereavement) from Hood College, which she earned in 2010.

Heather serves on the Advisory Board for the highly regarded military family survivor organization Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). She offers professional training and workshops to organizations including the Association of Death Education and Counseling, Hospice Foundation of America, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

 She lives in Falling Waters, West Virginia.

Publications

Stang, H. (in press). Navigating Loss: Wisdom and self-care for times of grief and the challenges of life. CICO Books.

Stang, H. (2024). Living with grief: Mindful meditations and self-care strategies for navigating loss. CICO Books.

Stang, H. (2024). Journaling Through Grief & Beyond. In Coenen, C. (Ed.) Life cycles of grief: Creative interventions through a seasonal lens. Jessica Kingsley.

Stang, H. (2023). Mindfulness-based grief therapy. In Steffen, E. M., Milman, E., & Neimeyer, R.A. (Eds.) The handbook of grief therapies. Sage.

Stang, H. (2021). From grief to peace: A guided journal for navigating loss with compassion and mindfulness. CICO Books.

Stang, H. (2020). Grief, loss and the superpower of mindfulness. In J.A. Harrington & R.A. Neimyer (Eds.), Superhero grief: The transformative power of loss. New York: Routledge.

Stang, H. (2020). Complementary therapies: Intimacy in hospice care. In K.J. Doka & A.S. Tucci (Eds.), Intimacy and sexuality during illness and loss (pp. 85-97). Hospice Foundation of America.

Stang, H. (2019, Winter). Seven ways to help grieving children during the holidays. TAPS Magazine, 5-6. Stang, H. (2019, Spring). Grief and sleep: Seven ways to cope with insomnia after loss. TAPS Magazine, 21-22.

Stang, H. (2014, 2018). Mindfulness and grief: with guided meditations to calm the mind and restore the spirit. CICO Books.

Stang, H. (2017, Spring). Let it R.A.I.N. TAPS Magazine, 10-11.

Stang, H. (2016, Fall). Tending the Garden of Grief With Mindfulness Meditation. TAPS Magazine, 6-7.

Stang, H. (2015). Compassion & Lovingkindness Meditation. In R. A. Neimeyer (Ed.), Techniques of grief therapy: Assessment and intervention (pp. 159-164). New York: Routledge.

Stang, H. (2015). The Relaxation Response. In R. A. Neimeyer (Ed.), Techniques of grief therapy: Assessment and intervention (pp. 133-138). New York: Routledge.

Stang, H. (2015). Yoga For Grief. In R. A. Neimeyer (Ed.), Techniques of grief therapy: Assessment and intervention (pp. 144-149). New York: Routledge.

Whittington, H. (2009). Living in the body: Using awareness of physical sensation to cope with loss. Association of Death Education & Counseling Forum, 35(4), 15.

Select Presentations

COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL

7/2023 Superhero Grief Panel on The Transformative Power of Loss| San Diego, CA

OMEGA INSTITUTE

2021-23 Weekend Retreat: Making Peace With Loss: Honoring Grief Through Mindfulness and Sacred Ceremony | Rhinebeck, NY

ASSOCIATION OF DEATH EDUCATION AND COUNSELING

4/2024 Mindfulness & Grief: Self-Care for Living With Loss | Annual Meeting, Houston TX

4/2019 The Role of Empathy & Mindfulness When Working with Trauma | Annual Meeting, Atlanta GA

4/2019 The Mindful Hospice: Caring for Our Patients, Our Families, Ourselves | Annual Meeting, Atlanta GA

4/2018 Mindfulness & Grief: Reengaging with Life After Loss | Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA

4/2017 Mindfulness & Grief: Self-Compassion as Self-Care | Annual Meeting, Portland, OR

4/2016 Mindfulness & Grief: Coping Skills for Life After Loss | Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN

5/2015 Mindfulness & Grief: Techniques for Posttraumatic Growth | Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX

4/2014 Mindfulness & Grief: The Transformative Power of Now | Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD

TAPS INSTITUTE FOR HOPE & HEALING / HOSPICE FOUNDATION OF AMERICA

1/2021 Mindfulness As Your Superpower | Webinar 

3/2020 Meditation & Self-Care for Stressful Times | Webinar

4/2020 Meditation for Uncertain Times | Webinar

3/2020 Catching Some Zzz’s – Finding Rest When Stressed | Webinar

3/2019 Using Meditation to Help Grievers Cope with Challenging Emotions | Webinar

1/2019 Meditation for Coping with Difficult Emotions | Webinar

12/2018 Compassion Meditation for Meaning Making and Posttraumatic Growth | Webinar

11/2018 Relaxation Meditation to Ease the Anxiety, Stress and Tension of Grief | Webinar

10/2018 Handle with Care: Supporting Your Grieving Body, Mind & Spirit | Day-long Workshop, Arlington, VA

NATIONAL HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE CARE ORGANIZATION

8/2018 Mind Full or Mindful? Utilizing Mindfulness Techniques to Support Staff, Patients & Bereaved Clients | Integrative &
Rehabilitation Therapies NCHPP Webinar

4/2018 Mindfulness & Leadership Excellence| Management & Leadership Conference, Washington, DC

11/2016 Self-Compassion: Managing Personal Loss in a Professional World | Intensives, Hollywood, FL

5/2016 Mindfulness & Leadership Excellence | Management & Leadership Conference, National Harbor, MD

NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATION 

5/2018 Mindfulness & Compassion as Self-Care for Grief | Blue Ash, OH

5/2016 Vision Board Workshop for Life After Loss for Young Adults | Warrenton, VA

5/2016 Vision Board Workshop for Life After Loss | Portland, OR

5/2014 Compassion & Forgiveness, Conscious Relaxation, Meditation, Journaling & Posttraumatic Growth | St. Louis, IL

5/2010 Relax and Renew Toolkit, Compassion and Mindful Grief Workshop | Chicago, IL