The Dark Years Are Often Followed By Insight

Sadder but wiser, you will find a way to reduce your suffering. At first in short bursts. Then for longer and longer periods of time. The grief-work you do will help you reengage with life after loss.

Many of us will even live our lives more deliberately than before. Never forgetting our loved one, and with a deeper sense of our own life’s purpose.

Have you ever wondered what you can do to help yourself go beyond coping with grief and actually change your life for good?

Please read on if you are ready to use this difficult time to make a healthy lifestyle change.

Surviving Life After Loss

It can be hard to imagine how to go on now that the worst has happened. Grief is rooted in love, and if you love deeply, you grieve deeply.

We know that there is not one way to work through grief. There are many things you can do to help yourself. Grief counseling. Grief support groups. Reading inspirational books. Self-care, self-care, self-care.

Of course sometimes it is hard to be your own guide, as grief zaps our energy.

Caring social support is particularly helpful after a major loss. You may have a strong family and friendship network that embraces you. Or you may not. But a supportive bereavement group can be a place to find your tribe when you are ready.

A Year of Mindfulness for Grief  is a year-long online grief support program with live master classes, accountability groups, and private grief coaching sessions.

It is a way to connect with a caring community without leaving the comfort of your home, and a different but effective way to cope with grief.

An Uncommon Way To Cope With Grief

You may have tried grief counseling or grief support groups to cope with loss. Both can be very helpful. But if you are looking for something to do that will soothe your soul between the appointments and meetings, and that goes beyond just talking—try meditation.

Meditation empowers you to take care of yourself. And it can help with all facets of grief. Physical. Emotional. Psychological. Spiritual. It even helps with your relationship to others.

People have been seeking relief from suffering through meditation for thousands of years. Over the past decade, I have shared these ancient and evidence-based techniques with grieving people like you, and have witnessed transformation and equanimity countless times. There are many types of meditation practice can be helpful when you are grieving, but learning how and when to apply each one is the key.

• Focusing meditation to calm yourself when you feel overwhelmed
• Self-compassion meditation teaches you how to be your own best friend
• Compassion meditation deepens your connection to all beings in the world
• Mindfulness practice helps you see the truth with wisdom and clarity
• Contemplative practices transform your life and light the way to new meaning and purpose
  

These are the foundations of A Year of Mindfulness for Grief.

Mindfulness-based Program for Grief

The first segment of the program will teach you how to care for your grieving mind and body through focus, relaxation, and self-compassion. You will return to these self-care tools again and again throughout the program.

You will experience your body as a powerful messenger and ally. Far from being a problem, discomfort in the body is a sign that something is out of balance. The key is learning how to respond to your body’s signals in a skillful and caring way so balance is restored.

This program is all about you. It is rooted in contemporary grief research, the principles of mindfulness, yoga therapy, and human-centered therapy developed by Carl Rogers.

These modalities nurture your inner wisdom and honor your individual experience.

If you are ready to embark on a journey that will help you cope with loss, and are ready to commit to a regular meditation practice, this program is for you.

Monthly Meditation for Grief Themes

Each month will explore a theme from Mindfulness & Grief, as well as other relevant or seasonal topics:

MAY: Living with Intention: Tapping Into Your Deepest Longing.  Take the first step towards receiving what you need and letting go of what no longer serves you.

JUNE: Conscious Relaxation: How to Care for Your Grieving Body. Release tension and steady your mind during uncertain times.

JULY: Mindful Awareness: How to Find Refuge in the Present Moment. Use your breath and body as your safe harbor when you are overwhelmed or unsteadied by grief.

AUGUST: Self-Compassion: Applying The Oxygen Mask To Yourself. Become your own best friend using the three principles of self-compassion.

SEPTEMBER: Compassion and Forgiveness: Attending to Grief with Loving-Kindness. Learn how to open a closed heart and engage the healing power of loving-kindness for others.

OCTOBER: Skillful Courage: The Dance of Strength and Vulnerability. Take control of what feels like an uncontrollable dance  of grief as you move back and forth between hope and despair.

NOVEMBER: Grief During the Holidays: Navigating a Season of Expectations. Create a season of meaning and connection while consciously choosing what traditions to keep, create, change, or let go.

DECEMBER: Getting Unstuck: Tending to the Five Mental Hindrances. Meet resistance with curiosity and transform barriers into opportunities for personal growth and awakening.

JANUARY: Meaning Reconstruction: Learning to Live After Loss. Honor your loved one’s legacy while creating your own life’s journey and rebuilding your assumptive world.

FEBRUARY: Allowing Transformation: Who Am I Now? will help you to rewrite your post-loss narrative and tap into the power of meaning-making in spite of uncertainty and change.

MARCH: Silence is Golden: Creating the Space You Need to Thrive. Explore the power of silence in practice and daily life as you learn to savor things small and large.

APRIL: Perpetual Mindfulness: Practicing Beyond Grief. Develop a relationship with your practice so that you can live your life with equanimity and transcend common “practice pitfalls.”

Number & Types of Meetings

Live Events

Heather will lead all live sessions, answer your questions, provide insight, and offer clarity. If you can not make a live session, it will be recorded so you can watch it in your own time.

• 12 Monthly Master Classes with Heather with Live Q&A
• 24 Accountability Circles, Two Offered Each Month
• 3 Private Sessions with Heather via Phone or Skype
• Thanksgiving Day Gratitude Circle

Self-Guided Resources

Creating your own practice is just as important as showing up for the live events. These resources will help you apply meditation to your life on your own schedule:

• 9 Module Meditation for Grief Course & Community Forum
• Access to Private Mindfulness & Grief Coaching Student Facebook Group
• 2 Self-Guided Day Long Retreats In Your Own Home or Local Retreat Center with Live Evening Sharing Circle
• Paperback copy of Mindfulness & Grief by Heather Stang, MA, C-IAYT
  

Extended Community Support

Grief has no timeframe. Once the initial year has ended, you will receive an additional year of community support.

• 12 Month Membership in the Mindfulness & Grief Alumni Group After Program Completion

Prerequisites & Requirements for Participation

This is right for you if you are motivated and ready to commit to a meditation practice. Attendance is capped at 30 people.

This program is open to you if you are grieving the death of an important person in your life.  Most participants will be at least 6 months into their grief experience. This is not a requirement if you feel you are ready to participate.

If you are under the care of a medical or mental health professional, please review this program with them prior to enrolling. If you have intrusive images, hallucinations, or may dissociate, meditation may not be a skillful choice.

Program Tuition

Tuition for this year-long, 76+hour program is $2,495.