MwT: Grief Unleashed, Postlude, with Dina Bell-Laroche

In our final meander together with Dina, we explore the final chapter in “Grief Unleashed: Moving from the hole in our hearts to wholehearted.” This Postlude explores the work that Dina is confidently and humbling stepping into, the work of a Grief Doula, which she defines as companioning people in their grief journey. This is such big work, and such important work, as life is full of grief and loss, not just death but losses of all kinds. And learning how to manage grief as a normal, healthy and involuntary activity has been the focus of this book, and all in service of helping us experience joy in our lives.

My take-aways from the book, very high level, are:

Loss is simply what happens to us in life. It’s part of living fully. It is natural. Meaning is what we make of it. We all move through grief, and recovery, at our own pace.STUGs – sudden temporary upsurges of grief – happen because grieving is not linear; we ebb and flow in our experience for the rest of our lives.Listening to someone in their grief is our superpower as humans.Grieving takes effort, awareness, self-compassion, time, and community. We all have a part to play.Grief is love.

My final invitation to you is to consider these take-aways and see how they land for you now. And what, if anything else, did you notice that is meaningful for you?

Feedback is welcome, so please drop us a note at [email protected].

Episode Links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

Dina’s company is Grief Unleashed

Dina’s book, “Grief Unleashed: Moving from the hole in our hearts to whole-hearted” can be purchased through her publisher or at Singing Pebble Bookstore in Ottawa

Richard Wagamese’s book “Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations”

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma