"It is often that which is left unsaid that reveals the most."

In this week's conversation, we're exploring the power of active listening as a grief supporter for others and particularly as a griever for ourselves!

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Join the Restorative Grief Patreon!
• Learn more about 1:1 coaching opportunities
• Buy Mandy’s book on grieving
• Subscribe to the Restorative Grief quarterly

"Honoring where you are matters until you are ready to move into something new; but until then, we don't push."

Momoko Uno's experience quarantined in an Australian hotel for two weeks led her to lean into the writing career she'd always wanted. What started as a way to process the pain of waiting to see her terminally ill mother became the transformational expression that turned a quarantine journal into the raw and moving memoir "Fourteen Days: A memoir of love, loss, and quarantine hell."

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Momoko's book
• Connect with Momoko
• Become a Patron
• Learn more about Restorative Grief coaching

"Unlearning begins with removing the ‘good/bad’ binary and moving toward a spectrum of wellness."

Grief is often seen through the limited lens of good vs. bad, creating barriers to fully understanding and engaging with our emotions. But what if there was no "bad" way to grieve? What if we could reframe our approach to grief by unlearning these binaries and embracing a spectrum of experiences instead? In this episode, we’ll explore how unlearning societal expectations of grief allows us to move toward healing that is both authentic and expansive, especially in a world that still stigmatizes loss.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• The Grieving Brain by Mary-Frances O'Connor
• Become a Patron!
• Learn more about The Restorative Grief Project

"Everything is connected."

Dr. Rosemarie Rutecki wants you to eat the foods that make you happy - more specifically, the foods that make your GUT happy.

Connecting the dots between our gut health and the wellness of our mind, emotions, and spirit are crucial and Dr. Rosemarie's work is a low-barrier entry point to learning how to support our holistic grief work with food as medicine.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Dr. Rosemarie's Instagram
• Become a Patron!
• Learn about coaching

"How do we move forward with advocacy in these spaces where anger, grief, and politics seem so overwhelming?"

The emotional toll of politics cannot be glossed over, and in my own life, I needed a whole new word for it.

Angriefolitical explores the emotional collision of grief, anger, and politics, offering insights on how to navigate these charged conversations with empathy, self-awareness, and a commitment to collective healing.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Resmaa Menakem’s work, The Quaking of America
• Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes’ work
• Rest is Resistance – the Nap Ministry
• Become a Patron
• Connect with Mandy on Instagram

"This grief is so hard because we cannot control it."

We’ve all experienced something unique in our grief stories, but when it comes to sibling loss, there are some aspects even the experts don’t understand.

Sibling loss is a woefully underrepresented area of grief support, so when Annie Sklaver Orenstein lost her big brother, Ben, she realized her work as a qualitative researcher could be a great gift to the community of sibling loss survivors.

Her book, "Always a Sibling: The Forgotten Mourner’s Guide to Grief" is a masterclass in self-awareness and cultivating the type of support you need through the loss of a sibling (and anyone else, of course).

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Annie's book and website
• Connect with Annie on social media
• Learn more about Restorative Grief
• Become a Patron of the podcast

"Flourishing for me does not mean suffering for you."

In this chat, we're unpacking how flourishing after loss is possible and SPOILER ALERT: It's not through the restriction and control of others around you.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Tyler VanderWeele's work on flourishing
• Dr. Carol Dweck's growth mindset book
• Become a Patron & get the episode workbook
• Join the Restorative Grief Project

"Validate, validate, validate."

Lisa Sugarman wants you to know the struggles you experience are valid, but not permanent. The Boston-based author and crisis counselor with The Trevor Project is passionate about breaking stigmas around death by suicide and mental health. As a three-time suicide loss survivor, Lisa's message of validation, hope, and care is one you do not want to miss.

Links + Resources for this episode:

• Lisa's Mental Health Resource List!
• Order Lisa's books
• Connect with Mandy
• Learn more about coaching opportunities
• Become a Patron of the show