The Lessons from Loss Podcast

In this episode I'm in conversation with Lisa Jackson about the importance of choice in death, a timely topic given the upcoming Bill for Assisted Dying being voted on in UK Parliament on November 29th 2024.    Lisa's husband Graham endured agonising pain at the end of his life and Lisa is still haunted by his anguished cries for help and relief.  She wants people to know there are choices availab...

In this episode I'm chatting with Maria Bailey, founder of Grief Specialists.   Maria first started working with grief as the communications expert for a grief education organisation and it was during the pandemic that she was able to put what she learned along the way to good use when both her parents passed away during this time.   Since then Maria set up Grief Specialists - a collective of grie...

In this episode I'm in conversation with Caroline Steel, a GP of 17 years, doctor of 25 years, coach, hypnotherapist and speaker.   Caroline grew up in a dysfunctional home with an alcoholic, narcissist, hoarding mother and an absent father, studying was her escape route and she escaped straight into the same chaotic dehumanising stress of the NHS.   Roll on two decades and Caroline experienced bu...

In this episode I'm in conversation with Kirsty Jandrell about the impact of losing her mum and step dad within half an hour of each other whilst she was negotiating being a first time mum at the age of 46.  These served as a turning point to live her life in alignment with her soul purpose.  We cover dealing with grief during Covid pandemic,  choosing love over fear and giving ourselves permissio...

In this episode I'm in conversation with author, ghostwriter and journalist Becky Bond.   Becky is passionate about giving people's stories a voice and she does this brilliantly in two ways.   Through her ghostwriting she capture's people's stories and her first ghostwriting opportunity happened when she wrote an article about former paramedic, Georgina Hurst. After an horrific car crash caused by...

In this episode I chat with Sarah van Thiel about the subtle loss and grief she unknowingly experienced when she and her family emigrated to a new country several years ago.   It was only when her Mum passed away recently and she picked up a copy of The Grief Recovery Handbook by John James and Russell Friedman and started some of the exercises that she realised how much she had been impacted by t...

In this episode I'm in conversation with Sara Price about using what she learned from the dastardly decade of loss she experienced years ago to help her grieve for her mum, when she passed just over a year ago, in a much more sustainable and compassionate way.   Sara shares so many points of wisdom about grief,  we talk about about its unpredictable nature and how it has no respect for convenience...

Delighted to have a return visit to the podcast from Dr Jane Lewis who featured in episode 43 about the ancient Hawaiian wisdom of Huna.  In this episode we are in conversation about touch, the importance of it for our health and the impact of being denied opportunities for touch during the Covid 19 pandemic restrictions.  As a body therapist it is a subject close to my heart.   To find out more a...

In this episode Dirk shares the journey to heal the estranged relationship with his Dad after his Mum died.  We talk about the languages of love, of accepting everything about those people we love the most, of taking ownership for the part we play in these special relationships.  It is a conversation filled with love and honesty.  Dirk offers therapy and coaching in London that encompasses both th...

I have a lovely conversation with Julie New, Person Recovery Coach, in this episode which is full of warmth, love and humour and very much about hope.  Julie shares the very different experiences of losing her husband, her brother and her ex-husband and father of her children and how these experiences helped shape the writing of her beautiful book The Grief Garden Path.   Julie uses nature and the...

In this episode I'm in conversation with Ming Ewe about her rich and varied journey to rediscover the parts of her lost following sexual trauma as a young adult.  We cover mindfulness, nature retreats, circling, tantric massage therapy, and Ming shares a few pieces of her beautiful deep poetry that has helped find peace and follow her heart.  There is a heap of wisdom and experience shared in this...

In this episode I chat with Carole Henderson who recently lost her business and her reputation overnight.   She draws parallels from this experience of loss to other very significant losses in her life, in particular the death of her husband nearly two decades ago.   She shares how it is possible to differentiate the loss from the emotion enabling healing without losing the love and using the expe...

In this episode I'm in conversation with Eleanor Snare about the loss of and journey to reclaim playfulness and joy in life following an experience of sexual trauma as a young adult.   We chat about the erosion of imagination and creativity with the loss of their true identity.  Eleanor explains how EMDR therapy was a key component at the start of the healing journey and how an immersion into embo...

In this episode Lauren shares how she lost so many aspects of her life when she developed ME and Lymes disease, yet with some powerful reframing whilst training to be a lifecoach and time out in nature she now views these lifelong conditions to be a gift, her own personal self development tool. Lauren works with women who understand the importance of having alone time in nature and are ready to de...

In this episode I chat with Eunice Learmont about the importance of having a will and a lasting power of attorney (LPA) and what she has learned from her many years of being a will writer and her own personal experiences of losing her father and seeing his wishes weren't carried out as he wanted or expected.    Eunice shares her knowledge and wisdom with regards to UK will writing and this episode...

In this episode Suzanne Halsey shares how the legacy of adventure left by her Dad coupled with the desire to give back to the Wisdom Hospice, where he and all the family had been so well cared for in his final days, led to her embarking on some adventures of a lifetime including running from Lands End to John O'Groats,  learning to solo sky dive and climbing Killimanjaro and Everest Base Camp.  We...

In this episode I chat with Hannah Velten about the extraordinary experience of losing her brother Christian who went missing in Africa as a young man, and reconnecting with him in spirit many years later after she gave up the search for him and lost all hope.  Now working in partnership with those living and in spirit Hannah and Christian bring together spirit mediums to perform rescue circles to...

In this episode I chat with Dr Jane Lewis about the loss of her mum to dementia and how the ancient Hawaiian wisdom of Huna helped her deal with the guilt of making difficult decisions.  Practicing the art of Hoʻoponopono during her mum's final months with dementia allowed forgiveness and reconcilliation during this challenging time.  We also talk about the importance of finding support, including...

In this episode I chat with Julie Randall about her experience of losing herself in a series of abusive and controlling relationships until eventually her survival instinct kicked in and she began the long process to extract and rediscover herself.   We talk about tuning into gut instinct, and how to support someone who is in an abusive relationship but is unable to leave for whatever reason.  Tod...

In this episode I chat with Angela Peake about the losses and wins of receiving a donated kidney twice and spending many years on dialysis in between.  We talk about the impact that had on her life, as a parent, a nurse, a wife.   Angela also covers the impact of receiving a transplant from someone who lost their life, the gratitude for their family agreeing to it in the midst of their grief.   Fo...

In this episode award winning Microbladist Fiona Shoults shares her experience of having breast cancer and the loss of confidence that arose from losing her hair, in particular her eyebrows.  We also talk about losing friends during this time, an aspect of loss she was not expecting.    Fiona now helps others regain their normality and confidence with her award winning microblading and areola (nip...

In this episode I'm in conversation with Sue Ellar, a health, vitality and weight loss coach, about what she learned when her seemingly perfect marriage was crumbling around her.  We talk about how her beliefs about marriage prolonged her pain and suffering after the discovery of her husband's affair and how she has taken that lesson forward in her next marriage and every relationship.   We talk a...

In this episode, acupuncturist and meditation teacher, Annya Stoddart shares how practicing meditation enabled her to find peace and deep connection with her parents in the weeks leading up to their deaths, and since.   We talk about the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, the importance of ritual and saying goodbye particularly when there is no body, the anatomy of tears, getting started with medit...

In this episode I chat with Laura Bridgens about the experience of discovering her late father was not her biological father.   She had been conceived by an anonymous sperm donor and this only came to light after she received a commercial DNA testing kit one Christmas.  We talk about the huge impact this unexpected discovery had on her sense of belonging, her place in the world and her identity.  ...

In this episode I have a conversation with Harriet Waley-Cohen about her experience of losing a breast to cancer, the impact this had on her body and her relationship to it, and how having her reconstructed breast tattooed on live daytime television ultimately was the catalyst to finding compassion, love and softness within and learning to honour both her body and herself.   Harriet shares wisdom...