Most of us think grief only happens when someone dies. But what about the loss of a body that doesn’t feel like yours anymore? A relationship that quietly became something different? A future you had counted on that is not coming? The uncertainty of the world right now, the instability, the feeling that something has shifted and nobody asked if you were okay with that? That’s grief too and most of us have never let ourselves call it that.
Most of us are walking around carrying grief we have never named. And we can’t move through something we can’t see.
In this episode, Dr. Avanti sits down with David Kessler, one of the world's foremost experts on grief and loss. He spent years working alongside Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and has since helped millions of people understand what grief really is. His definition is simple: grief is a change we did not want. And when you look at it that way, so many things you have been quietly carrying finally have a name.
Together they explore why grief lives in the body, not just the mind. Why what so many of us are feeling about the world right now is real grief and deserves to be treated as such. What it actually means when people say grief is love with nowhere to go. And how meaning begins to emerge inside grief, not after it.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- (07:56)What is grief and why is it far more common than you think
- (13:18) What "grief is love with nowhere to go" means in real life
- (15:39) How grief shows up in the body and where you might be holding it
- (21:11) Why the heaviness you feel about the world right now is grief
- (41:03) What being stuck is actually telling you
- (44:45) How to find meaning inside grief, not just after it
- (47:40) One practice to start moving through what you are carrying today
If you have been carrying something heavy and never had the words for it, this episode will change that.
About David Kessler:
David Kessler is one of the world's foremost experts on grief and loss. He spent years working alongside Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and is the author of seven books, including his latest bestseller Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief and its companion workbook. His first book, The Needs of the Dying, received praise from Mother Teresa. He runs Tender Hearts, an online grief support community with more than twenty-five grief groups, leads one of the most respected Grief Educator Certification programs in the world, and is the founder of grief.com.
Connect with David Kessler:
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Resources:
The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Podcast episode production by Dante32.
