A Conversation with a Widow’s Nervous System

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The pain of loss is such an isolating experience, where the outside and inside of us are not aligned. We are out of sync with humanity, and yet we are inside an experience that each and every one of us will have.

‘I Am Rushing:’ a Mantra of Love and Memory

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I have just returned from spending time with a dear friend and her husband. They are living in what I have come to call “Illness Time” ­ not a period of time spent ill, but time itself defined by illness.

Managing the Time Warp of Loss: Why Do They Want to Marry the Widow off?

When our parents die, no one tries to comfort us by saying, "You can love like this again with a new mother, new father, or a different grandparent.” Yet, with the loss of a spouse, people quickly start talking about a new companion, a new sexual partner, a new friend.

Healing Circles for Youth

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Heart Circles at the Power of Hope camp take place in a safe space and a familiar community, allowing teens to drop into their authentic voices. The space is deeply respected. Many young people report that this is the peak experience of the camp.
CC BY-SA 2.0 by IQRemix via Flickr

An A-B-C of Stress Management

Stressors are all around us, and we benefit greatly when we have ways to manage stress and restore a less activated state of being.

Veterans Helping Veterans

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After a healing circle helped former sargent James Pride face his own loss, he reached out to his community to form a Veterans Helping Veterans healing circle.

Women Sharing, Women Witnessing

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Responding to national news, we invited sexual abuse or assault survivors, to share her story with other women whether she had told it before or was just finding the courage to tell it now.

Safety in Numbers: Five Circle Agreements

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For everyone in the circle to feel truly safe, the underlying assumption must be that everyone in attendance will honor the Circle Agreements, and that the Host and Guardian will be resolute in attending to them.

What Makes a Circle Healing?

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The only person who can accurately perceive a circle to be healing is the individual circle participant. Healing, as with pain, is what the person says it is.

In Exile 

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Sharing moments from a tender counseling session with a bereaved mother, Janie Brown takes a strong and compassionate look at the impact of loss on our hearts and our lives. Do we actually “move on?” Do we actually “get over it?”