Description

After losing 6 family members in 4 months, Kristie West started to explore grief and death through therapy, personal and spiritual development. She works 1:1 with people all over the world to help them to heal from grief, using a method that she has developed, that is unique to each person who works with her. Kristie helps to take people from pain and loss to gratitude, connection and freedom.

In this episode, we talked about:

• Kristie’s experience of losing 6 family members in 4 months
• Exploring mind-body approaches to cope with grief
• Realising, 2 years later, that she no longer had any grief, regret or pain
• Most people don’t want to heal from grief, as they think it means getting over the person who died
• Grief as an expression of love
• Your love for the person who died is eternal
• Common responses to bereavement include sadness, regret, anger, relief
• The initial acute experience of loss (approx 6 months) where you can give space for emotions to move through
• Social conditioning such as “only remember the good times”
• People deserve to be remembered, loved and accepted for who they are and not ‘photo-shopped’
• Kristie’s e-book, ‘How to Write and Give a Beautiful Funeral Speech’ http://kristiewest.com/shop/product/e-book-how-to-write-and-give-a-beautiful-funeral-speech/
• Healing can’t happen if you have a false story about them
• Finding beauty and meaning, even in difficult circumstances and in each death
• Self-love and self-care in the early weeks and months after a bereavement, as simple as staying rested, hydrated and nourished
• Doing something you love each day
• Finding a way to express yourself, such as journalling or dancing
• Some people just can’t be around death, we live in a death-fearing society
• If you’re going to get help from someone, check out how comfortable they are around death and grief 
• Supporting someone who has gone through a bereavement: there are no magic words, check in with yourself first and deal with your own discomfort so you can show up 
• Talking about death honestly and openly with children- and let kids teach you
• Healing from grief is possible

Resources:

www.kristiewest.com