Additional grief resources
TMC Hospice offers a variety of resources to help individuals with their grief.
Audio shorts
Developed by Greg Dalder, Lead Grief Counselor, to support clients participating in grief counseling and others interested in grief education.
6 minutes
Five steps for managing emotions
2 minutes
Avoidance of difficult emotions
1.5 minutes
Allowing difficult emotions
3 minutes
Joy, sorrow and mindfulness
Guided meditation
Tending the heart after loss begins with paying attention to our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This is mindfulness.
Meditation is a useful tool for strengthening mindfulness, our ability to pay attention. Since there are many ways to learn meditation, I have narrowed the introduction to three guided audio meditation sessions. Each meditation is led by a different senior meditation teacher broadly recognized in the mindfulness field for their knowledge, skill, and experience.
Jon Kabat-Zin
Body scan
This session is about becoming more embodied. Attention is sequentially focused on parts of the body from toes to head. The meditation supports mindfulness and dropping out of our mind into the body. This session is done laying on your back in a comfortable position. ~30 minutes
Jill Sheperd
Guided loving-kindness meditation
Sheperd’s session is about cultivating love and kindness. These are qualities of the heart that are always there. As we uncover these qualities, we can bring loving-kindness to those parts of ourselves that are in pain. ~30 minutes
Jeff Warren
Concentration 101
Warren’s session is basic guided instruction on sitting meditation. Sitting mediation supports learning to sustain attention and noticing when our mind drifts into thoughts of the past or the future. Warren is down-to-earth and easygoing in his style. Very accessible. ~15 minutes
Books to consider
The Wild Edge of Sorrow
Weller, F. (2015)
Introducing the 5 gates of grief, psychotherapist Francis Weller explores how we move through the waters of grief and loss in a culture so fundamentally detached from the needs of the soul.
It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand
Devine, M. (2017)
When a painful loss or life-shattering event upends your world, here is the first thing to know: there is nothing wrong with grief. “Grief is simply love in its most wild and painful form,” says Megan Devine. “It is a natural and sane response to loss.”
The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss
O’Connor, M. (2022)
A renowned grief expert and neuroscientist shares groundbreaking discoveries about what happens in our brain when we grieve, providing a new paradigm for understanding love, loss, and learning.
Other web resources
MyGrief.ca - (Canadian Virtual Hospice)
MyGrief.ca is an online resource to help people move through their grief from the comfort of their own home, at their own pace. It can help you understand your grief and approach some of the most difficult questions that may arise. It was developed by people who have experienced the death of someone important to them and grief specialists. It complements existing community resources and helps address barriers to grief services. The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer funded the vision and the original nine modules.
Talking with kids and teens about serious illness, dying, and death.
