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Nathalie Himmelrich

Inspiring Hope | Finding healthy ways of Grieving | Writer

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creative healing

Estelle Thompson on How Art and Yoga Saved My Life | Episode 32

March 20, 2023 By Nathalie Himmelrich Leave a Comment

Estelle Thompson
Estelle Thompson

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is completely self-funded, produced, and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich.
Consider making a small donation to support the Podcast here. Thank you! 


Today on the podcast I am speaking with Estelle Thompson, who has been an inspiration for me for years. We’ve met on Instagram as part of a yearly event called May We All Heal which I started in 2015 and gave grieving mothers a creative outlet and an avenue to share with others. Estelle has a way of using art and yoga in her healing journey that drew me in and it was an honor for me to be speaking with her. Here is someone who can laugh while crying, who exemplifies living with the paradox of living a creative life while holding the gift of what death has brought her.  

Table of Contents

  • About this week’s guest 
  • Topics discussed in this episode
  • Resources mentioned in this episode 
  • Links

About this week’s guest 

Estelle Thomson, M.A. in Counselling Psychology is a leading yoga teacher and educator in the intersecting fields of expressive arts, embodied movement, and psychology. With over ten years of experience, her work explores the relationship between breath, body, emotions, imagination, and play. Estelle is a faculty member of Quantum University, internationally recognized for offering online courses and graduate degree programs in holistic, alternative, natural, and integrative medicine. Estelle leads numerous lectures, workshops, and retreats locally and internationally.

Estelle’s links: Website | Instagram

Topics discussed in this episode

  • Giving birth prematurely and the unexpected death of her son Tommy Tinker when he was just 2 years old 
  • Art and yoga saved her life
  • Writing for grief
  • Change of identity
  • How to use creativity

Resources mentioned in this episode 

  • Grieving Parents Support Network (FB page) and May We All Heal event and peer support group.
  • Tommy Tinker Forever Documentary
  • Estelle’s Retreats

Links

–> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website. 

–> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.

–> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.

Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.com

If you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. 

Filed Under: podcast, child loss, creative healing, grief support, grief/loss, grieving parents, parenting, self development/motivation, spirituality, trauma, writing Tagged With: art and yoga, creative healing, grief, grief and loss, grieving a child, grieving parents, yoga for healing, yoga saved my life

Nathalie with Rachelle Spencer on Being Proud on Who You’ve Become | Episode 23

December 12, 2022 By Nathalie Himmelrich Leave a Comment

Rachelle Spencer

Today on the podcast I have the honour to dive deep into loss and trauma with Rachelle Spencer, who I’ve known since 2016. She has experienced multiple miscarriages and an abusive, toxic relationship. Rachelle is proud of who she has become not because but despite of her grief and trauma.

Rachelle found the support of a therapist instrumental in her healing and in making healthy decisions:

I know you mentioned therapist, but that was hugely instrumental for me to have a safe place, a sounding board. I don’t want to underestimate how big that was because I was figuring things out and learning to make decisions on my own. There was one person that completely supported whatever decision I made and trusted me to figure it out.

Rachelle Spencer

Table of Contents

  • About this week’s guest
    • Rachelle’s links:
  • Topics discussed in this episode
  • Resources mentioned in this episode
  • Links
  • Support this Podcast

About this week’s guest

Rachelle Spencer is an entrepreneur and mom in Baltimore, Maryland (USA). She started her handmade jewellery business after she lost 4 children to early miscarriage. She now has a son, daughter, and another little one on the way. She spends most of her time doing photography, reading children’s books, or trying her hand out at a new creative outlet.

Rachelle’s links:

Website: www.rachelle-isms.com

Instagram: @rachelle. isms

Topics discussed in this episode

  • Multiple miscarriages
  • Toxic relationship leading to divorce
  • Educating children, helping them understand how to deal with emotions, consent, trauma etc
  • Co-parenting and parenting as a blended family
  • The value of therapeutic support
  • Secondary losses

Resources mentioned in this episode

  • May We All Heal peer support group

Links

–> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website.

–> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.

–> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.

Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.com

If you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich.

Support this Podcast

To support this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe to, or follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.

Remember to keep breathing, I promise, it will get easier.

Filed Under: podcast, child loss, counselling, creative healing, grief support, grief/loss, grieving parents, love/relationship/marriage, separation/divorce, trauma Tagged With: abusive relationship, blended family, co-parenting, miscarriage, rachelleisms, secondary losses, step-parent, toxic relationship

Nathalie with Miten on Life’s Trauma and the Healing Through Music | Episode 18

November 7, 2022 By Nathalie Himmelrich Leave a Comment

Miten

Today I have the pleasure to speak with Miten who I’ve known for almost 20 years through his and Deva’s music. Miten shares the traumas he’s experienced throughout his life and how he’s found the healing power of music.

Miten says:

If there is one thing, I would say that’s helped me, that is to sing. And as much as I can, I tell people, not just our community who are into singing anyway, but… church choirs. Find a choir, find a Gospel choir, you know – sing! Because when you are singing, your heart starts to lift, your burden lift, your spirit lifts. It’s not a joke, it’s real and it’s important and it’s a commitment.

Miten

The mantras hold a special place in my heart and my personal healing so I can highly recommend checking out their music on their website, Spotify or wherever you listen to music. 

Table of Contents

  • About this week’s guest 
  • Topics discussed in this episode
  • Resources mentioned in this episode
  • Links
  • Support this Podcast

About this week’s guest 

Miten was born in London and grew up in the 60s. He later went on to establish a successful career for himself in the 70s as a noted singer/songwriter, releasing several albums including one for Ariola Records under the guidance of legendary American producer Bones Howe. He toured extensively, opening for Fleetwood Mac, Randy Newman, Hall and Oats, Lou Reed, Ry Cooder, Fairport Convention, and The Kinks, among others. This period of his life was exciting but left him spiritually unfulfilled.

After reading a book of the discourses on Zen from Osho (No Water No Moon), Miten had an epiphany and began an inner search. He left everything he had known before, even selling his guitars, and traveled to India, embracing life as a member of the community that had gathered around Osho.

It was there he met his life partner, Deva Premal, and they are now renowned worldwide for their fusion of western music with Sanskrit mantras. Together they have presented their music in as many as 45 countries while accumulating accolades from such diverse admirers as Cher and HH the Dalai Lama, with album sales in excess of one million copies. 

Website: Deva Premal and Miten

Topics discussed in this episode

  • Childhood traumas
  • Leaving behind his family, letting go of his life, his identity, and his career as a musician, and joining Osho’s ashram
  • Healing through meditation, chanting, and being in presence of a Guru and finding music again
  • The physical trauma of a double heart by-pass surgery 

Resources mentioned in this episode

  • Film: Mantra – Sounds Into Silence 
  • Tara Mangalartha Mantra with India Arie

Links

–> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website. 

–> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.

–> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.

Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.com

If you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. 

Support this Podcast

To support this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe to, or follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.

Remember to keep breathing, I promise, it will get easier. 

Filed Under: podcast, creative healing, emotions/feelings, from personal experience, grief/loss, health, nervous system, spirituality, trauma Tagged With: ashram, chanting, deva premal miten, healing power, healing through music, mantra, osho, physical trauma, sanskrit

Nathalie with Domenique Rice on Unapologetically Grieving Out Loud | Episode 5

July 25, 2022 By Nathalie Himmelrich Leave a Comment

Today I speak with Domenique Rice who I have come to know as part of the Instagram community of bereaved parents supporting one another in the Grieving Parents Support Network. People come and go in this community, but Domenique has stayed actively involved and developed a voice to be noticed creating stillbirth awareness in honour of her son TJ.

‘I need to parent my son and honour where I’m at. So that’s the evolution, once again of the ‘stillbirth-Mama-fighting-for light’ and how I really transitioned my grief in my reality to be unapologetic and I say that quite often: unapologetic grief. It has taken me time, but I can’t sugar-coat once again my reality. I can’t water myself down.’

Domenique Rice

Table of Contents

  • About this week’s guest 
  • Topics discussed in this episode
  • Resources mentioned in this episode
  • Links
  • Support this Podcast

About this week’s guest 

Domenique Rice wears many hats – staunch activist, laid-back California transplant, savvy Brooklyn girl, superstar salesperson – but her most important role is that of (bereaved) mother of five. Domenique never had any reason to suspect that something was amiss in her second pregnancy, at least, not until it was already too late. Like most parents, stillbirth and preventative measures were never discussed with Domenique, leaving her completely blindsided when at 36.5 weeks pregnant she unexpectedly went into labor and her second child and first son, TJ, was born still.

In between her morning “TJ coffee” where she holds space each day for her son, rocking a successful sales career, and loving on TJ’s living siblings, Domenique is passionate about sharing her stillborn son, creating stillbirth and child death awareness, and connecting with other bereaved families to support them in their nontraditional parenthood. Grief is not something that parents should need to hide. Stillbirth affects over 23,000 families each year, and Domenique is not willing to stand by while any of them are silenced for one moment longer. 

Feel free to connect with Domenique on her well-regarded Instagram account, @stillbirthmamafightingforlight, where she is actively breaking down stigma and dropping knowledge to prevent stillbirths from happening.

Topics discussed in this episode

  • The death of her son TJ, Terrance Christopher Rice
  • Unapologetically grieving out loud and the love for TJ
  • How to parent a dead child?
  • Using social media (IG) to talk openly and connect to other like-minded people
  • Differences in grieving between partners and how to support one another

Resources mentioned in this episode

  • PushPregnancy.org
  • Return to Zero Hope
  • Measure the placenta.org
  • Dr Harvey Klimans research (Placential specialist)    

Links

–> For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website. 

–> Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here.

–> Join the podcast’s Instagram page.

Thanks for listening to HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA. If you’d like to be updated on future episodes, please subscribe to my newsletter on Nathalie Himmelrich.com

If you need grief support, please contact me for a FREE 30 min discovery session.

HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is produced and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. 

Support this Podcast

To support this podcast, please rate, review, subscribe to, or follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.

Remember to keep breathing, I promise, it will get easier.

Filed Under: podcast, child loss, creative healing, emotions/feelings, grief support, grief/loss, grieving parents, parenting, trauma Tagged With: child loss, grief, grief and loss, grieving parents, parenting a dead child, relationship, stillbirth

You’re the Hero in Your Grief Story

November 18, 2021 By Nathalie Himmelrich Leave a Comment

Table of Contents

  • Why is it important to share your grief story?
  • Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Story applied to grief
  • Campbell’s Hero Journey Model
    • Departure
    • Initiation  – On the road
    • Return – Transformation
  • Application to grieving a loss
    • Departure
    • Initiation – On the road
    • Return – Transformation
  • Teachings from Joseph Campell’s Hero’s Journey in grief

Why is it important to share your grief story?

So let me be clear: you don’t need to share your story, but if you do, you have the choice over how much you share and with whom.

I have found working with clients time and time again that there was healing power in talking about not just what happened but also how they faced adversity and how they found hope within the dark.

Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Story applied to grief

Joseph Campbell, an American professor of literature, found out that for thousands of years people all over the world communicated with stories having similar patterns and basic elements. He structured these patterns and elements into 12 phases, or stages, and called it “The Hero’s Journey“. These stages incorporate mechanisms that connect people on a deeper, core level.

No wonder this technique is so popular in Hollywood. You can find the 12 phases of Hero’s Journey in almost all of the movies. 

Campbell’s Hero Journey Model

Without diving into too many details of those phases, the Hero’s journey can be boiled down to three essential stages:

  1. The departure: The Hero leaves the familiar world behind.
  2. The initiation: The Hero learns to navigate the unfamiliar world.
  3. The return: The Hero returns to the familiar world.

Let’s explore the details of the three stages:

Image Source: https://windhorseguild.org

Departure

In brief, the Hero is living in the so-called “ordinary world” when he receives a call to adventure. 

Usually, the Hero is unsure of following this call — this phase is known as the “refusal of the call” — but is then helped by a mentor figure, who gives him counsel and convinces him to follow the call.

Initiation  – On the road

In the initiation section, the hero enters the “special world,” where he begins facing a series of tasks until he reaches the story’s climax — the main obstacle or enemy. 

Here, the hero puts into practice everything he has learned on his journey to overcome the obstacle. 

Campbell talks about the hero attaining some kind of prize for his troubles — this can be a physical token or “elixir”, or just good, old-fashioned wisdom (or both).

Return – Transformation

Feeling like he is ready to go back to his world, the hero must now leave. 

Once back in the ordinary world, he undergoes a personal metamorphosis to realize how his adventure has changed him as a person.

Application to grieving a loss

Many people facing loss would oppose the loss being “a call to adventure”. Nevertheless, the bereaved would probably agree with me to call grieving “a hell of a journey”.

Departure

The ordinary world:  A person is living their every day, “before-loss” life, unaware of what awaits them. (Comfort Zone)

The call to adventure: The person is experiencing a loss (divorce, losing a job, the ending of a relationship, the loss of a role as a parent, etc.) and is asked to step into the unknown. The call within the context of grief may be expected, but more often it is unexpected, unwelcome, and unwanted. The individual rarely feels prepared, often caught by surprise. Regardless of the circumstance, an invitation has been made and the individual must grapple with the invitation to deal with the loss. (Stressor: Sadness, guilt, blame, helplessness, depression, anger)

Initiation – On the road

Refusal of the call: The person can’t believe what is happening to them. They feel like they are an actor in a movie. The individual must grapple with whether to accept the invitation or decline. (Denial)

Mentor: Support people, such as friends & family members, colleagues, doctors, nurses, therapists show up and help the person face the fact of the loss. (Grief Support)

Crossing the threshold: The person realizes the loss more and more, for example when attending the funeral, or seeing their ex with another new friend, etc. They are moving into their “after-the-loss” life. (Dealing with all the feelings and stages of grief, moving towards acceptance)

The ordeal: The person is dealing with grief’s pain, grief triggers and is learning to live without the person, pet, thing, or any other situation they lost. While enduring the grief journey, a powerful secret about ourselves is discovered: We can survive grief’s pain. And it almost killed us. (Self-reflection, self-knowledge, understanding of grief’s pain on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level)

Return – Transformation

The return: The person has experienced not just loss and the intensity of grief’s pain but also that they can survive it. They return, non in terms of getting back to the “before-loss” life or the person they were before but transformed by the experience and becoming a new person. (True acceptance, self-compassion, and integration back into life)

Teachings from Joseph Campell’s Hero’s Journey in grief

As witnessed in every hero’s journey ever told, regardless of where the challenges originate, the hero must find effective approaches and develop strategies that will aid them in their recovery.

The same applies to the bereaved hero:

  • You need to find approaches that help you deal with your emotions and grief triggers
  • You need to collect strategies to deal with those mentioned
  • You need to apply those strategies
  • The aim is to re-integrate into life, with and through the transformation of the grief journey.

Filed Under: child loss, creative healing, emotions/feelings, grief support, grief/loss Tagged With: grief story, hero's journey, joseph campbell, your grief journey

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    Nathalie Himmelrich

    I accompany people therapeutically as a holistic counsellor and coach.

    I walk alongside people dealing with the challenges presented by life and death.

    I’m also a writer and published author of multiple grief resource books and the founder of the Grieving Parents Support Network.

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