Enduring Grief

What do you do when grief leaves you asking, “Now what?”In this heartfelt episode of Enduring Grief, Sarah Peterson sits down with Aurena, licensed mental health counselor, yoga instructor, and co-creator of the Planet Grief deck. Aurena shares how the loss of her mother inspired a practical, compassionate tool for grievers and the people who love them. Together, Sarah and Aurena talk about receiving help, grief-informed support, changed humor, secondary losses, complicated family relationships, and why bringing up someone’s loss can feel like love instead of pain. This conversation offers real comfort for anyone living after loss, with gentle reminders that grief can feel lonely, but no one has to carry it alone.Connect with Aurena:✅ Instagram: @aurena✅ Website: inner-compass-therapy.com✅ Planet Grief Deck: hackyournervoussystem.org/products/planetgriefEpisode highlights:(2:26) Meet Aurena and the Planet Grief deck(5:16) Losing her mother and creating grief tools(9:49) How the deck supports grievers and loved ones(14:47) The practice of receiving help(22:05) Aurena reads her poem “Pump”(27:49) Helpful grief questions and changed humor(35:01) Complicated grief and family relationships(45:36) The kindest support after loss(50:52) Why it helps to bring up grief(52:17) Understanding secondary losses(56:23) Hope, hopelessness, and healing in communityConnect with Sarah:✅ Instagram: instagram.com/clearmourning✅ Official Website: clearmourning.orgFollow us on Instagram: @ClearMourningStay inspired with daily reflections, quotes on healing, and behind-the-scenes content from the podcast.Love What You Hear?Leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. It helps others discover these stories of healing. And if this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who might benefit. Word of mouth is the best way to spread healing and hope.

What does it really mean to show up for someone whose pain cannot be fixed? In this heartfelt episode of Enduring Grief, Sarah Peterson sits down with her dear friend Katie Hartley to talk about grief, friendship, and the quiet power of practical support. Katie shares how her years as a hospice nurse, along with her own personal losses, shaped the way she cared for Sarah after the death of Sarah’s daughter, Marley. Together, they discuss what “being present” truly means, from doing laundry and organizing bills to offering love with no expectations. This conversation is a moving reminder that grief does not need quick answers. It needs steady people, honest love, and the courage to stay close when life feels unbearable.Episode highlights:(1:55) Sarah introduces Katie and their long friendship(6:40) What supporters can learn from hospice care(8:07) Practical help during deep grief(13:10) Why “What do you need?” is not always enough(14:15) How grief changes relationships(22:46) Feeling inadequate as a grief supporter(25:02) Learning to live with lasting pain(29:26) Katie’s top advice for supporters(36:41) Books, quotes, and language that helped explain grief(43:04) Why support can still matter 10 years later(47:51) Trust as one of grief’s greatest gifts(49:24) Why “everything happens for a reason” can hurt rather than helpConnect with Sarah:✅ Instagram: instagram.com/clearmourning✅ Official Website: clearmourning.orgFollow us on Instagram: @ClearMourningStay inspired with daily reflections, quotes on healing, and behind-the-scenes content from the podcast.Love What You Hear?Leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform—it helps others discover these stories of healing. And if this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who might benefit. Word of mouth is the best way to spread healing and hope.

What if grief is not something to fix, but something asking to move through us with care, witness, and community?In this heartfelt episode of Enduring Grief, Sarah Peterson welcomes Pixie Lighthorse for a powerful conversation about loss, kinship, and the deep need for support when life breaks open. Pixie shares why grief cannot be rushed, hidden, or carried alone, and how a “support core” can help us stay connected when pain feels too heavy. Together, they talk about death, men and grief, the body’s role in sorrow, and the courage it takes to let tears, shaking, silence, and love have their place. This episode is a gentle reminder that grief changes us, but we do not have to face it by ourselves.Pixie Lighthorse is an author, poet, teacher, and grief tender whose work helps people build honest relationships with grief, healing, nature, and community. An enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Pixie writes about sorrow, belonging, boundaries, and the support we need when life breaks open. She is the author of several books, including Prayers of Honoring Grief, Boundaries & Protection, Goldmining the Shadows, and The Wound Makes the Medicine.Connect with Pixie:Web: https://www.pixielighthorse.com/IG: @pixielighthorseEpisode highlights:(2:29) Why Pixie said yes to the conversation(5:33) Holding grief for others(8:37) What to say when you do not know what to say(11:48) How work culture limits grief(16:12) Men, vulnerability, and unspoken grief(22:42) Why grief needs community(28:33) Building a “support core”(32:17) Why grief is human and painful(35:04) Grief as an inside job(37:03) Letting tears and sorrow move(42:54) What helped Sarah in her deepest grief(47:18) Pixie’s kinship school and grief groupsConnect with Sarah:✅ Instagram: instagram.com/clearmourning✅ Official Website: clearmourning.orgFollow us on Instagram: @ClearMourningStay inspired with daily reflections, quotes on healing, and behind-the-scenes content from the podcast.Love What You Hear?Leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform—it helps others discover these stories of healing. And if this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who might benefit. Word of mouth is the best way to spread healing and hope.

What if refuge in grief is not a place where pain disappears, but a small moment where you can finally breathe? In this heartfelt episode of Enduring Grief, Sarah Peterson sits down with Marlis and Dean to talk about finding steadiness when loss feels too heavy to carry. Together, they explore what true refuge can look like, from feeling your feet on the ground to calling a friend, reaching out to 988, or reconnecting with nature, faith, ancestors, and inner wisdom. They also speak honestly about false refuge, the pull to escape, and the brave work of learning who you are after loss. This conversation offers gentle reminders that grief and love are deeply connected, and even in the hardest moments, you are not alone.Episode highlights:(2:29) Finding refuge in grief(4:46) Taking the next breath(7:30) False refuge versus real safety(10:07) Losing and rediscovering yourself(15:24) Self-soothing tools for grief(22:13) Letting go of control(28:48) How supporters can help(32:43) Going into the “hole” of grief(42:27) When grief feels scary and isolating(43:08) Asking for help and calling 988(47:31) Faith, ancestors, and inner sources of comfort(51:39) Creating daily practices for supportConnect with Sarah:✅ Instagram: instagram.com/clearmourning✅ Official Website: clearmourning.orgFollow us on Instagram: @ClearMourningStay inspired with daily reflections, quotes on healing, and behind-the-scenes content from the podcast.Love What You Hear?Leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform—it helps others discover these stories of healing. And if this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who might benefit. Word of mouth is the best way to spread healing and hope.

What happens when the marriage ends, but the grief stays? In this honest and deeply human conversation, Sarah welcomes divorce coach Steph Kafoury to talk about the loss that can come with divorce, even when leaving was the right choice. They speak with care and humor about anger, sadness, identity, parenting, dating, support, and learning to trust yourself without needing a perfect plan. Steph shares how divorce coaching helps people move from “we” to “me,” while Sarah connects divorce grief to the larger pain of living after loss. Together, they remind listeners that healing has no set timeline, kids need love and safety, and small daily choices can help you find hope while life changes around you.Before becoming a life coach, Steph Kafoury built a dynamic career as an international advertising executive in Amsterdam, a yoga instructor, and the founder of a marketing consultancy. Each chapter taught her something vital about human connection, resilience, and the importance of living with intention.Her greatest transformation, however, came in 2023, when her marriage ended. What began as a breaking point became a breakthrough — the experience that reshaped not just her life, but her purpose.That season of uncertainty revealed the heart of her work: helping women navigate the raw, beautiful, and often messy process of rediscovering themselves after major life transitions.Steph lives in Bend, Oregon with her three amazing kids and their yellow lab, Sabrina. Together, they fill their days with hiking, skiing, travel, and spontaneous adventure. She believes that healing doesn’t happen by running from your story — it happens when you finally embrace it.Connect with Steph:Web: www.riselifecoach.comIG: @divorcecoachstephEpisode highlights:(0:25) Introducing divorce as a real form of grief(2:54) Feeling the full range of emotions after divorce(4:03) What a divorce coach does(6:55) Coaching vs. therapy(9:31) Knowing when you are ready to date or move forward(11:55) Feeling alone in divorce grief(17:46) The real losses that come with divorce(20:49) How men and women may process divorce differently(25:07) Why support matters(26:39) Naming and feeling emotions(29:33) Self-care, daily rituals, and finding hope(34:03) Certainty, guarantees, and making hard decisions(39:56) Where to find Steph and final reflectionsConnect with Sarah:✅ Instagram: instagram.com/clearmourning✅ Official Website: clearmourning.orgFollow us on Instagram: @ClearMourningStay inspired with daily reflections, quotes on healing, and behind-the-scenes content from the podcast.Love What You Hear?Leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform—it helps others discover these stories of healing. And if this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who might benefit. Word of mouth is the best way to spread healing and hope.