SEASON 2 Ep. 8: “Embracing Grief While Being a Mindful Survivor,” with Guest Dave Stevenson

            When you’re mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience. Trying to be mindful while in the midst of grief can be challenging. However, learning to lean into it while also leaning into love, loss, and moving forward are part of being mindful in grief.

If, for example, you are feeling angry about the loss, mindfully tending to your grief means that instead of feeling bad about being angry, you simply allow anger to be present. It’s not about changing how you feel, it’s about accepting it–recognizing it without reacting to it. Being mindful about your feelings in the grief process also means not pushing those feelings or emotions onto others (ie: taking your anger out on someone else).

Finding a way to embrace grief while also finding a way to survive in a mindful way is precisely what our guest, Dave Stevenson, has done.

After losing his wife Karen to Glioblastoma, Dave and his four sons decided to do something with their grief. The Fierce Foundation was born. Karen’s spirit and strength inspired them to be grateful, have hope, and when things seem impossible, to fight.

In this episode, Dave opens up about being a widower, the challenges he’s faced as a male grieving his spouse, and what it means to embrace grief while also finding a way to mindfully move forward.

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