25: Learning to live with NEC Society founder Jennifer Canvasser

Bereaved mother, Jennifer Canvasser, lost her son just before his first birthday. She shares how she navigated the intensity of grief, transformed much of the energy into founding an international organization, The NEC Society, and is bringing awareness to people world-wide about this disease no one talks about, but that is killing babies every single day of the year. And she offers powerful advice for anyone experiencing grief, at any stage. Learn more about The NEC Society - https://necsociety.org/ Learn more about The Human Milk Banking Association of North America - https://www.hmbana.org/ About this podcast: Grief, Guts & Smoothies. These three things changed my life – they might change yours too. Each episode we abandon our comfort zones to get a little gutsy and hold space to grow into stronger versions of ourselves. In 2014, the birth of my daughter Leyden changed my entire world. Four months later, grief shattered it. I was broken, scared, lost, angry and hopeless. I didn’t want to live and wasn’t really sure how to. I sought every means to “fight” grief: researching, joining parent groups, and I even traveled outside of the country twice, to hear world-renowned grief speaker Dr. Raymond Moody. Disappointed, I discovered like all adversities in life, there is no way to “beat” grief. But, thankfully, there were effective strategies I could employ when navigating such choppy waters. Whether it was understanding the gut-brain connection, or getting gutsy in my ability to face discomfort, the tools I learned, truly saved my life. There are not nearly enough resources to support each other through uncomfortable challenges – be it loss of a job, a relationship, a sense of self…or life. Talking about uncomfortable things, well that takes guts. And we are going to get really gutsy here. Connect with Melissa: Learn more at Melissa’s website Join the conversation on Instagram Credits: Podcast edited and mixed by 51 features. Connect at andrew [at] 51features.com. Catch up with me on socials!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissadlugolecki/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissa.dlugoleckiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-dlugolecki-b24988141/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@melissadlugoleckiYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MelissaDlugolecki