Grieving Sober, Loving Honestly, and Rebuilding After Loss with Amanda McKoy Flanagan | 063

What happens when grief doesn’t come one loss at a time, but hits you in waves, back-to-back, with no recovery window?In this deeply honest episode of RESILIENT A.F., Blair sits down with Amanda McKoy Flanagan to talk about compound grief, sobriety, marriage, and what it really takes to keep going when life keeps taking. Amanda shares her experience of losing five close family members in just three years, how those losses nearly unraveled her marriage, and why facing grief sober changed everything.This conversation is raw, grounding, and surprisingly hopeful. It’s about grief that doesn’t fit neatly into timelines, the quiet strength of supportive partners, and the courage it takes to look inward instead of numbing out.If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “doing grief right” (spoiler: there’s no such thing), this episode will feel like a long exhale.After moving from New York to Colorado, Amanda experienced an overwhelming series of losses, including the deaths of her brother, cousin, and former partner. She opens up about how grief stacked on top of grief impacted her emotional health, identity, and marriage.Blair reflects on her own experience with compound loss and speaks candidly about navigating grief while sober, a path that removes the numbing but amplifies the truth.Amanda and Blair explore the difference between grieving in active addiction versus grieving with full emotional presence. Together, they unpack what it means to sit with pain instead of escaping it, and why sobriety can be both brutal and deeply healing when loss hits.Amanda shares a pivotal moment when her husband, Jim, recognized that something wasn’t right and suggested marriage counselling. What followed was resistance, realization, and ultimately repair.If this episode hit home, share it with someone who needs to hear they’re not broken, they’re grieving. And if you’re ready to go deeper into these conversations, make sure you’re subscribed so you never miss an episode that tells the truth out loud.Sponsorship opportunities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15oZsxAigvb6e4wbAmvW_El_1_laeyK4shMY1md6zVWI/edit?usp=sharingSubscribe to our Substack: https://theglobalresilienceproject.substack.com/Buy our Books: https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/books/About the Guest:A native New Yorker turned Coloradan, Amanda McKoy Flanagan masterfully combines urban insights with a nature-inspired philosophy in her approach to love and loss. Certified intuitive loss + empowerment coach, writing coach, energy healer, and retreat leader, Amanda is the author of the award-winning inspirational memoir Trust Yourself to Be All In: Safe to Love and Let Go and host of the Sol Rising podcast. Empowering individuals to navigate life's toughest transitions with clarity, healing, and creative expression, Amanda focuses on holistic wellness, guiding clients toward emotional and spiritual recovery by releasing trauma and regaining balance. Offering a transformative approach to living fully, Amanda provides actionable insights for overcoming challenges by embracing the power of one’s own inner wisdom, natural resilience, and capacity for change.Links: https://www.instagram.com/amandamckoyflanaganhttps://www.instagram.com/solrisingpodcasthttps://www.facebook.com/amandamckoyflanaganhttps://m.youtube.com/@thesolrisingpodcasthttps://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/⚠️ Content Note: Some episodes may contain themes that could be distressing. Please take care of yourself while listening, and don’t hesitate to seek support from a mental health professional if needed.About the Hosts: Blair Kaplan Venables is a British Columbia-based grief and resilience expert and coach, motivational speaker and the Founder of The Global Resilience Project. Her expertise has been featured on media platforms like Forbes, TEDx, CBC Radio, Entrepreneur, and Thrive Global. She is named the Top Grief and Resilience Expert of the Year 2024 by IAOTP. USA Today listed Blair as one of the top 10 conscious female leaders to watch and she empowers others to be resilient from stages around the world. 'MyStory,’ which is a television show available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Google Play, showcases Blair's life story. She is the host of the Radical Resilience podcast and specializes in helping people strengthen their resilience muscle using scientifically proven methods and guides grieving high performers with her Navigating Grief Framework. The Global Resilience Project’s award-winning book series are international bestsellers, and her fourth book, RESILIENT A.F.: Stories of Resilience Vol 2, will be published in January 2025. In her free time, you can find Blair writing, in nature, travelling the world and helping people to strengthen their resilience muscles. Links:https://www.blairkaplan.ca/https://theglobalresilienceproject.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/blairdkaplan https://www.facebook.com/blair.kaplan https://www.facebook.com/BlairKaplanCommunications  https://www.instagram.com/globalresiliencecommunityhttps://www.instagram.com/blairfromblairland/https://www.facebook.com/globalresiliencecommunity  https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-global-resilience-project [email protected] Alana Kaplan is a compassionate mental health professional based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She works in the mental health field, and is a co-host of the Resilient A.F.  podcast. Fueled by advocacy, Alana is known for standing up and speaking out for others. Passionate about de-stigmatizing and normalizing mental health, Alana brings her experience to The Global Resilience Project’s team, navigating the role one’s mental health plays in telling their story.Engaging in self-care and growth keeps her going, and her love for reading, travel, and personal relationships helps foster that. When she’s not working, Alana can often be found on walks, working on a crossword puzzle, or playing with any animal she sees.Thanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? 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