Loss and Grief: After Self-Acceptance Comes Integration

— "Living through a traumatic experience often alters our perspective in a way that makes us better partners, employees, leaders, family members, and ultimately, better people. If you find yourself unable to love the version of you born through trauma, offer yourself tenderness. If you aren't able to release your daily heartache, offer yourself consolation. If you'd rather forget your traumatic experience than relive one moment, offer yourself empathy. If you can't stop yearning to return to the life you used to live, offer yourself patience. If you can't forgive yourself for what you view as failures — real or imagined — offer yourself mercy. If you are so afraid of future heartbreak that you aren't willing to take any risks, offer yourself kindness. If you feel trapped by your trauma, offer yourself com- passion."  Valeria Teles interviews Michele Neff Hernandez — the author of " Different after You: Rediscovering Yourself and Healing after Grief and Trauma" Michele Neff Hernandez is the founding President, and Chief Executive Officer of Soaring Spirits International, a non-profit organization providing peer support programming for widowed people worldwide. Michele if the author of Different After You set for publication by New World Library in March of 2022. Her passion for widowed people and the power of integration fuels her presentations and herm community activism. Michele has received a local, state, and national recognition for her work in founding Soaring Spirits, including; a letter of recognition from President Joe Biden; Simi Valley Hospital Foundation's Woman of the Year award; Ventura County's Woman Today award; Simi Valley Community Foundation's Humanitarian Award; and the National State Farm Insurance Embrace Life Award. Michele resides in Simi Valley, California with her three amazing kids, and one very Australian husband and is currently serving as the President of the Rotary Club of Simi Valley. To learn more about Michele Neff Hernandez and her work, please visit: soaringspirits.org         — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.