Naila Francis | Hallowed Nature of Grief episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 18, 2026 · 1H 16M

Naila Francis | Hallowed Nature of Grief

from Grief is a Sneaky Bitch

Naila Francis joins host Lisa Keefauver for a tender and magical conversation on the sacred nature of grief. Naila begins by acknowledging an experience of grief too often ignored—the anger that arises when the person who died was someone with whom you had a complicated or problematic relationship. For Naila, that was her dad. Together they explore their shared interest in centering aliveness in a world full of loss, the power of nature as a container for grief, and the way writing, poetry, and creativity allow us to metabolize and move our grief. Naila shares how nature, singing, and even animals have the power to hold our grief and help us see the beauty that exists alongside it. They touch on loss when the relationship was complicated, how new loss opens us back up to teachings still waiting to be learned from old grief, and so much more.ABOUT GUEST:Naila Francis is a certified grief coach and death midwife, an ordained interfaith minister, a poet, and an accomplished writer. As the founder of This Hallowed Wilderness, she helps people transform their relationship to grief and loss through one-on-one coaching, workshops, presentations, rituals and community grief tending. Naila is also a co-founder of Salt Trails, a Philadelphia collective normalizing grief through community rituals, and was on the steering committee that launched the four-day inaugural Philadelphia Death & Arts Festival in 2024. For many years, she worked as a journalist, interviewing artists from all backgrounds, before finding her way to the vocations of companioning others through grief and dying after suffering several personal losses in her own life, including the death of her father. An ardent joy enthusiast, Naila believes in grieving well as a fundamental human skill that ultimately deepens our capacity for pleasure, connection and compassion.LEARN MORE ABOUT NAILA: www.thishallowedwilderness.comFOLLOW NAILA ON SOCIALS: @thishallowedwilderness on IG and FB.ABOUT THE SHOW & HOSTLisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/supportREAD BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Naila Francis joins host Lisa Keefauver for a tender and magical conversation on the sacred nature of grief. Naila begins by acknowledging an experience of grief too often ignored—the anger that arises when the person who died was someone with whom you had a complicated or problematic relationship. For Naila, that was her dad. Together they explore their shared interest in centering aliveness in a world full of loss, the power of nature as a container for grief, and the way writing, poetry, and creativity allow us to metabolize and move our grief. Naila shares how nature, singing, and even animals have the power to hold our grief and help us see the beauty that exists alongside it. They touch on loss when the relationship was complicated, how new loss opens us back up to teachings still waiting to be learned from old grief, and so much more.ABOUT GUEST:Naila Francis is a certified grief coach and death midwife, an ordained interfaith minister, a poet, and an accomplished writer. As the founder of This Hallowed Wilderness, she helps people transform their relationship to grief and loss through one-on-one coaching, workshops, presentations, rituals and community grief tending. Naila is also a co-founder of Salt Trails, a Philadelphia collective normalizing grief through community rituals, and was on the steering committee that launched the four-day inaugural Philadelphia Death & Arts Festival in 2024. For many years, she worked as a journalist, interviewing artists from all backgrounds, before finding her way to the vocations of companioning others through grief and dying after suffering several personal losses in her own life, including the death of her father. An ardent joy enthusiast, Naila believes in grieving well as a fundamental human skill that ultimately deepens our capacity for pleasure, connection and compassion.LEARN MORE ABOUT NAILA: www.thishallowedwilderness.comFOLLOW NAILA ON SOCIALS: @thishallowedwilderness on IG and FB.ABOUT THE SHOW & HOSTLisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/supportREAD BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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This episode is 1 hour and 16 minutes long.

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This episode was published on February 18, 2026.

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Naila Francis joins host Lisa Keefauver for a tender and magical conversation on the sacred nature of grief. Naila begins by acknowledging an experience of grief too often ignored—the anger that arises when the person who died was someone with whom...

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