About Heather Stang, MA, C-IAYT

Heather is the author of Mindfulness & Grief, released in its second edition in 2018, and is the host of the Mindfulness & Grief Podcast. She has a Master’s Degree in Thanatology (death, dying and bereavement) and is a certified yoga therapist and meditation instructor. She spent seven years working on a suicide prevention hotline in honor of her uncle, who died by suicide. This journey of love, loss and posttraumatic growth fuels her passion for teaching bereaved families and grief professionals how to use mindfulness-based techniques to cope with grief, cultivate resilience, and prevent burnout.

Heather is on the Advisory Board for the highly regarded military family survivor organization Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), has appeared on the award winning television show about grief, Open to Hope, and has facilitated grief workshops & keynotes for a number of education and non-profit organizations. In addition to her own publications, Heather has contributed to Techniques of Grief Therapy: Assessment & Intervention, edited by Dr. Robert A. Neimeyer. Heather lives in Maryland, where she is the founder of the Frederick Meditation Center in Maryland, and volunteers with the Hospice of Washington County and the Hospice of Frederick County.

Mindfulness & Grief: How To Cope With Life After Loss

Coping with grief may seem like an impossible task. Few words bring comfort, and there is no quick fix for a broken heart. In addition to overwhelming sadness, we often feel vulnerable, disoriented, and maybe even beaten down. You may feel like you have little energy to invest in coping with the pain of loss, and wonder how you would even go about this in the first place. This site is here to help.

To begin, there is no right or wrong way to cope with grief—as long as you are not causing yourself harm. It is a natural process that all of us experience in our own way. The 5 Stages of grief have long been disproved, and time is not what heals grief. It is, in fact, what you do with your time that matters.  The mindfulness-based exercises for grief that you find on this site will help you make wise use of that time.

It does not matter if you are new to mindfulness - in fact many people discover mindfulness-based practices during difficult times. Mindfulness for grief is not about whitewashing your pain, or "getting over" your loss. It is about learning how to stay present, cultivate compassion, and make wise choices that will help you cope with this new normal known as life after loss.

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