Many of us think about grief as what happens when someone we love dies, but we grieve so much more than that. We have little losses every day–our bodies age, our relationships change, and our planet suffers. This week on the podcast, Francis Weller shares the five gates of grief that all humans walk through and offers us insights into how ritual, community, and compassion can be resources in our apprenticeship with grief.

Listen and Learn:

• The importance of learning how to grieve
• The 5 gates of grief that all humans will walk through
• What are grief rituals and why are they helpful?
• How shame is related to grief
• The ancestral grief we all carry
• Why grief has no timeline or endpoint
• Small practices you can do with grief

About Francis Weller

Francis Weller is a psychotherapist, writer, and soul activist. Author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief; The Threshold Between Loss and Revelation, (with Rashani Réa) and In the Absence of the Ordinary: Essays in a Time of Uncertainty, he has introduced the healing work of ritual to thousands of people. For thirty-nine years Francis has worked as a psychotherapist and developed a style he calls soul-centered psychotherapy. His writings have appeared in anthologies and journals exploring the confluence between psyche, nature, and culture, including The Sun magazine, the Utne Reader, Kosmos Journal, and Ruminate. Francis is currently on staff at Commonweal Cancer Help Program and is currently completing his fourth book, The Alchemy of Initiation: Soul Work and the Art of Ripening. 

Related Resources

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Learn more about Francis Weller and connect with him on Facebook

Read the book The Wild Edge of Sorrow 

Practice the Five Touchings of the Earth

Learn more about Joanna Macy’s Council of All Beings

Read Radical Joy for Hard Times to learn more about earth grief

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Thank you to the team Craig, Angela Stubbs, and Ashley Hiatt. Thank you to Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

Remember when you become psychologically flexible, you become free.