Breathing Wind

Apr 02 2024 5

Breathing Wind Podcast artwork

Breathing Wind is a podcast about grief and loss and how we journey with these lifelong companions. Naila Francis, grief coach, writer and former journalist and Sarah Davis, podcast consultant, speaker and writer, are cohosts. We offer warm, honest and insightful conversations for the introspective at heart. Launched in 2019 as a personal grief project, the podcast struck a chord with listeners looking for a space to feel less alone in their grief. Quickly, a dedicated community grew around the candid and compelling conversations with others who knew grief just as intimately and those who offered guidance for navigating this universal human experience. In its three seasons of publishing monthly episodes, Breathing Wind has become a trusted space to explore who we become and how we make meaning in the midst of our post-loss lives. It's also the place where joy, laughter, wonder and possibility co-exist alongside deep heartbreak. Find out more at www.breathingwind.com. Follow us on Instagram @breathingwindpodcast. Send us a voice message at www.speakpipe.com/BreathingWind.

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Celebrating 100 Episodes: A Journey Through Grief, Creativity, and Legacy

Apr 02 2024 35 mins

“As a death midwife, one of the things many of us do is work on legacy projects with people who are dying and their loved ones, and yet sometimes I think it's really not up to us to know what our legacy is. I can hope it will be this particular thing, but at the end of the day, the people we leave behind are the ones really making the meaning and interpreting our lives for us.”

Embracing creativity, change and joy in grief: Recapping our Conversation with Mara June

Mar 19 2024 39 mins

“I think some of the clearest decisions I've ever made have come in the aftermath of grief.” ~Naila Francis In this episode, we look back on our enchanting and insightful conversation with Mara June, an educator, facilitator, community weaver, writer, caregiver, death doula and community herbalist. Reflecting on her deep belief in the creative energy inherent in grieving, we di

Rolling Out The Welcome Mat for Grief

Mar 05 2024 49 mins

"In allowing ourselves to feel our grief, or to feel present with whatever is coming up for us — not excluding our joy — that's actually helping us to feel more deeply in all of these areas in our life. And I think that is part of the enchantment piece for me...When we feel more deeply, then we can also feel enchantment and wonder and awe and all of these other things as well."

A Welcome Space for Grief

Feb 20 2024 51 mins

In this episode, inspired by our powerful conversation with communal grief tender and song circle leader, Alexandra “Ahlay” Blakeley, we discuss our own experiences with song circles and how they impacted us — as well our thoughts on community grief spaces in general, and how grief support is so much broader than the stereotypical basement circle for story sharing that people

Singing Together to Open Our Hearts

Feb 06 2024 68 mins

“I believe that community singing, which I define as, when a group of folks come together and they sing songs together that are easy enough lyrically and easy enough melodically to be taught in the moment. And then we sing these songs, which I personally call spells or prayers together that are amplified and help put us in some sort of altered state through the process of singing

Guided by Grief - Reflections on our Conversation with Susan J. Tweit

Jan 23 2024 36 mins

“When I was on the Camino, there was this moment when I was spreading [my dad’s] ashes and just talking to him and I realized that was why I was there, that he wanted me there. And I felt so connected to him, and at that time I remember thinking, ‘This is so simple. I can turn off everything and go out for a walk in the woods and be connected with my dad.’” ~ Sarah Davis

Living and Dying with Love and Compassion with Susan J. Tweit

Jan 09 2024 35 mins

“If we have the intention to live with love and compassion, we can handle anything. We are amazing beings, we humans. We can also really screw up badly, but if we have the intention to live with love and compassion, it changes what we do and how we are.” ~ Susan J. Tweit In her memoir, Bless the Birds: Living with Love in a Time of Dying, Susan J. Tweit, an award-winning writer

Blue Lights: A Holiday Episode

Dec 19 2023 26 mins

“Our Christmas lights now are all blue since Ron left. I want to honor the day and the spirit of it, but the bright, shining twinkle lights and jingle bells don't speak to my heart. When the blue lights are turned on, the room is bathed with a lovely blue, which creates exactly the right atmosphere to sink into the holy yet joyful season.” ~Marge Sexton In this holiday compilat

Grief as a Transformational Journey: Reflections on our Conversation with Ning Tendo

Dec 05 2023 42 mins

"If you're willing to open to the journey and if you're willing to really allow yourself to feel your grief and have practices to engage it, it does shape-shift over time. It does become softer. It does become something that you can carry maybe with a little more...lightness and grace." ~Naila Francis In this episode, we delve into varied facets of grief and loss, including the tra

Dreaming into Grief and Love

Nov 21 2023 51 mins

“Just having that dream visit, even just one visit, can nourish somebody and really give them the courage to go into their grief because it's not enough to have those dreams. It doesn't negate the pain of their physical absence. You still need to do the hard work. You still need to go into your grief and really unwind all of those stories and all of the different things that are