Grief and Loss | How Mindfulness Helps

Season 2 with Dr Richard Sears -“Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” 

While most of us probably wish Benjamin Franklin’s infamous phrase weren’t true, avoiding it won’t make it any less honest. So, in this episode of Mindfulness Off the Cushion, we’ll take some time to gently - yet honestly - explore the deeply human experience of grief and loss, rooted in ways in which mindfulness can help us through. 

In a twist of fate that hits home even more deeply than usual for our team, Dr. Sears lost his mother just recently, before recording this podcast. From this place of honesty and lived experience, we hope we can offer something tender and useful to you in your own journey through life and loss. Mindfulness is not meant to be practiced only when we feel good. As Dr. Sears simply puts it, sometimes reality hurts. We would not be human without this factor of pain, of loss. 

But here’s the tiny, golden nugget: by paying attention to the reality of our experience, and the thoughts and feelings that arise with it, we can learn to honor the grief. We can learn to honor the sadness. In honoring our sadness, we can better come to recognize the reality that loss can occur at any minute. In so doing, we can also come to even more deeply treasure the people who matter to us, right now. 

Join us, as we navigate how to make space for sadness - without letting it overwhelm us.

Season 2 Special Guest Dr. Richard W. Sears, PsyD PhD MBA, core faculty of PsyD Program in Clinical Psychology at Union Institute & University and Director of The Center for Clinical Mindfulness and Meditation. 

Host Lance Vaughn, co-owner of Austin Mindfulness Center and self-described ‘mindfulness student.’ 

Co-host Claudio Barrientos, Certified Mindfulness Instructor at Austin Mindfulness Center.