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Smiling Again
#8: How your story can support you along your grief journey - with Eric Hodgdon
If you've ever loved an addict, you may have reached an exhausted, painful point where you felt broken and we're struggling to just keep it all together. I am Kim Moore, and this is smiling again, where in each episode, we remind you that you are not alone together. One thing at a time, we will take small steps to introduce little changes into your life.
When we lose a loved one to addiction, the grief journey begins, affecting you emotionally, physically, spiritually, socially and financially. The journey can begin before they pass away, as we feel they are lost in the addiction. It's this type of grief that is ever so complicated. It can feel incredibly intense, with overwhelming emotions. In order to heal, you must walk through the grief journey.
In this episode I speak with Eric Hodgdon, a coach, author, speaker and Zoi’s dad. After losing his 15-year old daughter Zoi to suicide in early 2014, Eric found a way to get back from loss. Through his grief journey he is sharing the lessons he learned so that no one else has to walk alone on theirs. Eric has trained thousands of people who simply wanted to know how to navigate one of the hardest things that a human can endure - the loss of a loved one.
Eric and I talk about story, and how talking, telling your story can help you along your journey.
Let's walk this journey together.
Together, one thing at a time we'll take small steps, little actions every day, which can help you let go and start smiling again. Together, we'll support each other as we do the work, taking care of ourself along our healing journey. You'll gain a sense of comfort re-joining a social atmosphere, trying new things, building confidence as you develop new positive habits, and have fun, laugh be playful, making new friends, all who understand what you've been through losing a loved one to addiction.
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28. #28: From Darkness into the Light
31:45||Season 2, Ep. 28Sixteen years in a dysfunctional marriage, Tony never knew what he was going to find when he got home. WiIl she be dead or alive? Tony Newell shares the roller coaster of emotions that he lived through while married to an alcoholic. He describes battling cancer as being easier. In this raw interview, Tony wholeheartedly shares all that he felt as he tried to help his wife through her recovery from alcoholism, forgetting about his own wellbeing. Then a turning point came and he started to care for himself, going from the darkness into the light.27. #27: Mindful writing to keep in check with where we are at in our heads
31:04||Season 2, Ep. 27Hearing things from another perspective always helps to improve our understanding and compassion towards others. In this episode of the Smiling Again podcast, we hear things from another perspective as Martin Roscoe, an alcoholic in recovery, shares his recovery story and how mindful writing helped in to keep in check with where he was at in his head. We talk about the impact his illness has had on wis wife and his two daughters. We also can begin to draw parallels between his healing and my own healing journey, reminding us that we are all human, trying to do our best.
26. #26: Getting Out of Your Head and Into Your Body with Breathwork
23:56||Season 2, Ep. 26Breathwork is one of the most powerful tools we have to get out of our heads and into our body. Breathwork can also help change how we feel in any given moment. Just as your breath changes with your emotional state, you can change your emotional state by changing the way you breathe. Join us live as Breathwork coach Jacki Mundrawala shares how emotions can get stuck in the body and how breathwork can clear them. Join in with a simple breathwork practice.
25. #25: Breaking the generational cycle of alcoholism with Oliver Hoyas
34:19||Season 2, Ep. 25Oliver Hojas shares his story of being the big brother, growing up in a home where his mom was an active alcoholic. Challenges at home resulted in a life lacking structure and security for the children. Sent off to boarding school by the state, Oliver discovered art. After leaving school to build his life and independence, he starting working in Zurich, where he explored different jobs which ultimately led him on a healing journey. This is a story of forgiveness, self-love, compassion and finding the courage to be the one to break the generational cycle of alcoholism in the family. Today, Oliver is living his dream life as an inspirational artist.
24. #24: Will I ever heal and feel joy again?
15:37||Season 2, Ep. 24
23. #23: Will I ever love again?
11:10||Season 2, Ep. 23Do we only get one big love? When we hold space for a very special person a love so deep that we hold on to them tight, even through the addiction, and when they are suddenly gone, its excruciating. In the months or years that follow you begin to question will I ever love again? In this episode I’ll reveal how to unleash the hope that you will find big love again. For a moment today, there was honestly a part of me that didn't feel hopeful at all about finding love again. and that’s a really big thing to voice. This is a super personal episode where i reveal the whole truth about
22. #22: Move Through Trauma with Hope
34:59||Season 2, Ep. 22Trauma. When you love an addict or an alcoholic, you can experience many, many circumstances, which really can be quite traumatic. Whether it's a big trauma or a series of small traumas, which can take place over years, it has an impact on us mentally, emotionally, and physically. Trauma can get stuck in your body and to really recover, we need to unwind and release all of that trauma.So how do we do this? Christine is going tell us how. If there is one word that I would use to describe Christine, there's actually so many I could use, but the one that's at the top of the list is resilient. Christine is an author. She has written the book called Blinded by an Angel, which is her story. Christine has been a keynote speaker at mental health conferences, hospitals, addiction facilities, yoga studios, and universities, where she's openly has shared her story of resilience. Her story reached thousands of people in 2018. When she was featured in Canadian living magazine. She's also been a mentor to many in the field of addiction and recovery. She specializes in trauma informed yoga and is also the coauthor of clinical research gathered on residential treatment programs. If you have been traumatised or have held trauma in your body for a very long time, you haven't connected physically with your body. And so there's some neglect there. And the reason you probably haven't is because you don't want to feel. You have to feel the heal. Listen to the full episode to find out how. Links mentioned in this episode:Join the Blossome CommunityYou can connect with Christine on social media:Instagram- Christine YankeFacebook- Christine YankeVisit her website Blinded by an Angel: One woman's inspiring true story of resilience through grief, addiction, and trauma. (Available on Amazon Worldwide)Amazon.co.ukAmazon.com
21. #21: Forgiveness
30:18||Season 2, Ep. 21Just let the whole thing go. To release the past. We must be willing to forgive, but it's easier said than done. Welcome to season two of Smiling Again, where we'll be exploring the 12 areas of self care. And today it's all about forgiveness. I will be speaking with Chad Mierau, who is the author of a novel called Surviving the crash. I have to say that I believe this is going to be a challenging conversation for many reasons, and all the more reason for us to have this talk because of the positive impact that it can have on so many. Just over six years ago, Chad lost his sister, her husband, and their two children in a car accident. They were hit by a drunk driver and in Chad's book called surviving the crash. He shares his story of forgiveness and personal personal journey of growth through that, through that experience.
20. #20: Creating Space to Heal
17:14||Season 2, Ep. 20Creating space is a practice that opens up your physical space as well as your time and energy to allow more room to live, to create and to enjoy life.But how do we create space beyond physical space? Creating space can be challenging, mostly because it requires us to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. It requires us to let go of things we’ve become comfortable with, the familiar. It’s in the layers we shed that we find space to heal. Shedding or letting go may even feel like a loss, but remember that the space created opens us up to something new, something healthier and more joyous.Listen to this episode to discover how to create space to heal. This is the first episode of Season 2 which is all about self-care.