An Unexpected Teacher: A Conversation About Exploring the Wisdom and Gifts of Grief

Episode Summary:

In this heartfelt and deeply personal conversation, Adina and Joshua chat with Clare Duplace, Grief Tender, End of Life Doula, Mentor, Trainer and Storykeeper. Clare shares her journey through grief following the loss of her mother, revealing the cultural illiteracy many face around death and emotional pain. Together, they explore how grief can be a profound teacher. They reflect on the importance of presence and permission, the value of ritual and ceremony, and the power of simply being with grief—without rushing to fix or explain it.

Key Topics Covered:

• The absence of grief literacy in modern culture
• How grief can lead to emotional and spiritual growth
• The importance of presence over platitudes
• Reflections on suicide, family dynamics, and ancestral healing
• Navigating anticipatory grief and guilt
• Indigenous and nature-based approaches to mourning
• The transformative potential of personal and communal grief practices

Connect with Clare:

The Center for Conscious Living and Dying

Resources:

• The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller
• Companioning the Bereaved by Alan Wolfelt
• Bearing the Unbearable by Joanne Cacciatore
• The Grieving Brain and the Grieving Body by Mary Francis O'Conner
• Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation Through Anger by Lama Rod Owens
• The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche

This episode is for anyone navigating grief—whether recent or distant, personal or collective. It's also for those who support others in loss, and anyone curious about how grief can become a bridge between generations, cultures, and inner transformation.

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Adina Arden Cooper is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who prefers to refer to herself as a Shadow Guide and Soul Healing Specialist. She helps highly sensitive creative visionaries heal trauma so they can not only survive this human experience but thrive in the expression of their greatest gifts. Adina has over 20 years of experience in education and mental health. She's also an artist, a seeker, a mother, and very curious person.

Visit Adina's website to find out more about her work
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Joshua Zamrin is a nomadic soul guide, somatic life coach, and sacred purpose mentor, deeply immersed in the realms of embodiment, shamanic wisdom, and mythopoetic exploration. With a background in nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and compassionate communication, he weaves together ancient and modern practices to help others reconnect with their deepest truth. His work is rooted in rites of passage, initiation, and the sacred journey of becoming, drawing inspiration from indigenous traditions, soul-centered psychology, and the raw wisdom of nature.