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- Mindful Mourning - Fall 2025
Mindful Mourning - Fall 2025
Yoga for Grief Dallas Fall 2025 Newsletter
Nancy Watson
August 26, 2025
Greetings, and Happy Almost-Fall!
7th grade, circa 1973. I’m the one with the glasses.
You’ve probably heard the expression “Old Friends Are Gold Friends.” I am extremely fortunate to have several friends whom I’ve known for well over half a century. My “goldest” friend, whom I’ve known since the 4th grade and who is standing not too far from me in our 7th grade picture, and I have sometimes gone months - even years - without talking. But whenever we reconnect, we pick up right where we left off, as though no time at all has passed. In many ways, this friend and I couldn’t be more different, and it’s highly unlikely our paths would even cross in 2025 if we hadn’t met way back in 1969. She and I started taking girls trips together a few years ago, and despite how very different we turned out, we always have a terrific time together. I treasure the way we are both equally committed to our friendship and its longevity, and spending time with her always fills my bucket.
Another gold friend also appears in the picture above. She and I became reacquainted almost seven years ago over our mutual losses. You may have noticed, as I have, that grief often brings people together in poignant (and mystifying) ways. That gold friend and I now text and call each other on a regular basis just to check in. Along with our shared sadness, I think it’s the thread of connection from our childhoods that has made our current bond so strong.
I sometimes look wistfully at that 7th grade school picture. Such innocence! (Such poor fashion choices!) How could any of us have known 50+ years ago how much joy and sorrow we would have experienced by this point in our lives? Facebook gives me a vague idea about how some of the kids in the picture above are doing - jobs, marriages, kids/grandkids - but there is so much more to a person’s life than what any single picture or social media post can convey. I know that some of the kids in that picture are no longer with us; they were robbed of the longer life they should have had. Statistically speaking, it’s likely that more than one of them has experienced alcohol or drug addiction, either in themselves or a family member. One or more is gay. Several have probably dealt with their own or a loved one’s mental illness. Someone might have had experience with the (in)justice system. And all of them, over half a century later, most certainly have known grief in some form.
In my Yoga for Grief classes, I learn some of the heavy burdens that the participants carry. It’s stunning to me how very NORMAL everyone looks, despite the trauma and grief that weigh them down. None of our child-selves could know what life would bring our way. Regardless of friendship status or how alike or different we might seem on the outside, I hope you’ll remember to treat everyone with kindness, as we just never know what’s going on under the surface of someone’s life. If you are fortunate enough to have a gold friend or two, maybe one you haven’t heard from for a while, give them a shout to say hello and see how they’re doing. I bet they’ll be glad to hear from you.
📖 NOW AVAILABLE! The Yoga for Grief Workbook 📖
My Yoga for Grief Workbook is an outgrowth of my Yoga for Grief sessions, with each chapter expanding on one of the themes I designed for each of the six classes in a Yoga for Grief series. In each chapter, I provide a short vignette of my personal journey in grief, and then you’re given opportunities to journal about your own experiences. Full color photos, including images of mudras, yoga poses, and breathing activities, and more appear in every chapter, as do links to guided meditations and short asana practices (the yoga poses). I’ve been told that my words are helpful, and it’s certainly my sincere desire that that’s the case. If you or someone you know might benefit from the book, you can order it here.
PSST - If you have ordered a copy and found anything in its pages to be beneficial, it would mean the world to me if you’d write a favorable review on Amazon or Goodreads!
Upcoming Yoga for Grief Sessions: “Holiday Edition”
The holidays can bring significant challenges to grievers as we remember “before times” and long to still feel the presence of our lost loved ones. If your grief is due to something other than the death of a loved one, the holidays can bring up emotions too. Job loss, an estrangement, a loss of health, or the breakup of a relationship may all evoke feelings of aversion or dread when you consider the holidays. You have TWO opportunities to participate in a special 4-week for-the-holidays version of Yoga for Grief and learn what yoga can offer you as you move into the holiday season.
Yoga for Grief - Holiday Edition. Saturdays, November 1-22, 1:00-2:30, Northaven United Methodist Church, 11211 Preston Road, Dallas 75230. Register/more info here.
Yoga for Grief - Holiday Edition. Sundays, November 2-23, 1:00-2:30, Yoga-Art-Music. Register/more info here.
Class themes:
Week 1: Grief in the Body
Week 2: Grief in the Mind
Week 3: Grief in the Heart and Spirit
Week 4: Holiday Self-care in Grief
North Texas Giving Day
North Texas Giving Day falls this year on September 18. Please consider giving generously to one of the following organizations (or maybe one close to YOUR heart) that support grievers in a variety of ways:
Resource Center (the reason they made my list is here)
Not grief-related, but I got the best dog ever from the Richardson Humane Society
🧘Nancy’s “Regular” Yoga Classes (NOT Yoga for Grief)🧘
Chair Yoga: Mondays and Fridays at 1:30 pm, Good Vibes Yoga Studio, 4231 Sigma, Dallas 75244
Gentle Yoga Flow: Tuesday evenings at 5:30 pm and Friday mornings at 9:00 am, Richardson Senior Center, 820 W. Arapaho, Richardson 75080
Gentle Yoga Flow: Wednesday mornings at 10:30 am, Good Vibes Yoga Studio
Chair Yoga: Wednesday evenings at 5:30 pm, Richardson Senior Center
Deep Stretch: every-other-Saturday at 10:30 am, The Mat Yoga Studio, 17390 Preston Rd, Dallas 75252
☎️ Call or text (972-824-8348) or 📧email for info on prices/registration.