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Video: Catching some Zzz’s – Finding Rest when Stressed TAPS Talks Video: Catching some Zzz’s – Finding Rest when Stressed Heather Stang This live connection, recorded by the TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing® and presented by with Heather Stang discusses helpful ideas and tips to promote better sleep. Select image below to play the video. webinar, video, getting rest, grief and loss education Boeing Sponsor of Institute and Suicide Loss This video recording of the TAPS Talks connection with Heather Stang discusses helpful ideas and tips t
Video: Meditation for Uncertain Times TAPS Talks Video: Meditation for Uncertain Times Heather Stang This live connection, recorded by the TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing® and presented by Heather Stang allows participants to experience the power of RAIN meditation to ease difficult emotions. Select image below to play the video. webinar, video, meditation, coronavirus fears, grief and loss education Boeing Sponsor of Institute and Suicide Loss This video recording of the TAPS Talks with Heather Stang allows participant
Video: Grief Journaling in the New Year Video: Grief Journaling in the New Year Heather Stang Journaling is a powerful way to cope with your grief, as well as gain insight from the many emotions stirred up by a new year. Heather Stang will share guided writing prompts that will help you chart a course for healthy coping, loving reflection, and self-discovery in 2022. This webinar is presented by the TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing®. Select image below to play the video. taps institute video, grief journaling, grief and
Video: Meditation and Self-Care for Stressful Times TAPS Talks Video: Meditation and Self-Care for Stressful Times Heather Stang This live connection, recorded by the TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing® and presented by Heather Stang, MA, C-IATY, discusses how the physical sensation of emotion can be your ally during tough times and even provide you with inner wisdom and insight. This technique can be applied during a regular meditation practice, or on-the-spot in real life situations when you feel overwhelmed. Select image below to play th
Video: Meditation for Coping with Difficult Emotions Video: Meditation for Coping with Difficult Emotions Heather Stang This webinar was recorded by the TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing® and presented by with Heather Stang, MA, C-IATY. This video recording of the webinar discusses how the physical sensation of emotion can be your ally during tough times and even provide you with inner wisdom and insight. This technique can be applied during a regular meditation practice, or on-the-spot in real life situations when you feel overwhelmed. Se
Video: Compassion Meditation Video: Compassion Meditation for Meaning Making and Posttraumatic Growth Heather Stang This webinar was recorded by the TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing® and presented by with Heather Stang, MA, C-IATY. This video recording of the webinar addresses how compassion meditation can empower you to become your own best friend and advocate, while deepening your connection to those around you, leading to meaning making and posttraumatic growth. Select image below to play the video. Webinar S
Video: Relaxation Meditation Video: Relaxation Meditation to ease the Anxiety, Stress and Tension of Grief Heather Stang This webinar was recorded by the TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing® and presented by Heather Stang, MA, C-IATY. This video recording of the webinar addresses how to care for your grieving body using evidence-based, easy-to-do meditation practices designed to reverse the harmful effects of grief and stress. Select image below to play the video. Webinar Slides Relaxation Meditation Slides (PDF
Video: Mindfulness as Your Superpower Video: Mindfulness as Your Superpower Jill Harrington-LaMorie Heather Stang Mindfulness isn’t just for naturally calm people. It is a superpower that can help us cope with the most challenging emotions—even grief. Using superhero case examples, during this workshop, you will learn how mindfulness can help you navigate loss, improve your health, and cultivate much-needed compassion for your grieving heart. This video was recorded and presented by the TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing®. Sele
Just Breathe Just Breathe Lalaine Estella Take a moment to catch your breath. Notice your tummy rise and fall as you breathe naturally. Now take a slow, deep breath in, and pause. Exhale very slowly, taking a few seconds longer than it did to inhale. Repeat several times. Congratulations, you’ve just begun a meditation practice that focuses on breathing. For those not used to meditation, keeping quiet and tuning out everything to focus on breathing can be a bit daunting. Sitting in stillness to foc
Video: From Grief to Peace - Journaling for Life After Loss Video: From Grief to Peace - Journaling for Life After Loss Heather Stang Journaling does more than simply record your day-to-day experience; it helps you organize your thoughts, process traumatic events, and find meaning through your lived experience. The many health benefits of journaling supported by science include reduction in symptoms associated with depression, anxiety, and trauma; improved memory; and increased immune functioning. You don’t even need to be a “good writer” to benefit f
5 Ways for the Bereaved to be Mindful 5 Ways for the Bereaved to be Mindful Heather Stang The beginner classes at my meditation center fill up with people wanting to make a lifestyle change. They show up ready to ease anxiety, reduce stress, improve their health or to find a way to cope with grief. Research proves that mindfulness can help with any stress-related complaint. I get to witness first-hand how training your mind on the present moment with a calm, relaxed and compassionate attitude creates a sense of well-being. But
October is Emotional Wellness Month October is Emotional Wellness Month TAPS This article was first published on the TAPS website on October 1, 2021 and has been updated with additional resources. As members of the TAPS family, we either know (or are learning) that even in the midst of heartache, we can find moments of comfort and connection. It doesn’t always come naturally - it isn’t easy to balance the needs of grieving and living. Yet, when we’re navigating major life transitions, or experiencing periods of intense grief
7 Ways to Help Grieving Children During the Holidays 7 Ways to Help Grieving Children During the Holidays Heather Stang Grief during the holidays serves up a perfect storm where joyous memories crash against reality and expectations, something that is especially tough when it’s a child who’s grieving. I know this firsthand. On October 18, 1977, my uncle Doug died by suicide. I was 7 years old. While I don’t remember the specifics of the Thanksgiving and Christmas that followed, what I do remember is that everyone tried to act normal when our s
Tending the Garden of Grief With Mindfulness Meditation Tending the Garden of Grief With Mindfulness Meditation Heather Stang Autumn in my small farming town in mid-Maryland is a time of harvest and abundance. Farmers markets are in full swing, nourishing our bodies with healthy vegetables and filling our senses with vibrant colors and smells. And yet it is a time where nature's energy begins to wind down in preparation for winter, which I like to think of as nature's sacred pause. Autumn is a time of transition and reflection - of letting go and
Tending the Garden of Grief with Mindfulness Meditation Tending the Garden of Grief with Mindfulness Meditation Heather Stang In my small, mid-Maryland farming town, autumn is a time of harvest and abundance. Farmers markets are in full swing, nourishing our bodies with healthy vegetables and filling our senses with vibrant colors and smells. And yet, it is also a time when nature’s energy begins to wind down in preparation for winter, which I like to think of as nature’s sacred pause. Autumn is further a time of transition and reflection– of lett
Let It R.A.I.N. Let It R.A.I.N. Heather Stang As a child, I dreaded overcast days, especially during the summer. Even when it wasn’t raining, the threat of precipitation felt like a life sentence with no chance of parole. It was the grey skies I feared, even though they would often lead to bluer skies and sometimes a rainbow. Living in emotional pain is a lot like bad weather. There is no control, no predicting when the clouds will come or when the rain will start. But we can learn to relate to our pain d
Grief and Sleep Grief and Sleep Heather Stang 7 Tips to Cope with Insomnia After Loss Coping with grief isn’t easy. In addition to the emotional toll, there are a myriad of physical side effects. Sleeplessness is perhaps one of the most frustrating symptoms – when you are sleepy and can’t sleep it just adds insult to injury. While insomnia is considered a common grief reaction, sleeplessness should not be ignored, but tended to mindfully. When we don’t get enough sleep it impacts our immune system, our
Compassion for All Compassion for All Heather Stang If grief is the cold, dark winter, then compassion is the spring. Out of the pain of loss comes the recognition that we are all in this together, and we need each other to make it from one season to the next. Fortunately, there is no shortage of compassion within the TAPS family. Strangers who have never met connect with one another wholeheartedly. United in the shared human experience of profound loss, we offer each other kind words, big hugs and an uncond
Saturday Morning Message: Our Favorite Memories From TAPS Events Saturday Morning Message: Our Favorite Memories From TAPS Events Carol Lane Good Morning, Happy First Day of Spring! For many of us, spring brings thoughts of new beginnings or renewal. As we begin to slowly emerge from quarantine over the next few months, many of us may be experiencing a sense of renewal as we venture back into activities, hobbies and routines that brought us joy before the pandemic with feelings of hope and excitement of what is to come. One of those activities might be
Saturday Morning Message: When Sleep Is Hard to Find Saturday Morning Message: When Sleep Is Hard to Find Carol Lane Good Morning, In this week’s Saturday Morning Message, survivors share strategies which help them when they are unable to sleep. When trauma comes into our lives, it throws our normal patterns into a tailspin. We have all been working with not only our individual grief, but also the National upset when COVID-19 came into our lives. Recently, I was having trouble sleeping, so I turned to my TAPS family and found TAPS Talks Vid
Saturday Morning Message: Educational webinars on grief and loss Saturday Morning Message: Educational webinars on grief and loss Carol Lane Good morning, Webinars from the TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing are one of our many gifts to survivors. They can be really helpful while dealing with grief. Our live webinars are archived for those who aren't able to watch them in real time. Live ones usually include a text chat with time to ask questions of the presenter. The archived ones can be paused in case you can’t watch the whole presentation at once.
Saturday Morning Message: When We Feel Overwhelmed Saturday Morning Message: When We Feel Overwhelmed Carol Lane Good morning, Early in grief, everything seems to come upon us at once. Arrangements need to be made, paperwork completed, relatives and friends contacted, and your grief addressed. It is easy to find ourselves overwhelmed by the number of tasks. Then those who kindly want to host a ceremony to honor our loved ones send us invitations. We want to attend all of them, but sometimes we can’t. I know that my family was invited to one
Up Up and Away! Superheroes and Peer Support Up Up and Away! Superheroes and Peer Support Jennifer Keeling Every superhero needs a sidekick. Batman has Robin. Iron Man has War Machine. Even Superman has Krypto...super dog. When these superheroes’ personal battles knock them off course from ‘saving the world,’ their trusted sidekicks step in to fight the battle with them, because there is always strength in numbers. So too, when life throws us off course, we need someone there to fight alongside us. Especially when we don’t have the st
Saturday Morning Message: Ideas for Better Sleep Saturday Morning Message: Ideas for Better Sleep Carol Lane Good morning, The idea for this week’s topic came from a discussion on one of the Online Community chats. We spent some time talking about what we do when we have difficulty getting a good night’s sleep. In the summer edition of TAPS Magazine, there is an article titled "Grief and Sleep," written by Heather Stang listing more ideas. Then on August 15, which was National Relaxation Day, the TAPS Facebook page listed two more article
Saturday Morning Message: Helpful Books on Grief Saturday Morning Message: Helpful Books on Grief Carol Lane Good morning, This week survivors have sent titles of books that have helped them as they grieve. I thought I would start with an excerpt from the book “Healing Your Grieving Heart After a Military Death,” written by Bonnie Carroll, president and founder of TAPS and Alan Wolfelt, PhD. "For many people, it is restorative and energizing to spend time outside." You may find nature’s timeless beauty healing. The sound of a bird singin
Saturday Morning Message: Healing While Remembering Our Loved Ones Saturday Morning Message: Healing While Remembering Our Loved Ones Carol Lane Good Morning, It is winter in the part of the country where I live. For many, it is a time of contemplation about what we have accomplished in the past year and where we are going. This week, survivors have replied to the question about how we keep our loved ones close to us while we move on with our lives. One person who responded, Linda, mother of Gene, sent pictures along with her reply, which you will read la