From Mourning To Morning

When you lose someone whom you loved, your first thought is to cry, right? Makes sense. But my guest Nancy Weil believes and teaches that laughter also has a place in healing your pain. She has spent years in the funeral business and the laughter business, and you will learn that she is correct-laughter in the face of loss is important, not un-natural, and helpful. Find out what she has to say, you may be surprised... While grief is expressed in different ways for every person, having some tools to help you get through a difficult time can help ease the pain. Therapeutic laughter not only reduces stress, but helps balance the emotions by boosting the immune system and giving you permission to laugh and feel joy, even for a moment. Presenter, Nancy Weil, has conducted research into how humor can be used as a coping tool. This program will help you understand why “when you feel the least like laughing is when you need to the most. See you TH at 5PM PST.

So we have talked for over a year about loss and healing, about many topics which have approached this main topic. Here is a new possibility: A Grief Cruise! That's right, next Feb. of 2018 a group of grievers will be together to discuss their losses and to share their successes. Healing is tough, we already know that. Perhaps being together on a cruise will set the tone for healing to take place. My guest, Glen Lord, will talk to us about last year;s cruise, and invite you to join him in Feb. I know it's a year away, but it is not too early to find out about it. Look forward to being with you this Thursday night.

What do you when a child dies? Do you forget about them, consign them to oblivion? No, of course not! You remember them forever. And that is our topic for this evening. Nora Wong, a normal gracious caring member of the human race, lost her son to a terrible disease. She will talk to us about that and help us remember that memories and life-lessons and teachings never die, even when the human body is no longer with us.

I used to be a fatalist. That is, I believed that if you were given the gift of cancer, you were done living. David Arnsteen disproves that theory every single day. He is in remission, and joyful and has learned important life-lessons from his cancer. Come and listen. You too will be impressed with his ability to fully accept life and come out the other end. And he will share with you the life-lessons he has learned about himself and the world while dealing with cancer. He's my hero, and he'll be yours too! This Thursday at 5PM PST. Come and listen, you'll be glad you did.

I was not even 12 years old when Daddy died. It was scary and mysterious and frightening. And we kids didn't talk about it, because our family didn't talk to us about his being sick. To this day, we're still not sure why he died. My guest had a similar story, her parent died at when she was young. But Dr. Marilyn Mendoza has written about how and what to teach kids about grief, so that no child will ever have to go through what she and I did. This is important, come and learn! Bring your friends, we ll know those who need to hear this wisdom. Till Thursday, Rabbi Mel

When you meet somebody for the first time after they have suffered a life-loss, what should you say? What should you not say? How can you be most helpful to them, while not making them feel worse? My guest. Dr. Donalyn Gross, is an expert in this area. She will teach us and share with us what is appropriate and what isn't. We need to learn this! Tune in, invite your freinds. This is important stuff! Blessings, Rabbi Mel

Did you ever wish you could make things better for those who are dying? That you could be there with them as they leave this earth? But you were afraid of watching them die, of touching them, of talking to them, and you don't know what to say or do. So you stay away, thus missing an enormous opportunity to help them, and help yourself as well. My guest Deanna Cochran, can help you do what you thought was impossible, that is, assist the dying along their final journey. Tune in and tell your friends. You will be glad you listened, and who knows...maybe you'll try something for the very first time. TH at 5PM PST. From Mourning to Morning. Blessings, Rabbi Mel

Lots of us deal with loved ones who are afflicted with cancer. We are going to give some hints and advice for care-givers, to make your job a bit easier. The big idea: The National Cancer Institute estimates 14 million people in the U.S. have had a cancer diagnosis, and the number is rapidly rising. More and more people must struggle with how to face a life-threatening disease, while loved ones try to give support. Why this matters: Today, cancer treatment is mostly given in outpatient treatment centers, not in hospitals. This means a family member or friend needs to be part of the day-to-day care of the person with cancer, but they're uncertain how to provide emotional support. The so-what: The presence alone of caregivers is just part of the support cancer patients need -- the attitudes of the caregivers may be the most important variable in helping someone with cancer transition comfortably from independence to dependence.

When you celebrate at a holiday meal, whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years Eve or even a birthday party or aniiversary party, oftentimes there are empty chairs. Chairs where loved ones use to sit last year. The are now like the proverbial elephant on the table, and nobody knows what to do. I do. My show will once and for all give you a path to move forward, so that the party can truly be joyous. Check it out, TH at 5:00PST. HAPPY 2017!

I read this article in The Guardian, a British journal. It reminds us of several truths: 1. Everyone mourns differently. There are several vignettes which illustrate this. I will share them, and as usual comment on them 2. Healing is sometimes far away, but it is absolutely possible. We all have the life-force within us, and it is that force--call it God, Universe, Spirit--keeps us moving in the right direction, toward the future. You will listen and you will remember your own reactions and responses to the death of your own loved ones. And you, too, will begin to heal. Till Thursday... Rabbi Mel

Have you ever had a near-death experience? I never have, but it's such an interesting and exotic topic, that I always want to know more. My guest Dea Maltby was in a coma for t2 days, and in that time, she died and came back to life. Wow... That's all I have to say. Come listen and be astonished with me. We'll learn about NDEs, and we'll learn about second chances, and we'll learn about returning to life after you were dead. I'm interested, hope you are too!. Till tomorrow...

You don't know whether to turn right or left; go backwards or forwards. Your emotions are up and down like a roller coaster, all over the place and you don't know if you're coming or going. You want to close your eyes and sleep but you can't because your thoughts won't let you. It's time for YOU to BREAK FREE! In 2015 I released a poem book titled 365 Days of Self Worth Praise, I Survived! and in that book I wrote a poem titled, Soul Ties, and it starts like this, I was sleeping with this man and I couldn't understand why for the life of me I couldn't let him be. I knew he was no good for me and I wanted to break free, but I kept going back like a crack addict, I had to have it. My soul was not letting go even though my mind kept saying no. What's wrong with me, did he cast a spell to keep me locked in this hell? I can't explain why I can't release the pain... Join Patricia Shaw to learn how she broke free. And how you can too!

Losing an election is like losing a loved one. So much time spent working for your favorite candidate, hours of time put in to make the candidate you support win his/her election. And then, they lose. And so do you. You're in grief, just as if your best friend or pet or loved one had died. How do you cope, how do you move forward? And how do you deal with your anger at their losing the election? I have a radical suggestion that I will speak with you about this week. It can work, it can quiet your heart and allow you to move forward. But it's not so easy. Interested? Tune in this Thursday at 5PM PST.

There is ritual, and here is meaning behind ritual. Or, if you like, the 'how' and the 'why' we observe rituals as we do. Every religion has its own death rituals. My guest this week, Dahlia Abraham-Klein, published a wonderful guidebook LAST WEEK! entitled 'Necessary Losses,' where she teaches about the 'how' and 'why' of Jewish death rituals.She adds a psychological understanding that is so nee ded by mourners. As we know, dealing with loss is difficult, Dahlia will led us to a better understanding. Hope you join us! TH 5PM PST

I live in Colorado Springs, not in Florida or the Carolinas. We don't get hurricanes here. But the issue I will deal with, using some wisdom from my friend and colleague Rabbi Jack Riemer, who lives right in the middle of where Hurricane Matthew landed, are many: How could this have happened so quickly and so cruelly? How could our lives have changed from lightness to darkness without sufficient warning? And, what do we do now? I will talk about the role of religion-in this case Judaism, but all religions are included-and how religion has the wisdom to see us through these losses and help us heal and move forward. There were life-losses and there was trauma. Now the hurricane has gone away, but its effects still linger. Come listen this Thursday at 5PM PST. To my Jewish listeners, Happy New Year. And to all, I pray for a year of peace in this world created by God.

Isabel Stenzel and her twin sister Anabel, were both born with cystic fibrosis. They taught about what that meant and how to live with it. They wrote a book about it. Then Anabel died. Isabel re-doubled her efforts to speak and teach about living and coping with this awful illness. She continues to move forward, helping others to bring a mindset of healing from the effects of cystic fibrosis. She will be our teacher, and I invite you to come and learn from her.

Last week we spoke to a mediator, who taught us that ending a marriage was difficult and sad, but could lead to healing. This week, two views on divorce: How I Learned to Love my Breakup, and The Five Lessons To Learn from Divorce. We will hear two similar and different ways to approach ending a marriage, and there will be lots to think about. Hope you can join me, this TH 5-6 PST.

In many states in our country, before a divorce is finalized, the couple must go to mediation. Most folks think that mediation is cut-and-dry, simply another waste of time. But that is not true. My friend Beth Lieberman has been a social worker-mediator for many years, and has seen much healing with her work with divorcing couples. Often they will leave her office with much less venom and anger than before. Yes, they still divorce, but they are no longer enemies. Come listen as Beth teaches us about healing. Thursday night at 5PM PST. From Mourning to Morning-you can do it! Rabbi Mel Author, A GPS FOR GRIEF AND HEALING Google 'GPS FOR GRIEF,' and Kindle will magically take you there.

Kashi Labh Mukti Bhawan in Varanasi is one of the three guesthouses in the city where people check in to die. he has been present for 12000 deaths, and he has learned life-lessons from each one. I will read his article by Deepak Ramola -with my comments, of course!- and we will marvel together at this Hindu wisdom. Please join me. Thursday evening 5PM PST, on VoiceAmerica.com.

With the help of a book I purchased last year, called I Will Die: A Creative Journal for Mortals -Jessica Featherly-, consisting solely of questions and feelings related to death, I will share some personal feelings and thoughts on death in general, my own death in particular. I can't wait to hear what I will have to say... Please join me! Rabbi Mel 'From Mourning to Morning'