One month after my brother’s death I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a retreat on grief lead by David Kessler in the beautiful Northern California Redwoods. Even in the safety of this intimate grief community, I was unable to share the true nature of my brother’s death; I only shared privately with David.

David Kessler is a world-renowned expert on grief. He co-authored books with
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: On Grief and Grieving and Life Lessons. In his earlier book, he reviews and offers his compassionate insights into the five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Even though I was familiar with these stages, it was an intellectual understanding rather than a heartfelt one. Sadly, he later experienced the painful loss of his twenty-one-year-old son, and recently published a new grief book honoring him. The insights from this book allowed me to integrate the mind and heart approach to soulfully embrace life after the death of my brother and mother. I highly recommend the book: Finding Meaning – The Sixth Stage of Grief.

“The path to freedom from the suffering caused by our mind is through finding meaning.” David Kessler