Soothing Conversations with Chantal

31/08/2025

The Weight We Carry in Silence

Grief feels like a physical weight. Invisible. It is carried in the body as much as in the heart. I recently wrote these words:

My body aches. Crying inside. Unsure how to be. Deeply fatigued. Hurting. Empty. Heavy. Dull. With no end in sight.

Shoulders tense. Chest hollow and full of heart ache. Eyes burn from holding on.

This is grief fatigue. The body and emotions sinking in together. An unnamed weight felt in every breath. In every step taken.

Grief isn’t only an emotion. It lives in the body too.

Today, I am allowing my body to be.

Have you felt this in your own way?

28/08/2025

There are always moments of unexpected joy and beauty in the sadness.

Blooms on our succulents and new growth. Giving hope for a new life after the death of a loved one.

27/08/2025

A surreal moment.

The other night, we were sitting in front of the fire and the phone rang. Mum's ringtone.

I must be imaging it.

No, there it was.

A nod from Mum. I am still with you. 💚

What surreal experiences have you had?

26/08/2025

Decluttering can be challenging at the best of times.

But when it comes to inheriting things from family, it is even harder.

There is a sense of disloyalty and guilt.

However, recently I did a big purge, including stuff from my late parents. I was ready as it felt so good.

This is what the end result looks like. Off to the Op Shop.

It doesn't look like much, despite feeling like it was a lot!

But it is.

This is how I am beginning to feel already.

✨ Spiritual Shifts:
Deepening my connection to what truly matters
Aligning my space with my inner self and values
Bringing a sense of lightness and presence to my daily life

🌟 Emotional Shifts
My mind is calmer and my heart lighter
There is a gentle release of what no longer serves me
There is space for new beginnings and deeper joy

🌟 Physical Shifts
Our home feels peaceful and open
Energy is flowing more easily through my day
The space is reflecting who I am becoming

This is the magic of decluttering. It feels releasing, nourishing and soothing on every level.

To get you motivated if you have been procrastinating.

Begin where you are. Even a few minutes of decluttering can be a quiet act of self-care and remembrance

25/08/2025

Grief is hard.

Grief hurts.

Grief changes you irrevocably.

Grief breaks your heart.

Grief comes in big waves and smashes you.

Grief recedes for a while, only to return when you least expect it.

Grief overwhelms anywhere, anytime. At the sound of a song, a scent, a memory, food.

Grief catches you off guard.

Grief is love, woven with yearning.

Grief is hard.

Yet, beneath the weight, love whispers softly, reminding us that we carry them always.

Image by Valeria from Pixabay

24/08/2025

Rekindling Substack as I love writing and exploring topics in more depth.

Join me and share in the important topics of grief, trauma, and not being a mother.

Reflections on grief, trauma, and the path of being childless

24/08/2025

Experiencing grief is painful and hard.

It carries a chorus of emotions - sadness, anger, regret, longing all at the same time.

It is physical - fatigue, headaches, heartache, changes in appetite or sleep as our bodies hold the sadness too.

There is a loss of identity - parts of who we were with them.

Grief comes in waves or sometimes like a tsunami, lifts us up, drops us down, softens, and swells again when we least expect it.

Grief stirs old wounds, undealt with memories, and questions about the meaning of life, and a sense of belonging.

Grieving is lonely.

I am walking this path with you experiencing all of the above.

My mother died in March. A very dear friend in June.

Grief awakens old wounds, unresolved memories, whispers of forgotten moments, and deep questions about who we are, what matters, and how we belong.

That is where I am now.

Have you felt something similar in your own grief?

23/08/2025

This morning in yoga, we were invited to leave our minds and drop into our bodies – to feel each toe, the soles, the ankles, pressing into the earth. As I stood there, steady and grounded, after wobbling for a bit, I thought of Sharon Blackie’s book 'If Women Rose Rooted' and its call to remember our place of belonging.

It is so easy to forget that beneath us, hidden in the soil, mycelium form delicate networks. These are the forest’s quiet lifelines connecting trees, sharing nutrients, and carrying messages of support to each other.

In grief and trauma, when life feels fragile or fractured, I find comfort in this truth: like the trees, we are connected by unseen threads of life.

Sometimes healing begins with a single breath and the feeling of being held by the earth – a reminder that we are rooted, we are connected, and we are never truly alone. 🌱

22/08/2025

Rest as Medicine as grief takes energy.

It asks a lot of our hearts, minds and bodies, leaving us tired, overwhelmed, and scattered.

Rest is not indulgence. It is our medicine. It is us taking care of ourselves. Honouring our grief.

Over the weekend have rest. Breathe deeply. Allow yourself simply to lie on your bed without needing to do or fix anything. Even a few minutes of intentional rest can create space for healing and renewal.

This is what I have found to be true.

When we allow the body and mind to rest, we give our grief a safe space to move and settle. Rest reminds us that we are human, that sorrow is part of life, and that the heart can continue to open even in the midst of loss.

It can also bring up tears and sobs. Memories and pain.

However, we are still allowing our bodies to rest.

Reflection Question: How can you offer yourself rest over the weekend? What would it feel like to let yourself truly pause and simply be?

21/08/2025

To be witnessed is profound. This is where healing begins.

It’s not about being rescued.

It’s about being truly seen.

I’m here to witness, to walk beside, and to hold true.

I offer presence without pressure, support without condition, and a space where your truth is safe. Just as it is.

To witness is to honour.

To walk beside is to meet you where you are.

To hold true is to keep the space steady, real, and kind.

This is what I offer. After each session, I’m reminded how sacred this work truly is.

20/08/2025

Healing Through Art 🎨

When this idea was first put to me, I resisted. My initial reaction was ‘I can’t paint’, ‘I am not artistic’, ‘I have no imaginative ability’.

Yet, I felt a strong pull to immerse myself in colour, marks, and play.
This is where I started and why I know offer creative expression as part of the soothing conversation sessions.

I had this amazing sense of satisfaction, even though more often than not, I didn’t create anything ‘pretty’ or ‘perfect’. I found I began to enjoy choosing the medium I wanted to use. The colours. The tools. Then the strokes.

It was incredibly freeing and releasing.

Because grief and trauma often live beyond words. However, art speaks its own language.

Art has this uncanny way of expressing what you feel, even if you don’t know what that it is. It helps process your emotions. And it reconnects you with yourself.

You could be painting your pain, scribbling your sorrow, or collaging your courage.

In the conversation, we make space for emotions. To be messy. Beautiful. And real.

Remember, you don’t need to be an artist. All you need to be is willing to create from the heart.

Come as you are. It is that simple. Yet that hard.

Reach out, even if you feel scared, and together let’s see what comes through for you.

All you need is a pen and a piece of paper to get you started.

19/08/2025

Grief and trauma healing ask you to face what you have been avoiding.

They call you to stop minimising your truth.

You begin to listen to the fractured parts. The ones that went missing in action.

You begin to hear your Soul speak what it was never allowed to say.
Meeting the pain is where the sacred work begins.

Messy. Honest. Holy.

If this is where you find yourself, take a breath with me, as I am here with you.

If you are here now, walking this tender path, I walk it too. My work holds space for this kind of truth, so you don’t have to meet it alone.