Your Beautiful Self

01/10/2025

Link to register in the comments.

🕯️ Not All Grief Comes from Death.

Many of us carry grief that no one sees — after losing a job, going through a breakup, facing a diagnosis, or letting go of a dream. These losses can be just as painful, but often go unrecognised.

As we approach World Mental Health Day (October 10), you're invited to a thoughtful session: Hidden Grief: Understanding and Supporting Non-Death Losses with Teresa Mack, APC

🗓 Tuesday, 7 October 2025
🕤 9:30 AM

Part of the masterclass series:
The Power of Emotional Awareness for Coaches

This session is for anyone who wants to better understand the quiet, unspoken grief that many people — including ourselves — carry.

We'll talk about:
• How to recognise non-death grief (and why it’s often overlooked)
• The emotional and physical signs it can show up with
• How to offer real, practical support — including what to say and when to simply listen

Whether you’re a coach, therapist, friend, or simply someone who cares, this is an opportunity to deepen your awareness and respond with more compassion.

📍 Open to all. Free to attend.
🔗 https://bit.ly/425sFd1

01/10/2025

Your relationships changed through illness or menopause.

Your children left home, and you're left wondering who you are now.

Chronic illness changed everything.

You lost your job or retired without the resources you'd planned for.

You may have discovered difficult truths about family members, or your family may have split over politics or other differences.

Everyone keeps telling you to get over it or be grateful for what you have.

But you can't shake this heavy feeling.

It's grief. And it's real.

You'll finally feel seen and validated when you discover that these losses deserve the same compassion as any bereavement.

You'll feel less alone knowing others carry this same confusing pain.

I invite you to explore why it hurts so deeply and why society dismisses it.

I will do my best for you to feel after the masterclass:

Validated - your response isn't dramatic, it's normal
Equipped - with practical tools to support yourself and others
Confident - knowing what to say (and not say) when someone shares the pain
Empowered - to approach difficult conversations with compassion instead of fear

Perfect for anyone facing life transitions, and essential for coaches supporting clients through change.

Tuesday, 7th October 2025 9.30 am

Link to register in the comments.

Not only for coaches, but everyone who wonders, what is Hidden Grief.

Hosted by Teresa Joy Mack
Award-winning Grief Recovery Specialist | Author of Dealing with Grief

27/05/2025

26/05/2025

Tired of life

When you tell me that you are tired of life, because you feel hopeless, you remind me of an 18-year-old who has been given a car by their family.

They have never been told how to drive. Their uncle has a car; it's rusty and old, and over the years, once in a while, he pointed at it, saying, "One day, you will drive one of your own."

So, your 18th birthday arrives, the whole family is together, and they give you an old banger. You sit in it, no idea what the buttons are for. Is it safe to drive? And where the heck does the key go?

They laugh and sneer at you, and after a while, bored of waiting, they go back in, saying, "I knew they would never be able to drive anyway. What a loser."

It starts to rain, so you sit in your car and all of a sudden you notice that there are actually quite a few old rusty cars in the yard.

The people in your family always tell you how amazing they are and boast about their adventures, but you have actually never seen anyone leave.

So, you sit in your old rusty car, not knowing that there are actually very nice, safe cars to drive and that someone should have taught you how to do it.

But you feel hopeless and tired of life, thinking that you will probably never be able to go anywhere.

But one day, you have had enough, and you think, "You know what? I am going into town. These people here don't even like me, even if they say they are family."

So, you leave and you discover people in nice cars who know how to drive. And someone tells you that you deserve to learn and also drive a shiny, safe car.

It is possible that you will never go back to your family and show them your car. They would probably say that they never needed to show off with such a car and that they were successful as they are.

And you look back and shake your head in disbelief that there was a time when you believed that it was totally normal not to be taught how to drive, that there were only rusty old cars available, and that it was your destiny to sit in yours forever, going nowhere.

And now, you teach other people how to drive. You tell them your story; you even laugh a bit together about the absurdity.

You will always feel a bit sad that your family wasn't open to learning how to drive and getting new cars.

But you stopped being tired of life, because now it feels like an adventure and although you might not be able to drive everywhere you want, the world is your oyster and there is still so much to discover.

26/02/2025

Pretty much exactly 10 years ago, I decided to help bereaved parents like my friend Evangeline.

I still remember the moment well.

A well-meant but weird comment made me think:”I need to help people like her.”

Sunday was Ed’s birthday.

Ed is the reason that I changed my career, and 10 years after this pivoting moment, I am launching my book Dealing with Grief.

To celebrate its launch, I've created something special - a thoughtfully curated care pack designed to support you on your journey.

Each pack costs £20 and includes:

• Your printed copy of Dealing with Grief
• Two paper bookmarks - one for you, one to share with someone who might need it
• A heart-shaped rose quartz crystal (2.5cm) known for its properties of love and emotional healing
• A sustainable bamboo pen for your reflections
• Your choice of a handcrafted wooden bookmark (4 beautiful designs to choose from)
• A personal thank you note from me

All proceeds will be used to provide mental health and grief support.

To read more about Ed, and to purchase the pack, please have a look in the comments.

The packs are available to buy till Sunday, 2nd March. This is not a pretend FOMO strategy because I absolutely hate those.

I just need time to make the bookmarks, and since they are handmade by me, I need to have a cut-off day.

The book on its own will be available after that date.

Please share this with anyone you think might benefit from this.

With all my heart.
Thanks.
🥰

16/01/2025

Craft Conscious CIC was founded in 2015, inspired by Ed, a remarkable young man whose life, kindness, and tragic passing in 2012 left a deep void in his family.

The idea for creating Craft Conscious came from seeing how, even three years after his death, well-meaning but hurtful comments continued to affect his mother.

This led to our initial focus on providing support through creative crafting sessions for those struggling with grief, creating a safe space where people wouldn’t have to face unintentionally painful remarks.

I was lucky to have been given a grant by participate in 2016 to pay for my Grief Recovery Training.

Since then I also trained in Edu Therapy, got a job as a mental health support worker, I stayed in for four years, and have been running my own non profit offering mental health support through coaching and mentoring for a few years now.

As part of what I offer, I developed a half day workshop Dealing with Grief.

Since I wanted people to be fully present and not worry about taking notes, I wrote a workbook for participants that they would receive after the workshop.

I then decided to expand this for people who wouldn't be able to attend in person. I feel really proud to be launching my book 'Dealing with Grief' in early 2025.

The truth is, none of us had grief training in school. We often avoid people who are grieving because we're afraid to say the wrong thing.

Or in my friend's case, we don't know what to say if a well meant comment hurts us deeply.

My book explores everything from workplace bereavement to supporting children through loss. It includes guidance on emotional and practical self-care, navigating difficult conversations, and managing the practical aspects that follow a loss.

I'm offering the first chapter free to anyone interested in learning more.

Sign up here:
https://subscribepage.io/dealing-with-grief to get:
- Free chapter
- Notice when the book launches

Please share this with anyone you feel might benefit from reading my book. I also appreciate, if you share it with your friends and networks to spread awareness and support my non profit organisation.

All profits from the book will be used to support people who are unable to pay for mental health support.

A compassionate & practical guide for anyone touched by loss, written with deep empathy & practical wisdom. Sign up to receive the first chapter for free!

30/12/2024

I'm starting again.

Never managed to finish the artist's way.

This copy is from 2000, so I probably had it for more than 20 years.

I'm going with plans into 2025.

Taking my recovery from Chronic illness serious.

Developing my artist practice.

Writing more.

Doomscrolling less.

I'm starting today with week one.

This book is not only for artists, but anyone who wants to discover their creativity, and what stops them.

And we are all creative.

I'm not starting this lightly.

It's not a feel good book.

Be warned 💕

26/08/2024

I once read a story that deeply resonated with me, but sadly, I can’t remember where.

An explorer goes into the Amazon jungle to spend some time with a tribe.

During the day, he helps them to hunt, gather resources, repair their huts.

In the evening, they all sat around the fire, and he asked, "So what do you guys do for leisure?”

They look puzzled, and his guide tries to explain the question in different ways.

All of a sudden, they all start to laugh.

“We don’t have different words for work and leisure,” they say, shaking their heads.

For some reason, this made a big impression on me.

I wanted to carve a life out where I wouldn’t distinguish between work and leisure.

I thought, in the pandemic, we all understood that cleaners were just as important as neurosurgeons.

We have this idea of task hierarchy, and I wonder if it’s really helpful.

Rest is often at the bottom.

Today is a bank holiday in the UK.

Are you enjoying it without feeling guilty, or do you think that you should still do something?

Is cleaning the toilet less important than making money?

The reason that I wanted to approach everything equally important was that I wanted to give everything my love and attention.

Instead of feeling guilty or trying to rush something that felt less important.

We often consider the breadwinner more important than the person who stays home, raises the kids, and cleans the house.

We doubt ourselves if we are good enough when we are “not productive”.

Imagine that we wouldn’t judge and categorise what we do, and rest would be equally important to work.

13/04/2024

I absolutely love coaching.

I use it in my work as mental health support worker and also offer mental health support through coaching and mentoring to private clients.

At the moment, I am doing an ILM level 5 in coaching and mentoring with Leeds Becket University.

Whilst working on my assignment I came across a definition from the ICF, that says it all.

Quality of care for another human being.

For me, that is exactly what it is. Quality care for another human being.

You don't need to be a coach.

You can do this for anyone in your life, and please include yourself.

Sometimes we feel so overwhelmed with life, so angry, so sad, so lonely, that we forget to be careful with each other.

Such resilient and delicate beings at the same time.

Respecting each other's opinions doesn't mean we are ok with injustice.

Being kind doesn't make you a doormat.

Having compassion doesn't excuse people's behaviour.

Let's have quality care with each other, including ourselves.

09/04/2024

We feast on those moments of love.
We feast on those moments of joy.
We feast on those moments of hope.

And the fire we collect through those moments can warm our hearts when we have to walk through the cold, sadness, and despair.

And these moments will come.

We can’t avoid them.

We need to make space for those fire moments in our lives every day.

So we can share the light and keep carrying on.

When you wonder if you should take the time for such moments and label them selfish in your mind, you are actually depriving yourself and others of the love and light you could have shared.

Who is supposed to give you light, love, and strength?

If not you, who will?

Selfish are the people who don’t want to share the love, light, and hope.

Not those who create magical moments in their life.

Don’t be caught up in guilt for doing something that those around you will all benefit from.

A happier and rested person is a better parent, friend, colleague.

And on the days, you can’t feel the fire and hope in your life, hopefully, someone else will have practice self-care during their day and they will be able to share with you.

This is how we nurture each other.

By passing on the light, the hope, and the love.

02/04/2024

Day

A year ago, I was diagnosed as a autistic.

I feel more peace than before that.

People question adults of why they would want a label.

Because I was labeld my whole life.

Too rude.

Too much.

Too........

Autism and ADHD in girls presents differently than in boys.

It is so much harder for woman who had to mask their whole life to be diagnosed as autistic.

I made a commitment to myself, that I won't allow other people to argue with me about statements I make about myself.

There is no invitation extended to you, that we are discussing if I'm right or wrong.

You can ask questions with curiosity, I am happy to answer those.

12/02/2024

If you don't only appreciate reading about mental health, because you or a loved ones deals with chronic illness, please have a look at my other business page.

Link in the comments 🤩