Teaching the Bereaved to Process Grief Through Meditation and Visualization

Author, spiritual counselor and hospice volunteer Terri Daniel is at the podium in front of 30 people who sit, eyes closed, in deep meditation, many with tears streaming down their faces. This presentation is part of a fund raiser for the Las Vegas chapter of Compassionate Friends, a non-profit organization that helps the bereaved cope with the death of a child, and at this moment, Terri is helping the audience to connect with their loved ones on the Other Side.

This gathering, and dozens like it in cities across the U.S., is part of a promotional tour to support Terri's  book, "A Swan in Heaven: Conversations Between Two Worlds." The book is based on after-death dialogs between Terri and her son Danny, who died from a degenerative metabolic disorder at age

16. Terri now works with the bereaved to guide them through the grieving process with an inspiring, non-traditional perspective.

Based on the understanding that we are more than just these physical bodies and our souls have a specific purpose that is fulfilled by our experiences on earth, the bereaved find comfort in realizing that a loved one's death was not senseless or without meaning. Terri helps groups and individuals -- *through counseling, meditation and visualization practices -- to see the connection between a loved one's* death and the growth it provides for friends and family members who are profoundly changed by the experience. In this sense, any death, no matter how tragic, has a purpose, and the ability to see that purpose helps survivors feel less victimized and makes the grieving process is a little easier to navigate.

Terri speaks from experience. In 2006, her teenage son died after an eight-year struggle with a degenerative disorder that transformed him from an active, healthy seven year-old into a wheelchair-**bound teenager who'd lost the ability to speak, and required full time care. Terri lovingly nurtured him through his illness and death, and soon after his death she began to receive telepathic messages from

him. He began "speaking" to her on a regular basis, guiding her to publish his words in a book that would have a unique perspective, not just on the journey of the soul, but on the dynamics of personal relationships and the power of meditation and forgiveness to transform them. Danny's messages, against

a backdrop of Terri's life as a caregiver, became the foundation for her book, which was published in 2008. Her experience with Danny, during his life and his afterlife, inspired her to become a hospice volunteer and metaphysical grief counselor.  

"I guess you could call me a grief counselor who has assistance from the Other Side," Terri explains. "I've worked with grieving individuals from every religious perspective, particularly parents who've lost a child, and they all have only one question... why? I help them understand that every one of us is connected, and no death happens in a vacuum. We are all a part of  soul families that make pre-birth agreements to act out certain plans, and sometimes a tragic death is part of that plan. When you look at it with a wider view, when you see it as a part of the whole, as a trigger to increase awareness for the soul group, the victim aspect falls into the background, and a greater understanding of that death can be realized."

Terri's view provides a new way of understanding and processing grief. One of her clients --a man whose son died in a bizarre accident at age 16 -- felt  that his son's life was a tragic waste.  The boy was a talented artist/musician, and his father lamented that his son died before he could fulfill his potential.

He sees his son's death as the "waste" of a life that could have contributed much to the world. But Terri counsels that our existence can never be wasted because the work of our souls continues after death.

"Dying is like working for a company and getting transferred to another branch in a new city, doing the same work in a different locale," Terri explains. "This young man's talent, along with the gifts, lessons and growth tools he provided to his loved ones, continues now in another form. His life is far from over. The guidance, love and energy he radiates from the Other Side provides boundless gifts of awareness and expansion for his loved ones on earth."

Kim Rice is a Seattle, WA. mother who has been working with Terri to process her grief over the terminal illness of her 20 year-old daughter Kristin. Once a lively teenager, Kristin was stricken with a rare disorder that has left her without speech, motor skills or the ability to walk. Her life expectancy is limited, and Kim  is devoted to her care.

"Working with Terri has infused me with hope as I face the impending death of my beautiful daughter," Kim says. "Terri taught me how to use guided imagery and meditation as a means of communication with Kristen now that she is no longer verbal. Our meditations give both of us great peace, and I hope they will serve as a foundation for continued communication after she leaves this plane of existence.  Terri guides me toward the sacred that abounds in this unspeakably painful journey, and gives me hope that it will be transformative in some as yet unimaginable way."

Dr. Ken Stoller, a pediatrician in Santa Fe, New Mexico, lost his teenage son in a train collision last year, and finds that Terri's counsel has helped him shift his perspective and feel more grounded.

"Terri's support was key to my remaining in my body after the loss of my son," says Dr. Stoller. "It's ironic that the pain of dying is for the living, but with each parent that can bear witness that there is no death, the heavy paradigm we have all been subjected to moves up a notch in frequency."

Moving up a notch is frequency is what it's all about. Terri teaches her clients and students to re-think the ideas they hold about death, such as distance (our loved ones are  far away and can't be contacted) and separation (our loved ones are gone forever, our relationship is over and there will no more shared experiences). Opening up to different ways of viewing death is a step toward what Terri calls "conscious grieving," in which it is understood that the soul continues to broadcast its energy after

the body dies. On the soul's continuing journey -- sometimes embodied during incarnations and at other times continuing its work from non-physical realms -- it continues to be part of the human panorama.

For more information visit www.SwanInHeaven.com