S2 E11 Grief: Letting the Energy Move
In this intimate and deeply human episode of the LightSong Talking Stick Podcast, Jan Engels-Smith and Micah Schwader explore grief as a natural, necessary, and sacred process—one that must be felt, expressed, and allowed to move rather than managed, solved, or suppressed.
The conversation opens with a heart-centered invocation, inviting listeners to slow down, soften, and enter the space of the right brain and the heart—where grief is understood not as weakness, but as a form of deep intelligence. From there, Jan and Micah speak candidly about grief in all its forms: the loss of loved ones, animals, identities, relationships, belief systems, and entire ways of life.
Jan shares powerful reflections from her own life, including the death of her husband and close friends, and the realization that no amount of spiritual practice can—or should—remove someone from grief before the cycle is complete. Grief, she explains, carries its own energy and timing. When honored, it becomes a teacher. When resisted or "stuffed," it can lodge in the body and eventually manifest as illness or soul loss.
Throughout the episode, they explore:
Why grief is not something to "get over," but something to move through
How the medicine wheel—especially the North—frames grief as part of natural life cycles
The difference between healthy grieving and unresolved soul loss
Why Western culture struggles to honor mourning and introspection
How physical expression—wailing, movement, exertion, drumming, writing, or building fire—helps grief move out of the body
Micah shares personal stories of loss, including the death of his mother, parents, and beloved dog, reflecting on how grief opened unexpected doorways to connection with spirit, nature, and meaning. Rather than closing him down, grief became a bridge—deepening relationship, awareness, and spiritual insight.
Together, Jan and Micah emphasize that grief is not only about death. Transitions, identity shifts, and life changes all carry grief because something meaningful is being released. These moments of "dying to the old" are not failures—they are prerequisites for growth and ascension.
The episode closes with a gentle but honest invitation: to reflect on where grief may still be held in the body, whether it has been expressed or suppressed, and what small, safe ways it might be allowed to move—through breath, sound, motion, or quiet presence.
This conversation offers compassion, permission, and grounding for anyone navigating loss, transition, or the lingering weight of unprocessed grief—and for those learning how to walk beside others in their mourning with wisdom rather than urgency.
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[email protected] Manifesting Miracles: This podcast is in a series of gatherings that are held bi-monthly on zoom calls. Participants from around the world that are interested in making positive changes in their life: career, relationship, health and finances are on this call. Jan starts this series with the most important tips in conscious manifestation. If you want the world to change, if you want your situation to change you must change within. You must become an energetic match for the things that you desire. Jan as a tenured teacher for 30+ years shares her wisdom on intentional manifestation and shamanism. Jan teaches, discusses and answers questions.
For more information about Jan Engels-Smith and her work, visit LightSong.net.
For more information about Micah and his work, visit ShamanSezz.com.
For more information about Micah's memoir, Stumbling Into Grace: The Adventures of a Transgender Shaman, visit ShamanSezz.com/stumbling-into-grace-the-book/
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