S1E6 - Holy Listening: Walking Through Grief with a Spiritual Director Part 2

Laura and Juana go deeper into the spiritual practices that have sustained Black women through grief — from dream work and ancestor wisdom to the contemplative traditions hiding in plain sight within African American culture. They challenge the "strong Black woman" trope and ask what it means to give yourself permission to simply be broken for a while. Laura offers practical tools for the overextended and overwhelmed — threshold breathing, body mapping prayer, and learning to distinguish the voice of love from the voices of obligation. The conversation closes with a reflection on The Body Keeps the Score, somatic grief work, and what it looks like to hold both joy and sorrow as the seed pushes through the ground toward new life.

• 0:38 — Ancestors, dreams, and the thin veil
• 7:33 — The "strong Black woman" trope and laying down strength
• 8:55 — Spiritual direction as a cup that holds suffering
• 14:44 — Threshold practices for the overextended clergy
• 19:09 — Listening for the voice of love
• 23:09 — Body mapping prayer and somatic grief work

Organizations To Help Search For A Spiritual Director:

• Spiritual Directors International is an interfaith organization with a great search engine. Use the filters to help narrow the search: https://www.sdicompanions.org/find-a-spiritual-director-companion/
• Hearts On Fire / Fellowship of United Methodist Spiritual Directors https://fumdrl.org/public-directory/
• Spiritual Directors of Color: https://sdcnetwork.org
• Network of Evangelical Spiritual Directors: https://www.networkofevangelicalspiritualdirectors.com

Body Mapping and other videos of guided imagery prayer and blessings can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/@laurababer1147

Produced by Wesley's Revival, a ministry of Studio Wesley.