42 | Naila Francis | Companioning Grief: Trusting the Wild Wisdom of Sorrow
“To companion our grief, and to let grief companion us, really opens us to a richer, deeper experience of what it means to be alive.”
Here is an audio version.
A video version can be found below.
Naila Francis joins us for a tender and wide-ranging exploration of grief as both a personal and collective invitation into deeper aliveness. We begin by reflecting on her own words—about befriending grief as a companion—and follow the thread into the mythic, feminine, and generative nature of this trans-human terrain of fertile mystery.
Together, we explore the threshold moments that initiate us into a fuller experience of life: the descent into darkness, the fear of not knowing, and the cultural amnesia that distances us from grief’s native wisdom. Naila speaks to the deep intelligence of the broken heart, the art of grieving, and how turning toward pain—rather than away from it—can bring about profound transformation.
We speak of grief as instinctual, elemental, and rooted in the more-than-human world. From forest walks to conversations with stones and wild waters, Naila shares how Earth herself has helped expand her capacity to sit with sorrow. What emerges is a conversation about soulful living, emotional intimacy, and the healing power of trusting that our sorrow is sacred.
Find Thematic Show Notes Below
Connect with Naila:
This Hallowed Wilderness website
Poetry album "Wonder Unsung"
Connect with WHR:
WHR Instagram
Coyotei Counsel Instagram
Tei’s Instagram
Email - whr.link@gmail.com
Thematic Show Notes
Grief as Companion & Teacher:
Inviting grief as a companion into the heart
Grief as instinctual—what we’re born knowing
Descent into darkness as mythic and generative
Sorrow as a fertile, feminine space of transformation
Grief and soul: aligning with what matters most
Turning Toward Pain & the Wild Unknown:
Cultural fear of uncertainty, pain, and being “messy”
Grief as a pressure valve and source of inner spaciousness
The intelligence of the broken heart
Distancing from death as distancing from intimacy with life
Toxic positivity and the necessity of truth-speaking
Earth Grief & More-than-Human Support:
Walking in the forest as a death meditation
Engaging wild waters and landscapes as emotional allies
Grieving in relationship with land and stone
The grief of mass extinction and planetary sorrow
Becoming grief-literate through presence, truth, and listening