The Physical Effects of Grief: How Loss Impacts Your Body and Mind with Carol Banens

Donna introduces Carol Banens, a grief educator, coach, author, and speaker who combines lived experience with professional training to help people understand grief without feeling broken by it. Carol shares how the death of her husband, along with earlier losses, reshaped her path from physical therapy into grief education, writing, and community support.In this episode, they explore how grief affects the whole body, why the five stages model is often misunderstood, and how support, journaling, and time away from daily responsibilities can help people begin living again with self-compassion and hope.

 

Key topics

• Donna introduces Carol Banens and her work as a grief educator, coach, author, and speaker.
• Carol shares her backstory as a physical therapist for 36 years before transitioning into grief work after her husband Brian died in 2018.
• She explains how an earlier childhood loss of her sister in the UK shaped her family’s approach to grief and her own early beliefs about “keeping calm and carrying on.”
• Carol describes returning to work three days after her husband’s funeral and later realizing that grief’s lethargy and exhaustion were overwhelming her.
• She shares how time away at a quiet retreat helped her let grief surface, journal, and begin reshaping her life.
• Donna and Carol discuss how grief can follow many kinds of loss, including divorce, job loss, relocation, homesickness, and life transitions.
• Carol explains how grief can affect emotional, cognitive, physical, and spiritual well-being.
• They unpack the five stages of grief and why they shouldn’t be treated as a rigid roadmap.
• They discuss the importance of community, including supportive friends, family, and grief groups where people can share openly.
• Carol shares her work with the Grief Gurus and the Grief Cafe, as well as an upcoming grief retreat in Torino focused on helping women rediscover joy and confidence.

 

Timestamps

00:00 - Donna opens with why Carol’s grief work is worth listening to

01:27 - How Carol was introduced through a mutual widow friend

02:02 - Carol’s story begins with physical therapy and her husband’s cancer diagnosis

02:56 - Childhood loss in the UK and the “keep calm and carry on” family pattern

04:20 - A month away from work becomes a turning point

05:19 - Writing poetry becomes part of Carol’s healing

06:02 - Grief can come from divorce, relocation, and other life losses

08:09 - Why Google searches and the five stages can make grievers feel like they’re doing it wrong

09:16 - The five stages were not originally written as a griever’s roadmap

10:44 - Recognizing grief in job loss, divorce, and homesickness

11:44 - Grief as a whole-body experience affecting heart, brain, emotions, and faith

14:37 - Why stepping away from home can help people rest and process loss

15:20 - Donna’s family retreat story and the role of disconnection in healing

16:41 - Why community matters in grief

20:33 - The Grief Gurus, the Grief Lifeline course, and early-grief support

21:23 - The Grief Cafe as a free monthly space for shared support

22:16 - Shared grief groups becoming lasting friendships

23:13 - Why grief can return years later through memories, songs, smells, and anniversaries

24:40 - Carol’s upcoming grief retreat in Torino, focused on joy, beauty, and rediscovering self

27:41 - Carol’s parting wisdom: give yourself permission to grieve

 

Connect with Carol

https://carolbanens.com/

 

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Donna Kendrick is a Certified Financial Planner and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and owner of Sephton Financial located at 314 Washington Ln, Jenkintown, PA 19046. If you'd like to contact Sephton Financial you can do so online at SephtonFinanical.com or by calling 215 948 3945 Registered Representative offering securities through Cetera Financial Specialists LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services are offered through Cetera Investment Advisers LLC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity. Sephton Financial, LLC and Cetera are not affiliated. The views depicted in this material are for information purposes only and are not necessarily those of Sephton Financial. They should not be considered specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Neither Sephton Financial nor any of its representatives may give legal or tax advice. The guests on the podcast are not affiliated or registered with Cetera Financial Specialist. Any information provided by the guests are in no way related to Cetera Financial Specialist or its registered representatives.