506. Awakening Through Grief: How Loss Can Lead to Spiritual Transformation | Angela Clement

Angela Clement

Kara Goodwin: [00:00:00] Welcome to Soul Elevation, guiding Your Ascension to New Heights. I'm your host, Kara Goodwin, and this is a great episode for anyone who's dealing with grief. Angela Clement is such a gentle and steady presence, and the insights she shares are so powerful.

Throughout the episode, I try to really highlight the powerful insights she gives because they're so understated with her demeanor

that, I don't want you to overlook them, but many people awaken to spiritual transformation through grief, , and that's in fact one of the big triggers I had on my own awakening journey. So there's a lot to process in those circumstances and a lot of opportunity.

Angela Clemon is a former school principal, speaker angel, intuitive writer, energy healer, and the creator [00:01:00] and host of the Awaken Your Soul's Journey podcast and Summit series on Grief. She's also the author of her new book, awakening through Grief, and has co-authored the book Good to the Last Drop with Irene Weinberg.

a certified grief coach, she helps people in one-on-one and group settings to reconnect with their authentic selves after loss.

We will dive into this episode in just a moment. But first, be sure to check out all the great resources@karagoodwin.com. You can find out about my new book, your Authentic Awakening. I have free meditations. Under the free resources section, you can learn to meditate, get your own personalized meditation

and sign up for upcoming summits. I have so many ways for you to nurture your spiritual evolution, and your support of my work helps me to be able to keep contributing in these ways. And if you're loving the [00:02:00] podcast, it would really mean so much for you to send it along to others subscribe and review.

I really appreciate your support and now enjoy this episode.

 Well, welcome Angela. I'm so excited to have you here. Thanks for coming on Soul Elevation today. 

Angela Clement: So happy to be here. Thanks for inviting me. 

Kara Goodwin: So your awakening journey is closely connected to your journey through grief. What can you tell us about that?

I. 

Angela Clement: Well, I mean, when it started out, uh, at the beginning when I first lost my husband, I had no idea, um, what it would be like to have a loss that significant. And I found myself really wondering if I would be okay or if I would be. Left to mourn for the rest of my life because a lot of people say that [00:03:00] you will grieve for a lifetime and so.

I was really devastated, uh, to hear that and to think that this pain that I was feeling was going to last and that I would never be able to be joyful or live a fulfilling life. It would always be clouded with this sadness or darkness. And so I really didn't wanna believe that. And so I went on a mission to really discover what grief was all about.

I. And it's been a long journey, but it's been a really enlightening one. And through the experience I have been awakening more to who I truly am and finding out more about myself and finding out that yes, I can live a joyful and fulfilling life again, and that, no, I don't have to, um, feel that sadness and despair.

Forever. [00:04:00] And so that's been my experience. 

Kara Goodwin: So tell us about your, your grief and in terms of what was the situation like? You mentioned you lost your husband. Was it expected? Was there a process where you were grieving before he passed? How did that work out for you? Or play out I should say. Yeah. How did that play out?

Angela Clement: Well, I didn't know it at the time, but um, yes, I was grieving before he passed because he had stage four colon cancer. He was diagnosed with that in January of 2021, and he passed away in October. And so for those months, um. The man I knew really wasn't there. He was really fighting for his life and rightfully so, and this really changed him.

And so I found [00:05:00] myself really, I. In a space where I was grieving a loss, but at the time I had no idea what that was. You know, I, I didn't know. Um, I was just going through all the motions and really holding out hope that he would survive and I was doing all the things I knew to do. You know, I dabbled in energy healing.

So I was taking courses and I was working with him and I had other energy healers working with him. And um, I just really, I. Of course wanted him to live, and yet there was this fear and anxiety around what would happen if he did pass away, and how would I be able to handle that? And I couldn't even imagine it.

I really couldn't at the time. And so when it actually did happen, um. There were all kinds of emotions that came forward, not [00:06:00] just, you know, the loss and missing him, but also there were feelings of relief because he wasn't suffering anymore. And guilt because I'm still here and he's gone and, and just so many emotions to deal with and I'm finding out that.

You know, after visiting with a lot of people who have gone through this, that all of these things are very normal, but at the time I didn't know that. 

Kara Goodwin: Hmm. Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that. As you, as your relationship has changed with you being here and him being there over the last three and a half years, have you felt that, that your connection with him has remained.

Angela Clement: Oh, absolutely. Yes. And it was interesting, um, just a bit before he passed away. I was sitting and meditating. [00:07:00] Um, alongside him and I remember a connection that felt like it was going to God or to the universe or somewhere, and it was going up, you know, through my back, through my head into the sky, and I felt like I was connecting with him somehow.

It was the weirdest feeling. And somehow intuitively I knew that that connection was going to remain. Even if he left, we were still going to have that. And so when he did pass away, I would often meditate and reconnect with him in that way so I could feel his essence and I could feel his energy and. I know through experience and through, um, many of the synchronicities that have happened and actually hearing his voice on occasion, uh, that he is very much here with me and [00:08:00] we had made a pact, the two of us, that if he got better, we were going to travel across Canada.

He always wanted to do this. He wanted to take a motor home and go across Canada and to, we were going to help people. We were gonna tell them about energy healing and, well, at least I was, and we were going to, you know, spread the word about, um, the, the powers of that. Energy and that we have more power than we think.

And so I feel like we're doing that now, but just not in the way that we thought. Um, that through the podcast, through the summits, through all the work that I do, I feel like he's always here and he's always bringing me to people like you, um, to meet and collaborate with and, and to work with. 

Kara Goodwin: Hmm. That's beautiful.

Well, I'm grateful for him connecting us too. [00:09:00] So tell us about how you perceive grief, not as something to be endured, but a pathway to transformation. 

Angela Clement: Yeah. So after interviewing, um, well now about 160 people between the summits and the podcast. I have found that people who have significant loss, um, can experience a real transformation in their life.

It happens often and often a very positive transformation, surprisingly, and. And these transformations actually end up being, uh, usually of service to others in some way, but also very fulfilling for the life of the person who's had the loss. And so, um, and has happened over and over and over again.

Obviously there's story after story after story. And so really [00:10:00] what I'm trying to do is give hope and inspiration to people who have had a loss to know that it is, um. You can get through it and that there is hope to be able to live a really happy and fulfilling life again, even after some really significant losses.

I've interviewed people that have had multiple losses, mo losses of children, spouse, um, multiple family members, you know, just so many and. All of them have been able to come through that and take on a new perspective on life and themselves and what's really important, I think. 

Kara Goodwin: Hmm, that's so beautiful. I love that observation that you've dealt with so many people who have been through grief, that you can see that common, that commonality with it.

You know, I know I shared on your podcast that my spiritual journey kicked [00:11:00] off. In conjunction with a lot of loss in my life, and one of those was the death of my sister-in-law who took her life. And that was so difficult. It's still difficult nine years later. Um, but I noticed with all of us who were going through this, you know, her mom and um, her partner at the time and, and all of these things.

That was kind of a common theme right away was like, well, I wanna help other people who are dealing with suicide. You know, because it, it just, it's so, it, it just shifts you into this place and you, you want, I mean, well, everybody deals with it differently, but that seems to be one of those kind of like.

You feel so helpless and it's, that's one of the outlets of like, I don't even know what to do with this, [00:12:00] but if I can help somebody el, like, can, can this be helpful? Mm-hmm. Can I use this as like, can somebody benefit from this experience that I'm having? And, um, so I mean, what a beautiful way for people to help to transmute that pain that we're going through.

Angela Clement: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And it doesn't have to be, you know, a podcast or mm-hmm. You know, it doesn't have to be anything really. Just, um, embodying. I think what that person was, you know, for Blaine and I, I was the introvert. He was the extrovert. He was the one that was social. He went out and visited with people in the restaurant that he didn't know and asked them about their lives.

And I was always so curious about it and I was fascinated of how brave he was. 'cause I, I wouldn't, you know, strike up a conversation with strangers. That really wasn't my [00:13:00] thing. Um. But I find myself doing that now, and I, I feel the joy that he felt when he did that. You know, I seem to, to have come to an understanding about how he loved that and the importance of telling your story.

In healing and in life and in sharing with others. And so it's as simple as that. You know, if you can tell your story even once to somebody else and help them with that, that's huge. 

Kara Goodwin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, you know, I'd say it's common to feel that you're moving through life with like a big, you know, thick cloak over you when you're really in the throes of grief.

What can you share with listeners about how they might be able to lighten their load if they're in that place in their life? I. 

Angela Clement: Yeah, there's a few things, um, [00:14:00] and everybody approaches this a little bit differently, but, um, I find that connection in nature is huge. And if you can get yourself out, um, to some water, to some trees, um, into a park.

Smell some flowers. There is something about that connection even with the plants in your house. You know, it's just like there's something about the connection to nature and to others that is very comforting in this, in that time, and refreshing. And, and we really, we get our rejuvenation from the earth.

And so if we're outside and we're with the trees and we're in the grass, we are grounding our energy. And it's helping us, um, get nourishment that way. And so. That's one. But also we have to be able to express what we're feeling. And I found myself as an [00:15:00] example, I would be really tough about things, right?

I would be like, okay, I'm gonna get through this. I'm just gonna get really busy. I'm just gonna do a lot of stuff and I'm gonna power through this and I'll, you know, I'll be fine kind of thing. Mm-hmm. And you can only do that for so long and then. There comes a time where the tsunami starts to form and you can't hold it.

It just, the emotion has to come out in some way and it's gonna come out in anger or, or fits of crying or whatever. It co however it comes, and what I found is that. Allowing myself time to release that. Taking the time to actually sit in stillness and quiet and allowing those emotions to come up. Even if I had to play some music and allow myself to relax enough to let those emotions come up, I would give myself a time, you know, to journal or cry or paint or [00:16:00] do whatever I could do to release that.

And when I did that, they didn't build up so much. You know, it wasn't like this explosion that I used to have. In fact, I had that my whole life. I thought I couldn't cry any other way except for to have this huge explosion that I felt no control over. And I realized afterwards that's because I was always stuffing.

I was stuffing the emotions always. And once I realized I needed to have an outlet to release those and I needed to make time to do that, um, I, I've learned how to manage it and it's not quite as overcoming as it was. 

Kara Goodwin: That is so wise, and I'm so grateful that you share that importance of just processing it and not.

Not letting it build [00:17:00] up. I, I mean, I had not really thought about that. In terms of myself until you were expressing it with yourself. But I think my experience has been really similar. I felt for a long time that I just wasn't a crier. Mm-hmm. But then I would get into these situations where, you know, it would be embarrassing because I just, I.

Like would burst into tears and, you know, there would be some sort of trigger to it happening. But I, it was so uncontrollable. And now I feel like I cry a lot more frequently and more easily, and it's not always outta sadness. You know, there are beautiful things that make me cry, but I get moved, I get moved to, to tears easily.

And I, um, you know, I, I don't feel ashamed when something upsets me that isn't pleasant and I cry. Um, but I, I, I now understand the importance of letting that move through, but as an energy practitioner, do you have more that you can [00:18:00] share on why it's so important to process? You've touched on it, but I wonder if, if you can come at it a little bit just from the energy, um, energy healing side.

Angela Clement: So for us to be healthy, our energy needs to move. It can't remain stagnant and rightfully so. When we have a strong emotion like anger or jealousy, and we've been told that we need to hold that, you know, that's not healthy to express that in any way, then we tend to cower. It's almost like we, we bring our energy in and we hold it and.

We just do that automatically. We learn that. And over time with social, you know, situations, positioning or, yeah, it just, it happens and then the energy doesn't flow. It just doesn't, and [00:19:00] it gets stuck in certain places. And as far as. Energy healing goals, it's really about allowing a space for the person to be able to release those places that have become stuck, where energy is not no longer flowing.

And so, yeah, from an energy healing standpoint, um. I really find that people, well, people heal themselves. You know, your body knows exactly what to do. It just needs a little help. Sometimes you just need a little bit of space where you can sit and actually release some of that. And what I found with energy healing is that I could feel the releases, um, without.

Having to cry or to go into that space, you know, that heavy space sometimes I did, but it just felt like it [00:20:00] was lightning that load a bit. It was releasing that, uh, energy that was stuck and allowing it to flow without, um. I don't know. It's hard to explain, but like if, if you hold something for a long time, it's like holding a beach ball underneath the water.

Right. And it's really been there a long time. It can get really heavy and really hard to keep it down after a certain amount of time. Right. And I found with energy healing, it was just like, instead of that fly up in your face thing, it was more of a gentle release. And it seemed easier to open up that box of emotion with an energy healer because it seemed like it was more gentle and freeing rather than, you know, just waiting for that moment when it's gonna burst.

Yeah, yeah. 

Kara Goodwin: Mm-hmm. That's beautiful. [00:21:00] So what role did self care take in your life with your grief process and, and what simple steps can people I. Take when they feel so overwhelmed and, and taking care of themselves is not a priority. 

Angela Clement: Yeah. Self-care. So it has an interesting connotation to some people, you know, it's like, well, self-care is me, you know, doing things for myself, which is.

True. It is true, but I believe self-care really has to be you feeling into your body and knowing what your body is telling you you need. And I think we don't sit enough in stillness and actually listen to our bodies and what's happening. And so I find for self-care that first step really is sitting with ourselves and feeling into the parts of our body.

And just [00:22:00] noticing if there are spaces that are sore or tight and really taking information from those places and giving them the love. And sometimes, you know, that just means a hot bath or sometimes it means a massage, or sometimes it means a cup of tea. You know, it depends on, it's it, it might be dehydration.

It could be. You know, you're missing some kind. Maybe you need to eat more fruit or vegetables, but our bodies know that, and that information is so important. And so that whole self-care piece really is around, um, sitting with ourselves, opening up our hearts. So putting that focus on the heart area and allowing that to just expand.

And sometimes, um, if you use, you know, things that you love, think of things that you love or thing, things that you're grateful for, that can open up that heart place. [00:23:00] And if you can open that up. Then you start to feel all the things that you know that need to come to you. It's, it's like the intuition is open now and it's giving you those insights that you need.

I. 

Kara Goodwin: Mm, that's so beautiful and, and really powerful. You're saying like very powerful things and you're saying them so casually that I wanna reemphasize for listeners, like, I know it sounds simple and, but it's really powerful and I mean one of the things that you touched on too a little bit earlier in the conversation is the prioritization of.

Of ourselves because you were sharing that, you got to a point where it was like you just kept doing, you know, it was just like, I, I just will keep myself busy and that I. There is logic to that of like, okay, if I just stay busy, I'm gonna outrun [00:24:00] this feeling and then I don't have to acknowledge it. I'm just gonna keep moving.

And then it will just, it, you know, again, we might feel like we're outrunning it, but what is actually happening is we're, we're not integrating what's happening. And, and from the energetic standpoint, like you're talking about. We are still, we are carrying that energy. We just, it's frozen or it's stagnant.

It's, it's not moving. We're denying it. It's still in our energy fields. It's still affecting us, even if we're not wanting to see it. So these simple things that you're talking about where it's like if you just. I mean, just having a cup of tea and letting yourself just be there and feel what's rising, get into the heart, and if you don't feel great, if you are mourning and you're grieving and it doesn't feel good.

That's okay. You know, it's okay to have a cup of tea and just [00:25:00] feel what is rising up and not labeling it as, I shouldn't feel this way, or, I'm scared to feel this way. You know, you will be okay. But there is so much self-care and just letting yourself be a human for a few moments, for, for as long as it takes to drink a cup of tea and just let yourself.

Let yourself be in that space. Like just let your, and and don't judge yourself for it. And that helps to keep us healthy. Just doing that and that, and it, it sounds really simple and when you're grieving, that can be a lot, but that is self, self-care. 

Angela Clement: Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, and, and we know what we need.

We know better than anyone what we need. If we can just calm down and breathe and just feel into it, we know. [00:26:00] You know, it's just we are so, um, conditioned to look outside for the answers. We're always looking to someone else to tell us what to do or how to do it, or you know, what supplements we should take or, you know, all of that stuff.

And really. And I still struggle with this sometimes, you know, it's like going in and just taking that time and asking, you know, what do I really need now? And just sitting in that silence and allowing that to come. It might not come in that moment, but it'll certainly come, you know, it, it just, sometimes it takes some time, but it's, it's always there.

That's always there for you. 

Kara Goodwin: That's so beautiful. Angela, you have such. Gentle and powerful wisdom and energy flowing through you. You're doing amazing work on your podcast. So people who are listening, who are going through a grief journey, please do [00:27:00] check out Angela's podcast because there are amazing stories on there and wonderful resources.

Um, tell people how they can learn more from you and about you and connect with your work. 

Angela Clement: Yeah, so everything is on my website, which is Healing Energy World, and you'll find there, um, the link to my book, actually, I have a couple of books that I've written. Um. Co-wrote one book, um, good to the Last Drop, and then also Awakening through Grief.

Um, and that particular book is all about my journey, how I moved through the loss, um, how it was such a spiritual awakening, and also lots of exercises and things that I used along the way that helped me. So I share those. Um, for people to access and then there's a support [00:28:00] group. It's free. It happens every 10 days.

Anyone can join us. Uh, we've been going for two and a half years now, and there's a core group of people there that have been with me for that two and a half years, and they have so much wisdom to share. With all the new people that are coming in, we share with each other and support each other all the time.

So it's, it's more about, um, sharing resources and information, um, and also acknowledging each other in the past that we are, are on. And also I do one-on-one. I do one-on-one group, uh, grief coaching. I do angel readings. Uh, my partner and I work together. Um, he does messages from your loved ones and I do the healing and coaching along with that.

And so, um, those people have found really effective and [00:29:00] helpful. And so there's lots there. You just need to go to the website and check that out. And the podcast as well. 

Kara Goodwin: Yeah. And the podcast is Awaken Your Soul's Journey. 

Angela Clement: Yes, that's right. Beautiful. Yeah. 

Kara Goodwin: Wonderful. Well, thank you Angela so much for being here today, and thank you for the work that you're doing to help people to awaken to their to themselves.

Angela Clement: Well, thank you for having me and thank you for the work that you're doing as well. I always love meeting people and getting on this, you know, on our similar pass and being able to collaborate. It's, it's amazing. So thank you. 

Kara Goodwin: Beautiful. Thank you so much.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Soul Elevation. Please take a moment to think about someone in your life who might be uplifted or have their curiosity sparked by this content and send it on to them. Let's keep sharing high frequency, [00:30:00] empowering content to reinforce the highest potential for humanity.

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