Transform Grief With Body-Based Practices with Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki
Grief can shrink the world and silence the parts of ourselves we most need to hear. In this episode, we sit down with somatic grief therapist Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki to explore how simple, body-based practices—breath, movement, sleep, and nutrition—can calm your nervous system and help you carry loss with steadiness and resilience.
Jason shares his personal journey after losing his sister in 1998, revealing why talk therapy alone couldn’t shift his pain—and how pairing insight with practical physical rituals changed everything. You’ll discover:
A clear, two-minute breathing drill to reset your nervous system
The surprising role of sleep, omega-3s, and “quality” nutrition in emotional repair
How tiny, consistent daily rituals—morning mindset, push-ups, meditation, and cold exposure—compound into real transformation
Ways to reclaim your identity and purpose while carrying grief, from community advocacy to small daily actions that restore choice
This conversation is a compassionate guide for anyone navigating loss, showing that grief doesn’t have to erase joy—and that small, doable practices can free your voice, body, and spirit.
Contact Jason
LinkedIn: @jason-wendroff-rawnicki
Face Book: @Somatic-Grief-Therapy/100087242064447/
Instagram: @somaticgrieftherapy
TikTok: @somaticgrieftherapy
YouTube: @SomaticGriefTherapy
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Transcript
Aideen Ni Riada: 0:03
Welcome. This is the Resonate Podcast with Aiden. I'm Aideen Ni Riada, and my guest today, Jason Wendroff Rawnicki, is a somatic grief therapist, keynote speaker, best-selling author, and certified yoga educator with over 20 years' experience in holistic wellness. After losing his sister in 1998, Jason discovered powerful body-based tools for healing like breath work, movement, and mindfulness that can help you navigate grief, reduce stress, and find resilience, purpose, and joy again. You're very welcome, Jason. Great to have you here.
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 0:43
Thank you so much for having me. I've been excited to come and talk to you.
Aideen Ni Riada: 0:47
Yeah, me too. Um, I've you we're recently acquainted, and I'm really excited to find out more about your journey to this personal mission of yours to help people to navigate grief. And it all started with experiencing grief yourself when you lost your sister. Tell us a little bit about that time and why it changed everything for you so much.
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 1:13
Sure, absolutely. So it was 1998. I was uh 26 years old at the time. I was just uh a young man trying to find sort of my place in the world, and then all of a sudden, my sister, like, she died in a car accident. So one day she was here, the next day she wasn't. I didn't know how to handle that. Like, I was not given the tools to deal with a loss like that. Uh, my family never talked about death. We really didn't have much conversation about it. And then it came out of the blue, and in addition, I was required to kind of bottle up all of my grief because I had to be strong for my parents. I had to be the rock that was going to be there to support my mom and my dad. At least that's what society told me I needed to do. So I took that on personally. And so I kind of for a good couple of years shut my grief off because, you know, my parents needed me to be there for them. Um, and in reality, I needed to figure out how to deal with it within myself. At that point, I was also going to school. I was going to be a clinical uh psychologist. That was my intention. I was studying therapy, uh traditional talk therapy, and I realized when this thing happened, that wasn't gonna solve it for me. Like I knew why I was feeling like crap. I knew why I was doing the things I was doing. And so talking about it and processing it really wasn't going to, you know, or or even digging into the past was not going to solve the issue. I needed to find new ways, new solutions for me. And at that point, there were no resources for bereaved siblings. Zero. There were no in-person, very few in-person groups, there were no books specifically on sibling loss. Um, and even now there's there's a few and it's getting better, but it's still not, you know, it's not a lot. And so I figured I I had it to deal with this on my own, I I felt at least at the time. So I really went in, I was practicing yoga, I was practicing mindfulness and meditation, and I was like, oh, this is actually working for me. And even when I brought like the yoga practices and the mindful practices back to like my psychology people, they were like, no, that is, you know, that's something very different, that's not science-based. Uh, this goes, remember, this goes back to 1998, so things have changed in since then. But you know, they they really dissuaded me from from pursuing it further because it it was psychology and yoga and meditation were on two ends of the spectrum, and they and there wasn't there wasn't that bridge. And I said, but if this is actually working for me, this is what's being successful for me. So how do I bridge that gap?
Aideen Ni Riada: 4:04
What is it you'd like to say to people? Like if you have if there's someone who's suffering with grief right now, um, whether it's a sibling or someone else, what do you think they might need to hear to give them hope for the future?
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 4:18
Yeah. So the first thing is no matter what form of grief you're dealing with, and it could be death-related losses, like the loss of a loved one, like a spouse or a sibling or a child or you know, a pet, even. Um, and it could also be non-death-related losses too, because so many people, when they lose a job or they retire or go through a life transition, are experiencing the grief of maybe their old self or their old identity. And so we always have to work on shifting and changing that identity, but know that you're not alone, right? Like that's I think the thing with a lot of grieving people or people that have experienced loss. They go and they isolate themselves and they think that I'm the only one dealing with this thing. And that's just not true. One of the reasons why I decided to start sharing my story on podcasts like this is so that people can understand that you're not alone, that there's other people that are are struggling with the same issues, and you know, and they could be very serious issues, but you know, everybody there are other people dealing with them. And so, really, you got to find the right support system, like the right people to help you, the right, you know, the right uh group of friends. There's there's and knowing that you're not alone, that's really the key.
Aideen Ni Riada: 5:37
Is there any client that you've worked with that you'd feel comfortable sharing a little bit of their story just to demonstrate the the hope that people can have for the future?
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 5:50
Yes, let me just think. That's a the um I so I when I work with clients, I also I try to get them to kind of put the a lot of times the grief becomes their full identity, like that's all that they can see. And so we when we work at putting the grief back into context with their life, then they have a real uh it's it's very balancing because then we're not just the grief. Can we be sad? Yes. Are there times that we're gonna be sad? Absolutely. It doesn't matter how long you've been kind of dealing with your grief, but there's gonna be waves and and and fluctuations. Um, and the most a very important thing is the um finding a compelling future. So finding something that is going to your like your passion, right? Like just like you do with finding your voice. That's kind of I do something similar with my clients where we create a compelling future for themselves. And I have a client whose grandson died of suicide, and one of the things that she really is passionate about is uh suicide prevention. So she winds up, she wound up talking in front of a group of people about suicide prevention and her grandson, so that this way she could tell his story and encourage not people, not just people to be aware uh that people are dealing with these thoughts, these serious suicidal ideations, suicidal thoughts, and it's a common thing, it's becoming more common, unfortunately, but also uh he was an organ donor, and so she was able to speak out about her organ donation and get some people on that organ donation list. So uh yeah, so there's a lot of things that can happen through the through the process.
Aideen Ni Riada: 7:39
Yeah. You mentioned that you enjoy helping people with breath work and different um practical strategies to move through um that emotion um at a practical level. Is there anything that you'd like to share with our listeners? Something that they could try right now?
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 7:57
Yep, absolutely. So except if you're like operating heavy machinery or you're listening to this podcast in a car. Well, we can do it even with that, right? So I I'm a big fan of just deep breathing, but most people don't well, one people make it too complicated. They're like, oh, I have to do like a box breath and inhale the hold and exhale a hold. And and I just think the simpler you make it, uh, the better it is because uh, you know, complexity is like the X is the thief of execution. When we make things too complicated, we don't actually do them. But when we simplify things, then we're like, all right, that I can do. So if you want, you could bring a hand on the belly and a hand on the chest. And then I want you to breathe in and out through the nostrils. And then as you inhale, I want you to really feel your belly expand and your chest rise. And then as you exhale, just feel the chest release and the belly move back into the body. And then as you inhale, see if you can expand the belly and the chest so that your hands separate a little bit more. And then as you release, the hands come closer together. And just feel the body move as you breathe. Just take two more breaths and take a moment to even notice the effect that it has on your nervous system. And then after your next exhale, just kind of release the hands. And just notice. Right? Our breath is free, it's with us all the time. Right? You can do it eyes closed or eyes open, right? Like if you're in a meeting and things are getting stressful, just take a couple of deep breaths, just like we did, and that helps to reset the nervous system. It'll it'll happen in an instant. And then you can kind of go through your days with a little bit more calm and a little bit more ease.
Aideen Ni Riada: 10:02
That's beautiful.
unknown: 10:04
Yeah.
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 10:04
As I say, and keep it simple. Like if you make it to like, as I said, I I I know a lot of people that really complicate things a whole lot, and and then it then it becomes difficult to do when we really need it.
Aideen Ni Riada: 10:17
When you started working in this area, um, it wasn't that common for people to use these kinds of strategies for grief. Did you feel that, you know, like what were the obstacles that you had to overcome in order to start using these strategies and kind of you know, empowering people in this way?
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 10:41
Yeah, I mean, the the the biggest one is that nobody really talks about physical health and grief. Um, and it's more than just movement, more than just breath work. And um it's I I look at it as the overall about health overall and getting our body into a a state of vitality, which may which also means sleeping, sleeping well, making sure that you're getting good quality sleep, because research is showing that sleep is actually possibly more important than diet and movement itself, because it's our body's ability to repair, right? It's uh it's getting on the right regimen of supplementations to make sure our body has the foundational uh nutrients that it needs to keep it running healthy and uh keep it running smoothly. So just talking about that in relationship to the emotions and the thoughts is what is definitely a challenge, even still, because most people either talk about uh physical health or mental and emotional health. And now it's starting the uh that bridge is starting to develop. But most people, a lot of people still aren't making that connection between the two. So that because if I don't have the right omegas, my brain doesn't have the right uh materials to feel happy and to feel excited and to feel joyful, and so I'm already starting from a depleted state. You know, tack on that, like uh my fat the thoughts are going in a negative way, right? Like they can they it all affects each other, and when you make a change in one area, it affects the other two.
Aideen Ni Riada: 12:18
So when you say the omegas, you're talking about the omega-3 fatty acids that generally would come from fish oils.
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 12:25
Yep, yep.
Aideen Ni Riada: 12:25
So do you recommend those? So if if we've got someone listening that's like dealing with grief or finding that they're going through a difficult time, what do you what would you recommend for them in that regard?
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 12:35
So so there's there's two, like there, I so I've partnered with an essential oil company called DoTERRA. That's the because I they do a lot of research on their supplementation. And the the two that I I highly recommend, if there's only two supplements that you I think almost everybody should take and take that with a grain of salt, because everybody, right, like I said earlier, if you say everyone run the other direction, right? But I feel like a lot of people are depleted in a lot of their vitamins, mineral vitamins and minerals and greens. Uh so uh there's a green supplement, a vitamin mineral green supplement, and an omega supplement that's a it's a fish oil based, but having the good like not all supplements are created equal. So I know when if I don't take my omegas, and specifically I talk about omegas because I think that's uh the important one for real brain health and emotional regulation. Uh, because I notice I notice a huge difference if I don't take them uh on a regular basis. Consistency with supplementation is important because if you don't take them every day, then you know you're it's not they're not going to be as effective. Um and making sure that they're not only bioavailable, but they that they uh stay in the body for as long as they can. So absolutely, yeah.
Aideen Ni Riada: 13:56
Well what some people might know might not realize about me is that I worked for in health stores for eight years and I worked in fitness and uh gyms for an extra four years. But the I did take fish oils and I started back on them recently um because of you know menopause, a perimenopause, that kind of age um and skin changes. I used to love taking those fish oils. I I I worked because I worked in a health store. This is like insider information. I I must have been spending like 250 euros out a month on just supplements because I was trying everything, and so I stepped back from it all because it was too much. So I love that you're only recommending two things, like it's just so simple. So for me, in the morning when I'm having my breakfast, that's when I take them, and that's what I would suggest people is you know, have a create a little habit, put it somewhere where you can see it, and um, and take something, even something you know, at a small level regularly is really very good.
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 15:00
Yeah, and just like as far as supplements go, depending on the supplement, uh if you're just if well, and it depends on the tech, there's new technologies coming out. So it if you're taking a a lot of capsules aren't always uh bioavailable, um depending on the capsule itself, it should be like a powder encapsulated, but I I mean I could talk another 45 minutes on just you know supplementations, but not all supplements are created equal, as I said, and you it doesn't make sense to take vitamins that you're not absorbing because it comes in and goes out, and it's and for a lot of just over-the-counter supplements, they're just being excreted. And so you I kind of joke around and say you'll have very expensive urine because uh because if it's going in and going out and your body's not able to utilize it, then you know that's a problem. And and you know, making I know when I was in my, I think I was in my early 30s and I started to get little brain gaps, like when I was teaching a yoga class, I couldn't remember some words and I was getting a little bit nervous. And so I went to the doctor, and the doctor was like, Oh, you're just getting older. And I'm like, that's I'm 30 something. That's not, I wouldn't take that as an answer. So I did my own research, and that's what that's what brought me to omegas. And once I started taking the omegas that I'm on right now, those brain fog, the brain fog disappeared, the the memory gaps disappeared, like it all just went away. And if for some reason I, you know, the shipment comes in late or I don't take them for a couple of days, I can feel some of that stuff coming back. So there's no question in my mind that my that those omegas actually help my mental my mental health for sure.
Aideen Ni Riada: 16:51
And to just acknowledge that our body is basically so important for our emotions and for our thought processes, and they both go hand in hand. It's about being more holistic in our approach, really, isn't it?
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 17:07
Correct. And you have to look at all three, right? Like you have to look at your body, your heart, and your mind, and and how they they all interrelate so that when once your body gets healthier, then you could deal with your emotions more effectively. If your body gets weaker and less vital, and you don't have those those omegas and you don't have the micronutrients that you need to run smoothly, then the emotions go south, and it's harder to re uh recalibrate yourself. Well, you know, and go ahead. I'm a huge fan of rituals too, because um we need to make sure that we have a good routine, a good morning routine, a good evening routine, because if you're starting the day from a peak state, from a state where you're gonna like crush the day, that's one thing. If you're starting the day and just running and doing stuff and you're not prepping yourself for that day, you're gonna let the day decide how you feel. And so we really need to be, especially when I work with clients, I I put them in the driver's seat. We get we we get them choices of how they want to feel because we always think, oh, emotions come up. Yeah, they come up, and we have to acknowledge and accept them, but then we have to make the choice. Is this how we want to feel, or do we want to feel something different? If the choice is I want to feel something different, then how do we get how would we make that happen?
Aideen Ni Riada: 18:30
So, what's an example of a good uh morning routine?
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 18:34
So for me, as soon as I went, I even before I put my feet on on the floor, I start to notice how like like what my thought process is, like, and and I start to uh infuse a good affirmation to myself, you know, like all I need is within me now, or what do I want to accomplish today? What you know, what is what does the universe have in store for me so that I can, you know, I can take action on those things. So my mindset, even before my feet touch the floor, I'm working on my mindset. And then as soon as my feet touch the floor, I get on the floor and do like a hundred push-ups uh just to get my body, it immediately gets my body activated. And then I'll, you know, five, four to five days a week, I'll go out for a run or some sort of cardio exercise to get my body, get the endorphins going, to get myself, you know, it really moving right away. And then I'll come back, I'll do it maybe a 10-minute meditation, and then I'll have some breakfast. So that I mean, that's generally now I'm a little bit easy with it. Like so, even uh in the fall and in the winter, I'll do some cold dipping, uh, which is like sitting in, I absolutely love it. Uh, so I have a little cold dip tub that I put outside on my porch and I'll submerse myself in it for about you know six or seven minutes. Usually the temperature is like 40 to 50 degrees and it's cold. Um, but it gets it gets my energy going, or I'll take a cold shower at times, like in the in the summer, just to kind of wake myself up, get my body really going. So that's that's my personal one. And then with my breakfast, I have my vitamins and omegas, and then I'm ready to hit the day from a very empowered state.
Aideen Ni Riada: 20:22
This is amazing. I think that okay, number one, we're really saying that our emotions and dealing with grief is not just about our mind, it's about our body as well. And then when we talk about the body, we're talking about moving, we're talking about exercising, we're talking about eating well, about taking supplements, um, and allowing that to go hand in hand with that process. So, is there something that you'd like to say to the people listening right now before we start to wind things up? What's the words of wisdom, the little pearl that you want people to really remember from today?
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 20:57
Yeah, so I think it's because I started talking about simplicity, how you know how we need to keep things simple. When you think about also progress, I want you to think of a 1% improvement. What's 1%? How can I be 1% better today than I was yesterday? And that because those that 1% will compound over time. At the end of the week, you'll be 7% better. At the end of the month, 30% better. At the end of three months, you're 90% better. So just I want you to think in small increments and don't try to get too out of hand because I know when people make life changes, they're like, oh, I have to change this and that, and clean my cabinets and eat healthy and exercise and move, and and and then that gets way too complicated. So just reel it on in, make one change. What's like one change that I can make today that will make make a difference that I can do consistently?
Aideen Ni Riada: 21:55
And it could start with that breath, right? Just correct. Just doing that one breath exercise, uh, one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly, and just um be aware of your breathing for a couple of minutes every day.
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 22:08
Yeah, it doesn't even have to be. It could I they always say one minute of of something that you're gonna do is better than 30 minutes of something you're not gonna do. So, you know, so when they say meditate, if you can't meditate for 30 minutes, do it for 10 seconds, right? Do it for 20 seconds. And because what we want to do is we want to take, we want to take motivation out of the way and bring in habit. Because when we're motivated, some days we're motivated, some days we're not. Some days I'm feeling great, some days I'm not. And so if you're relying on motivation, then when you're not feeling like doing something, you won't do it. If you build it as a habit, then you're gonna do it no matter what.
Aideen Ni Riada: 22:49
Um, building habits is a fascinating topic, even in itself. Um, I know I have a couple of things that I do to help me to create a new habit. Do you have any little tip on how to create a new habit?
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 23:03
Yes. So uh one back to keep it simple, right? Like, so what is the what is the one step that you need to do, right? Um so for me, I don't always love like every morning, I don't feel like I want to run, but it's such a habit now that all I have to do is convince myself to put my running shoes on. If I can get my running shoes on, my body's going out the door. I have, I think there's only once in my in maybe eight years that I got my running shoes on and didn't go out the door. So find out what that first habit is. If it's you don't like flossing your teeth, right? Just take the floss out of the cabinet, right? Like just get into the habit of that, and then once the floss comes out, then you know, like do that for a week and then floss one tooth, right? Like, you know, and so that you can build it up. So, but you know, before you know it, you're gonna be doing, you're good, you're going to be doing the whole thing. But just find that one, like, what's the one thing that's not scary that you can do every day?
Aideen Ni Riada: 24:12
Well, I'm so glad that you took this journey and I'm glad that we had this time together. Thank you for joining me on the Resonate podcast. I will be adding your links um to our show notes so that people can find you. Is there anything specific that you'd like people to look for of yours to learn more about you?
Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki: 24:31
So the best way is to go to my website, www.somaticgrieftherapy.com, uh, because there's a copy, there's you can download a um a copy of the keynote speech I did in uh New Orleans uh for a grief conference, and it's it's really about how to create that sustainable change and how we need how we need immersion and we need consistent repetition because if we don't like if we don't make it habits with through the consistent repetition, then we can get we can read all the things, we can get all the knowledge, but knowledge is only potential power. It's when we take action on it that it really becomes uh uh powerful. So you know, finding simple ways of taking small actions. Love it.
Aideen Ni Riada: 25:19
Thank you so much, Jason, for being here with us today. Thank you everyone for listening, and we'll see you again at the next episode of the Resonate Podcast with Aideen.