The Young Widow Podcast

  Hi, welcome to the Young Widow Podcast. I'm Britany, your host, and I'm happy you could join today for episode 26: Why We Keep Everything.  So I just came off of a conference weekend where I was speaking in Houston and this question came up by somebody that was attending the conference and it was in a different workshop than I was hosting. And I jotted down in my notebook that I wanted to do a podcast on this as soon as possible, because I'm a 'why' person and what that means is that I wanna know why my brain does things. Why do I have these weird habits and grief? And so if you're like me, I wanna explain the science behind why we keep everything after our person dies. And there are three major things here that we're gonna talk about: memory connection, the dopamine factor, and then loss aversion. And so with that, let's just jump in and I'm just gonna start from my perspective. 

 Hi, Welcome to the Young Widow Podcast. I'm Britany, your host, and thanks for joining today for Episode 25: When Grief Took My Appetite. All right, so this one's going to be a little bit more of a harder one to record. You know, I hesitated to even sit down and record this one in a longer version. If you've been on my Instagram, I did a shorter reel of this, but there was so much feedback on it that I wanted to dive into this one. This is something I still struggle with today and I think that's what makes it worth talking about because I'm five years in grief. And so let's jump in.  Today we're going to talk about grief and food, or for a lot of us, the way grief completely destroys our relationship with eating. And not in the way people might assume  not the dramatic, I can't eat because food is repulsive. No, food stopped existing. I stopped caring. I stopped noticing hunger at all. Why grief messes with our appetite, not just emotionally, but what's actually happening in our brain and nervous system.  And then we're going to talk about how food became an afterthought and grief not just for me, but for so many of us and why it's so damn hard to change even years later. And then I'm briefly going to touch on why some of us have a different response to food, which is eating everything that we want to eat whenever we want to eat it.  So Let's jump in!

So, we all get to this place in grief..sometimes more than once..where everything just starts feeling… stuck. It’s like, Is this life now? Is this all there is? Because every day looks exactly the same. You wake up, do the things you have to do, go to bed, wake up, repeat. And at some point, you realize you’re not even living… you’re just existing. That’s what I call grief-induced Groundhog’s Day. So today, we’re going to talk about how to start breaking out of it. Here’s what we’re going to cover: Why this feeling hits so hard at the beginning of the year..what’s actually happening in your brain after weeks of holiday grief. How small shifts can jolt your brain out of autopilot..and why even the tiniest changes can help. Examples of easy ways to start making those shifts..so you can start today if you wanted. How this connects to small wins in grief..because momentum, even tiny momentum, matters. Alright, let’s get into it.

Hi there, and welcome to The Young Widow Podcast. I’m Britany, your host, and as always, I’m so grateful you’re here with me. This week has been a really emotional one for me. It marks five years since my husband passed, and my brain seems to be stuck on that number — five. Five years. It feels like it should be a lifetime, but at the same time, it feels like I lost him yesterday. I’ve caught myself reliving so many memories from five years ago, like a loop I can’t quite get out of. I talked about this with some of my widow coaching clients earlier this week, and I realized how important it is to share this with all of you. Today, we’re going to dive into: What implicit versus explicit memories are and how they play a role in grief. What’s happening in our brain to create those relentless memory loops. A little about timeline grief — the new part of your brain that processes grief as time passes. And finally, why these things combined make anniversaries feel so raw, even years later, like you’re back in those first few days of loss. So let’s jump in and get started.

Hi, and welcome back to the Young Widow Podcast. I’m Britany, your host, and today we’re diving into something that I know many of you have been thinking about—or dreading—as the year comes to a close: the grief of a new year.   Today we are going to talk about the difference between Christmas Grief and New Years Grief, what is happening in our brain and why it feels different emotionally, and then some small recommendations as we move into the New Year grief period.   The holidays can feel like a storm of emotions—especially Christmas. It’s deeply personal. Christmas tends to revolve around family, traditions, and memories that are tied to intimacy and closeness. But New Year’s grief? That’s different. It doesn’t necessarily pull at the same strings. Instead, it pokes at timelines, milestones, and the relentless passage of time. New Year’s is about looking forward, setting goals, and planning ahead—and that can feel impossible when you’re grieving. It forces us to face the reality of time moving forward, with or without our person—highlighting a different kind of grief tied to fear of the unknown.

Welcome to the Young Widow Podcast for Episode 21: Finding Your Voice. I'm Britany, your host and I'm happy that you could join today. I want to dive into a big challenge that many of us face in grief and is really important with the holidays coming. It's important that we talk about it now and we get it out there and it's finding our voice and advocating for ourselves. When we lose someone it's easy to get lost in making sure everyone else feels comfortable around us, that everyone else has having their grief managed. And then also we get lost in worrying about what others think about our choices and how they feel about it. But here's the thing, prioritizing yourself and setting boundaries isn't selfish, it's necessary in grief. So today we're going to talk about: Why prioritizing your needs isn't selfish and why you're the only one who really knows what you can handle.  We're also going to cover how to handle triggering questions, using an approach. I call acknowledge advocate and redirect. Steps to start finding and using your voice.  And then why being selfish is critical in the art of healing while going through deep grief.  So Let's Dive In!

Hi, Welcome to the young widow podcast and thank you for joining me today for Episode 20: Holiday Anxiety in Grief.   I am Britany your host and happy you could join today. Today I want to talk through Holiday anxiety – and why it is only October? It is so very normal in grief to experience anxiety – especially the first and second year WEEKS ahead of the actual holidays itself. So today we are going to talk about Why does this happen so early What kinds of things can be triggering What kinds of things can I do to plan for it What expectations should I have for myself and others   If you’re feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or like you’re stuck in this,, you’re not alone. I want this episode to be a real, raw conversation between us. No fluff, no platitudes—just some honest talk and actionable things that helped me and might help you too.   I know there’s a lot of pressure out there to feel a certain way or act a certain way around the holidays but we are going to break it all down

Hi, Welcome to the young widow podcast and thank you for joining me today for Episode 19: Working Through Regrets.   I am Britany, your host and I am happy you could join me today. Second podcast rolling out this week, finally getting back into my groove and lets not jinx it!   So today, I want to talk about Working Through Regrets.   What regrets do we have? Why do we have them? How do they affect our healing and growing in grief?   And then, I am going to leave you with a small exercise that I use in my coaching that I would like you to try if you have regrets.   So with that, lets jump right in.

Hi, welcome to the Young Widow Podcast and thank you for joining me today for Episode 18: Letting Go of the Perception of Widowhood. I'm Britany, your host and happy you could join today. Life has been crazy and has had me thinking a lot about my early days of grief. Why did I act the way I did? Why were my thoughts what they were? How did my perceptions and thoughts drive my actions and alter my path of grief in the early days? So today, I want to share some of those things with you.  I want to talk through the perception of widowhood and letting go of ill conceived notions we have for ourselves, and why? Because it's so very important in grieving and growing.

Thanks for joining for Episode 17! Today we are going to talk about duality in grief and cover quite a few thins:   What is duality? How does our brain respond to it? What does it feel like and how do we accept it? What habits can we put in place to break through the grief plateau and accept duality? So let's jump in!

Welcome to Episode 16! This is a slightly different style as I am going to talk through a topic and explain to you how you implement these processes into your daily life with grief - to help you move forward through a grief plateau or active grieving. Today we are going to talk about: What is witnessing your grief? Like what does that statement really mean? How do you witness your grief? What is true self care in grief?   So let's jump in!

 Hi, welcome to the Young Widow Podcast and thank you for joining me today for Episode 15: the Fog of Widowhood.   Today, I want to talk about the fog of widowhood.  You know, when you go through loss, you can't remember old memories or you forget simple things in your daily life. I want to normalize those and validate it for you.  So today we're going to talk about what is the fog of widowhood and what are examples of it? What causes our brain to go hazy after loss? And how to work through that feeling of being confused and like your brain isn't operating at a normal level and how long something like this could even last for.  

Hi, welcome to the Young Widow Podcast and thank you for joining me today for Episode 14: Acceptance vs Agreeance and Early Grief Healing   I'm Britany, your host, and I'm happy you could join today. There has been a lot of confusion on my Instagram page and I think this topic warrants a deeper discussion. This topic is focused on early and active grieving, again my niche is the first few years in grief. Not everyone is ready for growth in grief at the same time… in the early stages – you are just trying to figure out how to work through your emotions, what your emotions mean, and just flat out survive because it seems in-survivable. Emotions in grief run so deep that it can seem like there is nothing on the other side – you can’t look past the pain. So let’s talk about, lets validate it because you are growing and accepting even if you don’t think you are.   Today we are going to talk about:   What is acceptance vs agreeance How are the two different and why are the terms not synonymous And then we are going to touch on what early grief healing really is.   So let’s get started!

Hi, welcome to the Young Widow Podcast and thank you for joining me today for Episode 13: The Loss of Physical Intimacy in Widowhood   I'm Britany, your host, and I'm happy you could join today. This is a topic that was requested on Instagram. I'm always happy to do those topics. This is going to be a very intimate and personal topic, and I'm going to do the best to give you the advice that I can.    It is really hard to replace physical intimacy in widowhood. Whereas when you're dealing with the emotional aspect of grief, you're able to work through coping mechanisms for that.   While those two aspects of loss and widowhood go hand in hand. They are very different when you're trying to navigate it.   Today, we're going to cover the loss of physical intimacy, how that affects you physically and emotionally, as well as what that may feel like, thoughts that may be going through your head,  and then any advice that I can give you. 

Episode 12: The Birthdays Without Them    Hi, welcome to the Young Widow Podcast and thank you for joining me today for Episode 12: The Birthdays Without Them.   I'm Britany, your host, and I'm happy you could join today. There are a lot of escalating emotions this week with Father's Day on the horizon, but this is a topic that I wanted to cover because it was requested on Instagram and so I'm happy to cover it whenever you have a request. Today, we're going to talk about the birthdays without them: emotions around that, how you can feel celebrating it. And then I really want to dive into the emotions around a birthday when you out age, the person that you lost. So with that, let's get started and jump right in.

Welcome to the Young Widow Podcast and thank you for joining today for Episode 11, Insights into Solo-Parenting.   I’m Britany, your host and am happy you could join on today. This is my second podcast this week so it has been a busy week! This has been a requested topic and I previously didn’t cover it because it is a little daunting, There is so much to talk about around solo-parenting. It is going to be a longer podcast   This week, I am going to talk about solo-parenting What it is and how it can be overwhelming The hard moments and give you some validation there in your feelings How do we really move forward and grow into this new role of parenting.   So let’s jump in and get started!

  Episode 10: Secondary Losses in Widowhood   Welcome to the Young Widow Podcast and thank you for joining today for Episode 10, Secondary Losses in Widowhood. I’m Britany, your host and am happy you could join on today. It is an off-cycle podcast but I opened up my Instagram for requests and have a lot of good topics to work through so wanted to start with those rather quickly!   This week, I am going to cover secondary losses in widowhood:   Secondary loss of relationships with friends and family Secondary losses with jobs and communities Secondary losses with your home – emotionally and physically   And then, we are going to tie ti all together with talking about the loss of a sense of security. This is a little longer of a podcast that I normally do, so just stick with me and I promise it will be worth it in validating your secondary losses.   So, let’s get started!

Episode 9: What to Do With Your Spouse’s Things After Loss   Welcome to the Young Widow Podcast and thank you for joining today for Episode 9, What to Do With Your Spouse’s Things After Loss. I’m Britany, your host and am happy you could join on today.   First, I want to apologize for being out the past couple of weeks . We traveled and then I went through a period where I lost my voice and it wasn't conducive for podcasting.  Unfortunately, I was forced to take a slight break, but I am back and I'm ready to chat.   Today I want to chat about: What do you do with your husband's things after loss? What do those emotions feel like? What are your options to do with their things? And then I want to give you some validation maybe in what I did was my husband's things, as well as some other widows that I work with in my coaching process.   So let's get started.

Welcome to the Young Widow Podcast and thank you for joining today for Episode 8, Traversing Mother’s Day as A Widow. I’m Britany, your host and am happy you could join on today. It is a rainy day here, which always makes me feel gloomy but let’s get started – there is a lot I want to cover today!   This week, I want to talk about traversing Mother’s Day as a widow and the emotions around that and how that may feel. I also want to try and validate a little with all of my followers so I want to do a small segment on traversing Mother’s Day as a widower and then as a widower who maybe doesn’t have children, but wanted them.   So let’s get started.

Welcome to the Young Widow Podcast and thank you for joining today for Episode 7, The Little Things No One Tells You (Part II: Daily Life). I’m Britany, your host and am happy you could join today. It may sound weird to say that – I am happy you could join for a talk about widowhood – but this is what I do and my intent is to reach as many widows as possible – so if you found my podcast, that actually does make me happy. Last week we talked about the Little Things No One Talks Tells You About – like the Death Certificate. That was an emotional episode for me – yes 5 years into my grief and talking about different portions of it still activate triggers and emotions so I kept it short and wanted to separate it into two parts. This week I want to talk about more things in daily life I didn’t know were going to be triggers or real aspects of grief simply because I didn’t know – and you may be feeling this way too.   Those things are going to be: Household Tasks – like Grocery Shopping or doing the lawn The Mail that Keeps on Coming