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© 2026 Beyond Stillness: Stories After Stroke
Description
Beyond Stillness: Stories After Stroke is a podcast where stroke survivors share powerful stories shaped by purpose, connection, and hope. Each episode is the result of eight weeks of guided, reflective story-crafting—conversations that help uncover the life wisdom that emerges through stroke recovery.
Most guests are years, sometimes decades, beyond their stroke. Their stories offer perspective shaped by time, healing, and deep reflection—modern-day parables that invite listeners into moments of stillness, insight, and renewal.
Produced by the nonprofit Beyond Stillness: Stories After Stroke, whose mission is to empower stroke survivors to articulate and publicly share their stories. The organization offers personalized reflection sessions, community gatherings, retreats, and workshops for survivors and carepartners.
✨ Learn more about their programs, services, or sponsor a guest’s story-crafting journey at www.beyondstillness.org.
189 Episodes
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Today we meet Denise Lowell. Denise shares her journey from confusion, depression, and isolation after her stroke to discovering purpose and creating community. After losing her ability to read, write, and speak clearly due to aphasia, Denise transformed her struggle into action—creating a thriving aphasia support community in Rhode Island that has grown from a single conference to an organization serving people worldwide. Now, as she embarks on graduate school and explores what it mean...
Today we meet Denise Lowell. Denise shares her journey from confusion, depression, and isolation after her stroke to discovering purpose and creating community. After losing her ability to read, write, and speak clearly due to aphasia, Denise transformed her struggle into action—creating a thriving aphasia support community in Rhode Island that has grown from a single conference to an organization serving people worldwide. Now, as she embarks on graduate school and explores what it mean...
Join us for a reflective two-part compilation featuring the collective wisdom of twenty-eight of our 2025 storytellers. Stroke survivors share profound insights on discovering purpose, reclaiming voice, and finding hope through adversity. Hear stories of resilience, acceptance, and the transformative power of community as survivors navigate their recovery journeys. From learning to breathe again to advocating for aphasia awareness, these voices remind us we are part of something greater. Each...
Join us for a reflective two-part compilation featuring the collective wisdom of twenty-eight of our 2025 storytellers. Stroke survivors share profound insights on discovering purpose, reclaiming voice, and finding hope through adversity. Hear stories of resilience, acceptance, and the transformative power of community as survivors navigate their recovery journeys. From learning to breathe again to advocating for aphasia awareness, these voices remind us we are part of something greater. Each...
Today we meet Sue, whose left hand suddenly stopped working during a Zoom meeting. She couldn't type or navigate the buttons to leave the call. She made her way to the floor and curled up in the corner of her home office, terrified and waiting. Sue doesn't remember the ambulance or much from her weeks in the hospital—just fragments of dreams and her kids holding her hand. When she finally returned home, the real journey began—discovering that her deepest purpose wasn't in her busy professiona...
Today we meet Sue, whose left hand suddenly stopped working during a Zoom meeting. She couldn't type or navigate the buttons to leave the call. She made her way to the floor and curled up in the corner of her home office, terrified and waiting. Sue doesn't remember the ambulance or much from her weeks in the hospital—just fragments of dreams and her kids holding her hand. When she finally returned home, the real journey began—discovering that her deepest purpose wasn't in her busy professiona...
Today on Beyond Stillness: Stories After Stroke we share a Community Special focused on Gratitude. This is a recording of our November Storyteller and Listener Gathering. Our community of stroke and TBI survivors publicly share what we grateful for on this journey of recovery. From the therapists who believed in us, to the community that holds us when we stumble, to the unexpected wells of strength we've discovered within ourselves, our members share the mindsets, resources, and r...
Today on Beyond Stillness: Stories After Stroke we share a Community Special focused on Gratitude. This is a recording of our November Storyteller and Listener Gathering. Our community of stroke and TBI survivors publicly share what we grateful for on this journey of recovery. From the therapists who believed in us, to the community that holds us when we stumble, to the unexpected wells of strength we've discovered within ourselves, our members share the mindsets, resources, and r...
Today we meet a woman whose life was defined by constant motion—conference to conference, idea to idea, achievement to achievement. She traveled with a car full of plans and a calendar full of purpose, moving through her days on autopilot while her consciousness split between the present moment and endless to-do lists. But her body was already trying to tell her something. When her legs stopped working in her own driveway, everything she'd been running toward suddenly stopped. In the hospital...
Today we meet a woman whose life was defined by constant motion—conference to conference, idea to idea, achievement to achievement. She traveled with a car full of plans and a calendar full of purpose, moving through her days on autopilot while her consciousness split between the present moment and endless to-do lists. But her body was already trying to tell her something. When her legs stopped working in her own driveway, everything she'd been running toward suddenly stopped. In the hospital...
Welcome to Voices of Resilience: A Beyond Stillness Program where our storytellers speak directly to those beginning their recovery journey. What follows is a message from one stroke survivor to another, born from experience, compassion, and hope. After her stroke left her paralyzed on her right side and unable to talk, sing, or walk, Angel James found strength in her daily prayer—"God, make me over again"—and in her husband's unwavering commitment to care for her no matter what. She offers f...
Welcome to Voices of Resilience: A Beyond Stillness Program where our storytellers speak directly to those beginning their recovery journey. What follows is a message from one stroke survivor to another, born from experience, compassion, and hope. After waking from a five-day coma in 1990 with right-sided paralysis and aphasia, Sue Aigner Phipps found her way forward through the unwavering support of family and friends who refused to let her give up—including one friend who simply asked her t...
Welcome to Voices of Resilience: A Beyond Stillness Program where our storytellers speak directly to those beginning their recovery journey. What follows is a message from one stroke survivor to another, born from experience, compassion, and hope. Instead of offering unsolicited advice to stroke survivors in their first year of recovery, Michelle chooses to listen and invites questions, recognizing that each person's journey is unique and their energy is precious. Drawing from her own experi...
Welcome to Voices of Resilience: A Beyond Stillness Program where our storytellers speak directly to those beginning their recovery journey. What follows is a message from one stroke survivor to another, born from experience, compassion, and hope. After a stroke caused by vertebral artery dissection left him unable to move anything below his neck, Eric Anderson found hope in the smallest victory—leaning forward two inches in his wheelchair—and built his recovery on celebrating every increment...
Today we meet Kelly, an Ashtanga yoga student and teacher trained in the practice of holding each posture—observing her thoughts and feelings and learning to simply be present without reaction. Six years ago, Kelly woke up with a strange feeling in her chest. Emergency open heart surgery led to spinal and brain strokes that left her unable to move from the waist down. In the rehab mirror, she saw the details: messy hair, chest glue, swollen feet in white Adidas. And she realized she was doing...
Today we meet Kelly, an Ashtanga yoga student and teacher trained in the practice of holding each posture—observing her thoughts and feelings and learning to simply be present without reaction. Six years ago, Kelly woke up with a strange feeling in her chest. Emergency open heart surgery led to spinal and brain strokes that left her unable to move from the waist down. In the rehab mirror, she saw the details: messy hair, chest glue, swollen feet in white Adidas. And she realized she was doing...
Today we meet Mary, a teacher who knew her calling from childhood—organizing cousins into line while playing school in Lynn, Massachusetts. For twenty-four years, Mary taught with passion until a stroke on January 28th, 2010 changed everything. She couldn't speak at all for three months—only shake her head yes or no. Her first word came spontaneously: "Tailgate!" Mary returned to teaching by applying her own lessons: practice, patience, and "wait time." Now she brings those same tools to the ...
Today we meet Mary, a teacher who knew her calling from childhood—organizing cousins into line while playing school in Lynn, Massachusetts. For twenty-four years, Mary taught with passion until a stroke on January 28th, 2010 changed everything. She couldn't speak at all for three months—only shake her head yes or no. Her first word came spontaneously: "Tailgate!" Mary returned to teaching by applying her own lessons: practice, patience, and "wait time." Now she brings those same tools to the ...
Today on Beyond Stillness: Stories After Stroke we're offering another Community Special featuring the Overlake Aphasia Communication & Support Group at Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, Washington led by Emily Wimberly. This dedicated group meets monthly, creating a space where members connect, practice communication skills, and discover new ways to cope and thrive with aphasia. Join us as group members share the insights they've gained while navigating life with aphasia and the...
Today on Beyond Stillness: Stories After Stroke we're offering another Community Special featuring the Overlake Aphasia Communication & Support Group at Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, Washington led by Emily Wimberly. This dedicated group meets monthly, creating a space where members connect, practice communication skills, and discover new ways to cope and thrive with aphasia. Join us as group members share the insights they've gained while navigating life with aphasia and the...
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