In this episode I'm reflecting on my relationship with screens, rest, and the quiet ritual of reading. I open with an honest look at my own winter screen habits and what it felt like to step back from Netflix and return to books. From there I explore why reading matters so much right now, and why fiction, romance, and healing stories in particular are having such a significant cultural moment.

What I cover:

• Why audiovisual media can be dysregulating for sensitive and neurodivergent people, and what reading offers as a gentler alternative

• The beauty of reading spaces, pink bookshelves, and healing fiction as nourishment for the grieving body

• Four reasons fiction is so powerful right now: narrative repair, imaginative justice, emotional rehearsal, and representation as regulation

• Practical ideas for building a gentle, sustainable reading practice including the Fable app, Libby, and why one page always counts

• Why romance is one of the fastest growing publishing genres globally and what that tells us about what we collectively need right now

Here is the link to the free Creative Grief Club, which includes monthly Zoom sessions and the book group on Fable: https://griefmagic.com/free/

Thanks for listening!

Love,

Yarrow

In this episode, I am in conversation with boundary coach and author Kami Orange, whose book Say the Thing offers practical scripts and phrases for communicating clearly and setting boundaries with kindness.

We talk about what it really means to advocate for yourself and others, especially in moments when words feel hard to find. Kami shares how her work began, how her background shaped her relationship to boundaries, and why having language ready can be so powerful in everyday life.

This conversation is both practical and deeply reflective. We explore how boundaries intersect with grief, people pleasing, relationships, and the stories we carry from the past.

Kami Orange (she/her) is a boundary coach, author of Say The Thing, and a fat, queer, autistic, white, cis woman with over 19 years of experience helping people to set boundaries, speak up in defense of others, and say the things that need to be said. An international keynote speaker featured on BuzzFeed, Upworthy, CNN Health, television, radio, and various podcasts, she can also be found on TikTok @kami_orange, Instagram @kamiorange, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kamiorangeboundarycoach, YouTube @kami_orange, and kamiorange.com.

You can join Yarrow free Soft Grief Club over here: https://griefmagic.com/free/

Thank you for listening!

Love,

Yarrow

In this solo episode, I share ten things I have bought or invested in to support myself through grief and chronic illness.

For a long time, I hesitated to make recommendations because what we need is so personal, and we all have different budgets. This podcast is also ad free, and I want to keep it that way. But over the past few years, I have become more intentional about what I bring into my home and I have noticed a real shift in my comfort, my nervous system, and how I relate to daily life.

I hope some of these hacks and ideas feel supportive to you too!

You can join the Soft Grief Club over here: https://griefmagic.com/free/

Love,

Yarrow

In this episode, I’m sharing my experience of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia in early 2024 and reflecting on what it means to live with an invisible chronic illness. So much of modern life is built around visibility, sharing images, documenting our lives online, and yet the most profound experiences often happen in places no one else can see. Living with chronic pain, brain fog and fatigue has made me think deeply about what visibility actually means, and about the strange tension between a culture that expects us to perform wellness and the reality of bodies that don’t always cooperate.

I talk about the long path that led to my diagnosis, beginning with an accident at the end of 2020 and years of symptoms that I initially explained away as recovery from surgeries and medication. Over time it became clear that something deeper was happening in my nervous system, and that my relationship to work, energy and daily life was changing in ways I couldn’t ignore. Learning to pace my energy has been one of the biggest shifts, as well as navigating the shame that can arise when chronic illness collides with cultural narratives about productivity, work and what a successful life is supposed to look like.

This episode is also about grief - the grief of changing identities, altered expectations and futures that look different from what we imagined. At the same time, it’s been an invitation to become curious about health in a deeper way: to learn about the nervous system, trauma, sleep, and the small everyday choices that help me care for my body with more compassion. My hope is that sharing this story might help others feel a little less alone, especially if they’re navigating illness that the world can’t easily see.

You are welcome to join the spring season of Soft Monday sessions over here: https://griefmagic.com/blessings/

Love,

Yarrow

In this episode of the Grief Magic podcast, I reflect on the relationship between grief and the changing seasons.

As spring returns, we explore what happens in nature during winter dormancy and how the quiet preparation of plants and trees mirrors many human emotional processes.

The episode introduces gentle practices for connecting with nature, including seasonal observation, small acts of ecological care, and growing flowers such as cosmos and sweet peas.

Rather than expecting nature to “heal” grief, this conversation invites us to experience the natural world as a quiet companion through cycles of loss and renewal.

You are welcome to join the spring season of Soft Monday sessions over here: https://griefmagic.com/blessings/

Love,

Yarrow

In this episode, I explore the idea of romantic friendship and the many ways humans create intimacy outside traditional relationship structures. I talk about how the nuclear family seems to lose its hold as a primary way of relating and about the ways in which not being able to form a traditional family can still feel like a loss.

Whether you are queer or not, as always I hope that this episode feels validating to your beautiful, unique way of being in the world and forming relationships that actually work for you.

You are welcome to join the spring season of Soft Monday sessions over here: https://griefmagic.com/blessings/

Love,

Yarrow

In this beautiful conversation with Skylar Rose we talk about aging, identity shifts, and the quiet, often unacknowledged grief that can accompany transitions like career changes, menopause, empty nests, or letting go of versions of ourselves that no longer fit. Skylar speaks beautifully about what it means to cross these thresholds with intention, and about the importance of feeling held as we move from one chapter of life into another.

What stayed with me most is Skylar’s description of midlife as a kind of unveiling. The coping mechanisms and expectations we once relied on can begin to fall away, inviting us into a deeper relationship with ourselves. We speak about the possibility that can emerge in this time of life, the courage to live more truthfully, to release external approval, and to imagine new ways of being. It’s a gentle, thoughtful conversation about aging, grief, possibility, and the beauty of allowing our lives to hold many truths at once.

Skylar Liberty Rose is a meditation teacher and pro-aging advocate who helps midlife women embrace aging with confidence and purpose. Her work has reached thousands of women worldwide, inspiring deep transformation. Through her signature Elevations — personalized guided meditations for life transitions and goals — Skylar offers tailored support that delivers tangible results. Her clients move beyond ageist stereotypes, challenge anti-aging culture, and step into purposeful, empowered change. https://www.skylarlibertyrose.com

You are welcome to join the spring season of Soft Monday sessions over here: https://griefmagic.com/blessings/

Love,

Yarrow

In this episode of the Grief Magic podcast, I reflect on what it means to live with limited capacity in a culture that constantly demands more.

Looking at historical shifts in work patterns, the rise of the 24 hour information cycle, and the impact of recent UK policies around disability and employment, this episode explores how feelings of exhaustion and overwhelm are often structural rather than personal.

I also reflect on how industrialisation shaped modern ideas of productivity and worth, and how these ideas continue to influence how we judge ourselves today. As always my hope is that listening makes you feel less alone and that you know you are beautiful and worthy regardless of what you produce.

You are welcome to join the spring season of Soft Monday sessions over here: https://griefmagic.com/blessings/

Love,

Yarrow