Heather Stang, MA, C-IAYT

 

Heather Stang is a mindfulness speaker, author of Mindfulness & Grief and a certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy practitioner with a Masters degree in Thanatology (death, dying and bereavement). She founded the Frederick Meditation Center in 2014.

She won the 2002 Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Frederick County, Maryland as the CEO of a web design business she began in 1996. That same year she was diagnosed with a stress-related illness and was prescribed yoga by a nurse practitioner. By 2003, she had sold her business, earned a certification in Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, and became a volunteer suicide hotline call specialist in honor of her uncle who died decades before.

Driven by a desire to reduce suffering in her clients and callers alike, Heather enrolled in the Masters in Thanatology program at Hood College, and received her diploma in January 2010. She is more than an academic expert on yoga and grief; it is her own experience with loss that prompted her to combine the two. Midway through the graduate program her step-father, grandfather, dog and two beloved teachers all died within a four month period.

In addition to her grief book, Heather has written for the Association of Death Educators and Counselors (ADEC) publication, The Forum, reviews books for Death Studies Journal, and publishes articles and yoga for grief exercises on her web sites, MindfulnessAndGrief.com and HeatherStang.com.

She has facilitated yoga for grief workshops for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Annual Survivor Conference and is a guest facilitator for the Hospice of Frederick County. She offers individual yoga therapy sessions, day-long healing retreats, leads a weekly meditation group and facilitates 8 week Yoga for Grief programs in her private practice. She also offers online grief support and grief coaching– using mindfulness-based practices – via Skype, Google Hangouts or by phone.

Heather serves as a mentor for both the Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Training Center and yoga teachers who wish to offer Yoga for Grief in Hospices and yoga studios. She is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Association of Death Educators and Counselors, and the International Yoga Therapy Association.

>> View and Share Heather’s Grief Quotes from her book Mindfulness & Grief.
>> Read Heather’s Blog on the Stages of Grief: Are They Real?
>> Learn how Mindfulness and Grief can help you cope with life after loss