Meet Nancy Watson | Yoga for Grief Facilitator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nancy Watson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nancy, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
As a Yoga for Grief facilitator, my two most important assets are my own grief and my love of yoga. Sharing my own grief journey enables me to connect with my participants at a deep and vulnerable level, and encourages them to examine and open up about their grief experiences. And I wouldn’t be doing “yoga for grief” if I didn’t truly love yoga and teaching yoga. I think both of those attributes play a big role in the positive feedback I’ve received from my Yoga for Grief participants.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have been a yoga practitioner for over 25 years, and have been teaching yoga for almost 3 years. I started Yoga for Grief workshops in January 2024. To my knowledge, I am the only person in the North Texas region that has a specialty in Yoga for Grief. I came to this work after a significant loss in 2019; at that time, continuing to show up on my yoga mat was the only thing that made me feel even a tiny bit less awful. When I went through Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) in 2022, I began to connect some of the dots about WHY yoga had helped me. I remember thinking, “If ‘regular’ yoga could help me in my grief so much, what would yoga specifically focused on grief do for me?” – and I looked around for someone who might have a specialty in that area. But I couldn’t find anyone who was offering Yoga for Grief. So I began to wonder if *I* might be that person.

After reading a couple of books about how yoga helps in the grief process, I signed up for the MISS Foundation’s “Compassionate Bereavement Care Yoga” certification course. After achieving that 60-hour certification in late 2023, I began offering 6-week Yoga for Grief sessions in the Dallas area in January 2024. I’m fortunate to have had a couple of yoga studios and a local progressive church host these sessions.

I have met so many lovely humans in my work over the past year and a half or so, and it’s a great reminder to me that no matter what a person looks like on the outside, you just never know what they’re dealing with. Connecting with other grievers has definitely helped me move through and deal with my own grief as well.

Also, I’ve written a book, The Yoga for Grief Workbook! I realized that I had more to say about each of the topics I designed in my 6-week series. The book is an outgrowth of the Yoga for Grief classes I’ve designed, and I’m proud of what I created. It’s available at tinyurl.com/yfg-book.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, of course I’d want to bring them to a yoga class with me, so we would make a stop at The Mat Yoga Studio. Afterwards, we’d need a little refreshment at Tre Stelle Coffee, right next door, or at Palate, just a few doorways north. The Dallas Museum of Art & the Nasher Sculpture Center are great places to entertain visitors, and if the weather permitted, I’d stop at Klyde Warren Park for some outdoor time and great people-watching.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
All of the yoga teachers at The Mat Yoga Studio here in Dallas deserve recognition for their consistent commitment to kindness and the other ethical practices on which yoga is based.

Website: https://Yogaforgriefdallas.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/yogaforgriefdallas

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/nancywtech

Facebook: https://facebook.com/yoga.for.grief.dallas