Awaken Hope with Maria Belanic on Loss and Grief

Guest: Maria Belanic

Carrying Love & Loss in One Breath

Grief didn’t just reshape my life; it reshaped my calling.

I’m a bereaved mom, a grief educator, and someone who understands what it feels like to move through the world while the heart is somewhere else entirely.

I believe grief asks us to live in a place most people don’t talk about, the space where love and loss walk side by side.

And that truth is where my work begins.

My Highest Calling

I didn’t choose this work. Grief chose me.

I believe my role isn’t to fix anyone.

It’s to stand with you in the in-between, the place where your world has changed, but everyone expects you to be the same and help you navigate what feels impossible.

My Approach: C.A.R.E

This is how we work together, gently, honestly, without pressure or performance.

C — Compassion for Yourself

Not the polite kind. The real kind. The kind that lets you be human.

A — Acknowledging Your Thoughts & Feelings

No judgment. No “shoulds.” Just truth.

R — Release Guilt, Regret & Shame

Not overnight. Not on demand. But little by little, with support.

E — Embrace Who You Are Now

Not the “before “you. The you who loves and grieves at the same time

This is the lens I bring to every conversation, every session, every workshop.

It’s where healing begins, not by forgetting, but by learning to carry what you love and what you’ve lost, together.

I also believe this can’t happen alone.

Your lived experience… your questions… your honesty… they shape the work we do together.

It’s not my voice creating change, it’s the courage you bring when you say,

“This is where I am now.”

What moves me every day is the ripple that follows.

When one grieving heart feels more seen, less ashamed, and finally able to breathe, that shifts everything.

And the quiet ripple that still surprises me?

When you begin extending compassion toward yourself…when guilt, regret, or pressure start to loosen their grip…

the people around you feel it too.

They soften because you softened.

They understand grief differently because you are living it differently.

That’s how the world changes.

One honest breath.

One person finally feeling seen.

One ripple turning into another.

Website: https://mariabelanic.com