Thank you so much for getting online with me.
I think I’m going to do an episode on my side.
You’re going to do one on yours.
We’re genuinely collaborating.
I’m so honored.
I want to catch people up if they’re listening for the first time.
I went through the death of my partner a few months ago.
I reached out to my amazing coaching community.
I asked some of the more somatic coaches to walk alongside me in my grief journey.
I didn’t need coaching on mindset.
I needed support for my nervous system.
Megan is one of the people who stepped up to help.
I remember our first private message exchange.
You mentioned story work and parts work.
I thought, what are those?
I’d love for you to explain them to my audience.
Absolutely.
Thank you for having me.
Grief comes in many ways and in waves.
Different modalities are needed at different times.
Story work is a certification I did with Coach Kim Jobe.
The basic idea is that we often live inside our stories.
From a young age, we create stories about ourselves.
Stories about our lives, our needs, and how we must show up.
We develop them to get attention, validation, or love.
Parts work comes from Internal Family Systems theory.
Humans have many parts: thoughts, feelings, habitual responses.
Our parts shape how we act and whether our true self is expressed.
There’s overlap between story work and IFS.
If we don’t drop into our bodies, we miss a big part of ourselves.
We’re stuck up here in our heads.
We need to connect our bodies and minds.
Story Mapping Sessions offer a safe framework to do that.
This isn’t therapy. I’m not a therapist.
It’s a space to get curious and notice what’s going on in your body.
You might feel stuck energy somewhere.
It’s miraculous to learn to listen to your body.
It can be painful work.
But it’s worth it to release old narratives.
When you do, you see life through a new lens.
It’s so freeing.
Parts work can feel like shadow work.
You can have parts that are inner children at different ages.
Teen parts can be rebellious or protective.
Young adult parts might carry resentment or scarcity beliefs.
You organize your parts however they make sense.
Here’s a personal example.
During my IFS certification, I kept falling back into shame.
Kim guided us through an exercise.
We create safety, drop into our bodies with breath.
We do guided imagery and energy clearing.
Then we recall a childhood experience.
I chose one under age ten.
I pictured our backyard in Arizona in the sunshine.
Money was really tight.
My family of five kids and my dad in school.
We dumpster‑dived food from restaurant bins.
We unloaded it in the truck bed.
We sat together sorting it.
My sister got excited about circus peanuts.
She yelled to a friend.
My mother and I shushed her.
Shh! Don’t tell anyone what we’re doing.
The unspoken message was shame.
This isn’t normal.
I wrote down feeling shame, actions to shush her, body sensations of shrinking.
The need was stability and provisions.
I believed we were less than and different.
That belief shaped how I saw myself and my possibilities.
I never fully addressed it until certification.
That exercise released me from the story.
Now I see how it shaped my life.
I share that to show vulnerability and tenderness.
It came from compassion, not judgment.
We all do our best with what we have.
Be gentle with yourself.
You deserve kindness.
What made me want to help you in grief?
I am a parent of a queer child.
My child is thriving now.
But the beginning was really hard.
I’ve been open about that in my podcast and upcoming book.
There is a grieving process when a child’s identity shifts.
My child explored identity for two years.
They eventually identified as transgender.
I had to grieve the child and expectations I thought I knew.
I would never trade this journey for anything.
I learned to focus on hearts, souls, and love.
We often define people externally by clothes, jobs, or faith.
But their soul remains unchanged.
Sometimes a tug hits me when memories pop up.
That’s normal. Grieve a little.
Allow yourself to feel and alchemize that energy.
Then look for deeper love and understanding.
I came across the term post‑traumatic growth today.
I realize I want to make meaning and expand from this.
That’s the difference between pain and suffering.
Pain happens. Suffering is resisting.
I curled up in a ball, resisting.
It felt like being in labor, needing to push.
Then I released it.
I’m now in a much different place.
I see growth instead of suffering.
Thank you for acknowledging that.
I honor your contraction and expansion.
I was grateful walking my dogs today.
I reached out to coaches for help.
I have a group ready to support.
I thank myself for being brave and creative.
I see and honor you.
I offer everyone here a 50% discount on a Story Mapping session.
Use code SARAHBOND50.
It’s a 75‑minute intensive with a mini workbook.
You envision where you’ve been and where you’re going.
By the end, you’re empowered to shape your path.
Story work helps you make sense of life events.
We subconsciously interpret events and create narratives.
Those narratives shape our reality.
By examining stories, we see how they formed and can change them.
Clients find meaning and self‑trust.
In one session, a client’s feeling appeared as cloudy weather.
Above the clouds was the sun and a green field.
That contrast showed hope beyond darkness.
I’m in emotional alchemy certification now.
Our bodies speak if we slow down and listen.
You have grown so much in five weeks.
Imagine a year from now.
I feel like a caterpillar in a chrysalis.
Soon we emerge with wings and may start again.
Trust yourself.
Trust what arises in your mind, heart, and body.
Don’t do things because you think you must.
Notice heaviness, stuckness, or blockages.
That’s your body telling you you’re out of alignment.
Pause and get curious.
Ask yourself why you feel that way.
Your higher self knows.
It’s real and amazing.
My website is meganskidmorecoaching.com.
Find me on Instagram at @meganskidmorecoaching.
Email hello@meganskidmorecoaching.com.
My podcast is Living Beyond the Shadow of Doubt.
We focus on the joy of venturing into the unknown.
My book Transparency: How I Learned to See Through My Journey as a Parent of a Transgender Child is coming spring 2025.
Sarah’s podcast is Forgive Everyone for Everything Every Day Right Away.
Thank you for collaborating.
Let’s continue adding love to the world.
Bye.
