For Mothers Day...

Click to read:
Real meaning & history of Mother's Day (kotapress article)

Bereaved Mothers: the hardest job of all (Dr. Jo's blog)

Honoring All Mothers (ideas for coping and way to honor Mother's Day when bereaved - MISS Foundation)

Supporting bereaved families in honor of Mother's Day (MISS Foundation)

Breaking through...

Click image to see larger size! 

This is still one of my all time favorite spreads from the Different Kind of Parenting zine we used to publish in print. I do everything on the blog(s) now, but the archive of PDF version of these print issues is still available free at:

http://www.kotapress.com/section_home/parentingZine_archive.htm

Miracles,
k-

Update on available materials and submission guidelines...

Many thanks to everyone for your readership here at KOTA blog and Kotapress website over the years.  The KOTA blog here remains available online and will be *very intermittently* updated with new posts of in-house and invited materials only.  We are not accepting submissions of any other kind at this time.  The website, on the other hand, remains available online as archived material only, no longer being updated, nor is accepting new materials.

Other of our resources that remains current and offered are:

• Creative Grief Coaching for learning to live after loss...

• Creative Grief Coaching Certification for coaches and other care-giving professionals...

• KOTA eZine remains current and subscriptions offered free: click here.

• Grief: Finding Our Way workshops are now offered online. You can join us from wherever you are located. Open for registration now -- click here for full details!

For individual authors with materials posted here or on the KOTA site:

We are glad to keep materials available as an archive, but we do not have staff, time, nor funding to do archive updates, deletions, additions. If the information we published for you is out of date or you are somehow embarrassed by it now, we are sorry to hear it. But the archive stands as it. As of Spring 2012, we are only publishing in-house and invited materials.  Thanks.


-k.jones, kota & mizuko's momma

Story of Tender Tears by Linda Colletti

I am convinced that inspiration comes in times of crisis.  When my grandson was placed on the autism spectrum four years ago, my heart was in despair.  I was grieving the loss of a future we had anticipated for him.  As I was feeling helpless and a little hopeless, a flash of inspiration came to me.  I suddenly felt a strong urge to start my own business, something that had never crossed my mind before! Perhaps it was the need for a creative outlet, my desire to help others and the need to have some control over something that gave way to this idea.  Drawing from my 25 years of experience as a grief counselor and combining that with my love of shopping, TENDER TEARS was born!

Tender Tears: Gifts to Touch a Grieving Heart provides Comfort Boxes, a meaningful way to help comfort those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.  Over the years I’ve witnessed expensive flowers and plants sent to funeral homes by well meaning friends and family with the hope of providing comfort.  As lovely as these intentions are, most often the flowers go unnoticed and their disposal can be a burden.  Instead, sending a Tender Tears box is like offering a hug and reaffirming support.

In all of my Comfort Boxes, I provide elements of self care, ritual, permission to grieve and some gentle words about healing through loss.  I also delight in using many local artisans and “green” packaging.

Tender Tears offers three sizes of general grief comfort boxes as well as a pet loss comfort box for the loss of a beloved cat or dog. The newest box is for those who’ve lost a baby from miscarriage, stillbirth and early infant death.

The process of creating this business and watching it grow in unexpected ways has been a very satisfying and heartwarming (ad)venture.

__________________________________

Editor's Note:
So excited to tell you all, too, that in the Tender Tears box for bereaved families after the death of a baby, we'll soon see our very own KOTA book "Mrs. Duck & the Woman" included!  Many thanks to Linda for the inclusion!

You can check out Tender Tears website and also find them over on Facebook!

Cancer Coaching With Knowledge, Support, And Inspiration by Emily Walsh

Today, more than ever, people are seeking a holistic approach to cancer treatment and recovery. Studies suggest that close to 80 percent of all cancer patients turn to some form of alternative or complementary therapy during their illness. The American Cancer Society now offers guidelines for these types of therapy.

Medical research links improvements in patients with prostate, breast, and gynecological cancers with various integrative therapies. The results are promising for patients with mesothelioma, melanoma, and other cancers, too. Alternative therapies are shown to improve the quality of life for people with all types of cancer.

In addition to alternative medicine, cancer patients and their families are looking for support systems that meet the needs of the whole person. Life coaching provides a solution by addressing a person’s physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual concerns.

What Is A Cancer Coach?

Life coaches work to meet the personal needs of cancer patients.  They help people with cancer find current medical information, navigate the healthcare system, and handle emotional stress. Cancer coaches typically coach people in three main areas: knowledge, support, and inspiration.

Coaching With Knowledge

Cancer coaches help patients ask better medical questions. Then they help people find the best answers by digging into medical research. Understanding the research is not always easy, so cancer coaches help patients consider the research and evaluate its credibility. They help patients determine whether the knowledge they have attained applies to their individual situations.

Coaching With Support

Cancer coaches support patients in a number of ways. They help patients find doctors who specialize in their type of cancer. They also help them better communicate with their doctors and specialists. Coaches provide assistance with cancer treatment centers, support groups, and cancer associations. They help cancer patients tackle various medical insurance issues. They also offer support with palliative care, hospice, and end-of-life issues.

Coaching With Inspiration

Cancer coaches provide inspirational support to cancer patients and their families. They discuss topics such as anxiety, stress, and depression and how to cope with a wide range of emotions. They offer resources and tools to help patients make better decisions. They also encourage patients in their spiritual growth.

Anyone affected by cancer can benefit from the support of a cancer coach. Coaches help people with a treatable cancer diagnosis, such as a skin malignancy; a poor prognosis, such as a mesothelioma prognosis; a short life expectancy, such as those with late-stage cancers; caregivers and family members; and cancer survivors entering recovery programs.

About the Author
Emily Walsh is a person passionate about the incorporation of holistic healing methods such as Reiki in cancer treatment. She shares a unique and compelling point of view for her readers at Em-Musings.blogspot.com.

A Field Of Grace: Hands-on Healing Pathways

Workshop with Jane Valencia -- this coming weekend!!

Date/Time: Saturday, September 24, 2011.  9am-3pmLocation: The Priory Spirituality Center,  Lacey, WACost: $60Register/More info: (360) 438-2595/438-1771

It is exquisitely natural to offer our touch in compassion and healing to others. By attuning to grace we can activate and nourish the healing energy that is part of our birthright as human beings. In this workshop we will learn and practice hands-on healing techniques, explore the nature of healing, and cultivate practices for deepening our ability to offer a healing grace.

Please bring: a journal and writing instrument, sack lunch, comfortable clothes and shoes for walking outdoors

Jane Valencia has practiced laying on of hands and her unique weave of healing artistry for more than 10 years. She is also a Celtic harper, illustrator, writer, and naturalist.

See more on Jane's blog:  http://singingdeerhealing.com
Art featured in this post is by Jane: A Healing Grace

Creative Prompt: from all sides...

Creative prompt
by Kara L.C. Jones

It is often difficult to get a handle on grief.  The cliche says, "Time heals all wounds."  But most bereaved parents I've worked with over the years don't really find this to be true.  It might be closer to the truth to say something like: time gives us the opportunity to look at grief from all sides and integrate what we discover in the exploration of various perspectives.

We can think about this idea creatively. If you were an artist and had an object or model you wanted to work with to create a new piece, what would you do?  Well, whether you are sketching, painting, sculpting, or doing photography, you'd probably want to create as much opportunity as possible to explore all possible perspectives on that object or model.  You'd want to look at it from all side.  Find the best light, best position, a good angle.  If you are truly practicing your art, you'll want to see the worst light, most off balance position, and the ugliest angle, too.  You'll want to see all the perspectives in between those two extremes also.

Why?  Well, it isn't that artists are wasting time.  It isn't that they are being difficult to work with or procrastinating on doing the "real" work.  It isn't that they are avoiding the "finished" product.  Rather they are exercising their skills.  They are working their artistic visioning muscles.  They are living a practice, not a perfect!  And they are getting a handle on the scope of the object or model, finding the edges, integrating an understanding of what they see and how they can create from what they see.

What if we were to do this with grief instead of trying to "get over it" or "heal it" or "get better" as if grief were a germ based sickness we were trying to get rid of?!?  What if instead of avoiding the shattering of our hearts, just what if, instead, we were to pour ourselves a cuppa and have a good long look at grief?!? What if we were willing to stand on our heads to look at it upside down?  What if we climbed high up on a ladder to look down at it?  What if we closed our eyes and used only our fingertips to explore the shape of grief?  What if we purposely looked for the best lighting, position, and angle from which to film grief?  What if we purposely looked for the worst lighting, most off balance positioning, and the ugliest angle from which to photograph grief?

Might we then be finding ways to approach living life after grief in a heart-full way instead of living a life of avoidance?  We could be discovering new ways to integrate all that has happened instead of trying to "get over it" with some false hopes of "returning to normal" -- as if it were possible to return to being exactly the person you were before experiencing loss!?!  If we take this exploratory path instead, we actively start living a practice of permission, giving ourselves opportunity to look at grief from all sides as a way to begin to integrate all that has happened to us.  At the very least, we are approaching grief in an active way instead of sitting back hoping against hope that the cliche is true and time alone will heal all wounds.

You try it out this coming week.  Explore your grief experience from all sides.  Just try and see if giving yourself opportunity as well as time can help you to integrate all that has happened in your life.  As always, please feel free to share your process and results with us by leaving comment, posting links or images on MotherHenna.blogspot.com or Kotapress.blogspot.com or at the MISS Creation Station forum!

This prompt was excerpted from our KOTA newsletter...click here to see full eNews.
Miracles,
k-