This post was inspired by the Creative by Nature podcast episode, Finding Your Way Back to Yourself: Grief, Healing, the Nervous System & the Wisdom of Your Body with Dr. Susan Edkins
You can listen to the full episode by clicking here.
There are moments in life that change us in ways we never could have predicted.
A loss. A diagnosis. A relationship ending. A chapter closing. A version of life that suddenly no longer feels familiar.
And in those moments, one of the deepest questions we often find ourselves asking is:
Who am I now?
When the roles, identities, and routines we have built our lives around begin to shift, it can feel unsettling. You may find yourself looking in the mirror wondering where the person you used to be went — and how you begin becoming someone new without losing the parts of yourself that still matter.
In the latest episode of Creative by Nature, I sat down with Dr. Susan Edkins to talk about grief, healing, nervous system regulation, intuition, and the journey of finding your way back to yourself after life changes in unexpected ways.
Susan’s story is one of profound loss, but it is also a story of transformation, curiosity, and learning to trust the wisdom of her own body.
When loss changes your sense of identity, what do you do?
Before losing her husband unexpectedly, Susan’s identity was deeply connected to the roles she carried: wife, mother, educator, and caregiver.
Like many of us, she found herself moving through life on what she described as a “hamster wheel” — working, raising children, completing her doctorate, and meeting the expectations placed on her.
Then everything changed.
The loss of her husband forced her to reevaluate who she was beyond the roles she had spent years identifying with.
And this is something many people experience during times of transition.
When something significant changes in your life, you may find yourself grieving not only what you lost, but also the version of yourself that existed before.
You may wonder:
Who am I without this relationship?
Who am I without this job?
Who am I when I’m no longer the person everyone has known me to be?
These identity shifts can feel disorienting, but they can also become an invitation to reconnect with parts of yourself that may have been waiting to be rediscovered.
Healing Is Not Linear — It Happens in Layers
One of the most important reminders Susan shared is that grief is not a straight path.
Healing does not happen in a neat progression where you simply move forward and never look back.
There can be moments where you feel grounded, hopeful, and connected — and then something unexpected brings you right back to the pain.
A song.
A memory.
A milestone.
A moment when someone you love is missing.
That doesn’t mean you are going backward. It means you are human.
Susan shared that one of the hardest parts of grief has been witnessing her children experience major life moments without their dad there. Those moments continue to bring waves of emotion, even years later.
This is the reality of healing.
You don’t erase what happened.
You learn how to carry it differently.
One of the most powerful parts of Susan’s journey was discovering the connection between grief, the body, and the nervous system.
With her background in kinesiology and higher education, Susan approached healing with a scientific mindset. But her own experience opened her to exploring something beyond what she could explain intellectually.
After noticing physical discomfort during grief support groups, Susan began exploring energy healing and Reiki.
She discovered that the body was communicating with her.
The tightness in her chest.
The discomfort in her legs.
The feeling of needing to escape.
These weren’t signs that something was wrong with her. They were signals from her body asking for attention.
This is such an important reminder because many of us have learned to disconnect from our bodies.
We push through.
We ignore the signs.
We tell ourselves we should be fine.
But our bodies are constantly communicating with us.
Learning to listen can become an important part of healing.
Finding the Bridge Between Science and Spirituality
What makes Susan’s story especially unique is her ability to bridge two worlds that many people believe are separate: science and spirituality.
She brings her background in education, research, and the human body into conversations about Reiki, meditation, intuition, signs, synchronicities, and the Akashic Records.
Rather than needing to have all the answers, Susan learned to become curious.
She learned to trust her own experiences.
And she learned that some things cannot always be intellectualized — sometimes they need to be experienced.
This is something many people encounter when they begin exploring intuition or spiritual growth.
There can be an internal conflict between what you know logically and what you feel deeply.
You may wonder:
“Can I trust this?”
“Does this make sense?”
“What will people think?”
Susan’s journey reminds us that healing often requires both curiosity and courage.
Small Practices Can Create Big Shifts
When you’re feeling overwhelmed, healing can seem impossible. It’s easy to believe you need to completely change your life or discover the perfect solution before anything can improve. But as Susan shares, healing often begins with small, accessible practices: taking a few intentional breaths, stepping outside, feeling your feet on the ground, or simply placing a hand on your body and acknowledging what you’re feeling. These gentle moments help signal safety to your nervous system, creating space for healing to unfold. Lasting transformation doesn’t always come through dramatic breakthroughs. More often, it happens through the quiet, consistent practice of reconnecting with yourself, one small moment at a time.
Your Creativity Is Part of Your Healing
One of my favorite moments from this conversation actually happened after we finished recording. Susan shared that for years people told her she was creative, but she never believed them because she equated creativity solely with making art. Over time, she realized creativity is so much broader than that. It’s the ability to solve problems, imagine new possibilities, navigate life’s unexpected changes, and find the courage to become someone new.
That perspective resonated deeply with me because I truly believe creativity is one of the ways we heal. It gives us a language for experiences we can’t always put into words, helping us process, reflect, and reconnect with ourselves. Whether you consider yourself an artist or not, creativity already lives within you. It’s not something you have to earn—it’s an essential part of who you are.
If you are navigating grief, change, or a season where you are rediscovering yourself, I hope this conversation reminds you that you do not have to rush the process.
You do not have to have everything figured out.
You do not have to become someone completely different.
Healing is about returning to yourself — one layer at a time.
Listen to the Full Conversation
If this blog post resonated with you, you can listen to the full podcast episode:
Connect with Dr. Susan Edkins at https://heal.me/susan-edkins, https://calm-the-overwhelm.my.canva.site/ or LinkedIn.
Follow Susan on Instagram: www.instagram.com/drsusanedkinsedd
What identity, role, or version of yourself are you currently being invited to release or redefine?
What is one small practice you could begin today to reconnect with your body, intuition, or creativity?