Meet Nancy Watson, owner and founder of Yoga for Grief-Dallas. She is the only yoga instructor in the North Texas area who specializes in Yoga for Grief.

What inspired you to start Yoga for Grief? 

I have been a yoga practitioner for about 25 years. In 2019, I experienced a traumatic loss. In those months of deep, early grief, I kept showing up on my yoga mat, and yoga was the only thing I did that made me feel, not better exactly, but maybe a tiny bit less awful. In 2022, I enrolled in a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training (YTT-200) program, and I began to learn more about yoga philosophy than what a person typically hears about in an hour-long yoga class. I started to connect some dots about why yoga had made me feel less awful. In 2023, I completed an additional 60-hour training in Compassionate Bereavement Care Yoga through the MISS Foundation, and I began designing the kinds of classes that I thought would have been beneficial for me. I offered my first session in early 2024. A session consists of six 90-minute classes, held weekly, and each session is small, with only 5-7 participants per class.

  • Where do you normally hold sessions?

    I work with area yoga studios that are willing to host me. It really helps to rely on the studios' email lists and other promotions, since my social media reach is still fairly small. I've also held a couple of sessions at a church and one at a local senior center. I held two different one-day retreats last year at a local retreat center. Each of those filled up with a total of 12 participants, and I'm currently looking for a new venue to host another one-day retreat later this year. 

    What is the response to your classes? 

    Sometimes, people come into the first class crying, and cry all the way through the whole six weeks. Other participants never shed a visible tear. Participants might be surprised at first that the classes entail more than just moving their bodies. It's not 90 minutes of just asana (the yoga poses). I build in space for discussion and journaling about the week's topic, as well as a guided meditation at the end of each class.  

    Who are these classes for?

    People who have experienced some type of loss and are at least 6-12 months out from the "event" that is the source of their grief are probably my primary audience. Those whose grief is very fresh might consider waiting a bit before signing up.

    Any suggestions for people before they start Yoga for Grief?

    If a person has been very sedentary for a long time, they might want to check with their doctor before starting a new activity such as yoga. But the classes are "gentle style" and are very accessible for all levels of yoga practitioners. And again, if a person's grief is very new, it might be better to wait a few months before signing up.

    What do you do for fun?

    I love to read, and I'm in a few different book clubs, one of which I've been involved with for 26 years with the same women. I'm also crazy about my dogs, a 12 1/2 year-old German shepherd named Dexter who is currently in a sad decline, and his 20-month old younger sister, Kali, a white German shepherd who I'm pretty sure is the sweetest dog ever born.

    What’s next for you?

    I'm in the process of publishing a book! I've finished the first draft of The Yoga for Grief Workbook, and I hope it will be ready for purchase sometime later this year.