Meet Nancy Watson

We recently connected with Nancy Watson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nancy, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I have been a dedicated yoga practitioner since early in the year 2000, and yoga continues to play huge role in finding and honing my purpose. When my 26-year-old kiddo died in January 2019, the ONLY thing that made me feel a tiny bit less awful was continuing to come to my yoga mat. After completing the 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training certification, I wanted to learn more about why and how yoga had benefited me in my grief, particularly during those early days when nothing else helped. I read a couple of books about grief and yoga and looked around the Dallas area for someone who “specialized” in yoga for grief, but I couldn’t find anyone who was doing it. So I decided maybe *I* was supposed to be the person to offer that specialty. I pursued additional training in Compassionate Bereavement Care Yoga from the MISS Foundation outside Sedona, Arizona, and I have been offering Yoga for Grief sessions since January 2024.
I would never have set out to CHOOSE this purpose, but it definitely seems to have chosen me.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

To my knowledge, I am the only yoga teacher in the North Texas region who is actively offering yoga classes specifically designed to offer support to those who are grieving. Although the poses in a yoga for grief class are those that would typically be found in any accessible yoga session, my classes also offer support-group-style sharing, opportunities to journal, or even a simple craft activity. Each class in the session focuses on a different way that yoga can support us in our grief – from how grief can settle itself into our bodies, to the way that our often unhelpful minds can be redirected through meditation, to affirming wisdom and courage we gain from our losses.

Because I never feel like I have enough time in a 90-minute class to share everything I want to say about yoga or about grief, I wrote a book titled The Yoga for Grief Workbook. Many people have told me it has been very helpful to them, and that was certainly my goal in writing the book. It is available on Amazon at https://tinyurl.com/yfg-book.

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be offering a VIRTUAL Yoga for Grief session in February 2026. It will take place on Thursday evenings, February 5, 12, 19, and 26, from 6:30-8:00pm Central Time. More information can be found at https://www.yogaforgriefdallas.com/virtual-yfg.

For info on additional offerings, subscribe to my newsletter at https://yogaforgriefdallas.beehiiv.com/p/mindful-mourning-winter-2025-26

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I view myself as being a compassionate witness to others’ grief, not trying to fix another person’s losses but rather just being with them, however they happen to show up at a given class. I have had a good bit of experience facilitating support groups, and among the qualities to be a “good” facilitator are deep listening and an attention to participants’ willingness to share – or NOT. Just holding space for people to feel whatever it is they happen to feel at a given point in time can be enormously helpful in a world that often wants people to move on quickly from “being sad” I often find that it’s only after experiencing a significant loss that people can really understand how hurtful some words can be, however well-intentioned those words might have been offered.

And of course, being an attentive and thoughtful yoga teacher is supremely important! I am mindful in selecting the appropriate poses for the audience and the theme of the class, watching my students for their level of comfort and physical flexibility, and in my attention to timing and pacing.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

In order to hold even a small yoga classes, you need a space to hold 6-8 yoga mats, so one of my challenges is finding spaces to offer the classes. I’ve been very fortunate that a couple of yoga studios in my area, as well as a couple of churches, have graciously provided me with that space. But those locations usually have lots of other things going on, too – so it’s sometimes difficult to schedule the classes, even when I have places that are willing to host me.

I’m trying a virtual session in February along with the fact that so many people who aren’t in the Dallas area have asked me to do so).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yogaforgriefdallas.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogaforgriefdallas
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yoga.for.grief.dallas