Brian Smith - How I Went from Grief 2 Growth

Brian will share how his view of life and death has evolved over the years: how he has gone from being horribly frightened of death into a new view of life and death, and how he has developed a sense of purpose and mission based on science, philosophy, personal experiences, and more...
By way of background, Brian grew up in a Pentecostal religious tradition, and later became part of an evangelical community. After that he became a Christian Universalist, and later went on to study Buddhism and various mystical traditions. As a young man, he was deeply scarred by toxic religion, which, among other things, instilled in him an intense fear of death… a fear that his lifelong spiritual quest has now relieved.

With his wife of 30 years, Brian has raised two beautiful, competent, compassionate, and independent daughters. In June 2015, one of them, his youngest daughter Shayna, suddenly and unexpectedly passed from this life into the next life at age 15-½. With Shayna’s passing, he experienced the most profound loss anyone can suffer.

After Shayna’s transition, Brian’s spiritual quest intensified, prompted by the extraordinary visions and messages he received from her after her death. As a result of those experiences, he immersed himself in researching concepts of the afterlife and in taking a scientific, spiritual, and philosophical approach to it. He needed to know, not just believe. It’s this experience that he now shares with his audiences and the readers of his book: Grief 2 Growth; Planted. Not Buried.
Brian is a certified grief educator. He helps people in crisis reframe their life circumstances, find a
sense of purpose and even joy. Brian has recently started a community circle for people to learn and to
support each other. You can find more at https://www.grief2growth.com/community.
His life’s journey has given him a unique perspective on human experience, with an appreciation for both the joys and the sorrows he has encountered along the way.

• Web: grief2growth.com
• Contact: grief2growth.com/contact/
• Book: Grief 2 Growth: Planted, Not Buried
• YouTube: Grief2Growth YouTube channel
• Instagram: Grief2Growth Instagram
• Podcast: Podcast

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About Northern Virginia IANDS:
The opportunity to interact with our guests live and ask questions is a significant step above passively watching recoded videos. IANDS NoVA events give you this unique opportunity. You can now attend live events. Please tell your family and friends!!! See below for more details.

Our Group is now partnering with Unity of Fairfax Church. Our mission is to offer a venue for sharing and learning to individuals who have experienced a Near Death Experience, (NDE), a Share Death Experience (SDE), a Spiritually Transformative Experience (STE) or who are merely interested in NDEs and other metaphysical topics. We invite speakers, view videos, hold Q&A sessions, and encourage discussion in a respectful, safe, and welcoming environment.

Everyone is welcome! We meet virtually via Zoom most fourth (that can vary) Sundays of the month (except for August) at 2pm EST. During COVID-19, all our meetings were virtual. We are now offering a hybrid format where people can attend in-person or virtually. We are volunteer-based and ask for a minimal $5 contribution (more is welcome) to offset our expenses (i.e., Speaker honoraria, IANDS’ dues, Zoom and Meetup fees, Vimeo subscriptions and to help Unity of Fairfax who partners with us).

For more information about our Chapter, please join our IANDS NoVA Meetup Group. You can also follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I hope to see you at an event very soon!
Angie, Group Leader (email: AngieWQ09@gmail.com ).