Empty Nest Grief Is REAL – 3 Strategies For Navigating The Sadness with Adina Tovell
How can empty nesters deal with grief and loneliness after their children leave?
Today, we have Adina Tovell, an Executive Coach and Founder of the People Leadership Institute. She has been a personal development expert for over 25 years and guides people to better understand who they are. She helps people find what matters most to them and refines how they want to show up in the world. You can find her podcast Courage to Be Curious on most podcast apps and you can grab one of her most powerful personal development tools on her website.
What differentiates Adina’s approach to professional and personal growth is her focus on cultivating Productive Curiosity. Without curiosity, there is stagnation and resistance. When people are productively curious about themselves and others, healthy relationships, engagement, compassion, creativity, motivation, and loyalty follow.
Adina is a personal dear friend of mine for many years now and she’s a fellow empty nest mom of two amazing, beautiful daughters. She is also a certified 200-hour yoga teacher, an Advanced PADI scuba diver, an avid reader, a joyful cook, and an adventurous spirit.
Adina and I will talk about the grief of having an empty nest, why it’s so real, and amazing strategies for navigating this grief and the sadness.
Your Dare for the episode is to sit in the empty nest grief. To help with this, Adina recommends that you read Brene Brown’s “Atlas of the Heart”, flip through the pages and do some detective work on yourself
In this episode
[02:26] Adina talks about her life and her empty nest journey.
[03:38] What does empty nest grief mean?
[07:23] Why is grief associated with an empty nest?
[10:25] “It took me a long time to realize how much of my identity was wrapped up in who I had been as the mother to my teen.” – Adina
[13:25] Permitting yourself to feel the empty nest grief.
[18:05] Becoming self-aware of how you are navigating through grief and loss in an empty nest.
[20:39] Adina’s three amazing strategies, suggestions, and tips on how to navigate life transitions.
[28:04] Adina’s dare for the audience this week.
Leave us a review, leave us a comment, and as always, Dare On!
About Adina Tovell
Adina Tovell is a Senior Executive Coach (PCC) specializing in people leadership, inclusion, and belonging. She is also a communication trainer, podcaster, speaker, and internationally recognized Curiosity Advocate. She earned an Executive MBA from Drexel University, a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from St. Joseph’s University, undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Education from Barnard College, and is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), credentialed by the International Coaching Federation. Adina is also trained and certified in Outthinker, a breakthrough training to help companies develop competitive growth strategies; the Arbinger Institute’s Outward Inclusion program; and MAP, a coaching protocol for releasing habitual negative mindsets.
She believes that people are an organization’s greatest asset, and when leaders understand how to help team members thrive, impact and success follow. Adina is an Executive Coach who helps leaders and organizations create a People First culture. She combines her deep understanding of adult learning and development, innovative approach to instructional design, and masterful facilitation skills to create high-impact learning experiences that result in meaningful positive change.
Adina has worked with companies of all sizes ranging from large publicly traded global companies to regional nonprofit organizations across a wide range of industries including Biotechnology, Banking, Behavioral Health, Higher Education, and Manufacturing to help leaders and organizations create a People First culture where there is a strong sense of trust and belonging clear communication, and effective feedback designed for growth.
