The Heart of Grief: Finding Light Through Loss
- Aug 14, 2025
- 3 min read
By Hannah Darby
When I sat down to write my chapter for ‘When Hearts Heal’, I knew I was writing more than words on a page. I was writing a truth I have carried my whole life.
At just 13 years old, I lost my father to a sudden heart attack. The grief that followed shaped my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Later came a life-changing car accident that left me with chronic pain, followed by a diagnosis of ME/CFS, a debilitating condition that forced me to reimagine everything I thought life would be.
I have lived my whole life in grief, but grief isn’t just about losing people. It’s about losing anything you care about, from your health, your dreams, to parts of yourself you thought were forever.
Now, a Holistic Healer, Certified Coach, and Grief Educator, I have taken my lived experience and transformed it into a heart-led business, Healing with Hannah, where I guide people through their grief journeys with compassion, courage, and safety.
My work has just been recognised on a global stage as ‘When Hearts Heal’, the international anthology I co-authored, soared to the top of bestseller charts in the UK, Australia, Italy, and Germany, reaching No.2 in America and Canada. Sitting alongside trauma and healing experts such as Gabor Maté and surpassing even Jay Shetty in the charts, the book has cemented its place as a must-read for anyone on their healing journey.
Curated by Natasha Leigh Bray, multi-award-winning founder of The School of Healing Mastery,’ When Hearts Heal’ is more than a book. It is a mission. Each chapter, rooted in HeartHealing- methodology, offers stories of transformation, trauma healing, and emotional freedom. Contributors include transformational leaders from around the world, including a foreword by The Secret’s star, Dr Joe Vitale.
My chapter, ‘The Heart of Grief’, shares my unique insights into grief. These insights are born not from textbooks but from walking through the fire myself.
This chapter aims to bring the invisible world of grief into light. I want those walking with grief to feel less alone. Grief isn’t just bereavement; it’s the loss of anything meaningful. Only when we understand this can we stop fighting our grief and start living with it.
Healing grief isn’t about “moving on” or “forgetting”. It’s about honouring the love beneath the pain and learning to carry both. My signature H.E.A.L.- method in my Kintsuigi Programme, which combines HeartHealing-, Reiki, with a trauma-informed approach, has already transformed lives worldwide.
Despite my chronic illness, I’m so proud of my achievements. This is my fourth global bestselling co-authored book. In 2024, I won the Women Who Inspire UK Commended Award for the impact of my business. In January 2025, I was named HeartHealing- Practitioner of the Month for the life-changing results I bring to my clients.
I never let my disability stop me from achieving my dreams and I don’t want my clients to let grief stop them from living theirs.
For me, this book is just the beginning. I am on a mission to start conversations about grief in all its forms. To help people feel seen, heard, and understood in a world that often tells them to “move on.”
With ‘When Hearts Heal’ now a global bestseller, my message is reaching hearts across the world.
Grief changes us. But it doesn’t have to break us. It can become a testament to our love, our resilience, and our ability to keep moving forward, even when we carry pain in our hearts.
‘When Hearts Heal’ is available now on Amazon
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