Everyone who loses an animal deserves loving support to heal ~
Dear Friends, Clients and Colleagues,

I am delighted to announce the CD version of this audiobook. It is my hope that as you listen to and reflect on the material you will feel comforted and understood in your time of grief; acknowledged and honored as a person who has lost a loved one; know that you are absolutely, positively normal in loving animals as deeply as you do; and benefit from the practical ideas, tools and techniques to help you not only cope with the loss of your animal loved one, but to find meaningful growth and healing.

May all that you receive from the words, music and meditation support you, inspire you, warm your heart, and light your way.   

With love and blessings to all who grieve,                                                                  
     
                     
Audio Book Content

CD 1:  Why Animal Loss is Different:    40 min, 41 sec
* Animals love us unconditionally
* Animal death is trivialized by many
* Strong prejudice that we should not love or grieve for animals as much as humans
* Stress of facing the euthanasia decision

CD 2:  Understanding Your Grief:    45 min, 05 sec
* Three choices when faced with grief: deny; cope and survive; or truly heal
* How to understand and heal complicated grief
* Seven factors which make each grief experience unique
* Using this knowledge to help us heal

CD 3:  Healing Your Grief    49 min, 57 sec
* Coping and finding comfort: Taking supportive action in honor of yourself
* Facing and resolving deep emotional pain-including guilt and anger
* Transforming grief into growth: Identifying, celebrating and integrating the gifts of the relationship-the legacies of love-into our way of being

CD 4:  Healing Meditation   49 min, 11 sec 
* To help you feel closer to and connect with the spirit of your animal loved one

When we connect in love, when we ask and listen and speak with love,
it is impossible for our animal in spirit to not receive our messages. No matter how much emotional pain there may be of grief, when we connect with the soul of our animal, the heaviness of grief in us is diminished, even-if only for moments. The healing of those moments becomes part of us, and the power of grief to devastate us is lessened.
And we are more free to support our animals and ourselves as we grieve.

Another Sneak Peak into the Content. . .

     As we cope with the loss of a beloved animal, it helps to reflect upon two potential goals of grief recovery: to heal the heart and to use the crisis of loss to grow. Healing the heart means understanding and lessening feelings of heartbreak, overwhelm, anguish, guilt or other challenging emotions, while strengthening a sense of acceptance and peace around our loss. Using the crisis to grow means identifying and cherishing the mutual gifts of the relationship, fully embracing the lessons emerging from the loss, and consciously choosing to use them in our lives. Integrating the gifts and lessons of the relationships into our way of being may be the finest tribute we can make to our animal loved ones--a legacy of love. Healing from grief is not just about feeling better, it is also about becoming more whole. It involves a conscious choice to heal and grow.

     One of the myths of loss is that we can heal our grief exclusively from either an emotional or a spiritual frame of reference, that we do not have to address both. Grief is an emotionally painful process. There are deep and poignant feelings to be faced and dealt with. Yet, it is a spiritual process also. Psychological work helps us heal feelings, to feel consoled, but it is only a genuine exploration of our spiritual beliefs that allows us to find meaning, to see a bigger picture, and find answers to our questions about life and death. It is in both addressing our emotional pain along with embracing our spirituality that we find peace.

     Approaching our grief with only a spiritual perspective can create an unhealthy bypass of emotions, pretending our feelings will go away simply because we've spiritually accepted the death. This doesn't work. Strong feelings don't disappear, they just go underground and come back to haunt us later, pushing us to recognize and heal them. Strong spiritual beliefs do not eliminate our need to heal emotionally. What they can do, however, is shift the basic quality, the very character of our emotional pain so it is experienced not with suffering, but with grace. Processing our feelings brings us emotional clarity and completion. Embracing our spirituality brings us the opportunity for peace and grace. We need and deserve both.

 
 

Order $24.95 Audio Book 4-CD set Here


Reviews and Testimonials

Stephanie LaFarge, Ph.D., Director of Counseling Services, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals:
"The best book on pet loss I've ever read. I recommend it to all who seek my help. This extraordinary audiobook is for everyone. Listening to Wagner's message will protect the bereaved from overwhelming despair. It will inspire all of us to reach toward a fuller recovery."

Cat Fancy "... gives grieving pet owners a plan for healing...ideal for people who prefer a live voice to text."

Dog World "... explodes the myth that loving and losing an animal is not as significant or painful as loving and losing a human. The gentle words and soothing music provide inspirational and practical guidance for both immediate coping and long-term healing."

Judy Tatelbaum, author of The Courage to Grieve: "Compassionately offers understanding, comfort, and help for anyone facing the loss of a beloved pet."

Penelope Smith, author of Animals, Our Return to Wholeness: "A marvelous audio book giving three hours of valuable guidance to compassionately and gracefully help people through the grieving process. Teresa's voice is warm and clear. Her style is loving and thorough. She details how to cope, love and care for ourselves as we grieve, how to examine and clear emotions surrounding the animal's death and how to heal and find meaning in loss."

Carol Staudacher, author of Beyond Grief and Men and Grief: "Wagner's profound experience with grief, and with those who grieve, has created the foundation for her extremely wise and hopeful Legacies of Love. In this indispensable guide, Teresa Wagner offers understanding to survivors while providing them with both vital information and creative inspiration. This is a rich and in-depth resource for anyone who is dealing with the loss of an animal loved one."

Kim Lanham-Snyder, Director of Operations, Marin Humane Society: "Touching, moving, inspiring. An inspiration and opportunity for personal reflection. Listening to your genuine words of compassion reassured my beliefs and touched my heart. Your soft gentle voice expressed the compassion shared throughout the tapes. The entire content was brilliant and admirably detailed."

Barbara Derbin Reitz, MSW, LCSW: "Fills a gap in the animal loss literature...and offers a new message in a profound way. Finally, someone has integrated the psychological and spiritual aspects of grief recovery with grounded intelligence and tender compassion. Bravo!"


"I was inspired by the concept of 'love without limits' in the section on loving across species-comforting and beautiful!
~ Marijane Michalowicz, Medford Lakes, NJ

"Very realistic, powerful and helpful advice. While it is very educational, it lets the listener know that you are truly speaking from your heart and that you have definitely been there."
~ Jacqueline Ellis, Portland, OR

"The guided meditation is a very gentle, nurturing way to approach and embrace that which is so profoundly painful and scary...to finally acknowledge the passing of the beloved."
~ Donna Ferina, Albany, CA

"Your words have been a "bible" to me. They go with me everywhere, because when I feel a wave of pain I glance through your words and I know I'm not nutty for feeling this crazy pain."
~ Brooke Emsley, W. Boothbay, ME

"Teresa's voice was so loving and wonderful to hear and she makes me remember how much I'm loved by God and all those around me." 
~ Maureen Averett, New Berlin, N Y
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