003. How To Feel Heartbreak | Michelle D'Avella

Author and Breathwork Facilitator, Michelle D'Avella, shares what led her to write her book The Bright Side of a Broken Heart and her journey with feeling (and healing) heartbreak. 

In 2017 I experienced a seriously real heartbreak after ending a five year on and off again relationship. It was the kind that swallowed me whole and left me in a pit of my own grief. It can be confusing grieving someone who is still alive, missing someone who is still out there. It can be so painful when heartbreak leads us to feeling unlovable and unwanted. But it was that exact heartbreak that launched me straight toward my soul. My self. My trauma. My desires. My truth. Eventually landing me more in love than I've ever been. 

In the thick of it all I found a book that I read in one sitting. The Brightside of A Broken Heart by Michelle D’Avella. Her words normalized everything I was going through. She captured my broken heart in her pages. She never let go or gave up. On herself or me. I knew that when I created How To Feel I had to have a heartbreak episode. My friends often joke that I've been heartbroken since I was 14. Heartbreak and I know each other well and I knew that I had to have Michelle on to talk all about it. Out of all the heartbreak things I’ve read, listened to and watched, Michelle’s book is my favorite. She’s also such an awesome person.

​My intention with this episode of How To Feel Heartbreak is to normalize the range of emotions and experiences that come with heartbreak and to maybe, if you’re heartbroken right now, give you some hope for your journey. Michelle certainly did that for me and I think her story and words will do the same for you.

​In this episode we talk about...

• Michelle's journey with heartbreak and how a blindsiding break up led her to write her book
  
• The emotional range of heartbreak and how heartbreak isn't just one type of feeling
  
• Closure and how writing a letter to our ex is sometimes what we need to do, even if we never hear anything back
  
• Why a heartbreak can be so hard and how it's ok and normal to grieve when we are heartbroken
  
• Why we often want to rush our healing, especially when it comes to moving on from a relationship, but how it's the slowing down where we find transformation
  
• How Michelle's painful heartbreak led her to reclaim lost parts of herself
  
• Michelle's explanation of her quote, "Now I know I had to lose him to find myself”
  
• A ton more!

More about Michelle: 

Michelle D’Avella is an author, certified Breathwork facilitator, and mentor. She helps her clients transform painful experiences into valuable life lessons and create sustainable change through inner exploration, processing repressed emotions, and somatic release. Michelle is an advocate for reclaiming your power, showing up for yourself, and honoring the healing process. She has been featured in Forbes, W Magazine, MyDomaine, and more. Learn more about Michelle and her work at pushingbeauty.com.

www.anastasiaholland.com