This special bonus episode from It’s a Death Sentence offers a gentle, guided meditation designed to bring comfort, calm, and a sense of connection in moments of loss.

Written and produced by Emma Skipp and Leon Payne, this meditation was created from a deeply personal place. Emma, who finds great comfort in guided meditation, wanted to craft something specifically for those navigating grief - a space to pause, breathe, and feel held.

The meditation begins by guiding you into a state of deep relaxation through simple, soothing breathing techniques. From there, you are gently led into a reflective visualisation, inviting you to imagine your lost loved one beside you - a quiet, safe moment of connection.

The soundscape has been carefully designed and tuned to 432Hz - often associated with healing and harmony - creating a warm and immersive listening experience. All music was performed and produced by Leon Payne and Emma Skipp, with natural birdsong recorded in Emma’s own garden adding an intimate, grounding touch.

This 20-minute meditation is intended to be a soft place to land - whether you are in the early days of grief or carrying loss that has been with you for years.

Take a moment. Breathe. You’re not alone.

Credits:

Written and spoken by Emma Skipp.

Produced by Emma Skipp and Leon Payne.

Music performed and produced by Leon Payne and Emma Skipp.

Birdsong recordings captured in Emma’s garden.

This conversation really stayed with us because it’s one of those stories that feels both deeply personal and quietly powerful.

In this episode of It’s a Death Sentence, we sit down with Jayne Thomson, a funeral director who came into the industry after losing her Mum, to explore what it’s like to work so closely with death every day. We talk about grief, purpose, the reality behind the role, and why creating spaces to actually talk about death matters more than we think.

What You’ll Discover

- From Loss to Calling: How Jayne's personal experience of losing her Mum led her into the funeral industry and shaped how she supports others.

- Why We Struggle to Talk About Death: The impact of language, avoidance, and how honest conversations can change everything.

- Creating Space for Real Conversations: From running a Death Café to “walk and talk” sessions, new ways to make grief and death less isolating.

What really stood out was Jayne's honesty about how difficult it can be when your world has changed, but everyone else seems to carry on as normal. That feeling of wanting to talk about it, but not always having the space or the people around you who are ready to listen. And that’s exactly why what she’s building now matters so much.

We also get a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the funeral industry. From the emotional reality of working with families to the small but meaningful details that shape someone’s final farewell, it’s a perspective most of us never see until we have to.

This episode is a reminder that death isn’t something to avoid. It’s something to understand, to talk about, and to make space for in a way that feels human.

It's A Death Sentence shares real stories of life after loss and is produced by Urban Podcasts. Listener discretion is always advised.

There’s this unspoken expectation that by six months in, you should be doing better. That the worst has passed, that life has settled, that you’ve somehow “moved on.” But in this episode of It’s a Death Sentence, we sit down and talk honestly about what grief actually feels like six months after loss.

What You’ll Discover

- Grief Doesn’t Follow a Timeline: Six months isn’t a milestone of healing, it’s often where the reality of loss starts to settle in and reshape everything.

- The Hidden Weight of “Moving On”: How social expectations to be okay can make grief feel isolating, even when you’re still deeply affected.

- How Grief Shows Up in Everyday Life: From dreams and unexpected triggers to physical symptoms and emotional waves, grief doesn’t stay in one place.

What is clear is how messy and unpredictable grief is. One moment you’re laughing, getting through your day, doing your job, and the next something small, a memory, a date, even a conversation, brings everything rushing back. And the hardest part is that life keeps moving around you, while you’re still trying to make sense of what’s changed forever.

This episode is a reminder that there’s no right way to grieve and no timeline you have to follow. Whether you’re six weeks, six months, or years into loss, your experience is valid. And if you’ve ever felt like you should be “over it” by now, this conversation will meet you exactly where you are.

It's A Death Sentence shares real stories of life after loss and is produced by Urban Podcasts. Listener discretion is always advised.

We didn’t expect this conversation to be quite as powerful as it turned out to be. In this episode of It’s a Death Sentence, we do something a little different. We hand the mic over to kids. What follows is one of the most honest, funny, and unexpectedly insightful conversations about death, grief, and what happens after we die.

What You’ll Discover

- How Kids Really Understand Death: Simple, honest answers that cut through adult discomfort and get straight to the heart of loss and meaning.

- Grief Through a Child’s Eyes: Why sadness, confusion, humour, and even happiness can all exist at the same time.

- Big Questions, Beautiful Answers: From heaven to reincarnation, kids explore life after death with imagination, curiosity, and surprising wisdom.

What really stayed with us is how open and unfiltered this conversation is. There’s no pretending to have all the answers, no fear of saying the wrong thing. Just curiosity, honesty, and a willingness to explore the unknown. And maybe that’s something we lose a little as adults.

It's A Death Sentence shares real stories of life after loss and is produced by Urban Podcasts. Listener discretion is always advised.

Grief has a funny way of stripping everything back. In this episode of It’s a Death Sentence, we dive into the idea that losing someone does not just break your heart, it reshuffles your priorities. We’re talking bucket lists, the things we still want to do before we die, and the far more liberating f*ck it list, the things we are absolutely done with.

From Tahiti and ballroom dancing to refusing to learn to ride a bike, we share what stays on the list and what gets thrown in the bin.

What We Uncover

- The Bucket vs The F*ck It List: Why grief pushes you to chase what matters and drop what never did.

- Liberation in Midlife: How caring less about judgement, trends and social pressure can feel like freedom.

- Present Over Perfect: Why being silly with your kids, booking the holiday and drinking the wine might matter more than ticking impressive boxes.

Grief forces perspective. It makes you question why you are saying yes when you mean no. Why you are saving the good stuff for later. Why you are shrinking yourself to make other people comfortable. When you truly understand that life can change overnight, the idea of waiting starts to feel ridiculous.

This episode is an invitation. Write the list of what you want more of. Write the list of what you are done with. And stop apologising for either.

It's A Death Sentence shares real stories of life after loss and is produced by Urban Podcasts. Listener discretion is always advised.

We didn’t quite know where this conversation was going to go when we hit record, and honestly, that’s what makes it so powerful

In this episode of It’s a Death Sentence, we sit down with Rob Oliver, an IT manager and musician, to talk about grief in its rawest form. From losing his Dad, Mum, and close friends, to navigating severe anxiety and depression, Rob shares a story that is both deeply painful and unexpectedly full of humour.

What You’ll Discover

- Grief Doesn’t Follow Rules: Loss hits differently every time, and even when you expect it, nothing prepares you for how it actually feels.

- Dark Humour as Survival: Finding moments of laughter in the worst situations isn’t disrespectful, it’s often what gets you through.

- There Is Help, Even When It Feels Impossible: From crisis teams to therapy, speaking up and reaching out can be the turning point, even when it feels like you’re at your lowest.

What really stayed with us from this conversation is Rob’s honesty. He doesn’t try to tidy up grief or make it sound neat. He talks about feeling worthless, about wanting to give up, and about the long, messy journey back to something that feels like himself again. But alongside all of that is resilience, connection, and this underlying message that even in the darkest moments, there is still a way through.

If you’ve experienced loss, or you’re supporting someone who has, this episode will feel real in a way not many conversations do.

It's A Death Sentence shares real stories of life after loss and is produced by Urban Podcasts. Listener discretion is always advised.

It’s thoughtful, it’s a bit chaotic, and yes, we also play a round of Stupid Deaths, because nothing says healthy death conversation like guessing whether someone was really squashed by a bus or taken out by a flying football boot.

What We Uncover

- Immortality Isn’t That Appealing: Why living forever sounds impressive until you imagine outliving everyone you love.

- Afterlife or Absolute Blackness: Honest reflections on heaven, reincarnation, family signs and the uncomfortable possibility of nothing at all.

- The Ideal Age to Die: Why quality trumps quantity, and how our own family histories shape what we hope for.

We talk about spiritual moments around loss, dreams that feel bigger than coincidence, and whether death is predetermined or simply biological probability. There are laughs about dying mid-sex, debates about Tarzan throat polyps, and the usual slightly inappropriate tangents that somehow still circle back to something meaningful.

Underneath the humour is what we always come back to. Death is easier to face when we say the quiet things out loud. Whether that is admitting we are scared of suffering, unsure about the afterlife, or secretly hoping we get access to all the answers once we are gone.

This episode is a reminder that conversations about death do not have to be heavy to be important. They can be curious, ridiculous, reflective and real all at once.

It's A Death Sentence shares real stories of life after loss and is produced by Urban Podcasts. Listener discretion is always advised.

Some conversations hit you in the chest and stay there. This is one of them. In this episode of It’s A Death Sentence, we sit down with Ross King for a raw, unfiltered conversation about surviving near-death experiences, losing his sister at 24, and watching his best friend die years later.

Ross talks openly about suicide, car crashes, anger, counselling and the strange way grief hardens and softens you at the same time. From being told he might lose his foot after a 120 mile an hour collision, to sitting at the dinner table with an empty chair where his sister should have been, this is life stripped back to its bones.

There is swearing. There is laughter. There are long silences. And there is honesty in every word.

What We Explore

- Sudden vs Expected Death: The brutal difference between losing someone in a split second and watching them decline over two years.

- Control, Anger and Survival: How trauma reshapes personality, tolerance and the need to hold life tightly.

- Living Like There’s a Date on Your Neck: Ross’s belief that when your time’s up, it’s up, so you may as well jump out of the plane.

We also talk about sibling loss, the pressure of becoming the only child left, strained family dynamics, counselling years after the fact, and why grief does not disappear after 20 years. It changes shape. It settles in. It becomes part of you.

Ross is funny, blunt, self-aware and fiercely loyal. He admits he can be grumpy. He admits he is intolerant. He admits he is still angry. But he also understands how precious life is, how quickly it can turn, and why you cannot waste it waiting to feel safe.

If you have lost a sibling, a best friend, or survived something that should have taken you, this episode will feel like sitting across the table from someone who gets it.

It's A Death Sentence shares real stories of life after loss and is produced by Urban Podcasts. Listener discretion is always advised.