Ashley Judd Is Working With a ‘Wisdom Teacher’ As She Continues to Cope With Naomi Judd’s Death

Ashley Judd is still grieving the tragic death of her mother, Naomi Judd. Six months after her mother died by suicide, Judd is coping with the tragedy with the help of a strong inner circle. This includes her partner Martin Surbeck, her “pop” Larry Strickland, her “chosen sisters,” and her wisdom teacher.

Ashley Judd says “clumsiness is associated with grief’

Judd recently opened up about how she’s dealt with her mother’s death while speaking with professor Dr. Jonathan Flint as part of an Open Mind lecture and conversation series sponsored by the Friends of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

Naomi Judd died on April 30 as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and it was Ashley who found her body. The 54-year-old actor revealed that she had suffered a leg fracture over the summer, which she described as a “freak accident.” She also says it helped give her time to grieve.

The accident happened a little more than a year after Judd had suffered a “catastrophic” leg injury while hiking in the Democratic Republic of Congo, when she shattered her leg in four places. 

“It was what it was. Clumsiness is associated with grief, and there were other people in our family, after mom died, who fell down stairs and had accidents, and that’s just what mine happened to look like. It really allowed me to grieve. It really allowed me to stop what I was working on at that moment and to grieve,” Judd said.

Ashley Judd is working with a ‘wisdom teacher’ to help cope with her mother’s death

To help process her mother’s death, Judd says that she turned to her inner circle for help and they showed up for her without question.

“The day that my beloved mother died by suicide, I had so many people to call. There were five women who were with me within moments of my sharing that tragic news with them, and they are my chosen sisters,” Judd recalled. 

“I was just reflecting overnight. I had one of my 2 a.m. wake-ups overnight, and I was reflecting on those first days after her passing and how there was always someone with me at my house…my friend slept with me in the bed and held my hand all night. That’s the value of community.”

Judd says that her community rallied around her, held her physically, held her home, and held her soul — which is why she is doing so well now. She’s also spending time with her “wisdom teacher,” to help her deal with all that is going on in her life.

“I just spent some time with my wisdom teacher today, and there’s a lot going on in my life right now. We’re approaching the [six] month anniversary of my mom’s passing and my sister’s on tour,” she explained, referring to Wynonna Judd.

What is a wisdom teacher?

Wisdom teachers, according to A Portrait of Jesus, are cross-cultural religious personalities that are known in every culture throughout history. They are either known as teachers of conventional wisdom, or teachers of subversive or alternative wisdom — like Jesus, Socrates, and Buddha.

“Wisdom teachers speak of two ways or two paths: a wise way and a foolish way, a narrow way and a broad way, and a righteous way and a wicked way,” the site explains. “Conventional wisdom teachers say things like: ‘You reap what you sow.’ Alternative wisdom teachers say things like: ‘Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.’”

A wisdom teacher encourages hearers to follow one path and avoid the other. And, they “make observations about life and speak out of experience.”

Ashley Judd says that she’s learned “33 percent of the people are going to love me no matter what I do, 33 percent of the people don’t really care, and 33 percent of the people aren’t going to like me no matter what I do.” She’s also learned that her core values are set with her most intimate friends, her closest advisors. The rest, she says, is “just static.”

How to get help: In the U.S. and Canada, text the Crisis Text Line at 741741 to reach a crisis counselor for support.