Grief Support Group

 

“It is your birthright to be held by the fabric of community.”

— Therese Charvet, community grief tender​​

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Will this help me?

This group is to support you mourning the death of a loved one and to find some healing, if not completely. It's to support you recovering your will to live with your loss, to build a sense that your lost loved one is within you in a good way, and a sense that new love can enter your life.

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Will I feel comfortable here?

The root of the word spirit, ‘spir’ means life, as in respiration or breath. Our Grief Support Group is like a ‘Spirit Potluck'. At times we do nothing more than breathe together and let that be enough. At a potluck, everyone brings a dish and everyone eats. In our grief support group, we each arrive with whatever we are carrying and nourish each other by sharing and listening.

 

While I bring my training, dedication, and experience as a facilitator, I ask that you bring your offering as well. In the simplest terms, you’re invited to cultivate presence with the emotions you're bringing and offer your presence to what others bring as well. Also welcome are your knowledge, inspiration, and resources. We draw upon our shared intelligence to co-create a supportive environment which all of us may benefit from.

 

We co-create a mini-community by listening with all our senses, expressing ourselves honestly, learning new skills to expand emotional holding capacity, and utilizing tools to support our unfolding life processes, so we may experience shared nourishment, even in the depths of grief.

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What you'll gain...

• A consistent environment to process the full range of emotions related to your loss

• A supportive community of others navigating their own loss(es)

• Access to tools and resources to support your ongoing mourning

• Expanding your capacity to be present with your inner experience

• Strengthening or developing emotional processing skills

• Renewing or developing your will to live your unique life, with your loss(es)

 

Honestly expressing your living experience in the neutral yet approving presence of others allows your life to holistically carry forward after loss. When we encounter loss, sometimes the only thing we can do to stay sane is to make beauty. And the most direct way to be beautiful is to bear witness to what's present.

 

We tend the two poles of the heart, grief and gratitude, and learn to be stretched large by them. We honor our bodies' natural cycles and the larger mystery of our lives, which include tremendous heartache and loss. We're guided by shared agreements and intentions.

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Pillars of intention:

• Bring whatever you're carrying

• Acknowledge what is so

• Practice skills to expand emotional capacity

• Use tools to support your unfolding emotional process

 

We draw on a variety of wisdom sources including indigenous cultures from around the globe, Eastern and contemplative traditions, western psychology, and new age influences.

 

Some key teachers we draw from:​​

• Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

• David Kessler

• Edith Eger

• Ram Dass

• Francis Weller

• Robert Gonzales

• Martín Prechtel

• Pete Walker

• John Welwood​​​​​​​​​​​​