Reframing Grief is for anyone seeking to examine the impact loss and grief has had on your life. If you feel the calling to explore ways to grow and transform as a result of your loss, then this retreat is right for you. You will leave the experience feeling less alone, deeply understood, and profoundly transformed. The best candidate is a person who is open and willing to try a different approach to dealing with their grief and reframing loss.

Whether you are facing complicated grief, anticipatory grief, or are simply looking to create meaningful rituals to commemorate your loss, you will find that a grief retreat can be an empowering step forward. Communal grief rituals are about reaching for each other to find the courage and support required to face what needs tending, keep our hearts open, and return us to what matters most. By listening to others, we learn to articulate what often feels inexpressible. In this space, we aim to destigmatize grief, metabolize it, and move away from the idea that grief is pathological. This is a chance to regulate our nervous systems in community and be reminded that we are not alone.

Intense and difficult emotions are often stored in the body, and remain there until they are acknowledged, processed, and released. Our bodies keep a record of our lives, and have many important messages for us when we slow down and listen. When we tune into our physical body, we discover where we are stuck and become more aware of how we feel, in a way other than we are used to. We can identify and acknowledge our feelings of sadness, anger, fear, etc. by checking in with our muscles, joints, and bodily sensations, encouraging these feelings and emotions to be fully expressed and liberated through movement and breath. Movement and awareness of the body can help us become “unstuck” and more integrated, leading us to a place of self-acceptance.

This is not group therapy so much as an opportunity to let the power of a loving group transform us and each other. The healing of our bodies and our hearts requires a new approach. As each person does their process work, the whole room transforms.

Reframing Grief is designed to be experiential and embodied, helping us move away from intellectualizing grief and instead stay rooted in our hearts and bodies as we navigate the unprocessed grief within us. Here, we create a space where grief can take any form—whether it is numbness, shame, rage, trembling, stillness, wailing, or something else.

The retreat will begin early Thursday evening and conclude after lunch on Sunday. The beginning of Reframing Grief will be about connection and safety; space will be created to work through grief, loss, and other difficult feelings we need to feel safe, supported, and welcomed. The initial activities aid in the transition from strangers to a close-knit community. We will enjoy our meals together; join in a circle and in small groups to share; and do simple group activities, such as talking circles, journaling, creativity, movement, practice in sacred listening, ceremony, and quiet time in nature.