Loving life, welcoming grief.. staying in touch with our truth in times of change and upheaval
Here are some new dates for on-line workshops from me (Sophy), a bit of update from Jeremy about what he’s offering, and some reflections on these times and how this grief work might connect to the response to George Floyd’s killing.
On line Grief tending workshops
The next half day workshop is a Grief tending Circle on Friday 19th June 9.30 – 1.15pm. Please book soon if you’re planning to attend!
There are further half day events on:
7th July afternoon – Writing out Grief
6th August morning – Grief tending in Circle
I’m offering Loving Life, Welcoming Grief – a two day workshop, on 25 – 26th July.
I was deeply touched by the places we reached over the weekend in May, including the beauty of each person making their own ceremony on the Saturday evening, which we could share in some way in the dreaming and harvesting together the following day. We will be on Zoom for no more than 2 hours at a time, moving between on line teaching, sharing and small group sessions, and practices for you to do in your own space.
I’m continuing to be awed by our capacity to connect, to create profound space together, to honour, release and witness each other even through the deeply limiting technology of Zoom.
I’m learning more about how to facilitate connection on line – which includes encouraging us all to let go of the screen to do whatever helps the most connection to the physical body and space we are sitting, breathing and making sound in. I’m truly grateful to Sarah and Dita who have been steady assisting presences.
I love that we are creating shrines and ceremony in our own home and that this work is becoming accessible to those far away or who can’t afford the time or cost of travel and accommodation.
Conflict Transformation Online Summit – Free! from 15 June
For me grief and conflict are closely related – two ways in which the pain within us, and in our relationships and wider groups comes to the surface. I’m a small contributor to this wonderful, free, on line gathering, which starts on June 15th. You can attend live sessions and discussions, or watch / download interviews, set up your own action / learning inquiry. It features many wonderful people who are active, writing and contributing to our understanding of how to help conflict to be a positive and growth-full thing, rather than destructive. Feel free to pass this on to anyone who might find it helpful!
Update from Jeremy
You can see more on Jeremy’s Quest and other work on his Regenco website
Just to say a number of folks responded to my invitation for a deliberate deeper introspective land oriented dive during lockdown, and it has been and is beautiful to work with them. One chose to follow the five day “Conscious practice of Living and Dying” process, and some others are currently on a new offering: Courting the Circle of Self (flyer attached / download below), which like the former is resourcing but can feel a bit less daunting. The format for both, until lockdown further lifts, is online with participants undertaking different wild oriented exercises within their locality as healthy and able between meetings.
For the next few weeks I will be giving greater attention to my ageing parents whose needs are changing, but all being well once they are more settled will be resurfacing and again offering this work, and also some things Sophy and I are in conversation about. Though not directly named grief tending, the Circle of Self work can be very moving so evoke many tears whilst also resourcing, I will be delighted to work with any of you who feel called, so welcome to let me know if interested if like to.
Very best wishes
Jeremy
Trauma, Grief and Times of Upheaval
I’ve written a post about my deepening understanding of trauma not as a thing that happens to an individual, but as a cultural landscape which fails to offer the repair needed – including the grief or other healing ceremony that enables the injury to be healed. See here for more on these thoughts.
And a couple of posts from others that also give links to organisations engaging with opposing racism in many ways, offering sources of learning, opportunities to act and more, that we each can make a contribution to dismantling the systems of harm we are part of.
This post is from David Treleaven, host of Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness, whose work tives a great introduction to understanding how collective trauma such as experiences of racial, gendered and other societal forms of harm or violence can show up in us when we do inner work.
https://transitionnetwork.org/news-and-blog/black-lives-matter/
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