​3-Day Workshop Overview and Outline

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​"Grief as Sacred Teacher: Deepening Compassion through the Dark Night of the Soul" is a 3-day workshop designed to be housed in a 5-day Retreat Center - the first and last days allowing for a gentle arrival and departure, and in-between workshop times inviting participants to process workshop material, explore budding friendships, rest, and rejuvinate. Rooted in both psychotherapeutic training and long-term relationships with Spirit, this three-day intensive workshop offers participants a safe and sacred space to release what they carry, remember who they love, and reconnect with the deeper sources of wisdom that support them.

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The grief work in this course unfolds in three layers, (1) holding space for grief to be exactly what it is, with no agenda to fix or change it, (2) recognizing Grief as a sacred teacher, an expression of love that reveals wisdom when met with presence, and (3) integrating grief with life so participants can carry their loss in a way that is meaningful, embodied, and alive.

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Throughout the three days, participants are guided or invited into movement, meditation, sound, energy practices, creative art, writing, and sharing. Each day creates opportunities for remembrance, release, renewal, and profound connection. The work is accessible, gentle, and grounded in compassion, inviting participants into a relationship with themselves, their loved ones, and Spirit, that feels both transformative and deeply supported.

Day One: Releasing Ceremony - A sacred circle for collective release, transformation, and enlightening

On Day One, participants are invited to let go of stress and trauma, known or unknown. Stress may come from family lineage, inherited patterns, or sources far beyond our understanding. With support from sound and movement, energy medicine, Collective Wisdom Spirit, and cleansing materials, participants experience releasing and transforming excess burdens and blocks into clean, light-filled and expansive energy. This ceremony is trauma-sensitive, somatic, and energetically grounded.

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We begin with a grounding guided meditation. We invite support from the ancestors, the six directions, and the Spirit of Collective Wisdom. Engaging ongoing Self-care throughout Day One, we loosen and move out stagnant, sticky or blocked energy using practices such as Qigong shaking, drumming, intuitive sound, movement, drawing and writing. [Participants may also bring (small) objects (or pictures of objects) to be cleansed]. We notice when the Winds of Change appear and invite this spirit to deliver energy into cleansing and transforming elements. We ourselves focus the released energy directly into the cleansing materials of fire, water and earth that are present in our space. We write onto paper what wishes to be released, cleansed and transformed. The group engages in a cleansing ceremony, burning our papers by fire into a shared container. [Participants may add cremains they’ve brought to the ashes]. We spread the ashes, making the earth we walk on, the water we drink, and the air we breathe more sacred. We come together in a sacred sharing circle with symbolic nourishment of bitter-sweet food (such as bitter chocolate and oranges). The ceremony closes with releasing Spirit, followed by the question, “What have you discovered that you can bring into the rest of your day,” and invite participants to meditate, journal and/or share sacredly further with each other.

Day Two: Loss and Grief - Deepening into the material of personal and collective loss and grief

Day Two holds sacred space in the Dark Night of the Soul for Grief to move into the open, where we can begin to accept, allow, and integrate compassion into our daily lives.

We begin with a grounding, guided meditation and invite support from the ancestors, the six Directions, and the Spirit of Collective Wisdom. Actively engaging (more) ongoing Self-care throughout Day Two, we deeply learn about, and come to better understand and accept personal and planetary loss and our own grieving of these losses. This is done through an interactive PowerPoint presentation and readings, inviting spontaneous writing, drawing and movement, and offering time-spacious (small) sharing groups. We come together in a final sacred sharing circle with ritual nourishment, followed by a ceremonial release of Spirits. We close the day’s workshop with the question, “What have you discovered that you can bring into the rest of your day,” and invite participants to meditate, journal and/or share sacredly further with each other.

Day 3: Communicating Through the Veil and Sitting with Spirit: Opening communication with Spirit

The power of Grief can inspire direct contact with Spirit. Day Three offers guidance into communicating with the dead and Spirit through three pathways of connection: (1) continued relationships with deceased loved ones, (2) opening channels with Ancestors to support lineage repair and mutual transformation, and (3) receiving guidance from Collective Wisdom Spirit to access intuitive direction in daily life.

We begin Day Three with grounding, guided meditation and invite support from the ancestors, the six Directions, and the Spirit of Collective Wisdom. We utilize ongoing Self-care throughout our day. Participants are guided through meditation four different times. Three are followed by engaging clarity, deep listening, and dialogue writing to communicate with our dead and Spirit. The first guided mediation leads participants through the door to deceased loved ones. Here, we open to what is present, and a possible ongoing relationship. We use two guided mediations toward inviting healing with Ancestors. The first is preparatory. Participants are guided to notice (not engage with) who shows up, become aware of reactions, and set clear boundaries for general safety. The second guided meditation invites one ancestor (as spokesperson) into a written dialogue, the goal being lineage repair, healing and transformation. We end this pathway of communication by releasing the Ancestors. The final guided meditation brings participants to the Future Compassionate Council of Collective Wisdom. We document their words as they trace the steps backwards from where they are to where we currently are. We ask for their guidance, breaking down our first doable step into a SMART goal, and for their support to follow it through. We ask for their continued support as, step by step, we move toward a world guided by compassion and wisdom. We commit to communicating with this Council at the beginning of each step, for continued guidance and support. We close Day Three by first releasing the six Directions, Ancestors still present, and Spirit. We end our final day with the question, “What have you discovered that you can bring into your life, starting today,” and encourage participants to continue to meditate, journal, share sacredly, and connect with Spirit.​