Grief Tending Circles
In today's grief-phobic society we have forgotten how to grieve as part of a community, we are encouraged to hold our grief privately and often shame is associated with showing grief publicly.
However, coming together and regularly paying attention to the sorrows that we carry, can help us to also embody the wild joy that longs to extend from our hearts. It can wake us up to the wonders of being alive and rekindle the fire within. All too often we live in a 'flatland' of numbness and experiencing our shared sorrows can support us to come back to life connection, as honouring our sorrow deepens our capacity for compassion.
In these Grief Tending Circles you are offered a safe confidential space where you can come together with others to share in simple rituals. There is no aim to fix or heal your grief, but simply a space for witnessing, holding and sharing. As we come together in community something different happens. Shared grief lessens our aloneness and rituals are rooted deep in our ancestral lineage, wherever we may come from.
Befriending our grief, opening our hearts to our deepest sorrows, helps our hearts to soften and open up to love. Opening and giving space to our inner selves nourishes our souls. As Oscar Wilde said: "Where there is sorrow, there is holy ground." Composting our grief is necessary in order to avoid stagnation, depression etc. Our grief can be a fertile source for our energy to start flowing more freely. Tending to our grief is a way to look after and maintain our emotional health, just like we tend to and maintain our physical health in various ways.
In the words of environmental activist, author, scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology, Joanna Macy: "People fear that if they let despair in, they'll be paralyzed because they are just one person. Paradoxically, by allowing ourselves to feel our pain for the world, we open ourselves up to the web of life, and we realize that we're not alone."
In addition to the bigger events of grief we may experience during our lives such as, the death of a loved one, divorce, redundancy etc. we also experience every day sorrows simply by listening to the news or passing by an animal killed on the road. As well as the personal sorrows we experience there are also collective sorrows of social injustice and environmental degradation. Grief is a normal healthy response to this and coming together and knowing you are not alone with these feelings can be very healing.
Often people avoid thinking about climate change / breakdown and mass extinction, not because they don't care, but because it's too overwhelming. With these issues being highlighted regularly in the media and the term 'climate change anxiety' and 'eco anxiety' referred to, it is important to recognise that this is not a condition, but a real response to a dangerous situation. The more reality is distorted or avoided, the more anxiety builds up. This tells us that something is amiss and we don't want to get rid of these feelings, but rather find a way to listen to them.
You are invited to a safe space where together we tend to our individual and collective griefs using simple ritual in small groups.
Please contact me for dates and further information:
+44 (0) 7947 336 915
lisbetmichelsen@gmail.com