Our Holiday Grief Retreat is intended to grant you the space to move through your fears surrounding the holidays, find new rituals that can help you honor your loved one, and find a community of fellow travelers on a grief journey that often feels solitary. It is a supportive space to feel and continue your healing journey as you prepare for the holidays and redefine celebrations.
Grief is something we all must move with and through when someone we love has died, but it can be difficult to put in the time and energy in a fast-paced world where everyone expects us to “have it together” or to mask our grief for the comfort of others, which can be particularly challenging during the holiday season. This retreat is designed to step away from the world’s expectations and tune into the sacred work of processing our individual experience of grief.
This extended weekend is designed to support those moving through grief from the loss of a family member (biological or chosen family). Please understand that this offering is for those who are a minimum of 3 months past the date of the loss. We ask that those who sign up are ready and committed to journey into their grief and are prepared to do the hard work of feeling. Grief has no set expiration date so all who are past this initial period are invited.
- A community that has the shared experience of grief, so you no longer feel so alone in it.
- Curated sessions to guide you through experiencing and processing the wide range of emotions and experiences that are bound together as “grief”.
- Four guides to honor and support your journey (each of our guides has experienced deep grief and offers a unique area of expertise, biographies are below)
- Spaces and free time to explore the landscape of your grief and how the holidays may amplify it.
What’s included?
Four days and three nights at the Heartwood Retreat Center in Blue Ridge, GA.
All meals and an assortment of beverages and snacks.
Morning and afternoon guided workshop style sessions on grief, as well as supporting sessions in breathwork, meditation, and light movement practices.
Small rituals and social times designed for connection to ourselves, to nature, to our community, to our love and to our loss.
Investment:
$980 per person for one space in a double occupancy room. As grief is typically a lonely experience we ask that you consider sharing a room unless you have a specific situation that might not be mutually beneficial in a shared room (for example: sleep apnea, significant anxiety, snoring). We will assign shared rooms by gender.
$1280 for a single occupancy room. Please note: all rooms have twin beds, and the bathrooms are shared with hallway access.
Rates include all taxes and fees. If you have any questions, please e-mail alison@breathtomotion.com. A 50% deposit is required to hold your space and you are not reserved until that is received. Payments can be made by Debit or Credit Card. An invoice will be e-mailed to you with a link for you to complete the final payment. Full payment is due 28 days prior to event. All deposits and payments become non-refundable 28 days prior to the retreat unless the retreat is sold out and we are able to fill your space from the waitlist. The retreat hosts may be able to offer a credit towards a future grief retreat in the case of documented illness.
Please note – arrival is requested between 3 and 4pm on Thursday, with our formal beginning at 4:30pm. We conclude at 11am on sunday, and departure is by 12pm on Sunday.
There will be no alcohol or illegal substances allowed on the property for this retreat. You will be asked to leave and no refund will be given. In addition we ask that smoking, vaping or other similar activities be limited to outdoor spaces away from any buildings or structures and not interfere with anyone else’s experience of the spaces and lands of the Moon Rising Retreat Center.
Your Guides:
Jenna Pratt is a bereaved mother who believes grieving is as natural as breathing and just as necessary to thrive in this difficult world. As a certified grief educator, she encourages her clients to embrace the grief journey through active listening as well as cultivating compassionate self-acceptance and courageous exploration of all emotions associated with bereavement. www.lionheartgriefcoaching.support
Anne Marsland is a licensed clinical social worker in North Carolina with 18 years of experience supporting individuals facing grief, loss and significant life transitions. She was drawn to grief work after the death of her mother from cancer when she was seventeen, and the desire to more deeply understand and make meaning out of her experiences. More about Anne can be found at www.annemarsland.com.
Alison Gurevich is a yoga teacher and certified Grief Movement Guide based in Atlanta, Georgia. She has received over 800 hours of yoga teacher training and offers pathways exploring the physical body and breathwork as access points to our mind. Alison was drawn to understanding grief as a lifelong journey after being born into a family in deep grief, her birth just a few weeks after her infant brother passed away. More about Alison can be found at www.breathtomotion.com.
Schedule (Sample day)
- 7:30am – (optional) All Levels Movement
- 8:30am – Grief Education & Exploration
- 10:00am – Brunch
- 10:30am – Guided Writing
- 11:30am – Grief Movement
- 12:00-4:00pm – Free time for rest, integration, and processing
- 5:00pm – Breathing Through It
- 6:00pm – Dinner
- 7:00pm – Writing Session
- 8:00pm – Restorative Practices
Please note we begin at 4:30pm on Thursday and finish at 11am on Sunday.
If you have any questions or for further details please reach out to us at alison@breathtomotion.com.
