The Alchemy of Grief: a group journey through loss and transformation

the group is now underway and bookings are closed, but if you are interested in joining the next group please email hello@norfolkgrieftending.com.

In response to calls for a facilitated process that goes beyond a one-off deep dive, we're offering a 5-week grief tending journey.

This will allow for connections within the circle to deepen over time, and will be suitable both for those who are new to this approach, and for seasoned grief tenders.

Who is it for?

The group will be an opportunity for those travelling through a particularly difficult time of pain and loss to receive some more extended holding and support. It will also be a place for those who simply wish to develop their relationship with grief as a force for transformation and healing.

We welcome the many faces of grief, including:

• grief for bereavement, health issues and life changes
• grief passed down through families and culture
• grief that feels stuck or frozen
• those grieving for the natural world, for the destruction of what we love, and for future generations
• for the collective suffering of the world

All of this and more is welcome.

Cost

We are offering this group in the spirit of the gift: which means pay what feels right for you. We're suggesting a sliding scale of between £70 and £200 for all 5 weeks (between £14 and £40 per session), which includes a simple soup supper. It's fine though if your contribution is less, or indeed more.

Your initial £15 is to reserve your place - but please get in touch if this is a problem for you as we don't want finances to be a barrier. We will then be inviting further financial gifts during the group journey itself. We will send some guidelines to explain this approach and to help you think through how much you would like to contribute.

Taster

Would you like to experience this approach first-hand before committing to the 5-week journey? Come along to the first session on Tuesday 3rd September and see how you feel before deciding whether to commit to the entire journey. This first session is a great introduction to the approach we'll be exploring over the 5-weeks, and will give you the opportunity to decide whether it's right for you at this time.

To join us for the first session, simply go ahead and book your place below. Please pop a note in your booking details to say that you are joining us for a taster. If you decide not to join us for the entire group journey, we will be happy to refund some or all of your ticket price.

Follow-up

There will be an option for group members to continue to meet for peer support in their journey with grief after this 5-week facilitated process. If some or all of the group wish to do this, mentoring and resources will be provided to support this.

Residential Retreat

We are offering an ongoing programme of grief tending in community events, including a residential weekend near King's Lynn from Friday 11th to Monday 14th October. The contents of the weekend will be similar to the shorter sessions, but with more space to go deeper and higher, and to weave in more community time.

You can find information about this and other workshops on our website.

A Living Tradition

We will be working with an approach pioneered by Grief Tending in Community. We will be weaving together wisdom from indigenous communities in West Africa and Central America, from Buddhism and the Christian mystics, and from systems theory and transpersonal psychology. The teachers in this lineage include Sophy Banks, Malidoma and Sobonfu Somé, Martín Prechtel, Joanna Macy and Francis Weller.

Each week we will spend time in preparation, connecting with what is resourcing and holding us in life at this time. In this way, we will create a sense of safety and holding as we begin to touch-in on our personal heartache and our pain for the world. Working with tried and tested practices, we will tend what arises through a combination of work in pairs and in triads, in circle sharing, song and ceremony, and each session will finish with a time of integration.

About Grief Tending

Many of us have experienced that feeling of, "Once I open the floodgates, it will never stop." We carry a fear of being overwhelmed - and there is wisdom in the defences that we have developed over time to keep our pain at bay. If that's your experience, this could be an opportunity for you to gently take the lid off, knowing that the group will be there for you, at least for these five weeks.

It is our experience that the benefit of being in these grief circles extends beyond our time together too. Many of us, for example, find that afterwards we feel better resourced to work through our emotional pain, and that we have less need to turn to (more or less harmful) avoidance strategies. There will also be support for participants to continue after these facilitated sessions in a peer-led group, if there is a desire for that.

As well as those who are feeling particularly burdened at this time, we welcome those who simply wish to be part of a community of lament and praise - and indeed everything in between.

Sometimes we say 'there is no hierarchy of grief'. Grief is grief, and we find that as we come together in this way our collective sorrow creates a kind of solidarity that is precious and healing in itself. We're all in it together as we re-learn and re-member this art of communal grief tending.

Whatever you are bringing, wherever you are in your human journey of learning how to meet your suffering in creative ways, we very much welcome your presence in this circle.

Have a look on our website for further reflections on the question Why Grieve Together?

And here are some personal testimonials to find out what others say about this work: Testimonals.

Feel free to be in touch if you're interested but unsure if this is the right thing for you at this time - email
hello@norfolkgrieftending.com.

With thanks to local artist Rob Barnes for our event images. You can look at his linocut creations here

Supported by Norfolk Community Foundation