Retreats for Honoring Our Grief
The Nature of Grief
About Us
In May 2023, AnnElise Bergstrom and Lauren Murphy met at a local coffee shop for the first time. As we visited, the seeds for the Nature of Grief retreats were planted. Since then, we have been tending those seeds and helped them grow into the retreats we now offer.
Read more about who we are and what we do below.
AnnElise Bergstrom
I am passionate about teaching and learning. I taught secondary social studies and was a youth director for over twenty years, and in 2018, I started coursework to prepare me for companioning people through grief, loss, and end of life. I have a master’s degree in education from Harvard University, and I earned certifications in grief support from University of Wisconsin–Madison, The Sacred Art of Living and Dying, and The Center for Loss and Life Transitions.
Over the years I have planned and led many retreats, both for young people and adults. I have witnessed how intentional time away from our regular routines and settings allows for a different kind of experience, one that is surprising, refreshing, and valuable.
Since 2020, when the pandemic began, I have created and facilitated grief support groups in the community, at Quiet Oaks Hospice House, and at St. Cloud Hospital. Again and again, I have witnessed this Swedish Proverb:
Joy shared is twice joy.
Sorrow shared is half sorrow.
While these proportions may not be accurate, there is truth in these words. Grief is deeply personal, but it does not have to be experienced privately. We live in a culture that is very impatient with grief, and I am convinced that honoring our grief with intentional time and attention is healthy and necessary.
I have three sons and am navigating having an empty nest and two weddings, all in one year! I steady myself by spending time in the natural world, writing, cooking, and connecting with my treasured family and friends.
Lauren L. Murphy
I started Heart Forward Yoga in 2023, focusing on teaching people who are grieving and/or managing anxiety. I have a master’s degree in theology from Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and am a certified yoga teacher, completing my 200-hour teacher training at Devanadi School of Yoga and Wellness in 2022. I am also a freelance copyeditor and writer. I enjoy reading, quilting, baking, watching British mysteries with my husband Patrick, planning our next trip to Ireland, and loving on our two dogs, Cully and Lewis, and my cat, Scout.
I started a daily yoga practice as a way to stay grounded in the midst of the pandemic, but I also found that yoga helped manage my anxiety and was a conversation partner for my grievings. My dad died of colon cancer when I was five years old. In 2010, my uncle Shaun died by suicide, causing me to regrieve my dad and bringing the anxiety that had simmered through much of my life to a boil. In 2017, my uncle Ryan also died by suicide. These grievings each pulled the rug out from under my feet in different ways; on occasion, they still do. Grief is like that. I have been helped along the way by many people, and I've gained helpful tools for working with grief and managing anxiety.
My hope is to hold space for others who have had the rug pulled out from under their feet, to help them weave a new rug so they can find their balance and their breath again.