Retreats for Honoring Our Grief
The Nature of Grief
Our Retreats
AnnElise Bergstrom and Lauren L. Murphy have designed three retreats that focus on different aspects and experiences one can have while grieving the death of a loved one.
The Nature of Grief retreats are designed to support you, whether you are navigating new grief or traveling with grief you’ve carried for a long time.
Retreat sessions include small group discussion, restorative yoga (movement, breathwork, meditation), and time for reflection.
Each retreat is complete in and of itself, and all three complement one another. They can be attended in any order.
Nurturing Health and Comfort
October 27–29, 2024
Grief isn't merely an emotional experience. It affects our bodies, minds, and spirits as well. During this retreat, we will explore our physical, mental, and spiritual health and how grief has affected our whole selves. How have we been changed by our grief? In what ways do we resist these changes, and in what ways do we embrace them? We will discuss and encounter tools for working with our grief, being attentive to our health and wellness as we carry our loss.
Nurturing Connections and Curiosity
January 2025
Grief changes our relationships: with the person who has died, with others in our circle, and with ourselves. We might feel isolated, misunderstood, untethered; maybe we're even angry because folks are ready for us to "move on" but we ourselves are far from ready. During this retreat, we will explore these feelings as well as the connections that sustain and surprise us while we grieve. We will be curious and honest about what works and what doesn't as we process our loss.
Nurturing Meaning and Creativity
April 2025
Grief is tranformative. We need to sit in the muck and mire for a bit before we let it do its work, but eventually we're ready to make sense of what we've experienced in our loss. Through metaphor and storytelling, through self-definition, and through intention and attention we emerge from our deep grief. During this retreat, we will explore our loss within the context of our lives in order to find meaning in what may have felt meaningless at times (and maybe still does).