Bereaved Mother's Day Gathering
A Circle of Support to Write Our Way Through the Wild Landscape of Loss
With Mirabai Starr and Willow Brook
Sunday, May 4th, 2025 | 11am Pacific | 75 minutes
In the season where motherhood is celebrated, we create a tender refuge for those whose hearts carry the weight of absence—whether of a child who has died, or a mother no longer present. Here, in this circle, your grief is not something to overcome, but a testimony to love that continues beyond physical presence.
Suggested Donation: $25-35 | No one turned away for lack of funds
Recording available to all registrants for one month
A Sacred Space for Your Broken-Open Heart
Are you missing a child who has died? A mother who is gone?
In a culture that rushes toward celebration and away from sorrow, Mother's Day can leave you feeling isolated and out-of-step with the world around you. The cards in store aisles, the restaurant advertisements, the social media posts—all can become painful reminders of what is missing.
You are not alone in this experience. Being in community with others who understand the wild landscape of loss can be a potent balm for our hearts, and a beckoning into a wider space of love.
Perhaps you find the sentimentality and commercialism of the holiday annoying at best, even infuriating. Perhaps you wonder if you're "doing grief wrong" by still feeling this way after so much time.
Come take refuge with us. We are preparing a safe and nourishing space for your broken-open heart on this Bereaved Mother's Day.
This Gathering Is For You If You Are:
- Missing a child who has died (or is estranged)
- Missing a mother who has died (or is estranged)
- Feeling alienated as others celebrate Mother's Day
- Sensing that you are somehow wrong for being sad during this time
- Wondering if you'll ever "get over" your loss
Through Our Time Together, You Will:
- Feel closer to your loved ones who have died
- Experience and embrace grief as a spiritual path
- Generate ideas to transform your personal story of loss into writing
- Integrate your shattering loss into the full tapestry of your life
- Encounter writers who have woven meaning from their own losses
Questions We'll Explore:
What if, instead of trying to move beyond your grief, you embrace it as a testament to your love?
How can reading about others' experience of losing a child or a mother soothe your heart and infuse your own loss with meaning?
What is the connection between grief and artistic expression?
Your Guides for This Journey
Mirabai Starr
Mirabai Starr is an award-winning author, internationally acclaimed speaker, and interspiritual teacher. Drawing from 20 years of teaching Philosophy and World Religions and a lifetime of practice, Mirabai shares her wisdom worldwide on contemplative living, writing as a spiritual practice, and the transformational power of grief and loss.
She has authored over a dozen books including Wild Mercy, Caravan of No Despair, and renowned translations of sacred literature. Mirabai brings her own experience as a bereaved mother into this sacred space, honoring the particular grief that comes with the loss of a child.
Willow Brook
Willow Brook is an earth-loving educator, creative director, and artist with over a decade of experience teaching in classrooms around the world. She combines devotional practices of earth ritual, meditation, yoga, and song to support people through life transitions, bringing the sacred into everyday life.
Willow's writing on her blog "Born to Remember" is a gateway to continued connection with her beloved deceased mother. Willow is the co-founder of Wild Heart and supports grief gatherings and contemplative experiences rooted in the divine feminine.
Event Details
Date: Sunday, May 4th, 2025
Time: 11am-12:15pm Pacific Time
Format: Live Online Gathering via Zoom
Suggested Donation: $25-35 (No one turned away for lack of funds)
Recording: Available to all registrants for one month after the event
Please offer what is possible and generous to you to support our team in continuing to share these events.
What You'll Need:
- A quiet space where you can be present
- Journal and pen for writing
- Optional: A photo or meaningful object connected to your loved one
- A gentle willingness to be with what arises
We're Eager to Hear Your Voice
Participants will be asked to submit questions before the event to inform what our speakers share. You will also have an opportunity to ask follow-up questions during our time together live.
You are an important part of the conversation.
A Note from Mirabai & Willow:
Dear Friends,
We know that the approach of Mother's Day can bring a complex tapestry of emotions for those who grieve. Society often fails to make space for our continued connection with those who have died—especially in seasons meant for celebration.
In this gathering, we invite you to claim your rightful place in the circle, exactly as you are. There is no timeline for grief, no right way to carry your love for those no longer physically present. The threshold is open. We welcome you.
With care,
Mirabai & Willow
