Grieving through the Holiday Season
RECLAIM YOUR AUTHENTIC GRIEF
A gathering place where you get to be real about what you feel if you just can’t muster up that holiday spirit this year
a free online event with Mirabai Starr
December 3-6 | 10-11am Pacific
Are you feeling the tender ache of absence as the holidays approach?
You're invited to join us for Grieving through the Holiday Season
For those of us experiencing the ache of loss, the holiday season can be brutal. We are acutely aware of the empty place at the table.
While society is ringing jingle bells and urging us to buy more and more stuff, our souls may be beckoning us to turn inward, against the tide.
We need space to grieve.
There is a refuge for your broken heart, for your lonely heart, for your beautiful tender heart.
You're invited to
Grieving through the Holiday Season
This a space of safety and support where you can be real about what you feel, much like in our Holy Lament community.
Are you looking for a community to support the way your broken heart is asking you to show up in this season?
Join us for this free 4-day event
Grieving through the Holiday Season is a gathering place for those who simply cannot muster up the holiday spirit this year.
You will emerge with renewed peace for having taken the time to honor your loss, to meet your own sacred sorrow, and with the courage that comes when we remember that we belong to each other.
Can you discover the hidden gifts waiting in the depths of loss?
This gathering is for you if you feel...
-Pressure to align with society’s expectations for celebration when you are not in the mood to celebrate because you’re grieving
-Old losses rise up with renewed intensity during the holiday season
-Overwhelmed by the suffering in the world
-Bereaved in the wake of a relationship that has ended
-Our souls are calling us inward while society, family and community are demanding we participate in festive activities
-Paradoxically, you feel more alone than ever as you grieve through the holiday season, out of step with the energy of the times
-You are struck by the emphasis on over-consumption and lack of spiritual awareness
All are welcome to join including those already in our Holy Lament community
Have you felt pressured to put on a happy holiday face while inside you are burning in the fire of grief?
There is a vast circle of grieving people who long for a space where we can enter into an authentic grieving process, where no one will try to correct or direct us and where the internal voices of shame that heap pain on top of pain grow quiet and we can take refuge.
What to expect with
Grieving Through the Holiday Season
-Transformative teachings rooted in mystical traditions
-Guided writing, small groups and shared reflections
-Grounding meditation, inspiring poetry and healing song
-A reclamation of the landscape of loss as sacred ground
In this Wild Heart space, all feelings are valid. You may be having an extreme experience and extreme responses are understandable. We affirm your innate nobility and bow in the presence of your great loss.
The Week's Flow
DAY ONE
Disconnect between Soul and Culture
In this festive season, your broken heart may feel out of sync. The culture is calling you to consume and over-consume, to party and purchase, to prove your love with stuff. Meanwhile, your soul may be begging you to resist, to instead cultivate spaciousness and simplicity, and make a safe place for your sorrow. Your need to grieve is at odds with the prevailing energy of the holidays. You are not alone. Many of us suffer from this disconnect. This is a space to find each other and take refuge.
DAY TWO
Welcoming the Darkness
Today we say yes to the darkness of grief. We align ourselves with the energy of the earth and turn inward. We enter the womb of the dark and explore that which we cannot see with an outward-turning gaze. Even as the days grow shorter and the light diminishes, a tender presence fills our souls and expands our hearts. Like a caterpillar in a cocoon, we dissolve into the mystery. There are fruits that can only ripen in the dark.
DAY THREE
Honoring the Ancestors
We can actively include our loved ones who have died during this season of celebration. Wear their clothes or jewelry, share their favorite poems or songs, serve the foods they loved to eat. Light a candle for them at your holiday table. Write them a love letter. Rather than pretending they did not exist, we can weave these beloveds into the holidays in meaningful ways. We reclaim our relationships with those who are no longer alive, but who live on in our hearts.
DAY FOUR
Harvesting the Fruits of Darkness
Having given yourself permission to be present with the reality of your loss and chosen to grieve in a circle of broken-hearted companions, what are the gifts you have gathered that you can take back into your life? In this final session, you are invited to identify key takeaways and bring any lingering questions to the table.
By the end of our hour together, you will....
-Find refuge for your broken heart
-Affirm that your authentic process of grief is valid
- Relax into your heart's own timetable for processing loss, rather than succumb to the collective pressure to "get over it" and "move on."
-Collect a basket of practices to help you cultivate intimacy with grief, at the same time that you actively honor your loved ones who have died or relationships that have ended
What people are saying about
Grieving through the Holiday Season...
"What a gift you gave me by offering these four days and sparing me the usual fumbling alone in the dark. This time was different; Mirabai was holding a light because she knows the path already. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
- Virginie
"I always thought I would be too busy to make room for my grief. I was surprised to find that, as I took the time to acknowledge my grief, I also approached this season's activities with more patience, intention, and simplicity."
- Linda E.
"I received love, wisdom, reassurance, and a treasure in darkness."
- Jenny M.
"Thank you, Mirabai and Willow, for leading us all this week together! At this time of year, it can be difficult to be cheerful on the outside when we feel grief and depression on the inside. Knowing that we are not alone gives us strength and hope."
- Danielle S.
"I have been participating in Holy Lament since August, and finding a compelling journey to follow, with fellow sojourners. I also partake of your special offerings, and find that there is a fertile cross pollination between the two. It seems little insights bloom up, where I least expect them to."
- Julia S.
Meet Mirabai
Mirabai Starr is an award-winning author of creative non-fiction and contemporary translations of sacred literature. She taught Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog. A certified bereavement counselor, Mirabai helps mourners harness the transformational power of loss. Her latest book, WILD MERCY: Living the Fierce & Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics, was named one of the “Best Books of 2019”. She lives with her extended family in the mountains of northern New Mexico.
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