Grief & Loss Retreat

Inhabiting Sorrow: a 2-Day Grief & Loss Retreat (Sat-Sun)

“To fully inhabit grief is to hold the contradictions of the great mystery that loss shatters us and we become whole…We mourn our beloveds’ absence and we invoke their presence. We cease to exist as we once were and we become more fully human. We know the darkest of all nights and in so doing can bring the light of our loved ones into the world. We are paradox. We are bearers of the unbearable.”
                                       ~ Joanne Cacciatore (from Bearing the Unbearable)

There is much grief and sorrow in both the outer and inner worlds of our personal lives. We are a culture in grief. Some of us grieve the loss of loved ones who have died of illness,  cancer, or old age. We mourn those we have lost through divorce, breakups, and estrangement. And, for many of us, we mourn these losses isolated and alone. The grief we feel may mostly remain unspoken, unacknowledged, unattended – a deep and vast grief accumulated and carried, perhaps, for a lifetime.

It is essential that we open to our sorrows, name and inhabit them, ‘live for a while in their sight’ (Wendell Berry), and bring the light of our love to them. And it is equally essential that we do so in the company of others who are also suffering, to bear witness to each other’s grief, to honor the universal experience. Teacher & author Francis Weller (The Wild Edge of Sorrow) writes that being with grief is ”the solitary work that we cannot do alone”. We need each other on this path of loss – in our pain and in our mourning – to tend and heal our broken hearts together.

It is in this spirit that we invite you to gather with us in community, sorrowing in the shared experience of grief and loss. Please join Denise Carrico for a 2-day retreat to more fully inhabit grief, to give voice to our sadness, and to do so with great love, tenderness, and respect for ourselves and each other. The retreat will include the practices of meditation and gentle movement, circle sharing and solitary time, walks in nature, ritual, writing, art & poetry.

All who have experienced loss of any kind, at any point in time, are welcome.

Here is the agenda for the retreat: Grief & Loss Agenda

Retreat Tuition:
Private Room: $375, includes 4 meals- Saturday lunch and dinner, Sunday breakfast and lunch
Commuter Rate $250, includes 3 meals- Saturday lunch and dinner, Sunday lunch

Cancellation Policy: Cancellations 60 days or more before the event can receive a full refund – less 10% for payment processing fees and program administration.   Cancellations 59-16 days before the event can receive a 50% refund. Cancellations less than 15 days before the event are non-refundable. The program registration can be transferred to another person at any time.