Topic: Grief as a gateway to Hope
This session is being offered on May 11 & August 24
Note: People are welcome to any of the 3 topics and are not required to attend all 3 topics.
This third topic in our death awareness series, we venture into the terrain of grief and explore what arises when we purposefully process loss in our day-to-day lives.
Grief often begins long before a loved one passes, taking us on an unanticipated physical and existential journey. If we tend to our grief like a garden, it reveals its potential for growth. It may arrive timidly upon a diagnosis, hurriedly as an end nears, or suddenly with unexpected loss. Most importantly, grief forces us to pay attention by slowing… us… down.
Together, we will explore the different dimensions of loss—relational, functional, material, and the shifting of roles. We will discuss the “six needs of grief,” understand grief as a reservoir, and find ourselves held within the intimacy of a safe, supportive container. We will also introduce creative rituals as “helpers”, tools designed to bridge the gap between grief and a sense of healing and hope.
Over a bowl of fresh summer soup, Amanda will facilitate a deeper understanding of the subtle needs of grief. We will explore how being present in the body and in nature can support us, showing us how the heart can grow even in the midst of pain. Here, we learn that suffering can be a wise companion, helping us tend to and mend the holes left in our hearts.
“Go into your grief, for there your soul will grow.” – Carl Jung
“Grief is life turning toward itself,” Trauma Stewardship by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
“If you live deeper in the Heart, the mirror gets clearer and clearer.” – Rumi
Participants should be at least six months past a significant grief experience, or receiving individual support before the workshop. This helps ensure everyone is appropriately supported during the event.
Amanda Coggin has led death awareness conversations for the last 15 years in Buddhist hospice work and as a hospital chaplain in San Francisco, California. She is leading this series of talks discussing various aspects of the dying process with the aim of bringing awareness to this important topic that has been largely left unspoken in the past. We hope these discussions will support and prepare the community for the dying process.
Other topics in this series:
Death Awareness & End of Life
March 30 & June 10
Dying & the Mindful Caregiver
April 20 & July 8