A Gathering to Transform Grief
Through Building Resilience and Community
Sunday November 22, 2020
10am-1:30pm US Pacific Tim
It’s time to gather in a space where the depth of what you experience in body, heart, and spirit is welcome.
Now, more than any other time in recent memory, there is no pretending that every person on this planet is experiencing loss or grief of some kind.
We are, and have been, in a crisis of disconnection. Institutions and traditions are crumbling. Our health and home life are in upheaval.
Racial tensions that have been used to oppress are boiling over.
Land, waterways, animals, the forests, are being degraded and threatened – the very wild nature our survival depends on.
And leadership that can be trusted is nowhere to be found.
There is much to mourn.
Yet, we are part of a culture that believes grief is a pathology.
We’ve been trained to fear grief. We medicate grief (and emotions, in general). We grieve alone, in isolation. Or we repress it and don’t feel our loss at all.
One way through this unraveling is
to come together, honor our pain, and celebrate our shared humanity through grief, as we make way for what is – and what is to come.
If we look to our left and look to our right and acknowledge those going through this storm, we can create our way, knowing we are not alone during this time of upheaval and transition.
In many wisdom traditions, the way through grief is to feel it deeply.
Together. In Community.
When this happens, we are renewed and more able to support and attend to ourselves – and others – in their loss and struggle.
"The lack of courtesy and compassion surrounding grief is astonishing, reflecting an underlying fear and mistrust of this basic experience. We must restore the healing ground of grief. We must find the courage, once again, to walk its wild edge."
– Francis Weller, Psychotherapist, author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow, soul activist
We will gather via Zoom and create a space of comfort and beauty to support your expression and release of grief and mourning.
Our time together will include:
Creating your personal grief shrine.
Engaging with breath work and movement. Singing. Writing to connect with what’s in your heart.
Witnessing – and being witnessed.
Who will hold space for this experience?
Dr. Leah Prussia uniquely blends Indigenous teachings from Nature, Peter Levine’s Somatic Experience trauma resolution work, Relational-Cultural Theory, and Cognitive-Behavioral approaches to address the biopsychosocial and spiritual aspects of individuals, groups, and communities. Leah supports people through her private practice, Natural Connections LLC, and as an associate professor in the Master’s in Social Work Program at the College of St. Scholastica, and adjunct professor at Fond Du Lac Tribal and Community College. Leah serves on the Commission for Diversity, Social, and Economic Justice and the Environmental Justice Committee for the Council of Social Work Education, and also on the Minnesota Department of Health’s Behavioral Health Planning Council.
Jaleel Mackey is a human being, a poet, breathworker, mindfulness meditation practioner, yogi, peak performance coach, entrepreneur, and business leader. It’s through his experiences of immense loss and unfathomable success (and everything in between) that he’s able to relate to others and offer a customized blueprint for how they too can maximize their moments by learning to live life on life’s terms. He has recently transitioned from business strategy at Google, to entrepreneur and co-founder of Breathe, Rise + Thrive, an organization dedicated to building communities of conscious leaders committed to the transformation of their lives, their communities and - by extension - the planet.
Erica Peng creates transformative learning experiences to help leaders practice how to build–and repair–emotional connection through deep listening and witnessing. Her work and methodology, Designed For Connection℠, are a unique integration of neuroscience, systems awareness, interpersonal and group dynamics, intersectionality, and trauma-informed somatic practices. Her approach to leadership development draws upon her own leadership journey as a Chinese American woman, through disconnection and grief – to resilience, empowerment, and joy.
Tom Williamson is an Actor and Emotional Fitness Coach who uses breathwork and body awareness as the foundation for his healing/transformative practices. His interdisciplinary approach stems from training in a myriad of leadership/mindfulness disciplines, and his experiences as an athlete, a Hollywood actor, an international youth mentor. He and Jaleel Mackey work in partnership with their organization Breathe, Rise + Thrive to help bridge the consciousness gap between those seeking to thrive and those working to survive.
“Grief is a portal into what is most dear and beloved to us. When we are denied our grief, we are denied our full humanity. Gathering in community to express grief and sorrow restores our individual and collective power and potential.”
– Erica Peng, journal reflection after my first community grief ritual with Francis Weller
Gather with us to transform grief
through building resilience and community
Sunday November 22, 2020 ~ 10am-1:30pm US Pacific Time
After you register, you’ll receive an email with a Zoom link
and details about what to prepare for the gathering.
Please choose an amount that is freely offered – neither a bargain, nor a hardship – to honor the value of this transformative experience. All of your contribution will go to organizations providing direct support to Native indigenous peoples of this land, as a gesture of reparations from loss of land, violence, and systemic injustice endured since colonization, traumas which continue today.
One of the organizations we contribute to is the American Indian Community Housing Organization, in Duluth, Minnesota.
If you are an indigenous person, African American, person of color and/or have unstable finances, please email erica@ericapengconnects.com to make an arrangement that works for you.