Grief Tending Circle with Shannon Knorr and Petra Gojun

Living within a grief phobic culture, many of us abandon, suppress, or deny our own sorrows and loss. Yet grief surrounds us all in this life. The grief tending circle is a space to slow down and honor grief with others, creating a container that can help us metabolize, transmute, and move with our grief. Here we will honor and tend our grief through somatic exploration and movement, dream tending, and creative art making. We work with altar building, writing, and ritual, all in support of holding personal and collective grief.

This is not a therapeutic group process aimed at talking through our grief, but rather a grief tending space focusing on earthy, concrete practices that support us in moving through our grief and befriending grief as an ally. Grief is a living entity that needs care, expression, and ritual engagement.

This circle is for all types of grievers. We welcome those navigating the death of loved ones, shifts in identity, life transitions, chronic illness, aging, the end of relationships, or unfulfilled dreams. We also hold space for the continuous, heavy grief of our collective reality — from global and climate crises to systemic violence to the exhausting pressures of living within late-stage capitalism.

Please bring a journal and writing materials, as well as comfortable clothing that offers freedom of movement. Art supplies and restorative yoga props will be provided. We may be asking participants to bring specific objects to each session.