Coming back to LIFE
We live in a time where there is a lot to grieve. We also live in a time when communal rituals for grieving have often been erased or forgotten. The impacts of unfelt grief and communal separation are rife in our culture - loneliness, numbness, depression, violence… the list goes on.
Yes, grief can feel scary to feel. That’s why we need a regular practice and circle of support for it. One where you can titrate - a little at a time. Interspersed with connection, self-love, and yes, even joy. With this practice, grieving can be something we move toward with gratitude and grace, rather than avoid or fear.
Joy, beauty, love - these are innate to who we are. Yet, when unfelt grief builds up, our innate essence becomes muffled. When we let the grief move, we can find our way back to ourselves, into our wholeness.
Grief is just one of many emotions. When we suppress grief, we suppress all our emotions. We suppress our humanness, our capacity to connect in relationship, our truth, our aliveness, our joy, our sense of clarity, and our ability to move forward.
By engaging in regular practice with grief and joy, we are building something new (and re-building something old) that our hearts yearn for and remember.
What kind of Grief is Refuge for?
Refuge is a container for working with all kinds of grief, such as loss of a loved one, a dream, a job, a home. Grief around experiences you never got to have, needs that went unmet. Grief for unmet or unloved parts of yourself. You can come here to grieve personal losses, or collective losses, such as loss of natural environments and species diversity, loss of languages and cultures, genocides, harms done by and to ancestors, and more.
How Refuge Works
Refuge is a monthly online offering open to all genders. The structure provides space for:
Teachings on grief and joy
Guided somatic practice
Time for self-connection by choosing your own adventure. Paint, journal, move your body, breathe… along with music chosen for the energy of the evening
A Quaker share during which you can share or not share. Practice empathy listening without fixing or advice giving. The silence is part of the medicine.
During Refuge, it is lovely to see each other’s faces, but if you have a need to have your camera off for all or part of the time, that is welcome too. I invite you to take loving care of yourself during this offering.
When
Every 4th Wednesday of the month
7 to 8:15 PM EST on Zoom
Ready to Join a Circle?
Sign Up Online Now
Sliding Scale:
I offer a sliding scale in order to increase access to healing spaces for those who do not have the privileges of socioeconomic stability. If you have financial peace of mind, please consider a higher payment.
Pay what you can: No one will be turned away for lack of funds
**During check-out, click PAY WHAT YOU WANT then enter the amount you wish to pay**
Suggested Payment:
Receiver ($15) - if you need financial support
Sustainer ($20) - this is the rate that supports our facilitators well for their time & expertise
Supporter ($25) - this rate supports our sliding scale system and creates more accessibility for those with less socioeconomic stability
Your Facilitator
Nicole Robinson
Somatic Coach
they/she
As I journey into deeper years of personal healing and spaceholding, I feel the powerful call of Grief Work inviting me in further. In Grief Work, I weave my training in somatic healing with my apprenticeship to community ritual. Years ago, a doorway was opened when I learned how to feel, grieving my way through chronic illness and major losses, finding more of me on the other side. I found the courage to reach and to receive, giving me a circle of hands to hold among my community. In this practice, I hope to keep remembering - we do not need to carry it all alone.