Grief & Gratitude Tending
Learning to grieve well expands our capacity to live well
How do I know if grief tending is for me?
A Grief & Gratitude Tending is for you is you want deepen your connection to yourself, others, and the wider world. You may be grief-curious and want to learn more about tending to your experiences in a different way.
We are living through difficult times, and it’s natural that you are moved to join communities to support you through this.
Scroll down to find more information in the drop-down menu about the gatherings.
People find solace in grief tendings for:
- Collective grief and disillusionment about ecological, environmental and global uncertainty
- Personal loss and mourning because of death, loss of or in relationships - romantic, friendship, family, animals
- Questioning your identity after life changes or stages - menopause, mid-life, neurodivergence, sexuality, somatic dis-ease etc
- Anticipatory grief and concerns about your future, long term health, aging, mortality and major life changes
- Disenfranchised grief, hurt and trauma that remains unresolved in some way
- Hopelessness and stuckness in a sorrow that has touched your life, past or present
- Personal and collective experiences of exclusion and oppression because of your multifaceted identity
- A place to respectfully let go of grief held because of your role in a helping or caring profession or capacity
The group is purposefully small, to around 12 people each time, to create space for everyone to participate as much or as little as you want.
Grief connects us to our essential being within nature and its wild edges. When your grief is welcomed and held in community with others, you can discover your own wild edges and aliveness.
Please get in contact if you are unsure if grief tending is right for you.
Here's what others have to say...
Since I took the workshop I am more aware of emotions rising in my body and allow them to come up. Now I can recognise and express whatever is there, and not worry what the cause is. I cry for a few minutes and then let it go instead of feeling out of sorts & unsettled.
I don't like crying, it's uncomfortable. But after taking this workshop I seem to be more in touch with the uncomfortable feelings and I feel better after I let some of that tension get released.
I spent a wonderful and moving day on the Grief Therapy workshop. This safe and welcoming environment really helped me to get in touch with my emotions about recent family losses, and also surprisingly losses from years ago . I came away feeling lighter and more in touch with my feelings rather than hiding from the sadness. It has lightened the load enormously and feels like I have honoured those that have passed now.
Loved the singing!
I learned I don't need to be alone in my grief.
Since entering my menopause I'd noticed lots of changes and wanted to do some work around this, and to say goodbye to a year with lots of challenges. I had an amazing day. I left feeling lighter, brighter and with a sense of calm. In fact, I slept so well that night and woke refreshed and focussed. That feeling has stayed with me, realigned in my thoughts with a clear mind and just an enormous sense of wellbeing.
I loved the powerful female energy and how safe the environment felt to just go with the day,
no matter what it brought up.
I would recommend that all women do this, we take on so much in our lives. It was great to focus on me for the day and get clarity on so many things. I acknowledged my feelings, made sense of so much, and cleansed my mind of debris from old wounds & thoughts that no longer serve me.
The workshop is a caring and gentle way to look after yourself and release those pent up emotions that you may be silently holding onto. Thanks Joanna and Mary for a very insightful and weirdly enjoyable day x
The workshop is a space to bring any loss and grief that has touched your life, past or present.
Grief and loss are experiences shared by humans and all of nature alike. It is impossible to live and never grieve.
Grief tending rituals are an ancient tradition that are still honoured within natural cultures. Tending to grief keeps individuals and communities healthy and resilient. Honouring important life transitions and rites of passage creates safety, continuity, and a sense of belonging.
Sadly, many of those traditions have been lost and at times when we most need connection and support, we are left to grieve alone. We have lost our way. So much sorrow is left unspoken.
As a culture that values individualism, many of us have gotten used to aloneness. We are touched by and exposed to many sorrows and painful experiences in day-to-day life, where our expression of emotion is softened, diminished, and even deadened in families and societies.
Grief & gratitude tending provides communal time and space for welcoming and honouring your experiences in the presence of supportive others.
Join me in co-creating a space for the gentle witnessing and honouring of all emotions.
This witnessing not only allows the body and mind to process these often-challenging life experiences, but also expands your capacity to feel love, vitality, and joy in everyday living.
Whether you’re joining me for a two day event or shorter online circle, you'll gather with others to co-create a transient community that serves as an enriching resource towards grieving well.
There is no hierarchy of loss. You are welcomed without obligation or expectation. You will each contribute and use our time together in your own way. Without judgement or comparison, we will hold a space and be with whatever emerges.
As an apprentice to grief, I will guide you through reflective and written exercises, grief and gratitude ceremonies, group exercises. We will use the indoor and outdoor spaces to deepen the connection with whatever you bring.
You can read my motivations for this work on the link here.
We each learn in our own unique way. Throughout our time together, you are encouraged to take care of yourself, to stay grounded and connected in ways that are right for you. There will be plenty of quiet time for integration, which is a vital part of the process.
Gratitude is an integral part of grief. Learning the skill of holding both means you can live with more authenticity and aliveness.
Whilst the circles are therapeutic, it’s important to know that this is not therapy. I encourage all participants to have supportive resources available to them before, during, and after the event.
Tending to your sadness and loss means you can learn to be with and move through your loss with a greater sense of wellbeing.
Curious as to how grief tending can support you?
The online circles are a way to try out this way of connecting with your grief and the many feelings associated with loss and change.
Meeting online offers you a space wherever you are in the world, where you can take care of your own needs and comfort, while connecting with others as much or as little as you want to.
Many people try out the online circles before committing to a weekend gathering.
Likewise, those who have attended previous events find they can drop into the online spaces with more ease and get what they need in the flow of every-day life.
If you’re more seasoned with tending to grief in community rituals, then meeting online can offer a validating, familiar space to touch into whatever you’re holding right now.
In short, people like you. If you're reading this, then you're likely to be someone who's up for this kind of personal reflection and connection. Grief and soul work tends to attract like-minded folk of all ages, identities, intersectionalities, and life experiences.
I'm proudly neurodivergent, aware of my privilege, blind to my blind-spots and internalised biases (work-in-progress!), and respect my unique intersectionality.
My desire and determination is to offer safe, inclusive spaces for all. Hate speak, intolerance of how others identify and move through the world, micro-aggression and oppression has no place at my gatherings. I have a zero tolerance policy.
This is, as ever, a work-in-progress as I continue to learn to make my work more socially, environmentally, and systemically inclusive.
As such, I invite each of you to learn and participate in your own way. The exercises, format of the gatherings, and rituals are created to be neuro-affirming, inclusive and welcoming to all. That said, if something doesn't work for you, don't do it!
What's important is your experience of being part of the gatherings. Being takes precedence over doing.
In person Grief & Gratitude gatherings at held at the Abney Centre, in Cheadle, SK8.
This offers us a 'hybrid' indoor /outdoor location, with spacious private gardens and seating areas. The centre is set within the historical woodland (Woodlands Trust) and Abney Hall gardens.
Cheadle is a pretty town on the edge of Manchester is a semi-rural location close to transport links and a range of accommodation. We're fortunate to have lots of parks and green space as well as a vibrant high street on the doorstep.
Online gatherings will be on Zoom. These 4hr gatherings are ideal for those who want a shorter experience before delving into the weekend workshops. Online spaces are also great for those who have attended an in-person event and want to touch-in to the grief tending community on a regular and/or ad-hoc basis.
Hello, I'm Joanna and I've been involved in grief work since 2020, personally and professionally.
My private practice as a psychotherapist began in 2011 and I've been facilitating groups since 2016. I work with individuals, couples, and groups who are interested in deepening their relationships, especially the relationship with themself.
My learning and mentoring has taken many forms. Below captures some of my more formal learning over recent years. I'm also thankful to and influenced by the work of Sharon Blackie, Joanna Macy, Kate Codrington, The Red School, Fullcircle Learning Collective.
- Entering The Healing Ground: Grief facilitator training, Francis Weller
- Facing The World with Soul, Francis Weller
- Apprenticeship to Grief, Sophy Bank and Jeremy Thres
- Menopause seasonal cycles and medicine circles, Kate Codrington
- Clinical development group, Bill Cornell and Mick Landaiche (ongoing)
- Fullcircle Learning Collective (ongoing)
- Certified Transactional Analyst - Psychotherapy (EATA)
- UKCP reg. Integrative & Humanistic Psychtoherapist
- Certified Imago Relationship Therapist (IRI)
- Certified Imago Workshop Presented (IRI)
You can read more about my motivations for bringing grief tending to our communities here.
And here's some more info about me in my role of psychotherapist.