“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain” -Khalil Gibran
Sacred Grief • Sacred Rage • Sacred Play
April 17th, 4PM – April 19th, 4PM
Haw River State Park
Summit Conference Center
Brown Summit, North Carolina
This spring, we invite 22 participants to gather on sacred land along the Haw River in Brown Summit, North Carolina, to be held by blooming Magnolias, Dogwoods, and Honeysuckle, as we honor what lives in the shadows.
There is much weighing on our hearts as we move into 2026: the upheaval and turmoil in the political sphere, deepening social divisions, feelings of uncertainty and disconnection, and a continued struggle to find collective ground. We carry the lingering grief of the pandemic, the weight of unfolding global injustices rooted in centuries of oppression, and the many personal losses and tragedies that shape our days. Grieving in community, through ritual, ceremony, and witnessing, was a component of our human experience in villages and tribes for millennia, but is arguably absent from our modern culture of busyness and individualism. In this practice-centered retreat, participants will be immersed in the lost art and practice of “communal grief-tending.”
Over our three days together, we will make sacred again the expression of grief, to unburden our hearts and create more spaciousness within our bodies and souls. Knowing that disavowed anger often lives underneath our hurt and our sadness, in community, we will offer one another a refuge safe enough to coax rage out of the shadows and into the arms of the sacred, where it can be validated and honored. We will also consecrate a space for play and imagination, to rebuild our resilience and provide a salve to our wounds.
The weekend will include:
• Breathwork and body-centered practices to deepen our trust in our emotional and body wisdom
• Therapeutic writing, inquiry, and small group work to assist in opening to our stories of loss and to give voice to our grief and rage over personal injustices and world events
• Mindfulness and earth-based practices to connect with the land
• Expressive arts practices to open ourselves to the power of play and imagination
• Personal and community ritual
As we practice the courage to be with the authenticity of our hearts, we enhance our capacity to embody a vibrant sense of aliveness and compassion. The beauty of this work is its capacity to expand into our communities and the world. This is a form of soul activism and what we are called to embody in this critical time.
We will begin at 4pm on Friday, April 17 and conclude at 4pm on Sunday, April 19. To cultivate trust and containment, participation for the entire weekend is essential.
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"Grief and rage are kindred spirits,
both born of love violated."
~ Francis Weller
What's included
• Two highly trained trauma-informed facilitators, and two grief apprentice space-holders
• 2 nights lodging in single or double occupancy motel-style rooms
• Locally-sourced meals: dinner on Friday, breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday; breakfast and lunch on Sunday, plus tea and light snacks throughout the weekend.
• For commuters: all meals are included except breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.
For those local to Greensboro, North Carolina, we highly recommend giving yourself the space to stay on location, to be more deeply held within the container we create in our "pop-up village."
Please click the link to watch a short video of us introducing ourselves, hear about our passion for this work, and touching on some of the themes for the weekend.
REGISTER HERE
This retreat is for you if…
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You feel the weight of grief in your body, heart, or spirit and long for a place where it can be expressed and witnessed in community
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You carry anger that has felt confusing, disallowed, or overwhelming, and sense it may be a signal of fierce love for what matters
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You are impacted by the collective grief of our time—social division, injustice, ecological loss, political upheaval, or the lingering effects of the pandemic
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You sense unspoken sorrow or rage living beneath the surface and want a safe, ethical, and well-contained space to meet it
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You’ve been shaped by a culture that encourages busyness, self-reliance, or emotional restraint, and you long to grieve alongside others
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You want to experience grief and rage not as problems to fix, but as sacred energies that carry wisdom, truth, and vitality
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You are navigating personal loss, heartbreak, transition, or disillusionment and don’t want to carry it alone
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You are curious about communal ritual, ceremony, and embodied practices as pathways to healing and belonging
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You feel called to reclaim play, imagination, and creativity as essential to resilience and aliveness
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You are a therapist, healer, teacher, activist, or caregiver who gives a great deal to others and needs space to tend your own heart
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You want to practice staying present with strong emotion without bypassing, numbing, or self-judgment
Our Statement on Diversity and Cultural Appropriation:
As facilitators, our intention is to create an inclusive space that honors all cultures and ethnicities. However, as white-bodied, cisgender women, we recognize the privilege and systemic advantages inherent in our identities. We acknowledge the racial lenses and gendered systems that have shaped our experiences and perspectives, understanding that they differ significantly from those of BIPOC individuals. We are dedicated to actively listening, learning, and unlearning, and we are committed to ongoing growth in this area.
In our work, we approach any rituals, songs, or practices from non-dominant cultures with deep respect and gratitude. They have been shared and gifted with blessings to aid in our collective healing. We are committed to acknowledging and honoring the sources of these practices, recognizing the responsibility that comes with engaging with them. May our collective grief cry serve as a catalyst for change and liberation, as we work towards dismantling oppressive systems and creating a world where all beings can thrive.
What past grief retreaters have said about our retreats:
"I cannot say enough about how powerful this experience was for me!! Hands down, it was the most powerful engagement of my entire life! Our culture deals with death/grief/loss/rage COMPLETELY WRONG and we, as practitioners, instructors, teachers, mentors, families, parents, etc must do our part to help spread the word that this experience (which we all have) doesn't have to be contained in such a negative, isolated, shameful space. I was definitely taught that this past weekend and now I'm telling everyone I know! "-AR
"It was a beautifully transformative experience for me. Summer and Samantha created a warm, loving, safe space. I am forever grateful for the insight I received and will integrate into my life. I felt loved and accepted by over a dozen people that I just met, and it feels like that is how the world should be. Everywhere we go, we should feel loved and accepted. I connected to some patterns and deep seated grief that are now in my awareness and I can observe them and work with them. I look forward to more retreats... oh and Haw River was the perfect setting. The food was incredible and the staff, warm and accommodating, and the surroundings so serene and full of life." -KP
"This retreat was so far outside of my comfort zone and I had no idea what to expect..I will be forever grateful that I took this leap of faith. My experience was absolutely amazing. My life has been changed for the better with the tools I took away from this weekend. There are not words to describe the love and bond I have with this whole group. Communal grief is an eye opening moment, one that I wish everyone in the world could have. Samantha and Summer are wonderful guides for this journey!" -AH
"Thank you for a truly outstanding retreat. The rich variety of ways you engaged us, your willingness to be vulnerable in our midst, and especially the way you trusted us to become a learning community for one another, was a great gift. You offered a very deep dive into a transforming pool and it seemed to me that all fifteen of us plunged right in!"-JB
"I’m so grateful for it. You created a safe pop-up village in which to explore parts of ourselves we may not feel comfortable with. I struggle with not feeling heard and seen. In that environment it almost felt as though that didn’t matter - that being being seen and heard was implicit and I was free to be myself without judgment." -RBH
"With grief the only way out is through. You can trust Summer and Samantha to guide you safely through the darkness and to bring you safely into a new way to tend and to companion your feelings of grief and loss. It's hard being a human. Feelings of grief and loss are best responded to in a safe and healing space. Summer and Samantha offer you this opportunity. Listen to your quiet inner voice and say "yes."" DM
"Samantha and Summer bring depth and breadth to the creation of a community of healing and transformation. A beautiful experience that helped me take a next step and to keep opening to the coming home to myself." TB
"I have never felt so cared for before in my life. The whole experience has helped me strengthen my capacity to be with difficulties. I don't feel so afraid anymore." -Annie
"Learning to ride the waves of grief without drowning or avoiding the waters of our collective sorrow has brought me to a deeper sense of aliveness and ability to stay present in the moment. This retreat provided the space I had needed for such a long time." - E.H.
"This retreat marked my second experience with Samantha and Summer's grief rituals. The days leading up to the retreat were filled with anticipation of returning to a safe space and loving community where my grief could land softly and be witnessed. As Samantha and Sommer often emphasize, the rituals of grief are deeply ingrained in our human nature. For me, embracing my grief is not only a vital part of my journey through loss but also a pathway to truly living life to its fullest."- TB
"Francis Weller said it so beautifully when he said “it was through the dark waters of grief that I came to touch my unlived life.” There is no other experience like profound grief, it connects us in a supernatural way that brings us back to our authentic selves. Rituals, such as this, create the opening for us to break wide open and let the light shine through."- Leigh
"This was a profound and liberating experience for me. I am so grateful to have this space and these practices. They are really a before and after moment in my journey." - E.
"This weekend retreat allowed me to be with and fully express my grief in community while held with love and support, and I was able to do the same for others." Lynn
"I am no stranger to the black river of loss that Mary Oliver writes about. Yet rarely have I had an experience that validated and acknowledged so deeply the yearning of the bereaved soul to unburden itself on the shores of that river. I am still processing this powerful weekend, but I feel that it was an honor and a gift to be a participant. As we chanted, I am beloved, beheld and known."- M. B.
"The experience of the grief retreat changed me in more ways than I can count. Being met in my depth by a whole community is a right of passage that I had not yet, up until the retreat, had access to, and therefore I actually did not really realize what I have been missing for 33 years of my life. Being immersed in the waters of this type of collective unlocked a felt sense of safety and belonging that I have been searching for as long as I’ve been alive. If you are hesitating to join this type of experience. I understand. But I can also tell you it's a gift that you will carry with you for the rest of your life if you decide to take the plunge." -Brianna
"Summer and Samantha's Grief retreat was everything and more than desired after reading Francis Weller's book; The Wild Edge of Sorrow. Don't hesitate to book, seriously! The retreat was warm, transformative, heart opening, all the things.... Our tears and joys felt cradled in community that is just so missing sometimes in our world."- Susie Cooper, LCPC
"If you have an intuitive sense that you need a little help processing your sorrow and/or your rage, this is a beautiful way to go. The facilitators create so much space in such a short amount of time for participants to soften and go deep in a setting that is safe and deeply informed by a culture of consent. In a short weekend we went from being strangers to being parts of each other's hearts. A truly magical experience that is a powerful tool for restoring our humanity." -Basil
"I feel so honored to have had the opportunity to read Weller's work and then the opportunity to attend a retreat by amazing facilitators trained in his work--it is so important that you are doing this work in the Southeast. I was awe-struck at how amazing the attendees were at holding each other's vulnerability and the deep trust-building that Samantha, Summer, and Beth were able to enact to cultivate a safe sense of community in just a weekend."- CS
To learn more, click here…
Facilitators
Samantha DiRosa, MFA, RYT, is a university art professor, yoga instructor, ritualist, and budding art therapist based in Greensboro, North Carolina. She brings 20 years of facilitation and teaching experience in the realm of higher-education, alongside an artist’s sensitivity and depth of insight, to her work with groups. Having trained with Francis Weller, author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow, and Joanna Macy, author of Active Hope, she believes in the power of ritual and ceremony to transmute sorrow and loss into the healing of individuals, communities, and the Earth. Samantha lives with her daughter and her pack of non-human companions in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, the occupied lands of the Keyauwee and Saura Peoples. When she is not teaching, she maintains a small private coaching / consulting practice and spends time connecting with her Celtic and Sicilian ancestral roots.
To learn more about Samantha click here
Summer Estes is a psychotherapist, group facilitator, and founder of Embodied Intelligence, a body of work devoted to tending the thresholds of the human experience—grief, transformation, and opening to presence. With nearly 20 years of guiding groups, retreats, and healing spaces, she creates transformative containers where people can bring what they carry and be met with presence, reverence, and warmth. In addition to private clinical practice, Summer has served on faculty and is a facilitator with the wisdom school, Kinward.
A lifelong student of consciousness and the soul’s unfolding, Summer integrates perennial wisdom teachings with somatic inquiry, breathwork, and contemplative practice. Her work is rooted in the recognition that the body and the earth hold an innate intelligence—an ever-present field of support—waiting to be remembered.
She is curious about human development, wisdom ways of knowing, and consciousness. She continues her own inner work through the Diamond Approach founded by A.H. Almaas, where she loves working with spiritual practice of inquiry. Summer has been a student of the Enneagram under the teaching of Russ Hudson since 2010 and completed her training through the Enneagram Institute in 2019.
She is deeply influenced by the grief-tending vision of Francis Weller, whose teachings on the “Five Gates of Grief” inspire her seasonal grief rituals and retreats. She views becoming apprentices to our grief as essential to reclaiming our authentic hearts and cultivating more life-honoring ways of being.
Her ongoing studies and inspirations include the wisdom of Dr. Gabor Maté, Dr. Tara Brach, Russ Hudson, Richard Rohr, Maya Luna, Malidoma Somé, Phillip Shepherd, Daniel Foor, Linda Thai, and mystics across traditions.
Summer lives in her native North Carolina with her husband Kevin, their three children—Abby, Levi, and August—and a beloved menagerie of animals. Whether guiding a grief ritual, facilitating embodied inquiry, or simply walking beneath the trees, she remains devoted to the mystery of love made visible through presence.
To learn more about Summer click here
Beth Farrand is a spiritual coach, group facilitator, breath facilitator, retreat leader, homebody-adventurer, flower lover, artist, and mom to 3 sons & 1 golden retriever named Millie. Beth is a graduate of the Shalem Institute’s Spiritual Guidance Program and has been a spiritual coach for 13 years. She loves holding presence and space for others as they seek to listen to their own inner wisdom. Beth brings her decades of experience with internal work, her supportive presence and her ability to hear beneath the surface, to her sessions, groups and retreats. When she is not coaching or facilitating, you will find Beth hiking and exploring nature around her home in the beautiful North Carolina mountains.
Sandy Blocker is the University Accompanist at Elon University who plays world percussion instruments for modern, ballet and African dance classes. He was trained from an early age as a classical dancer. At age 18 he moved to Virginia to study ballet with the School of Norfolk Ballet before receiving a scholarship to move to New York to study with the Joffrey Ballet School. He felt the call to world percussion drumming in an African dance class at UNCG, which led him to many trips over the Atlantic to study various forms of drumming. Sandy is a versatile world percussionist, proficient in playing African, Middle Eastern, and South American rhythms on a variety of percussion instruments, including the riqq, djembe, and conga drums. He has drummed with Malidoma Somé and will be accompanying our grief ritual Saturday evening.
How to Apply
- Register and pay now to reserve your spot!
- If you have any questions please contact us.