Wintering: Tending the Dark Waters of Soul

A Grief Retreat at Haw River State Park

February 14th, 4PM – February 16th, 4PM

Summit Conference Center
Brown Summit, North Carolina

 

 

In winter, the ground has gone fallow and we are in the sacred pause. This is Demeter’s season to grieve the loss of her daughter, Persephone. Winter is not only a season of the natural world, but a place that our bodies and psyches often find themselves, a season that recurs again and again across a life. In winter, there is a seasonal invitation to slow down, to tend our losses, and rest. 

With the support of the shortened days, we invite 22 participants to seek the uncluttered quiet of the winter landscape of Haw River State Park in North Carolina, to reverently tend to what lies in the dark waters of our souls. With the company of northern cardinals, bare silver maples and white oaks, and the magic waters of the Haw, we will honor the sacred pause and engage in deep rest and self care. And just as the trees shed their leaves in winter, to become the rich humus of the forest floor, we will unburden our hearts and work with our sorrows to compost them into fertile soil.

Grief has always been communal in our long story as a species. This weekend we will enter the original healing matrix and offer one another a refuge safe enough to allow multiple layers of grief to be touched and released. Over the course of our three days together, we will use the tools of breathwork, movement, writing, and ritual to:

 

• honor our resistance to our own vulnerability and the seasonal invitation to slow down
• share our emotional selves to bring us into the arms of the sacred
• deepen our trust in our emotional and body wisdom
• cultivate poetic imagination to encourage our entry into the well of grief
• explore grief’s protectors, such as anger, emptiness, and numbness
• make a refuge for gratitude and rest

 

Life’s water flows from darkness.

Search the darkness, don’t run from it.

Night travelers are full of light,

and you are, too; don’t leave this companionship.  ~ Rumi

 

 

COST:  

$665 for single

$565 for double

$465 commuter      

 

Registration closes January 24th.  

 

REGISTER HERE                   

 

 

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

 

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.