Meeting Grief

A COMMUNITY GRIEF WORKSHOP & RITUAL

The experience of grieving is one we all share, yet seldom do we grieve together.

As with many other practices in the western world: banking, education, therapy; grieving is privatized. We have lost indigenous practices of grieving together. We discover the impossibility of trying to contain the grief ourselves while releasing it at the same time. When we grieve together, we find we are not alone in our despair. We are welcomed and held in community.

In the Meeting Grief workshop and ritual events, Kim partners with Linda Anne Goulet, a certified End of Life Doula and Tai Chi/Qigong instructor to work through the 5 Gates of Grief as outlined by Francis Weller, FrancisWeller.net. At each gate, each entry point into the hall of sorrows, participants will write, share and learn an accompanying movement practice.

The intention of these workshops is to provide a safe container to explore and to recognize how feelings of grief present in the body, how they arise, make themselves known and how they fade away. We will not eliminate grief, nor analyze it clinically or critically, rather we will become curious about it, sit with it, and move with it. In one another’s company we become a bit more familiar with and fluent in grief’s particular soul language, and in doing so, create a bit more ease and space in our hearts.

Special Offerings

Linda Anne and Kim are also available to facilitate workshops for your individual group, such as therapists, caregivers, bereavement groups and first responders. Please contact us below for further information.

Share

In listening to the grief others carry, we discover that we are not alone.

Revelatory Speech

Write

Write into what is alive in the soul. Meet what arises in a safe container.

Soul Work

Move

Flow with gentle Qigong movements to facilitate somatic awareness and release.

Flow

Group Workshop Information

We offer small group weekend workshops that are strictly limited to 8 people. The group meets over 3 days: Friday from 2-9:00 pm with a break for dinner, and continuing Saturday from 9:30am – 5:30pm with a break for lunch, and on Sunday from 9:00-11:30 am at a private home in Carmel, CA.

Meals are on your own (local, chain and organic options are easily accessible).

Workshops are Non-Residential (lodging is available nearby).

REGISTRATION FEE: $375.00

Scholarships may be available. Please indicate any need on the pre-registration form.

Please note: At the conclusion of the event we will, weather permitting, take a walk to the ocean for the releasing portion of the ritual. This requires navigating a long set of stairs (100) with no handrail, a brief train walk, and a small set of steps down to the sand. Unfortunately, this portion of the event is not handicap accessible. We can arrange to drive to a level spot, but there would still be a short trail walk and a small set of steps to the sand. Hiking poles or a cane may be helpful.

There are 10 upcoming workshops planned for 2025.

STEPS TO REGISTER:

  • Complete the INTEREST FORM (click button below). Please make certain to indicate your preferred dates of attendance.

  • Once the interest form is received, you will be added to our mailing list.

  • If confirmed to attend, you will receive an email from Kim with instructions on how to complete the registration process and submit your payment. Only submit payment after registration for your event has opened.

  • Once all forms are signed and payment is received, you will receive a welcome letter confirming receipt of your payment, confirmation of your reservation, and detailed information regarding location, what to bring, etc.

Registration opens 6 -8 weeks prior to the workshop. If the workshop you would like to attend is full, you may request to be added to the waitlist.

You must complete this form to be considered for a grief workshop.

All information is kept strictly confidential.

You are invited to reach out directly to Kim Birdsong with any additional questions or concerns via email at Kim@KimBirdsong.com.

Upcoming Group Workshop Dates

  • January 24-26, 2025

    Carmel, California

    WORKSHOP FULL — WAITLIST OPEN

  • February 21 - 23, 2025

    Carmel, California

    Registration opens January 6 · INTEREST LIST OPEN

  • March 21 - 23, 2025

    Carmel, California

    Registration opens February 3 · INTEREST LIST OPEN

  • April 11-13, 2025

    Special Event

  • May 30 - June 1, 2025

    Carmel, California

    Registration opens March 24

  • July 25-27, 2025

    Carmel, California

    Registration opens June 2

  • August 22-24, 2025

    Carmel, California

    Registration opens July 14

  • October 24-26, 2025

    Carmel, California

    Registration opens September 16

  • December 5-7, 2025

    Carmel, California

    Registration opens November 3

Kim Birdsong & Linda Anne Goulet

Linda Anne and Kim hold the deepest gratitude for this work and for the opportunity to support you as you become more fluent in the language of grief.

Wherever you are in process with your grief, whatever you are grieving, we have a safe place for you at this event.

Kim Birdsong

KimBirdsong.com

Linda Anne Goulet

Gou-Chi.com

Praise from Past Participants

  • My fierce, beautiful, and courageous griefwalkers --- I have been drinking the heart tea everyday and savoring each sip as I recall the warmth of our time together. The last few days have been busy and I am exhausted. But I feel more integrated into myself and this process of living our grief, and grateful to have found such kinship with each of you.

    Sophia, CA

  • I would like to express deep gratitude for the Grief Workshop and Ritual you facilitated for us this past weekend.  It was beautifully put together and guided and I am very grateful for all the gifts you and Linda Ann provided the group. 

    Julia H.

  • I want to thank you again for leading the wonderful grief ritual in June. It was truly a salve for my heart to be witnessed and to witness others in sorrow and to be held in the container you created.

    Esther M., TX

  • The moment I walked into the room, the facilitator I had yet to meet, greeted me with a hug and said, "You must be Eric". From that moment on, whatever I was carrying in response to this, dissipated. I felt empowered to authentically reveal the areas in my life where I feel angry, disempowered, shame, and unwelcomed grief.

    Eric

  • [A]s the youngest person in the group it was such a healing experience for me to see elders being so vulnerable and holding space for one another in such a safe & compassionate way. Thank you all for serving as my grief guides as I continue my own journey so that I can serve as a guide for my own students and younger generations too.

    Raina L., CA

  • I felt that the space you both held for all of us was perfect and I felt safe and able to be vulnerable, thank you.  It was really great and I will definitely do another one at some point, Thanks for all your effort and expertise, you are both a blessing for all of us. 

    Grant S., NZ

  • Thank you for sharing such a profound time of deep grief, reflection, tears, and healing.  It was beautiful to not feel alone in my grief.

    Sharee S., CA

  • It was so very delightful to be led in the practice of qi gong by someone who understood how to be with the practice while integrating challenging energy.

    Eric

  • Thank you again for holding such beautiful sacred space this weekend. It was truly wonderful to be held by [Kim birdsong] and Linda Anne as we dove deeply into grief together. When I cast my rocks into the ocean I could feel some lightness in my being.

“Where there is Sorrow

there is holy ground.”

— Oscar Wilde