Yoga for Grief Support Group

The Yoga for Grief sup­port group is offered sev­eral times dur­ing the year, and limit the num­ber of par­tic­i­pants to 8–10 so that shar­ing time is open for all to speak and be heard.  The goals of the group are to:

• Release pain and ten­sion caused by grief and stress.
• Boost their immune sys­tem and reverse the effects of the fight-or-flight stress response.
• Calm the seem­ingly end­less cycle of painful and neg­a­tive thoughts that are com­mon after the death of a loved one.
• Recon­struct the shat­tered self image and rede­fine their life after the loss.
• Teach the reader to cope with life with­out their loved one.
• Develop com­pas­sion for self and all beings, per­haps the most impor­tant task of healing.

I designed this spe­cial yoga for grief group to help you mind­fully engage with the “grief-work” while heal­ing your body from the stress­ful effects of bereave­ment. This group is open to peo­ple who have expe­ri­enced the death of a loved one or those who are care-giving for a per­son with a ter­mi­nal diagnosis.

Each class will begin with a check-in and cen­ter­ing. You will then be led through gen­tle yoga designed for the griev­ing body. After a period of deep relax­ation there will be time for you to jour­nal. Some weeks a guided exer­cise will be pro­vided, along with optional home prac­tice. You are invited to come as you are, and will be allowed to move at your own pace through the phys­i­cal prac­tice and emo­tional work as well.

A key ele­ment of grief-work is recon­struct­ing your­self after the loss. Yoga, med­i­ta­tion, and jour­nal­ing will help you move for­ward through your expe­ri­ence of loss while cre­at­ing a con­tin­u­ing bond with the per­son you will always love.

You do not need any yoga or fit­ness expe­ri­ence, and you will be invited to move at your own pace, both phys­i­cally and emo­tion­ally, and have the oppor­tu­nity to share your story while being wit­nessed by com­pas­sion­ate group mem­bers. All spir­i­tual beliefs are wel­come and respected.

The group includes:

• Weekly class fea­tur­ing yoga, med­i­ta­tion, jour­nal­ing and com­pas­sion­ate discussion.
• Heather’s Audio CD for home practice

Please call me at 240–446-3030 if you have any ques­tions, or visit the events page to reg­is­ter for the next class.

I am avail­able to facil­i­tate this class for con­fer­ences or in other pro­fes­sional venues. Please con­tact me if your orga­ni­za­tion, yoga stu­dio, hos­pice or grief coun­sel­ing cen­ter would like to dis­cuss inte­grat­ing Yoga for Grief with your cur­rent offerings.