Community Grief Circle — Support for each other in these times

How do we hold ourselves and each other in this time of uncertainty and loss? Even news headlines can activate anxiety and shutdown. World events, climate change, authoritarianism, and cultural loss feel overwhelming, but we still have daily lives to manage. We as mammals need connection with each other to process our grief. But hearing the stories of others' fears and concerns can just make us feel worse.

In this grief circle, we will use our bodies, song, art, and remembered resources to shift some constriction around these heartbreaks. We’ll support each other so we can connect with the gift of this moment and live our lives with love as well as loss.

This community space is inspired by the work of Frances Weller (Book the Wild Edge of Sorrow), Siobhan Asgharzadeh, and from the community grief rituals hosted by many in the Puget Sound Area including Sacred Groves, Laurence Cole, Mary Hart, Northwest Grief Tending (Siena Tenisci), Ahlay Blakely, Peter Jabin, and their teachers including Sobonfu and Malidoma Some.

Pay what you are able - suggested donation of $25-40, but no one turned away for lack of funds

About the facilitators:

Kim Varner has been a student of community grief ritual for years, tending her own extensive personal and communal grief. She completed a grief tending mentorship program and began facilitating grief circles in the Edmonds area in 2024, focused on introducing grief work to her community and weaving in various healing modalities and rituals.

Sondra Kornblatt has been involved with grief work for decades, addressing both personal losses and communal grief. She is also a life and sleep coach at Restful Insomnia.

Host or Publisher Kim Varner