"An opportunity to explore/be with grief in a very held setting." - 2024 Participant

Held by grief tender Sophy Banks, “Tending to Our Grief for the World” is an online journey to a space of expressing and witnessing the feelings which arise in response to these times.

Whether you're impacted by injustice, violence, environmental destruction or harm, we invite you to take time to let go of what you are carrying, in the company of other caring people.

Taking time to build trust, we will invite our truth, and welcome the range of emotions that naturally arise when we witness injustice, violence and harm to any part of the living web of life. This can bring a sense of deeper connection to self, to others in the circle, and to our sense of aliveness and care for the world.

All feelings are welcome, rage and outrage, sorrow, fear, despair, paralysis, guilt, overwhelm, and what is not felt - the numbness or distancing that can occur when we don't have supported and shared spaces to feel.

"Pain for the world is not only natural, it is a necessary component of our healing. As in all organisms, pain has a purpose: it is a warning signal, designed to trigger remedial action. It is not to be banished by injections of optimism or sermons on “positive thinking.” It is to be named and validated as a healthy, normal human response to the situation we find ourselves in. Faced and experienced, its power can be used. As the frozen defences of the psyche thaw, new energies and intelligence are released." 

- Joanna Macy

Who is this for?

Anyone who is feeling grief of any kind for the wider systems of life, human and beyond, whether you have attended a space for grief before or not. If you are feeling close to overwhelm or very short of support and holding, we recommend you put more support in place before attending. Please be in touch if you are not sure.

Pricing:

This is for a 4-hour workshop, facilitated by Sophy and 1-2 experienced grief tenders for a maximum of 20 people

General Admission per session: £65,-

Concession: £55

Subsidised places reserved exclusively for people on low income: £45

About the Facilitator

Sophy Banks has been working towards the transformation of systems of harm for many years, as a therapist, constellator, grief tender and radical footballer.She has been leading Grief Tending spaces for over 10 years, drawing on the teachings of Sobonfu Somé, Joanna Macy, Maeve Gavin and many others. She was surprised during COVID to find that, working online, the practices could still be powerful and effective for releasing held grief.