November 10 -12, 2023
Sou’wester Vintage Travel Trailer Resort - Seaview, Washington
Dear Everything,
I'm here. I'm listening.
A Grief Retreat with Julia Francis and Laura Green of Portland Grief House
Join us for 2 nights near the trees and the ocean, remembering how to talk with the non-human world.
Why a Grief Retreat?
Humans are part of nature. All things in nature are connected, all things in nature are medicine. That must include us. All parts of us, including our grief.
There's something we're meant to help heal, there's something that's meant to help us heal. But how do we ask for healing? How do we offer our medicine?
We've largely fallen out of conversation with the non-human world. Deep down, though (not too deep) we know how to talk with the whole, big everything. We used to do it all the time. We can remember our way back. We can relearn the paths.
Let's try.
How it will work
We will spend the weekend in conversation with the non-human world; asking what medicine we can offer and what we can take.
Except for grief spills and vocalizing during sound healing, we will keep conversation with humans to a bare minimum.
We'll use guided sound work, yoga practice and meditation to let spoken language shift away from the center of our attention.
We'll listen deeply, and talk sincerely with the world around us, and believe what we hear and learn.
Accommodations
This Portland Grief House retreat will be held at the beloved Sou’wester Vintage Travel Trailer Resort on the Long Beach Peninsula in historic Seaview, Washington. This location is perfectly situated for exploring the natural beauty and lush bounty of the Pacific Coast.
We have reserved rooms for 10 retreat participants, and each one will enjoy lodging in their own individual vintage trailer or cabin that has heat, electricity, kitchenette, full bathroom, bedding, towels, dishes/utensils for cooking, and charming decor.
Included Amenities
Guided yoga and meditation (indoor)
Sound baths (indoor)
Finnish sauna and steam room
Firepits
Meditation garden and hut
Open access to art gallery trailer, tea trailer, thrift store, movie bus
Paved Discovery trail - 8+ mile-long, beautifully paved path through grassy dunes, forest pines, public art, whale bones, and more
The beach - miles of driftwood, coastal dunes, and epic sunsets
Fri and Sat dinners are provided. (Bring your own breakfast and lunch for Sat and Sun, or buy from the resort market that stocks food for every meal and every diet)
Massage and other services are available in the wellness trailer, based on availability, for an additional cost
Itinerary
Friday
2:00 - Arrive and settle.
2:30-3:45 - Gather in the indoor Pavilion, orient, Julia will help us open a circle with sound in which we'll offer a grief spill.
3:45 - 4:45 - Walk in the woods. Spill our grief - in words or sounds or silently - privately, to the woods, as offerings. Ask what medicine you can hold and carry.
4:45 - 5:15 - Back home, settle, quiet time. We'll offer journal and meditation prompts you can use, or find your way privately to what feels right.
5:30 - 6:30 - Song healing. We'll use this time to pool the offerings from the woods. Julia will guide us to a song that offers thanks, integrates the conversations we've begun, our individual and communal grief and the medicine we hope to give and absorb.
6:30-7:00 - Quiet free time.
7:00-8:00 - Dinner (catered meal served in the Pavilion).
8:15 - 9:30 - Restorative yoga and sound bath. Then off to sleep.
Saturday
Wake up and make/eat breakfast in your nest.
8:30-9:30 - Yoga and guided meditation/vocalizing/toning in the Pavilion.
10:30-12:30 -
Half the group
Walk to the ocean, bring her offerings including your grief. Settle in, spill out your grief. Sing or moan or hum or speak. Go on and on for 1 hour even if you feel done before - just continue. You can stop to sleep - if sleeping takes you, then start again. Walk back to your nest. Julia or Laura will accompany folks to the ocean to shepherd you while you spill and protect you from passersby. We will also provide shelters from the rain.
Other half of group
1 hour Finnish sauna and steam bath. Then another hour to wander the grounds, art gallery, tea trailer, thrift store, meditation garden/hut. You can also schedule one-on-one healing sessions in the wellness trailer.
12:30-1:30 - Make/eat lunch in your nest or wherever you like.
1:45- 3:45 - Groups switch the itinerary from 10:30-12:30.
4:45-6:45 - Nap, meditate, journal, rest.
6:45-8:00 - Group soup dinner in the African Queen trailer.
8:30-10:00 - Grief spill, sound bath. Then off to sleep.
Sunday
Wake up and make/eat breakfast in your nest.
8:30-9:30 - Quiet morning yoga and meditation.
10:00-11:00 - Walk and talk to the woods. Leave your community conjured medicine where it is meant to rest.
11-11:30 - Pack up your nest.
11:30-12:45 in the Pavilion - Julia will help us sing the circle closed. Eat our picnic lunches together and reflect/share experience.
1:00 - Check out and farewell.
After the weekend
Carry your medicine object into the world you land in. Ask who it is for. Listen carefully. Leave it where it needs to rest. Ask what new medicine you can pick up.
About Us
Laura Green is a massage therapist, Grief House Tender, friend and partner, daughter, sister, niece and many times a cousin. She feels many things, knows very little, is good at asking questions and better and better at not having answers. You can listen to her talk for many hours on the podcast she makes with her friend Sascha and hardly at all if you meet her in person at a Grief House event like this one. She is deeply introverted, but really quite friendly.
Julia Francis is passionate about holding space for others through deep listening, compassionate inquiry, and sound exploration. Julia’s offerings as a sound healing practitioner, musician and facilitator offer her clients catharsis, transformation and a deeper connection to their unique, exquisite essence. A life-long disciple of the vocal arts, Julia draws on her Celtic heritage, as well as her intensive study with shamanic practitioners and sound healers across the globe to help others understand and perceive the power of the unseen sonic world that surrounds us.
Payment Details
Pay in full to reserve your spot.
Unfortunately, we are not able to offer refunds.
We need 8 registrants by October 28th to proceed with the retreat. In case of cancellation due to low registration, all fees will be returned in full.
Pricing options:
Fully appointed, heated vintage trailer with full bathroom and kitchenette, and at least two twin beds. (sleeps 1-3)
$808 per person, single occupancy
$629 per person, double occupancy
There are a few slightly more affordable lodging options available that have fewer amenities. Contact us for more information on availability and pricing for these options.
We hope to offer at least one scholarship spot. In an effort to make this possible, we invite those with the means beyond their own fee to support someone with fewer financial resources.
Click here to donate to the scholarship fund. Under notes write Grief Retreat to earmark your donation.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us at info@griefhouse.org.
We look forward to spending time with you!
This retreat is brought to you by The Portland Grief House, which creates and supports community-led offerings that foster the metabolism of grief from all kinds of loss.
