Working with Grief and Anger, A Four-Week Series
with Sheila Kappeler-Finn

Practices to create refuge for disavowed anger, to better understand the companionship between grief and anger, and to build trust in our emotional wisdom

“It is important to remember that grief does not appear solely through tears; it is also expressed through our anger and outrage. Through acknowledging our grief, we begin the process of being made whole again.” -Francis Weller

Anger is the soul’s signal that fairness and justness are degraded.  Grief is the sorrow and distress we hold in the face of loss and injustice.  Anger gives us the energy to confront and make change, while grief keeps our hearts tender.

In Western culture, we assume that anger is always poorly contained and sprays like buckshot, indiscriminately injuring those within a certain radius.  We fear that grief is a decent from which we may never return.  Attitudes toward grief and anger constrict our expression and limit our capacity to be remade by them.

With a solid container of permission and safety, this workshop will lead you through practices to help express your grief and anger, unburden your heart and create more spaciousness within your body.

We will 

• establish foundational group agreements to form a stable base of kindness and group safety
• identify restorative agreements to facilitate group repair
• gradually and gently build a community container that invites everyone to drop more deeply into their hearts, which can help to metabolize distress and give the intellect a break

Practices you will be invited to take part in

• community council where we practice deep listening and receive witness
• guided meditations, mild breath work and body-centered practices that help to surface and release excess emotion
• NVC-based self-connection practice, working with the language of universal feelings and needs 
• writing, inquiry and small group work to share our stories

What to bring

• A journal and pens or markers
• Comfortable clothing
• A pillow

On grief

If you have suffered an event in the past six months that has triggered acute grief for you, please reach out to see if this workshop is a good fit. People in early stages of acute grief may need a different pacing than this workshop offers.

ABOUT SHEILA

Sheila brings a synthesis of experiences to community space holding: a 25-year meditation practice, 20 years of Non-Violent Communication (NVC) study and practice, NVC complex facilitation, NVC multi-year mediation intensive study, a decade-long apprenticeship (with a focus on ethical and respectful cultural practice) in medicine work, and grief tending and apprenticeship in the lineage of Francis Weller, author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow.

From decades of depth work in group contexts, she has witnessed and experienced the power of healing in safe, well-designed community containers where people feel free to drop into their hearts. Sheila has the capacity to meet people in their depths, welcoming heartfelt and authentic participation.