Befriending Our Grief: Writing & Movement Group

This four week group will incorporate writing, gentle movement & community to process and befriend all types of Grief. Grief doesn’t just have to be a burden you bear - it can be a beautiful part of you to nurture a warm & tender relationship with.  

Death - of relationships, hopes, dreams, empires, and eventually our bodies - is the one thing we are all guaranteed to face in this lifetime. And yet, there are so few spaces to gather together and learn how to process and normalize the grief that emerges when death comes to visit our lives. This group is designed to create a trauma-informed space where talking about death & grief are just as welcome as talking about birth, celebration, or everyday stress. Through meditations, journal prompts, and the simple act of gathering together in a supportive community to walk & talk together, we will learn how to make friends with each other and our grief.

Because grief is not a problem to be solved, an illness to be healed, or an issue to be fixed. Grief is meant to break us, reveal the truth of our hearts, and leave us transformed. Grief wants us to move. Grief is meant to be a companion who walks within and alongside us for the rest of our lives. And the more we can expand our capacity to hold our grief with tenderness and curiosity, the less afraid we become. 

Each session will begin with a low pressure conversation starter where you’re invited to share as much or as little as you want about your loss, joy, or mixed feelings when it comes to grief. We will then move to guided meditative journaling prompts designed to help us get to know our grief better. Lastly, we will either go for a short walk to move through the energy of grief or engage in a gentle movement practice with music designed to help us to connect to our bodies or release stuck energy.

Space is limited.to 10 participants

Time: 3:15 - 4:15 pm at Apa Kabar Teahouse

Parking: Street Parking (read signs) 

Supplies: Please bring a journal/notebook and a pen/pencil! Wear comfortable clothing.

Tea and snacks available for purchase. Support a local business and community!

About the Facilitator:

Grief & Trauma Therapist

JUNIPER WONG, MSW, LICSW

I’ve always been drawn to and seen the beauty in what others might consider the “darker” parts of life. I’m interested in knowing people in their totality - including rough edges, rawness, joy and strength. Learning to befriend & nurture my grief - rather than try to force it to “go away” or “let it go” has brought a sense of peace and wholeness to my life that I’m eager to share with others. 

I am a licensed clinical social worker and have been practicing for the past seven years.  I started my career in social work as a clinician in community mental health, working with high risk crisis clients in Vancouver, Washington. After two years, I became a supervisor, guiding four wraparound teams in interventions to serve families and clients with compassion, out of the box thinking, and humor.

Prior to social work, I taught high school English in the public school system in South Central Los Angeles for six years. I love and miss the energy of a classroom and am so excited to start leading groups again!

In my therapeutic work, I incorporate elements of self-compassion, mindfulness, somatic experiencing, and internal family systems. I am also a huge fan of exploring existential themes and spirituality, shadow work and the enneagram for clients who are interested in that side of the work.

 During my free time I love to practice my ukulele, write songs and creative nonfiction, act and storytell. I live with my husband, 15 month old daughter and cat, Narwhal.