GRIEVING GROUND
A 5-month grief intensive for anyone longing to shift the story of grieving alone.
Together, we build a community of care.
GRIEVING GROUND is as it sounds–a ground to be with your grief. A ground where you can go slow and breathe into the places it hurts to go alone. You don’t need to hold it together here.
With the medicine of meeting ourselves and each other as we are, we’ll follow the wisdom of the body’s process. We’ll lean into embodied ritual, witnessing, somatic listening and art making–resources to navigate the terrain.
As Francis Weller says, “we need places that can hold the fierce energies of our grief.” In the second half of Grieving Ground, you will have the opportunity to step into a personalized ritual, a “micro ritual.” Micro rituals are an opportunity to metabolize a particular aspect of your grief while being seen and held by our Grieving Ground community.
Guided by Monika Denise and Kelsey Maloney.
Registration is open!
Group size is limited.
DATES & TIMES:
Sunday October 5, 2025
2-8pm
Building our container: We’ll find ground & explore the shapes, sizes, & speeds of our grief. We’ll build our capacities for witnessing and expression as we lean into Open Floor movement, song, and other embodiment practices.
Includes soup dinner provided by Kelsey & Monika Denise.
Sunday November 9, 2025
2-8pm
Deepening into the nuances of our grief with art and Open Floor Movement practices. Includes an movement based grief ritual.
Includes potluck dinner provided by all of us.
Sunday December 7, 2025
2-8pm
2-430pm: Exploring a wider view of the ways grief takes residence in our lives through art and song.
430-5pm: Dinner break. Please pack your own dinner.
5-8pm: Inviting in the wider community; An Embodied Grief Ritual with others in the community who’ve previously attended a grief ritual or workshop with Kelsey and Monika Denise.
Includes tea and light snacks provided by Monika Denise & Kelsey.
Sunday January 11, 2026
2-8pm
Connecting and integrating: space for personalized rituals (aka: micro rituals) to honor each individual’s personal grief journey while held by our Grieving Ground community.
Includes potluck provided by all of us.
February 1, 2026
2-8pm
Connecting and integrating: space for personalized rituals (aka: micro rituals) to honor each individual’s personal grief journey while held by our Grieving Ground community.
Includes potluck provided by all of us.
Thursday February 5, 2026
6-9pm Sunday
Closing our time with integrative connection.
Includes soup dinner provided by Kelsey & Monika Denise.
OPTION FOR ADDITIONAL 1:1 SUPPORT:
Sometimes it can be hard to access grief when a grief journey has included a traumatic experience. Trauma can contribute to the intensity or add complications to grieving. Monika Denise is trained in the Instinctual Trauma Response (ITR) Method, a protocol based in neuroscience and art therapy that offers a grounded pathway for integrating traumas. The ITR Method helps to resolve symptoms of traumatic stress, reduce sensitivity to triggers, and can allow our hearts to be more accessible. Participants are invited to book 1-3 sessions (at a special Grieving Ground rate) with Monika Denise should they be interested in easing stress from trauma. These sessions may be especially supportive before or after a micro ritual. Contact Monika Denise to learn more.
LOCATION:
The Peace Education Somatic School (Formerly referred to as “The Dojo”)
1101 N. State Street, Suite 300
Bellingham, WA 98225
Please note:
*No shoes of any kind are permitted inside the studio space.
*This studio is accessed by a flight of steep stairs. There is stairlift available if needed.
For more information, please contact Kelsey.
PAYMENT DETAILS:
$750-$900, sliding scale
After registering, you will a receive an invoice with information for how to pay.
$826-900: When I pay more, I am helping the facilitators support themselves and contributing to those in the community who can’t pay as much.
$825: When I pay in the middle, I am helping the facilitators cover costs.
$750-$824: When I pay less, I am letting my community hold and support me.
3-part payment plan available for $300/payment.
First payment due upon registration. Second payment due by Nov. 9, 2025. Third Payment due by Dec. 7, 2025. If signing up for a payment plan, you are agreeing to complete all three payments even if you are unable to complete the group for any reason.
CONFIDENTIALITY:
A week before the start of the intensive, or as soon as the group is full, we will send an email out with the names of everyone in the group. If you notice a confidentiality conflict with someone in the group, please let us know as soon as possible.
CANCELLATION POLICY:
If you need to cancel before September 5, you will receive a refund minus a $100 administrative fee. After September 1, there are no refunds unless we are able to fill your spot. If we are able to fill your spot, you will receive a refund minus the $100 administrative fee. If signing up for a payment plan, you are agreeing to complete all three payments even if you are unable to complete the group for any reason.
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID ABOUT PAST GRIEF INTENSIVES WITH KELSEY AND MONIKA DENISE:
“This is a space where you can remember what it means to be human, where you can feel enough as you are, where you can practice consent culture and growing capacity for intimacy.”
“Expands your definitions of grieving, self-expression, what is possible when held in a safe, loving container. All about being in your body, with bodies, while feeling BIG emotions.”
“It was deeply nourishing and it takes courage…to be open to what arises.”
“Bring a friend. Bring courage. Meet yourself where you are at.”
REGISTER FOR GRIEVING GROUND!
Registration closes October 3, 2025