Grief Ritual, Boulder Colorado

Date: Saturday, December 5th, 2026

Time: Saturday 10am-3pm.

Location: The Labrynth at FUMC Boulder

What To Expect

We will begin by slowly getting to know each other and creating a sense of safety and togetherness. Throughout the day, there will be opportunities to drop into both somatic resourcing and an embodied experience of grief through song, drumming, dance, gentle movement, sharing in small groups, sharing in the larger group, journal reflections, and ritual. Our ritual will include a Truth Mandala.

People are asked to arrive at 9.45am to take a few minutes to settle in before we begin promptly at 10am. We will have a couple of 15 minute breaks throughout the day, and a short lunch. Please pack snacks and a lunch from home. Because our breaks are short, there will not be enough time to leave and buy lunch.

Because we will be opening up ritual space together, it is important that everyone stays until the end.

Is This for Me?

Grief ritual is for anyone who feels called to grieve in community.

Grief comes in all shapes and sizes. Grieving can include anger, sorrow, despair, hopelessness, numbness, fear, guilt, regret, and more.

Sometimes our grief comes with a story that belongs to something we have personally experienced, sometimes it is ancestral, sometimes it is collective or cultural.

We welcome grief of all kinds. Grief from the loss of a loved one. Grief from the loss of a pet, a job, a relationship, or a version of ourselves that is no longer here. Grief for the younger parts of us who did not get their needs met, or did not feel loved. Grief about polycrises, the wounds of colonization, genocide, or war. Grief about ways we have been harmed or have caused harm. Grief for a version of our lives that did not get to materialize due to trauma, oppression, or another reason.

Facilitators

Aisling (she/they) is a white first generation immigrant. Born in Ireland, they have called Colorado home for 11 years. In their work as a trauma therapist, they accompany people through deep grief using Somatic IFS and ritual. Aisling has experienced profound support from the pop-up village that is often created around grief ritual, and hopes to make grief ritual accessible to those who need it. Aisling enjoys bringing song, dance, and embodiment into grief ritual.

Ian (any pronouns) is a Physicist, musician, and deep lover of the earth. Ian brings an abundance of heart, dancing, and music to each ritual they are part of. Ian is a weaver of beauty, amplifying joy and sorrow alongside one another. They often do this using poetry, music, dance, and taking slow moments to smell the flowers with the people nearby. Ian is white.

Both Aisling and Ian completed a 6 month grief tending mentorship program with elders Laurence Cole and Thérèse Charvet. They both give thanks to the Dagara people of Burkina Faso, Sobonfu Some, and Malidoma Some for the generosity of sharing their wisdom with our teachers. Both Ian and Aisling are informed by Joanna Macy and Valerie Kaur, as well as the countless song catchers who have taught us how to grieve.

Price Tiers

Standard ($115): This covers the cost of your seat. Choose this tier if you have stable employment and are able to pay for recreational experiences without financial strain.

Supporter ($150): This tier covers the cost of your seat and supports both sustainability for the facilitators as well as active solidarity by directly funding our equity and supported tiers. Choose this tier if you’d like to practice sustainability and solidarity, or if you have discretionary wealth. (Examples of discretionary wealth include: can take time off or travel without financial stress, own property, have significant retirement savings, have access to generational wealth in an emergency, have investments etc.)

Supported ($85): Choose this tier if you regularly struggle to meet basic needs, have minimal disposable income, or would be completely unable to experience this healing container without a subsidized rate. (No one will be turned away for lack of funds. If this cost prohibits you from attending, please email us).

Equity ($0): This tier is a zero-cost space explicitly reserved for BIPOC and Trans kin to warmly welcome our kin who are often pushed to the margins in ritual spaces.