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FOX HEALING
Tending the Waters: Grief Tenders Training
Tools for Group Grief-Work
**THIS MAY 2024 TRAINING IS SOLD OUT**
You gotta feel it to heal it! In a world riddled with the suffering and sorrow of ungrieved losses, we need leaders and facilitators who can guide others through the darkness in order to arrive at their healing. "Tending the Waters" is a Village Training for healing artists, facilitators, death doulas, and ritualists to become resources for tending Grief in their communities. Whether you are an established leader or simply aware that holding space for grief might be part of your soul’s calling, you’ll leave with a variety of tools and approaches to carry forward this important work!
This training will experientially impart tools and teachings of how to hold grief collectively. Topics and exercises include: Ritual Literacy, Calling the Waters (Accessing Grief); Ceremonial Tools & Technology; Grief Somatics; Blood, Shen, and the Emotions; The Head & the Heart; Grief Stories; and Casting Spells with Songs of Grief and Death. The classes are well-rounded to accommodate all learning- and attention-styles. The 4-day, in-person part of the course consists of three days of focused, multi-sensory training and one day of collectively holding an all-day grief ritual (Saturday, May 11th) open to the greater community. Three two-hour required Zoom meetings will compliment the in-person sessions to support participants with preparation and integration.
Full 2024 Schedule:
Preparation: April 30th (Zoom): 7-9pm
Event: May 9th - 12th (In Person): 9-6pm (Thurs-Sat); 9-4pm (Sun)
Integration: May 21st & July 2nd (Zoom): 7-9pm
The course will be taught by Josh Fox (he/him) and Siobhan Asgharzadeh (she/her) at Sun Song Community in Barnardsville, NC (full bios below).
For the sake of intimacy, focus, and safety, the training is limited in number of participants, and has sold out quickly the last three years. All interested participants must complete an application and interview to be considered for a spot in this training:
Application Link: https://forms.gle/yjHEGtTXQbKQ5fnbA
Additional information:
Lodging
Participants will be responsible for arranging lodging during this Village Training. There are many AirBnB rental options in the Barnardsville area, and Asheville is only 25 minutes away. Tent camping is not available at Sun Song, but car camping is possible with prior permission. If you're interested in co-housing options, we will send out a crowd-sourcing spreadsheet for enrolled participants to share their housing needs and offers.
Meals
Participants are provided delicious vegetarian lunches and dinners during the course of the program. This covers lunch and dinner the first three days and lunch on Sunday (no breakfasts). Our chef, Mirna, consistently delivers "beyond-organic" cooking, where ingredients are sourced or wild-crafted as locally as possible. If participants prefer to bring their own food or supplements, coolers will be available for use at Sun Song, as well as a very minimal kitchen set-up.
Ticket Tiers
Ticket sales are available in three tiers. Each tier has limited tickets and will disappear when they sell out.
We strive to keep this program accessible while tending to the long-term sustainability of this work. Please help us strike this balance by contributing the highest ticket tier you can afford, and leaving less-expensive tickets for others who might need them more.
"Strained Finances" Tier 1: $700
"Stable Finances" Tier 2: $825
"Abundant Finances" Tier 3: $950
If you own the home you live in, have investments or inherited money, or travel recreationally, consider opting for Tier 3. You may also consider selecting Tiers 2 or 3 if you benefit from a higher degree of earning power (due to your education, race, gender, etc.). Your generosity helps this work reach a greater diversity of individuals.
Limited Accessibility Scholarships (for BIPOC or need-based individuals) are currently available.
Refund Policy
50% of your ticket price can be refunded if a written request is made at least 30 days before the first zoom meeting. Your ticket can be transfered to another individual if a written request is made at least 3 days before the first zoom meeting. Otherwise, tickets are nonrefundable.
Josh Fox is a seasoned facilitator, teacher, ritualist, healer, and song-carrier. For over a decade, he has offered Community Healing Rituals throughout the Southeast (NC, SC, GA, FL, VA, TN, AL, TX) and has held space as a grief-, shadow-, and trauma-tender in his private practice. A graduate and long-time faculty of both Daoist Traditions College of Oriental Medicine and the Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine; he is a lifelong student of Chinese Medicine, somatic therapies, authentic relating, and Non-Violent Communication. His village-building work with Grief has been greatly inspired by Sobonfu Somé, Frances Weller, Joanna Macy, Marshall Rosenberg, and Martin Prechtel; and he has received ceremonial training with Laurence Cole, Sue Ellen Camden-Lee, and Kedar Brown.
Siobhan Asgharzadeh is grief doula, certified birth and death midwife, ceremonialist, and storyteller and who lives outside of Boulder Colorado in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Her work is centered around weaving soulfulness into the various passages we move through in our lives. Through story, ritual, dance, sounding practices, dreams, and wilderness soujurns, Siobhan supports people in imagining new ways of engaging with life’s many thresholds. In the last many years, Siobhan has been focused on supporting people through the initiation that presents itself when humans are confronted with loss and brought into the depths of grief. She facilitates Grief Pilgrimages and Retreats both online and on the wild lands. You can find more information about Siobhan on her website www.griefpilgrim.com
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