A Year to Breathe: Practicing Grief, Gratitude and Endings unto our Last Breath
“Of all things in life, what is the most astounding?”, Yudhiṣṭhira is asked. “That a person, seeing others die all around him, never thinks that he will die.”
— From the Mahābhārata, translated by Michael Stone in the Inner Tradition of Yoga
Is it possible, in current times, to behave as though we know we will die, and prepare for our own death? In our death-phobic, grief-illiterate and ageist society, the chances of imagining and tending to our own death (while on the roller coaster of everyday life), is unfortunately low. As a consequence, our deep connection to our life often suffers, and we find ourselves in shock when we brush against illness, loss or a loved one's “unexpected” death.
If you are a yoga practitioner (or interested in contemplative or mindfulness practices), how can we practice our svādhyāya (self study) more deliberately, turning toward that which scares us, such as abhiniveśa (fear of letting go or dying)? What do the texts and practices of yoga say about attachment and impermanence?
When we find our way to our mats and bring awareness to our breath, how can we also learn something of endings, thus planting alchemical seeds of appreciation and gratitude? And how can our own personal work create a welcome co- regulation, when working with clients or loved ones, who find themselves devastated with a diagnosis or shattered by life’s sorrow?
In this year-long study, reflection and meditation course, sit in like-wondering community and practice an intentional svādhyāya on endings, grief and death. Unexpectedly, gratitude and the joy of living seem to arise when befriending the ending of days.
“Apprentice yourself to the curve of your own disappearance”
— David Whyte
Throughout this year, we will:
- Cultivate our love of life while making room for the ending of our days.
- Explore the skilfulness of grief and bereavement-sensitive practices to nourish sorrow alongside gratitude.
- Study the way we speak about death as a consequence of death anxiety cross-culturally, and how death is spoken of in religious and spiritual traditions.
- Consider how anxiety and depression have roots in death phobia, and how to work with this awareness with ourselves and others.
- Consider how the body dies (and why), and yogic and cultural views on the purpose and processes of dying and death.
- Surface our own personal beliefs and fears about suffering, dying and death (or abhiniveśa), and other kleśas (obstacles) with compassion.
- Address unwelcome and unacknowledged regrets and their intelligent purpose.
- Study our own birth lineage's view on death and bring this knowledge to the wider group.
- Learn a variety of thanatology-aware practices and begin to cultivate an intimacy and curiosity with our own dying.
- Notice how ageism, in part, is a consequence of grief illiteracy and death-phobia, and how true eldership, lost in our culture, is a needed function for cultural sanity.
- Favour authenticity over positivity, and in this way be of (truthful) sattvic service to others, who will also fail to live forever
- Work with the many practices of breath entrusted to us, our first met and final loyal friend.
- Practice Śavāsana (corpse pose) as central (and more than a practice of rest), as a time honoured practice of endings of days.
- Discover poetry and beauty practices that honour impermanence, our life and our times.
- Embody the learnings and deep humanity these practices offer), and sit with tempered grace, empathy and equanimity in the presence of other people's suffering. Walk more purposefully along the humble path of of dharma (a collective purpose).
“Bringing grief and death out of the shadow is our spiritual responsibility, our sacred duty. By doing so, we may be able to feel our desire for life again and remember who we are, where we belong, and what is sacred”.
— Francis Weller
IMPORTANT DATES: Once (or twice) a month on Zoom for a YEAR!
13 monthly (main) meetings, 13 optional chat meetings, plus recordings of lectures, meditations, breath, movement and Śavāsana practices!
Information Meetings (Zoom): Find out more about the program!!
Sunday, February 7th, noon - 1pm EST
Sunday, March 7th, noon -1pm EST
Sunday, March 21, noon - 1pm EST
Please register by email at: anne@embodiedyogatherapy.com
Technical Meeting For those unfamiliar with Google Classroom, Kilee Mercuur will guide you to it's usage. Breathe easy. In an unhurrued manner, she'll ensure that you are comfortable with Zoom and the Classroom, so you can find all the practices and assignments (if you are doing CE credits).
Monthly Gatherings for a Year to Breathe –
First Sunday of each month, MAIN MEETING, noon - 4pm EST. Each meeting starts with poetry and music, and moves on to lectures, research, and practices (breath, meditation, visualization and Śavāsana). Check-in with fellow practitioners and hear reflections on their monthly practices and lived experience. Follow the bread-crumb trail in various yogic and modern texts that guide us in our inquiry. Explore thanatological themes cross-culturally, and embody somatic/yogic practices with various approaches to endings, grief and dying. Recording made available, if unable to attend.
Caveat: There will be lightness and laughter too, guaranteed
First Sunday Main Meeting Dates - noon - 4pm EST April 4, 2027 - Orienting and Attunement May 2, 2027 - Death Phobia June 6, 2027 - Death, Fear and Hospitality July 4, 2027 - Grief Illiteracy August 1, 2027 - Embodied Grief September 5, 2027 - Aging October 3, 2027 - Eldership November 7, 2027 - Religion and Culture December 5, 2027 - Yoga, Śavāsana and Yielding January 2, 2028 - Yoga Therapy in Hospice and Palliative Care February 6, 2028 - Dying Practicalities March 5, 2028 - Endings and Blessings April 2, 2028 - Final Practice, Ritual, and Farewell
*If you have to miss a meeting, you'll be able to access a recording. HOWEVER, we so much prefer your actual presence in the meeting. If you really can't be with us on the first Sunday of the month, perhaps consider joining us another year (that's how much we want to SEE you).
Third Sunday (Optional) Meeting Dates - noon - 1pm EST. informal gathering for discussion, practice and wonderment. No new material presented. No recording. April 18, 2027 May 16, 2027 June 20, 2027 July 18, 2027 August 15, 2027 September 19, 2027 October 17, 2027 November 21, 2027 December 29, 2027 January 17, 2028 February 21, 2028 March 20, 2028 April 17, 2028
This course is open to: all interested mortals, yoga therapists, yoga teachers, yoga practitioners, health care practitioners, psychotherapists and counsellors - anyone who works in the presence of suffering.
CE Credits for IAYT Yoga Therapists: CE (APD from IAYT) credits will be given to those who choose to complete the written assessments and attend the meetings, in order to reconcile learning objectives and IAYT competencies. Total CE credit hours for the course is 54 awarded at the end of the course.
Live attendance is encouraged and needed. Zoom recordings are made available if you have to miss the Sunday session, along with all meditation, breath, visualization and Śavāsana practices
Cost: $850 one payment price for 13 months, $240 quarterly, or $80/monthly. Sliding scale available. Please don't let money be the barrier.
All Meetings Held On Zoom: recordings will be available, but your full-of-life presence is most appreciated and very much needed.