A Yoga for Our Times

By Wendy Black Stern
 

Since March 2020, our world has been in the throws of an unprecedented health and social crisis. One that has turned life upside down overnight, exposing our hearts to new and resurfacing layers of grief and trauma. Grief from the loss of a loved one due to Covid-19 or social injustice, from the loss of our homes through wildfire or financial difficulties, from the loss of jobs and human connection, from the loss of lifestyle and comfort, and ultimately from the loss of security in “what was.”

Founded in 2012, The Grief Support Network (GSN) is a community-based nonprofit focused on transforming the way individuals and our culture experience all losses. We accomplish this by offering a mindful approach to grieving through meditation, yoga / movement, personal growth work, and the art of listening as a pathway to healing in connection with self and community.

Our approach to healing begins with learning how to be present with ourselves and to be a witness for what is going on inside of us without judgement. “What am I noticing in my physical body? What is the primary emotion or feeling of my grief? What thoughts are rising to the surface as I feel my grief within me? What is the wisdom of my spiritual body or soul?” Self-knowledge or awareness is the first engagement.

Then, as we gather in community to share and connect with one another, we are able to be witnessed in our authentic experience, allowing each of us to be fully seen and heard. I cannot say enough about the power of being “seen and heard.” This is because in regular day to day conversations, we often have to compete to be seen and heard. We generally end up having to press or we just retract, both of which leave us feeling unacknowledged. When we have a safe space to be witnessed and truly seen and heard something very important happens – we start to heal in the very moment our true self is recognized.

As our hearts begin to open, compassion flows not only for oneself but for the whole group. You come to see your fellow students' vulnerability; you come to truly see yourself. It is a laboratory of learning and…love. This is the power of community, of moving and healing together, of being seen in your becoming.

Through this method of cultivating mindful self-awareness and sharing in community, we also begin to understand that there is a deeper world to explore and heal within ourselves. Like a book that needs to be read and understood, examining, processing, and healing our stored wounds leads us through a passage to better know ourselves. It is an incredible journey and one that our grief opens us to with greater understanding if we are willing.

Since 2014, GSN’s programming has been offered on a local level, in-person only. This has limited the reach of the work and the communities that have been able to benefit from our signature approach to grief work. Out of the shadow of the pandemic, new doors have opened to a virtual community, one that is world-wide. Simultaneously, increasing the organization’s awareness and desire to make the programming available to everyone, regardless of religion, race, gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, geographic location, ability, or age.

To help lead these efforts, GSN has provided five (5) full scholarships to our Mindful Grieving 200 Hour Yoga Therapy Teacher Training that began on October 16th. We recognize that our most powerful tools are the teachers who facilitate the work and we have selected strong recipients for these scholarships that will help usher our culture through an evolution of increased accessibility of grief programming. Teachers were actively sought out who can provide a safe space for black, brown and indigienious communities, including those who are bi-lingual, and who were nominated by their communities to be leaders of this work.

GSN is seeking your help in fulfilling these scholarships, not only providing the learning opportunity to the teacher trainee, but benefitting the hundreds of lives they will impact.

Direct contributions can be made via GSN’s website here. 

We are building a community of prepared people that can live in this world in strength and hope. This community is touching the lives of millions and changing the way our world sees and experiences loss. It is time to embrace grief in our culture as an opportunity for growth and connection.

This is what we are passionate about, but we can’t do it alone. We need you to keep the momentum in the movement.

To learn more about GSN, please visit our website or follow us on social media @griefsupportnet.
 

As founder and president of the Grief Support Network, Wendy Black Stern has dedicated her life’s work to supporting people to heal and transform through the process of grief. The Grief Support Network’s mission, programs, and network of resources are inspired and informed by Wendy’s personal experience of loss, and her professional background as a yoga therapy practitioner, yoga instructor, yoga teacher trainer, and group facilitator.

Wendy has devoted the last 20 years to being a student and teacher of yoga. She has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and is certified as a yoga therapist, teacher, Reiki practitioner, and facilitator of yoga therapy groups for grief support and self-empowerment. In 2007, when her son Noah passed away, her grief propelled her into a process of profound transformation, which has brought joy and gratitude back into her life.