I know grief and if you are reading this, you do, too.
I’m sorry you are here and I am so glad you are here. You being here means you now have a witness to your grief. I see you and honor the places you travel to in your grief.
Welcome
About
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Let Me Tell You About Me
With three sons under the age of 10, I became a widow very unexpectedly at the age of 40. Family, strong friendships and being imbedded in my Buddhist community carried me after this shattering life event. One element that was paramount to engaging in life again was my newfound relationship with my body. With the support of a trainer and dear friend, I began to move my body — a body filled with fear and grief — toward something whole. I never felt comforted with the phrase ‘moving on’ — to me it implied leaving the people who died behind me as I continue living so I worked to understand how it applied to me. I wondered, what if I was moving while grieving and brought my loss with me? What if there is no ‘moving on’… but moving with? Walking and crying every day for years, my grief changed and so did I. As I grew, I began walking with others who were grieving. I worked for hospice and walked with grieving family members. I worked at a harm reduction center and walked with recoverees — folks in their lives witnessing and holding the painful unfolding of grief. These walking appointments, as they came to be known, brought so much connection and so much healing.
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Let Me Tell You About This Good Work
To work together somatically means that we work with our body’s sensations before we move into thoughts and the meaning making of our experiences. With trauma and grief, working somatically supports the fact that you know more than you think you do — your body knows. You have strength even if you don’t understand. Trying to ‘understand’ something using only our thoughts can feel isolating especially when we can’t ‘figure it out’ or don’t share the same experience as others. Staying in the experience of the body and the information it offers, there is nothing broken. Nothing needs to be fixed.
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Let Me Tell You About What We Will Do Together
We will walk together — in person or via Zoom with headphones / AirPods to connect us. Together we will move our bodies forward all while connecting with sensations, imagery, and observations of your body. We will be curious and talk about your grief… be in it together. We will be curious about your spiritual self and meaning making of your unique experience. We will lead you toward realizing you have all the knowledge and answers within your body and your spirit.
“Elizabethanne is a gifted SE healer. Through her intuition and skill she helped me recognize and move through some very difficult emotions and sensations. She guided me with gentleness to feel my bodily sensations and gradually allow them to metabolize. She honoured the pace of my healing by working with what was present for me in each session, without judgement. She paid careful attention to when I was getting overwhelmed and brought me back to safety by slowing down, orienting me to my environment, breathing with me and teaching me to create boundaries within myself. She also taught me that my sensations are not bad, but are energies that move through me. Through holding space for me to experience my sensations, many of my fear based trauma responses have dissipated. Elizabethanne’s willingness to journey with me has helped me rehabilitate from a very serious mental health crises. I feel more clarity now to move forward with my life.”
