Growing Capacity for Living with Change ~ Awakening Self Healing through Connection ~ In Service to Community and the Greater Earth Body
“The central purpose of the Work that Reconnects is to help people uncover and experience their innate connections with each other and with the systemic, self-healing powers of the web of life, so that they may be enlivened and motivated to play their part in creating a sustainable civilization.” ~Joanna Macy
The Work that Reconnects & Turning Towards Love
Workshops to summon courage to live fully alive in these turbulent times
We live in unprecedented, intense and unrelenting times. Our days are permeated by awareness of and constant exposure to the state of our planet, climate change and the continued loss of species, political unrest and oppression, personal loss of all kinds, and now the Covid-19 pandemic that is affecting all of us humans on the planet. Nervous systems are in full activation as jobs are lost, the medical system is overwhelmed, the economy is crashing and we are called to practice social distancing when we need each other the most. Layers upon layers of unprocessed grief that have been built up can surface in these times beckoning our attention so we can learn to metabolize it, growing our resiliency and bringing us more in touch with our true selves. At the heart of it, we are being asked to turn towards love; for ourselves, each other and the earth that sustains us. These workshops are for those who are wanting to learn somatic tools, how to metabolize their grief in community and access greater depths of love in turbulent times in service to themselves, their relations, community and the larger web of life.
We were made for these times. In these workshops, we co-create a sound container in which to meet each other, our nervous systems and our grief. We explore the possibility that from this place of settling our animal bodies and allowing our hearts to break open, we have even more energy for action and connection from a place of presence, joy, love and vibrancy.
Typically, these workshops are offered in person in California with a daylong grief ritual day in the middle, however, we can adapt this offering to include a full 2 hours of Somatic practices and tools for resiliency and online sessions so that we can be together in this time of physical distancing for social solidarity.
Facilitated by Kari Stettler and Donna Helete
To learn more about Kari Stettler, click here.
Donna Helete is a regenerative grief coach, a community builder, nonprofit leader, educator, auntie, and mother. For over a decade she attended grief rituals with her teacher, Sobonfu Somé, from Burkina Faso. Donna's grief journey deepened with the death of her husband of 28 years in 2015. Today Donna pays forward the support she received and amplifies the work of her teachers including Francis Weller, Stephen Jenkinson, Jon Young and Christopher Kuntzsch. Each morning Donna can be found on her back deck where the city meets the open space, a strong cup of coffee in hand, listening to birdsong. You can learn more about Donna’s offerings at her website, www.donnahelete.com
What People Are Saying…
"I cannot recommend this workshop series enough to anyone who feels a pull or curiosity about it. Donna and Kari combine their skill sets so well to create an amazing, brave, and sacred container for this work. I came in wanting to learn how to better experience and be held in my grief in community, and found the month-long structure of these workshops to be very helpful in building deeper relationships and trust in my process. Whether you have gone to many grief rituals, or if this work is brand-new to you- you have the opportunity to connect through whatever gateway, intention, or curiosity you have, and get so much out of it. Gratitude for making this offering accessible financially and trauma-informed."
~Alexa L., Student Success Instructor
“It is a high art to create and hold a safe and sacred space for others to be lovingly held and witnessed in the depths of their profound grief. Kari Stettler and Donna Helete are both long-time experienced soul guides -steeped in the mysterious ways of grief, highly skilled in the most reverent compassion and wise in the alchemical transformation of our perception of heartbreaking sorrow into nourishing love. This precious resource of intentional Grief Work is invaluable and very rare in our culture. What they offer is such a potent and meaningful blessing for us all. This is no small thing. Indeed, this is how we human beings take good care of each other. I completely entrust Donna and Kari with my grieving heart and deepest sorrow. This work has been life-changing BIG medicine for me. I have never felt more enlivened. Thank you from the depths of my healing heart.”
~Richard L., Massage Therapist
“Wanting to learn more about Joanna Macy’s work I decided to take a class series in the Work that Reconnects. Kari gave an excellent overview both throughout her presentation and experiential exercises. I particularly felt that the Truth Mandala grief ritual was of great benefit. Kari has an innate wisdom beyond her years and a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of the world and all life. I recommend her workshops and class series to anyone wishing to learn and experience the Work that Reconnects.”
~Zoe Rivers, Yoga Instructor