Embracing Grief: A Journey of Healing

Watering the Seeds of Soul

A conversation with Holly Truhlar and Erin Geesaman Rabke

Find out more about Watering the Seeds of Soul at hollytruhlar.com embodimentmatters.com

https://watering-the-seeds-of-soul.mn.co

In this conversation we explore how we came into grief work both personally and professionally.

We share a bit about what is unique about our approach to grief, including Soul, somatics, the mythopoetic, anti-oppression, biocultural restoration and more. 

We talk about the Six Gates of Grief as articulated by our dear friend Francis Weller:

1. Everything we love we will lose.
2. The parts of us that have not known love.
3. The sorrows of the world. Grief over destruction of the planet and injustice.
4. What we expected and did not receive. Loss of village and connection.
5. Ancestral Grief from the trials and tribulations of our lineages.
6. The harms we've caused, both personal and collective.

We also explore Francis’s articulation of the 6 elements of an apprenticeship with sorrow. 

1. Practice as a form of ballast.
2. Self-compassion.
3. Staying in our adult presence.
4. Remembering our wild entanglement.
5. Growing a relationship with silence and solitude.
6. Developing right relationship with sorrow.

We also dive into why grief work is important in the world today. 

We hope you enjoy the conversation!

If you’d like to join us for a live online course starting in February, see https://watering-the-seeds-of-soul.mn.co to fill out an application. 

About Holly:

Hello there friend, I'm Holly Truhlar. I'm a grief therapist, ritualist, and community organizer. 

I'm most known for my work in collapse psychology and politicized grief tending. In my search for what's just and holy I earned a Doctorate in Law and Masters in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology; yet, I found more Soul, more of what mattered, in witnessing grief and spending time with animal-kin. For over a decade, I've facilitated small and large groups (700+) using ritual, storytelling, creative processes, and Deep Democracy work.

I'm a queer abolitionist and two time sibling loss survivor (Ivy & Brett 🩵). My "positive obsessions" are liberation-based community and culture, donkeys and mules, and the color turquoise. My deepest gratitude goes to my ancestors, mentors, and teachers who've guided me in my work and life, including Desiree Adaway, Kai Cheng Thom, Aftab Erfan, and Francis Weller. I've also been deeply influenced by many poets, authors, and activists, including adrienne maree brown, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, Harriet Tubman, ALOK, Octavia Butler, Audre Lorde, Fannie Lou Hamer, bell hooks, Craig Santos Perez, and Jennifer Mullan. 

About Erin

Hi, I’m Erin Geesaman Rabke. I am a Somatic Naturalist and Embodiment Mentor.

I have spent the past 30 years studying & teaching in various lineages of somatics and embodiment. For the past decade, I've been weaving somatic practices with deep ecology, grief tending, praise practice, anti-oppression, & soul work. I am committed to courageous kindness and have a heart vow to live a life of benefit & to steward refugia of many kinds. I have been practicing for 30 years in the Tibetan Buddhist meditation traditions of Dzogchen and Lojong. I’m grateful to be mother to a 13-year-old boy wonder. I’m also a podcaster, a permaculture gardener, a writer, a collector of books and plants, & am a lucky partner to my beloved Carl. I'm a feral Buddhist animist ritualist, home herbalist & beekeeper. I am a lover of poetry, good coffee, big red wine, long walks, and all facets of growing, cooking, sharing and eating food. I'm dedicated to using my skills to ripen mature human beings and to nurture sane and soulful culture. I aim to be grounded, spacious, and gracious. I love being an Earthling with my whole heart.