Please note that there are 2 scheduling options for the course

Monday evenings 6:30 - 8:30 pm AEDT/AEST commencing March 3rd. Best suited to people in Australia, Europe and Asia.(Register on this page.)
Friday mornings 9am - 11am AEDT/AEST commencing March 8th. Best suited to people in Australia, New Zealand, and the US. (Follow this link to register.)

Celebrating This Precious Life: Honest Conversations About Living and Dying

What does it mean to live a life full of meaning, connection, joy and peace? How can we approach life's inevitable challenges—grief, fear, change, illness, death and dying—with courage and compassion?

This course has been inspiring people for 9 years, and the feedback has been consistently uplifting. This year, Chani and Wendy are bringing all the foundations of the course, with a refreshed approach as we lean into 2025. We want to invite new friends to join us and old friends to return as we explore what is most important for each of us in our one precious life.

In this seven-session program, we'll explore questions about living and dying, weaving together mindfulness practices, self-regulation tools, deep listening and the art of empathy to deepen our understanding of what makes life precious.

Through engaging discussions, sharing real life stories and reflective exercises, we'll delve into:

✨ Living with openness: How do we nurture life-affirming ways of being? What are our support networks?
✨ Creating community: How can we find belonging during times of challenge?
✨ The wisdom of getting older: How do we embrace different life stages?
✨ The interplay of grief and aliveness: How do we live with, and honour, both mourning and celebration
✨ Practical tools for self-regulation: What resources are available to us? Where do we source solace and inspiration?
✨ Finding peace in uncertainty: What does it mean to let go and accept life as it is? How do we live when indignity arises?
✨ Purpose and energy: What is mine to do in this life?

This program invites reflection on life, relationships, and legacy in an atmosphere of compassion and support. Together, we will find ways to celebrate the beauty of this precious life, in all its imperfections and complexity.

You will not find prescribed answers; rather, you will enter the space for exploration. Through the power of open-ended questions, storytelling, listening, sharing, people find that they clarify their feelings, thoughts, worldview, and the meaning they derive from their circumstances.

Date and time

First Monday of the month, starting March 3rd, 2025.

Session dates: (total 7 sessions) 3 March, 7 April, 5 May, 2 June, 7 July, 4 August, & 1 September.

Session time: 6:30pm - 8:30 pm AEDT/AEST. Please note that for the March session the time zone is AEDT (Sydney, Australia - daylight savings). From April to September, the time zone changes to AEST (Sydney, Australia - non-daylight savings).

Click here to check your time zone.

Cost

Our program is offered on a sliding scale to ensure equity of access. People ask us for guidelines. A suggested sliding scale for the 7 sessions is from $100- $450 however we don't want cost to be a barrier to attending so please offer whatever you can to enable this work to flourish. Working together, we can create a program that is sustainable for all.

About your hosts

Wendy Haynes

Wendy has been a family celebrant for 29 years conducting weddings, namings, funerals, pre-death ceremonies, memorials, mourning and celebration circles. Since 2003, she has offered professional development, mentoring and resources to celebrants Australia-wide and internationally. She is the author of many celebrant related books and resources. As part of her life story, Wendy recovered from major surgery in 2022 after being diagnosed with a malignant Granalosa tumour, a rare form of ovarian cancer. Needless to say, this was a life changer. Wendy's commitment has been to encourage mindful presence, compassionate communication, play, connection and care in her own healing, in ceremonies, circles and in our preparation for death and dying. She practices and facilitates programs based upon mindfulness and nonviolent (NVC) communication practices.

Chani Grieve

Chani has been a dedicated practitioner of meditation and body-centred modalities for over 17 years. She works as a Feldenkrais Practitioner, embodiment trainer and meditation teacher, and is the creator of The Embodiment Journey online training program. Chani has been involved in several programs on death and dying in Australia and New Zealand, including "A Year to Live" and "Celebrating this Precious Life" with Wendy Haynes, and "Making Friends with Death" and "Every Precious Moment" with Di Johnston. Chani brings a deep interest in and respect for each person's unique relationship to death and dying, and the intimate connection with life and living. She teaches classes, workshops and retreats in Australia and New Zealand.

This program, Celebrating this Precious Life brings together Wendy and Chani's areas of interest and expertise. Come and be inspired!

More details

FAQ... at the bottom of the page.

Wendy would like to pay respect to the original inspiration for this project, Stephen and Ondrea Levine's book, A Year to Live. This is an excellent read and preparation for this program. Also respect to Wendy's Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teachers, Ongo: Everyday Nonviolence authors, Catherine Cadden and Jesse Wiens, as well as the many individuals and families who Wendy has had the honour to work with.

We welcome everyone who is interested. In our time together you will make some great friends from all walks of life and from all over the world.

Once you register for this call you will receive an email with further information about what to bring and also the Zoom link that will be the same for each meeting.

In between sessions you will have access to a wealth of extra resources that we've put together, as well as community connection, and optional contemplations to support your curiosity and care.

Join us for this journey in community of honesty, mindfulness, and meaning-making.

We look forward to meeting you!

With love, Wendy and Chani

Wendy: wendy@wendyhaynes.com + 61 422507517 www.wendyhaynes.com

Chani: chanigrieve@gmail.com +64 204 1537 356 movementfromtheheart.com

Testimonials

"In turning towards the beautiful and deep inquiry into these questions of life, death, preparation for death and legacy, I became very aware of all that was needed to leave this beautiful life in peace and feeling complete. You have provided and embraced me with incredible tools and skills needed for this next chapter of my life with deep acceptance, compassion, and understanding. The connection with the amazing soulful participants from all over the world has me so deeply and will be in my heart forever.' BJ, USA

'Thank you so much for last night. It felt very familiar and comforting to be back in that space of trust and deep sharing. I left a few moments before the end because I received a message saying my sons had been in a car accident. Thankfully they were fine. The driver may have a broken foot but no one was badly injured. I was glad to be able to approach the situation with a calm, curious response after our discussions.' B.E. Australia

'Wendy and Chani I honestly can't think of any way you could improve the program: your presence and gentleness, your language and respect - how you've planned the course - your vulnerability and ease. All of this I so acknowledge and appreciate.' RS, Australia

FAQ

We hope this page answers most of your questions. If you don’t see an answer to your question below, feel free to reach out to either Wendy or Chani

Is there flexibility around attending either the morning session or the evening session each month?

We encourage people to choose and register for one time slot, and try to stick to that as much as you can. This is so that the connections, relationships, trust and intimacy within each unique group can build over our months together. That said, we understand that life happens! If circumstances change, or you would like to attend the other group on the odd occasion, there is flexibility and you can get in touch with us to discuss.

What if I have to miss a month?

No problem. All the sessions are recorded (except for the breakout room conversations), so you will have access to all the recordings of any sessions you may miss. We do, of course, encourage as much live attendance as possible so that you can reap the most benefit of the connections and conversations within the group itself.

What kinds of practices do you share in this program? Is it very “spiritual”?

This is a secular program and we welcome people from any background, culture or tradition.

The reflections and practices in the program are grounded in compassionate communication, and self-empathy practice, and informed by Wendy and Chani’s decades of their own personal meditation practice and enquiry. It is for each of us to explore our own relationship to death and dying in a very open way, and to learn from ourselves and each other in the process. We are trained in and committed to fostering a space that is trauma aware and informed, and creates a sense of safety for people to share in the group.

Are the weekly prompts/home practices compulsory?

No. These are offered freely in the spirit of full choice. It is completely up to you whether you engage with these or not. They are offered as additional inspiration and contemplation to support and deepen your experience of the program and the enquiries it may raise. Those who do engage with them have reported finding them incredibly useful, however many others find simply receiving the weekly prompts is enough to keep them connected to the thread of the program from month to month.

What’s the difference between this program and “A Year to Live” (Stephen Levine)? Do you follow that book?

This book is on our recommended reading list. While we do take a great deal of inspiration and share a few of the key practices in this book, we do not follow it as a “curriculum”. The course material and practices that we share bring together the fruits of Wendy’s career as a funeral celebrant, and both Wendy and Chani’s many years of personal and professional exploration and expertise as facilitators.

If I’m wanting to explore grief in a more specific way, is this course the right place for me to do that?

This is not a grief workshop, yet of course we will touch into grief throughout the process. This course offers foundational support practices that help us connect with what we’re each bringing to the course, which may include our own experience of grief. We will share tools and practices that we can apply in our everyday lives to be a genuine support to yourself and others in the experience of grief as it manifests for each person uniquely.

I can’t make the live session times. Is it still worth me participating?

It’s completely up to you. You will still receive all the recordings, the weekly prompts, and have full access to the Facebook Group and WhatsApp group. If you feel that this is sufficient for you then you are welcome to participate and engage with the material in your own way, as your life allows. We would just reiterate that it is the connections and the conversations that take place within each session that are the most rich for people, and will really bring the course to life for you. You just can’t beat being there live!