Hosting Grief Tending Rituals from one day workshops to full-weekend retreats, supporting those who feel called to process their grief in a group setting. Practices include movement, music, meditation, ceremonies and rituals, sharing circles, writing exercises, gratitude practices and integration support.
For the past 30 years creating and performing music has been my chosen way of life. Through my work as a songwriter and recording artist I’ve released several albums and EP’s, and toured nationally with appearances at folk and blues clubs and festivals across Australia. In my work as a function musician I’ve sung at upwards of 500 weddings and carefully honed the skills for creating soundscapes to facilitate ceremonies of transition.
My exploration into grief work started with the arrival of my son in 2014, the fact that I had grown up without a father and was suddenly trying to be one was a powerful catalyst for looking behind the scenes. Several years later I signed up to volunteer with Feel the Magic as a mentor at camps for grieving children and commenced what became a 6 year deep dive into the study of death and dying, family grieving, and a slow unpacking of my own complex, unprocessed grief.
I began volunteering in bereavement services for Hammondcare in 2020 on the Northern Beaches and Lower North Shore area and was involved in piloting a walking group for grieving adults that was successfully replicated in other areas of Sydney. Walking and talking in nature was a fundamental step in building a path to help others navigate their grief. (I was featured in a Manly Daily article about the Bereavement Walks on the Northern Beaches for Hammondcare; Bereavement Walk in the Manly Daily) In 2021 I trained as a death doula with DR. Michael Barbato and have pursued other external studies following my interest in End Of Life care. In 2023 I was certified as a Grief Educator with David Kessler.
The practices and teachings I follow have come from elders such as Stephen Jenkinson, David Kessler, Michael Barbato, Joanne Cacciatore, Kathryn Mannix, and Francis Weller. My training for this grief work has come in the form of lived experience, specialist bereavement and facilitator training for volunteer roles at Feel The Magic and Hammondcare, Grief Educator training and End Of Life care training.
In the mid - late 90’s I lived and worked on several remote Central Desert communities and have witnessed communal grieving practices from the Central Desert, the Tiwi islands and Elcho island. My time with Aboriginal people instilled a deep reverence for the land on which we are lucky enough to inhabit and out of respect for the traditional owners I prioritise maintaining a lasting and meaningful connection with nature.
I pay my respects to the traditional custodians of our entire continent and I celebrate the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and their ongoing connection to the lands and waters of this country. I am honoured and blessed to work on Gayamagal and Cammeraygal lands, in Gadigal country of the Eora nation. I live on stolen land and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.
