Hello, dear heart. It’s so good to have you here.

I offer grief tending circles online and in person, and one on one grief mentorships.

Now more than ever, we need gatherings and companionships to tend to the sorrows of what was, what is and what will be.

There is no hierarchy in grief, nor is there hierarchy in grief tending. We may grieve the death of a loved one, the chaos and injustice around us, the loss of self or love, or the climate crisis our children will inherit.

We lean into grief so we may be more fully present to life. When we expel less energy trying to outrun the grief, our hands slacken, our habits are revealed, and we soften and slow.

We can be held here.

What’s it like to work with me?

I offer grief companioning, as a guide and mentor using creative and embodied practices to attune to your grief.

  • I am a loving witness to your story, offering support that is not reliant on any one practice or bias.

  • We will spend time talking. As this is a relational container, my role is to encircle you in care and tenderness. The initiation into grief can feel powerful, lonely or overwhelming and I want you to know you will not be alone. My hope is that we will soothe and greet these lonely places, together.

  • Your story impacts me. Though I hold space, I am not withholding connection or authentic emotion nor am I offering strategies to “fix” you.

  • There are three main creative forces I lean on: writing, music & movement. Intentional movement and music have been essential allies for me in my grief tending. As much of our grief is alive in our bodies, this is a potent way to feel it, move it through and connect with ourselves. Writing is a gentle portal to our voice. The act of sharing our work with others can feel freeing, bold and illuminating. Some of your exploration may include leaning into these forces.

  • Together, we will help you weave your way back to your grief, allowing more room for it to flow through you, so you can find a sense of rest and belonging within yourself.

  • I utilize the senses whenever possible. I’ll gently direct you in the art of noticing, so we can find more aliveness and curiosity toward the world around and within you. This is both stirring and soothing in our grief.

  • I am not a mental health practitioner and do not offer a psychological framework for your grief.

Grief tending is a beautiful way to carve a pathway home. We are seen in the midst of our struggle, while our words are held with tenderness. This work of feeling and freeing our grief transforms us, so we may nurture ourselves and the world around us with more delight, renewal and hopefulness. We are creating intentional. sacred space to voice our longings and sorrows.

What is Grief Tending?

Grief tending is the process of alchemizing our losses, with the guidance of a mentor or facilitator.

At the heart of this work with Michaela is relationship, which helps nudge one into the unexplored terrain of your life before, during and after loss. Companioning with a mentor and your grief allows you to be known in your depths, reminding you, you are not alone in holding the experiences that have shaped us.

We all carry grief and living losses, and I believe we need to be compassionately accompanied, knowing that those who hold space for us are willing and able to tolerate the pain they share. Michaela’s own lived experience and process with grief is a unique aspect to her offerings.

By using a relational pathway to connect, we’ll use embodied and creative practices that allow grief to become a generative force in your life rather than something to bypass, numb or fear. This connection may allow more room to surrender and soften to yourself and your experiences.

I don’t use a formula to “overcome” the grief, but tailored, intentional rituals and sensorial experiences to return to life and your body.

Together, we open each window in the house, until the grief sensations, stories and sounds flow through us.

Interested? Register your name for upcoming grief circles.

Kind Words From Participants.

  • “Her personal warmth and ability to sit and listen to our grief moments was so impactful. I love her ability to facilitate—that there was ritual gave a sense of sacred structure to the experience. Sharing in the circle released a great deal of pent-up emotion that I was holding onto. To feel heard and held and accepted allowed me to come back to my authentic base. To hear the grief that others embody helped normalize the human condition. Together, we can handle anything that comes our way.”

     -Lorie

  • working with Michaela Evanow

    “I can think of nobody more well-equipped and generous in gifts than Michaela to safely lead this experience. In short, you are watching someone use their inherent spirit and self-ness to do what they were born to do.”

    -Kate

  • “Michaela invited us into our circle with genuine compassion,in a setting so safe I was able to let my well-constructed walls down. This is a rarity for me. While gently guiding us through the practice, she cultivated an atmosphere of both listening without judgement and validating each participant’s feelings with a known understanding of the grief at work in both our bodies and minds.” 

    -Becky Benson

  • “Michaela is the most gentle and gracious facilitator.  She created a sacred environment that allowed us to share our most vulnerable selves in a circle that was intensely supportive and loving.  I felt transformed after participating in this grief circle as I found myself articulating aspects of my grief in ways I had never before experienced.  Thank you Michaela for inviting me to be a part of this life changing experience. “

    -Esther

  • “This phrase is overused, but to take part in a grief circle is to watch Michaela hold space. Equal parts tender, strong, safe, encouraging, humbling and cathartic - participating in the grief circle was a way to release and feel held. To bear witness and be witnessed in return. There is magic in a required silence, the freedom from feeling the need to have an obligatory response as we are all just there to connect and attest. Instead, a focused and embodied energy. A way to fully take in the sadness and grief of others and know yours will be received too.

    -Kate S.

  • “Like an expert gardener tending to the needs of a delicate nursery, Michaela guided our grief circle with meticulous care, keen listening, and tenderness. From the onset, her gentle-spirit approach allowed me to feel unencumbered, creating a safe space to be vulnerable with myself, first, so that I could then share more about my grief with the group; it was sacred, and the experience was profound.”  

    -Penne Lynne

Let’s Connect.

I offer a complimentary 20 minute discovery call for 1:1 clients.

“When we…listen to our grief, feel it and learn from it, the capacity to give and receive love is just one of the gifts that we will receive. Another is the profound gratitude that grows from being fully present to what life brings our way. And yet another is the sense of belonging we experience when we overcome the isolation of private grief and allow ourselves to share grief in community with others.”

— Miriam Greenspan