GRIEF + GRACE

A Healing Retreat for Women

GRIEF + GRACE

October 2-5, 2025
Gai Villa
Yucca Valley, California

Are you longing for a sacred space to devote time and energy to your healing journey?

Grief and Grace is a deeply supportive healing retreat designed specifically to hold space for women and their grief; all grief is welcome. Set in the serene and soul-nourishing landscape of Joshua Tree, CA at the magical Gai Villa, this three-night, two-day experience offers you the chance to pause, breathe, and receive.

Sharing grief as a collective helps us each find our own unique path as we navigate our healing journeys. We all grieve in our own ways and respecting this without judgement or shame is a healthy way to process and intertwine grief into our daily lives.

This retreat is a tender invitation into healing, connection, and renewal. We will explore healthy and constructive ways to navigate the waves of grief. We will look inward, working with and nurturing compassion for all that we find and we will look outward, witnessing and nurturing compassion there too. We will witness the power of sharing our grief stories and opening our hearts to the true nature of healing in community.

Maybe you are yearning to be surrounded by others on a similar journey; Maybe you are unsure but feel called to share your story and your grief - being heard can be healing. Maybe you are trying open to trying something new that will support your journey and open doors to new healing modalities . Grief + Grace offers healing for the mind, body, and spirit.

Grief changes us, and in time, we may feel called to explore who we are becoming. This retreat is a space for women who are ready to reconnect—with their bodies, hearts, and the world around them. In a community of those who understand, you’ll have the opportunity to move, reflect, and just be; all while making space for joy and grief to co-exist.

As a collective, we will gently explore holistic modalities to guide and support us on this sacred journey:

  • meditation and mindful movement

  • sound healing experience

  • restorative yoga and breathwork

  • tools for nervous system regulation

  • movement for grief

  • creativity as a healing modality

  • somatic movement and awareness of our bodies

  • sharing from our hearts and community connection

  • rituals to honor our grief

  • space for stillness, silence, and solitude

  • embrace the healing energy of nature and the sacred grounds of Joshua Tree National Park

  • healthy, nourishing meals for our healing bodies

There is no pressure, only spaciousness. You will have space to feel, to rest, to speak, or simply to be. This retreat is for you to take care of you. Being in community and grieving as a collective creates a unique and powerful container for healing.

If your heart is nudging you toward this experience, we welcome you with open arms. Trust your grieving process. You don’t have to carry it all alone.

Together, we will hold each other with compassion.
Together, we will honor our grief.
Together, we will find moments of grace.
Together, we will heal.

ACCOMODATIONS

WHAT’S INCLUDED

  • 3 nights/4 days at the luxurious Gaia Villa Space

  • 3 nourishing meals a day provided by a professional chef

  • Space and time for heartfelt connections and conversations with other bereaved mothers in a safe, understanding space

  • ​Fire + Release Ceremony

  • Access to hot tub, cold plunge tubs, labyrinth, fire pit, rooftop terrace, and yoga space.

  • Grief work, journal sessions, and guided self reflection

  • Private Group Sound Healing Experience

  • Joshua Tree National Park Excursion

  • Yoga, Breathwork + Meditation practices - (no experience necessary)

  • Creative practices for inner work to express your love and loss

  • Movement, nature time, and somatic practices to reconnect with your body

  • Participate in beautiful rituals that allow you to acknowledge and express your grief, while finding ways to incorporate grace into your journey

  • Experience the soothing benefits of quiet time amid nature, giving yourself permission to simply be

NOT INCLUDED

  • Transportation to and from the retreat space

  • Travel Insurance

  • Tips for Excursions / Chef

TRAVEL INFO

  • Fly into Palm Springs, CA Airport

  • Connect with others for possible carpool to retreat center

  • Uber to retreat center

WHO IS THIS RETREAT FOR?

  • Women whose grief needs tending

  • Women who would benefit from having the space to slow down, be held, and honor their feelings through creativity, movement, and ceremony

  • Women who are ready for transformation and deep self-exploration

  • Women who are eager to experience healing while also embracing joy, connection, and who they are becoming

  • Women who understand or are open to the idea of healing as a collective

  • Space is limited to 12 participants

“Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness, it is an emotional, physical, and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve.”

- Earl Grollman

Retreat Host

JANICE WILSON

My healing journey has been challenging and also full of synchronicities that I could not ignore. I opened Feel Free Yoga + Wellness Studio in Athens Ga in July of 2022, a healing space for our community. Having a safe and supportive space to be your authentic self and a place to transform, grow and heal, has proven itself to be much needed. My gift is bringing people together and healing as a collective. I have been leading retreats for 4 years now. I believe in my heart that I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing at this time in my life. I feel called to lead this retreat for those grieving and looking for ways to support their personal journeys. I believe that by taking this time for yourself and making space to grieve, you are able to work through layers and eventually discover the light within that has been dimmed. It is still there; and choosing to find it and choosing to share it with others again, will shape your healing journey and allow your heart to receive love and joy once again. It is not an easy journey but I can assure you that your hard work and belief in yourself is worth it. We want you to leave with new tools and healing modalities that you can turn to as you navigate your path ahead. Our wish is for you to make new connections, approach grief with grace, and most importantly, have hope for the journey ahead.

Retreat Host

SASCHA DEMERJIAN

Grief House Executive Director, Co-Founder & Grief Companion

Sascha Demerjian is a founder of The Grief House. The road she took to get here took her through a MSW from the University of Michigan, a PhD in Sociology from Emory University, several moves across the country, parenthood, pet parenthood, and so many deep connections and losses. At the Grief House she develops, supports and facilitates opportunities for people to be present with grief. She works to normalize grief and to invite and allow for messiness and joy along the way.

GRIEF + GRACE

A Healing Retreat for Women

RETREAT DATES 10.2 - 10.5, 2025

LIMITED TO 12 PARTICIPANTS

Double + Triple Occupancy $1800 each
Single Occupancy $2300 each

Deposit of $500 due to reserve your space

EMAIL US WITH ANY QUESTIONS:

info@feelfreeyogawellness.com