Grief is not only an emotional experience - it lives in the body. When loss is not fully expressed, it can become stored in our nervous system and physical body, showing up as tension, exhaustion, numbness, anxiety, overwhelm, or a feeling of being stuck.
This women-only retreat offers a gentle, professionally held space to explore grief through somatic practices, rest, sound, movement, breath and sound. Together, we create an environment where grief can be acknowledged, felt, and safely released without pressure, expectation, or the need to explain.
Whether your loss is recent or long-held, you are welcome here.
Who Is This Retreat For?
This retreat is suitable for women who are:
Grieving the death of a loved one
Navigating the loss of a relationship
Processing life transitions such as health changes, infertility, menopause, retirement, relocation, or loss of work
Carrying long-term or unresolved grief
Feeling emotionally heavy, disconnected, overwhelmed, or exhausted
Looking for a body-based approach to healing rather than traditional talking therapies
No prior experience with somatic practices, meditation, grief movement or grief work is required.
What to Expect:
Arrival & Grounding
We begin by creating a sense of safety, connection, and regulation through gentle grounding practices designed to help you settle into the space and reconnect with your body.
Understanding Grief in the Body
A brief introduction to the science of grief and the nervous system, exploring how loss is stored physically and why movement, breath, sound, and rest can support healing.
Somatic Grief Movement Session
A guided movement practice designed to help emotions move safely through the body. This is not about performance or forced emotional release, but about listening, allowing, and responding to what is present with compassion and care.
Rest & Integration
Time for stillness, journaling, reflection, and quiet rest. This period allows the nervous system to settle and supports the integration of the experiences from the day.
Closing Sound Bath Ceremony
We conclude our retreat with a deeply restorative sound bath. Sound can reach places beyond words, gently supporting release, integration, and nervous system regulation. This closing ceremony offers an opportunity to soften, replenish, and leave feeling grounded, nourished, and held.
What is included:
Light refreshments and herbal teas
Journal and retreat materials
Take-home handouts and practices
A thoughtful goody bag to support your ongoing journey
Every grief journey is unique. Participants often report:
Emotional softening and release
Reduced physical tension
Greater emotional clarity
A sense of spaciousness and calm
Feeling supported without needing to explain their story
Practical tools to support grief in everyday life
All experiences are welcome. There is no right or wrong way to participate.
A Safe and Supportive Environment
This retreat is facilitated within a calm, structured, and trauma-aware environment.
You will be offered:
Clear guidance and boundaries
No pressure to speak or share
Permission to rest, pause, or opt out of any activity
Practices focused on regulation rather than emotional intensity
Respect for your individual grief experience
This retreat is not about "fixing" grief or moving on from loss. Instead, it offers a compassionate space to move with grief, lighten its weight within the body, and reconnect with the inner resources needed to continue living alongside it with greater ease and support.
Feedback from our Spring Grief Retreat: ‘The best part of the retreat was movement for me - I have never tried it before and it was the best way for me to connect to my emotions, move and process them”
All 14 participants rated the experience as ‘Excellent’.
About Tahmina:
Tahmina is a certified yoga instructor, as well as a certified Grief educator and Grief Movement Guide, including special yoga for children and adults with additional needs. Tahmina is a certified Sound therapy practitioner with singing bowls which she uses in her sessions.
She discovered yoga studying in Costa Rica, at the United Nation's University for Peace and has been practicing Hatha and Vinyasa yoga for over 18 years.
Over the years, Tahmina has taught yoga and mindfulness classes and Qigong, which are inclusive and accessible to anybody. The style of yoga which Tahmina uses is Hatha and Yin yoga, as well as grief and somatic yoga. Tahmina combines in her session’s gentle movements, breathwork, acupressure points, Qigong and meditation with singing bowls.
Contact: If you have any questions regarding this session, please email programming@stmargaretshouse.org.uk
Venue: The Studio at St Margaret’s House, 27 Old Ford Road — E2 9PJ
Access: We are working to make our building more accessible, but it will take some time. Please note that entry to The Studio is not step-free (accessed via 1 step to the building and a flight of 19 steps or a stair lift). If you require access support and/or access to an accessible toilet, please contact us on 020 8980 2092 or email programming@stmargaretshouse.org.uk so we can arrange this for you.
Date: Saturday 11th July
Time: 12:30-4:30pm
Tickets - Please note, this is a women-only session:
Pay Less (covers some of our costs) – I am a student, unemployed, on benefits or financially stressed - £35
Standard (covers most of our costs) – I am employed, have some expendable income, and manage to meet my basic needs - £40
Pay it Forward (covers all of our costs and supports our work) – I am employed or have enough savings to comfortably meet my basic needs - £45