A weekend of ritual, remembrance, and the alchemy of grief.
Grief has a way of cracking us open. When we let it, grief becomes one of the most powerful catalysts for healing we can experience and a gift that unfolds the beauty of life. It does not ask permission before it arrives, but settles into the body, the breath, and impacts the way we love and live if not tended to.
This retreat is a devotional offering to that grief: a weekend-long container built to meet you exactly where you are, and to open the possibility that your sorrow can become the exact medicine you need, whether your loss happened yesterday or decades ago, whether it has a name you can speak or is only a feeling that lives in the body.
Rooted in the Qabbalah Tree of Life, Ancient Kemet, Earth Wisdom, and the oracular sacred arts and sciences, we will move together through eleven sacred stations — each one tending to a different part of the self that grief has touched. Through talking circles, plant spirit ceremony, forest bathing, energy healings, ancestor offerings, and more, we will work with grief as a doorway into deeper and truer relationships with ourselves, with those we've lost, and with the Web of Life that holds us all.
We keep the group to 10 people because this work deepens in an intimate, safe circle — you end up learning as much from witnessing each other's process as from the work itself. No prior experience with these traditions is required, only a willingness to be witnessed and to grieve in community rather than alone.
Who is this for?
You've touched moments of deep love, but struggle to stay there
You have experienced a death that has changed who you are
You carry grief that feels bigger than personal loss
You feel a cloud weighing over your heart and want to release it
You're ready to do the real work of soul transformation
You understand that healing yourself heals the world
You're called to ancient wisdom and ritual practice
How will you benefit?
Receive practical tools and sacred rituals for continued healing
Nourish and fortify your nervous system
Embody the understanding that you are never alone
Experience greater alchemy through grieving in community
Learn how to work with grief as a teacher
The Tradition of Grieving at the Nest
Tending to our grief has become a tradition at the Nest as we acknowledge that in our continuous walk as humans on this earth, new and deeper layers of grief continue to be apart of our spiritual journey. We gather this time close to Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the time of year that the veil is thin and our connection to our ancestors is stronger.
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We open our ceremonial weekend and create the collective altar together. This altar will become the portal through which our hearts can be seen and tended to. We will have our first meditation and talking circle to weave what brought us here – the losses, the grief, and our reasons we came.
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A rite to transform energetic cords between yourself and another individual, group, or situation in which the relation is no longer healthy or beneficial. Before the rite, we will first explore what these cords in our grieving journey are that we want to be transformed so that we may let go and heal.
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Enter the forest to sit with ourselves, the natural world, and the divine. Within the quiet of the forest and the messages it brings, we integrate our previous rite. We open our senses to receive healing from the forest and deepen our intentions for this healing grief retreat.
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Roses are more than flowers – they are living medicine, carriers of ancestral wisdom, keepers of the divine feminine, and conduits for aligning mind, body, and spirit. The rose heals our energy centers and soothes our nervous systems. Each participant will receive a 20-minute 1:1 healing.
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Pray with the plant spirit of Tobacco to declare a prayer we wish to manifest. Through the previous rituals of purification and clarifying, we arrive at the point of journey and are able to pray for the direction we wish our healing to go and for the medicine we seek from our grief.
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After we have tended to our personal journey with grief, we may now reach a place to forgive others and ourselves and give forgiveness. Having this humble mercy for ourselves and others is essential for the path of healing.
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Soul Journey ritual with Blue Lotus to recover the parts of our soul that have been fractured through our grief and sorrow. Blue Lotus is a plant spirit that relaxes the nervous system and opens our faculties to commune with deeper parts of ourselves.
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After many rituals of purification and deep work, we receive plant baths to bless and bring sweetness back to our spirit and aura. Plant baths are powerful rituals that work with the energetic properties of plants to either purify unwanted energy or call in what is needed.
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Spiritual healing work is supported when we walk in reciprocity with those who have come before us. Specifically, our grief can be uplifted through ritualizing and giving honor to our ancestors and dead loved ones. Here, we create an offering of food, sacred objects, and more to honor these energies so that we can continue to be in right relation with our ancestral lines, the natural and divine realms.
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Integration circle and closing prayer to complete our weekend’s journey.
What is included
A consultation call with retreat facilitator, Shaina, to help the retreat be tailored for your needs
A container of healing valued at $1000 for an individual (+ more profound healing can take place in sacred, intimate circles)
Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner, Sunday breakfast and light lunch
Communal sleeping in the Nest Sanctuary (beds available for upgrade, commuters are welcome)
About your facilitators
Shaina Garfield is a Death Doula, Grief Guide, Ritualist, and founder of Leaves With You. With deep devotion to the sacred continuum of life and death, she offers compassionate support to those navigating dying and grieving processes. Her mission is to cultivate a profound connection with the Earth and the Divine, fostering harmony within the Web of Life.
Shaina's approach is deeply rooted in ritual — the alchemical technology she believes is essential for tending grief, reclaiming spirit, and honoring the Mystery of Death. Her work is for anyone moving through a soul transformation, where life asks us to let something go to be reborn anew. Through ceremony, sacred craft, and oracular guidance, she creates containers where the soul can breathe, grieve, and remember itself.
At her core, Shaina is a mystic, walking as a bridge on the path of the heart. Her spiritual walk has carried her through initiations across many traditions of the Emerald Earth, including the Earth Wisdom traditions of the West, to Hermeticism in the East. Their wisdom lives in everything she does.
Stefanie Frank is the founder and director of ESKFF Nest, a healing arts refuge and retreat center in Woodstock, NY. As a visionary retreat leader, she creates transformative experiences for spiritual and holistic well-being, weaving together music, sound healing, flute, dance, and breathwork. She is deeply passionate about designing nature-based, spiritually diverse ceremonies and rituals that open the door to profound personal growth and healing.
Beyond the retreat space, Stefanie is a master gardener, herbalist, and gourmet mushroom farmer, rooted in a deep relationship with nature and sustainable living. As an active member of the Hudson Valley Psychedelic Society, she helps advance the understanding and responsible use of psychedelics for healing and personal development. She also holds influential board positions, including with the Church of Sacred Mirrors (COSM), founded by visionary artists Alex and Allyson Grey.
A devoted single mother of three adult children, Stefanie holds her many roles — mother, community leader, healer, entrepreneur — with grace, leaving a lasting mark on everyone she touches through her work and vision