10/02/2026
It has taken me a few days to move from a place of wordless gratitude, awe, (and frankly post-retreat recuperation) to a space where I can begin putting words to our experience on Sunday. To all who were there, who were there last year, or who have shown interest or support in any way: thank you.
Last Sunday was our second annual Grief and Gratitude Meditation Retreat. For a second year in a row, people of different genders, ages, and walks of life filled our humble Chapel Hill studio nestled among the trees, united by the shared experience of grief.
Something that stands out to me more and more the longer I teach is how much I can trust my students, their process, and this practice. I am continually amazed by the human capacity to hold the full spectrum of life’s joys and sorrows when we, too, are held in a supportive container.
I am realizing that my role as a teacher is, in many ways, a mirror for the practice itself, which at its heart is the embodiment of awareness and compassion. When meditation teachers can do the difficult yet simple task of “being the practice,” there is an innate intelligence in our students that begins to unfold. Much like meditation itself: simple, but not easy.
During our retreat, we collectively noticed how tending to a particular loss in a supported community setting not only opened the door for additional losses to be realized, but also increased our capacity for holding them. When we bring our grief to a trusted other—whether that is a friend, family member, therapist, sangha, or meditation retreat—we widen the container. We increase our capacity to hold what is here.
There is also something really interesting about meditation. Through the practice of mindfulness, we learn to become our own best friend; we can become a trusted other for ourselves. Meditation does not take away our losses, but it can increase our capacity to hold them with wisdom and kindness. We become both the holder and the held.
After leading this retreat two years in a row, as well as Spiritual Reparenting earlier this year, it’s clear that there is interest in more supported community experiences around difficult material.
While I lead seasonal retreats in the Insight Meditation tradition, which are a grounding complement to, and essential component of, the other work I do, I also hear folks' interest in directly being with the challenging stuff. And I love that about the people I tend to orbit around and that orbit around me.
As a fellow traveler who feels deeply, wonders intensely, and is wholly unsatisfied with the simple and surface, I get it.
In response, I’ve opened registration for next year’s Grief and Gratitude Retreat a year in advance. You can register here: https://www.joannajohnmindfulness.com/grief-and-gratitude-2027 and also maybe take a gander at my retreat landing page that I'm working on while you're there!
