Grief Support Network

Background Statement

GSN, a positive and life-affirming organization, was born out of an unimaginable loss. In 2008, GSN Founder Wendy Black Stern's son Noah passed away at the tender age of nine months. Through her own grief journey, Stern's life was forever changed. She saw an opportunity in the community to change the way we perceive and process the human experience of grief. GSN was created to empower people to transform through their experience of grief and loss and to break the stigma around grief in our culture, offering support for all kinds of loss, at any phase of the grief process.

If GSN's mission speaks to you during this time of deep grief in our world, please consider making a gift, no matter the size, you will impact the lives of your neighbors in need of support.

$300 - Be a changemaker and support your neighbors in their unique grief journeys.

$250 - Sponsor a grieving individual to participate in a Mindful Grieving 6 Week Program.

$100 - Provide 2 hours of support to youth participants in the Mindful Connections Program.

$50 - Fund 1 weekly virtual community circle.

PROGRAMS:

Virtual Community Circles - A weekly hour long small group virtual gathering to offer support and build a sense of connection and community. Each community circle is facilitated by one of our Certified Mindful Grieving Facilitators and includes meditation, group sharing, and an integration process.

Mindful Grieving Programs - The Grief Support Network offers profoundly rich and rewarding yoga therapy programs for all stages of grief and kinds of loss. Because grief is held in the body, yoga therapy is a powerful tool in the grieving process. With many years of experience and training in yoga/yoga therapy, GSN Founder Wendy Black Stern designed a one-of-a-kind program that helps people in all stages of grief. Through yoga, meditation, journaling, group sharing and mentorship, participants learn to explore the relationship between their thoughts, emotions, spirit and physical bodies, creating a learning community in which their grief serves as a catalyst for personal growth and transformation. This program teaches participants to observe where they are holding grief in their bodies and to witness sensations, thoughts, and feelings without judgment. Understanding that we must feel our grief to heal it, participants learn to be present with themselves, even when it is painful and to receive the wisdom that can only come from within. Following an evolutionary progression that guides them through a process of self-inquiry, participants not only move through their grief but experience greater clarity and understanding of their purpose and life path. The program offers an intimate, safe container for grief to be felt, expressed, shared and healed.

Mindful Connections Youth Programs - Based on the proven curriculum of the adult programming, The Grief Support Network (GSN) began Mindful Connections in 2019 after a community call-to-action for teen suicide and substance abuse prevention. Each program meets weekly for a themed two-hour class, consisting of yoga/movement, meditation, journaling, and group sharing. This proven approach is derived from GSN's signature yoga therapy programs and has been modified to fit the surmounting difficulties our youth face today - bullying, relationship/sexual identity, academic, social and athletic pressures, isolation, family conflict and grief. Programs are currently being facilitated for middle school and high school aged youth.

Provider Network & online resources, educational materials, etc: Offers personalized referrals to our interdisciplinary network of healing practitioners, therapists, business resources and medical providers who offer a holistic approach to healing. As well as, free content including recorded meditations, yoga flows, book lists, recommended grief organizations, journaling prompts, reflective listening training and corporate Human Resource guides to the public via the GSN website and social media channels.

As a non-profit, GSN is offering this programming as pay-from-the-heart to the participant, please consider making a contribution to the organization to help support this work and keep this programming available. Thank you for your support!