“We need spaces where we can be undone without being destroyed.”
~ Francis Weller
TENDING THE TWILIGHT:
an online gathering for grief
Loss unfolds in many landscapes. And our days ask us to carry so much, so fast.
Many of us can find ourselves inadvertently adopting our cultural and systemic discomfort with grief. We may end up hiding the very things that need gentle tending, leaving us feeling deeply alone in our heaviest moments and disconnected from our own hearts.
Tending the Twilight is a gentle, 30 minute online sanctuary held fortnightly on Wednesday evenings. Deliberately brief, it is designed to meet you exactly where your energy is, requiring no effort or energy from you at all. Here, you can honour who and what has mattered dearly to you, lay down the armour, and sit with kindred community in the quiet close of the day.
The gathering is entirely non-performative with zero requirement to share or speak aloud.
You are warmly welcomed in all expressions of loss and untethered seasons of change:
The long shadow of anticipatory grief
The silence after goodbye and the raw ache of bereavement
The quiet fractures of a changing identity, role, or career
The closing chapters of a relationship, a dream, or a life season
The silent mourning of paths not taken or unfulfilled longings
The heavy weight of navigating a body or a world in transition
Ambiguous loss that feels difficult to name or validate
Heartbreak is not meant to be held in isolation; it needs a non-judgmental outlet, an environment welcoming all unmarked sorrows and a dedicated practice to move through.
The world rarely pauses when our reality shifts. Most of us are taught the mechanics of survival, but very few of us are supported, shown how or given generous time to carry a deep, enduring absence while living an ordinary life. We gather to offer tender presence to the exhausting, messy, often intangible, and always tender experience of being human living with loss.
The Shape of Our Shared Time:
Carrying everything on your own takes a quiet, heavy toll. This unhurried half-hour is a soft threshold where there is nothing to fix and no performance required. Place down the heavy task of functioning through it all and slide into the gentle possibility of simply being.
A Soft Grounding: Arriving as unique individuals within a collective understanding. Some compassionate somatic moments inviting you from the analytical mind and into connection with what is tangible.
Guided meditation, reflection or somatic support: A short reading, poetry piece or comforting reflection to companion and anchor you as the day fades completely into night.
A Gentle Closing: A shared, held silence in community - space for the individual grief you are traversing to be held by the collective heart as we close our time together.
Curating your Space:
There is zero pressure or ask to perform, to heal, or to explain your presence. This is an intentional, loving container designed simply to hold you whether that means sitting up in bed, wrapped in a blanket, or lying on the floor with your camera on or firmly off. You do not need to keep it all together and no effort is required of you here. Prioritise warmth, comfort, stability and ease. Please bring along a candle if it is safe in your space, inviting a soft, twilight glow into your space as the night settles. You are also warmly invited to keep close a token or meaningful being representative of your loss.
How the Space is Held:
The Environment: Cameras are entirely welcome but firmly optional. Microphones stay muted throughout to protect the shared silence. Please use earpods or earphones where appropriate and possible.
The Link: A private Zoom link will be sent to your inbox the afternoon of the gathering.
Insight and Further Support
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You’ll find a warm, quiet environment. There is no pressure to "perform" or be anything other than exactly who you are in that moment—whether you are feeling tearful, numb, or a multitude of emotions and reflections.
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Everything offered is an invitation, never a requirement. You always have the right to "pass" on sharing, to stay for as much or as little of the time that feels right and to move your body as you need throughout.
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Your grief is not a problem to be solved and neither are you. We offer the gift of witnessing. Honouring. Understanding. Your story is able to be, just as it is.
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Sometimes we use soft somatic (body-based) practices and quiet reflection to help settle the nervous system. You don’t need any prior experience; you only need to bring yourself.
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This gathering is intended to be a supportive, empowering space to hold you. While our specialised sessions hope to offer deep insights, we do not provide clinical counselling or trauma therapy, and cannot replace 1:1 professional mental health care. Instead, these circles may be meaningful additions to your self-care toolbox that safely complement individual therapy, as applicable.
Be extra gentle with yourself here, and remember you are always the best compass of your own heart.
We gently invite you to consider your unique support options during this time; it can be deeply grounding to identify a trusted person, look into local community resources, or connect with a dedicated clinical professional who can stand by you should you feel the need for 1:1 care.
If you are unsure where to start, your local GP or a national support helpline can be wonderful places to find dedicated, individual care. Please know that we are always right here for any queries or questions you may have along the way.
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Every facet of the offering is invitational and entirely non-performative. Your absolute right to silence and privacy will be steadfastly safeguarded. There are no recordings.
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The $20 fee is non-refundable. If you let us know at least 24 hours before the gathering begins, we are very happy to transfer your spot to a future session or pass your ticket along to a friend.
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What if I start crying and can't stop?
In this space, tears are welcome and never seen as something to be "fixed" or hurried. The collective understanding that grief has its own timing is paramount.Do I have to talk or share my story?
Not at all. There is a deep power in "silent witnessing." The gathering is curated so you can come and simply soak in the environment without saying a word. Your presence alone is a contribution.What if my grief feels "too small" or "too old" compared to others?
Grief is not a competition, and there is no expiry date on loss. Whether you are tending to a recent heartbreak, a long-held sorrow, or a "hidden" grief that the world doesn't seem to recognise, you belong here. If it matters to your heart, it matters to the space.I’m worried I’ll feel "heavy" when I leave. How do we finish?
We take the "re-entry" process seriously. We always end with grounding practices to help you transition from the deep work of the circle back into your daily life, ensuring you feel "put back together" and steady before you head home but we strongly urge you to consciously identify a resource or close support person you can lean on should you need.What should I wear?
Please wear clothes that feel like a hug. You may wish to bring a journal and a pen, a water bottle, and perhaps a small object or photo that represents what you are tending to, if you would like to include it in our shared space.
Meet Kate
With a background in somatics and mindful movement, Kate has long held inquiries of the human experience in soft, safe and curious spaces. As a certified grief tender and seasoned space holder, she provides compassionate support and a steady presence for those navigating the vast terrain of sorrow.
She deeply understands that grief is a threshold far beyond only physical endings, emerging just as tenderly through altered relationships, closed chapters, shifting identities, unfulfilled future dreams or the departure of dear animal companions. Kate recognises the deep impact of these heartbreaks and curates intentional environments where complex, layered losses can be deeply acknowledged, witnessed and held close without judgement.
Guided by her own lived experience of love’s monumental shifts, she integrates breath, gentle embodiment and heart-led ceremony, offering a sanctuary for others to cultivate safe inner connection, honour the sacredness of their individual timeline, and find their sense of belonging within kindred community.
The Details
When: Fortnightly on Wednesday evenings
Where: Online forum over Zoom (link provided before gathering)
Time: 30 minutes
The Exchange: $20 AUD
A kind note on our container: Tending the Twilight is a space for shared presence, quiet solidarity, and communal witnessing. It is not a therapy group, clinical counselling, or crisis intervention. If you are experiencing acute distress or require immediate mental health support, we gently encourage you to connect with dedicated national resources like Lifeline Australia (13 11 14), the National Association for Loss and Grief (NALAG) at 1300 047 433 (nalag.org.au), or the Griefline Helpline at 1300 845 745.
