Rituals for Body Grief
A Virtual Learning Experience
Exploring the power of ritual in our bodies, including our relationship with illness, with wellness and with grief ~ with Megan Sheldon and Ali Hiebert.
Saturday, May 31st | 10am – 12pm PT
The Role of Ritual in our Healing Journey
In a world that often values productivity over presence, many of us have become disconnected from our bodies—especially those who have experienced chronic illness, surgery, or organ transplantation. This intimate 2-hour workshop creates a nurturing space to explore how intentional rituals can help us reconcile with body grief, honour our healing journeys, and cultivate renewed relationships with our changed bodies.
Why is this needed?
When illness, medical interventions, or societal narratives about “normal” bodies disrupt our sense of self, we may find ourselves living at odds with our physical being.
This workshop invites participants to rediscover the wisdom residing within, acknowledging that our bodies hold innate knowledge about healing when we create space to listen. Together, we will explore the idea of body grief and the impact of medical trauma on our relationship with ourselves.
Who is this for?
The virtual workshop welcomes people of all ages, body types, abilities, genders, and cultural backgrounds. No previous experience with ritual practices is required—only a willingness to approach your body’s story with compassion and curiosity.
What to expect?
Through guided practices, gentle nudges, and contemplative rituals, we’ll explore how ceremonial acts—both ancient and newly created—can help us process complex emotions, celebrate resilience, mark transitions, and nurture our body-self relationship.
Whether you’re navigating chronic illness, recovering from surgery, adapting to transplantation, or simply seeking deeper embodiment, this workshop offers practical tools to move forward with greater attention and intention.
Your Hosts
This workshop is co-created by humanist celebrant & end-of-life doula Megan Sheldon and embodiment coach and transplant doula Ali Hiebert. Together, we have have thoughtfully designed this workshop gathering to introduce you to the world of ritual and ceremony and help you integrate these rituals into your daily life.
Megan Sheldon
Megan is a Cultural Mythologist, Humanist Celebrant and End-of-Life Doula who designs rituals and ceremonies surrounding the invisible moments of change. She helped Ali create an organ transplant ceremony on Knowledge Network: https://www.knowledge.ca/program/extras/ceremony
Ali Hiebert
Ali is an organ transplant recipient, a TFMR mama, a poet, yoga instructor and embodiment coach. She inhabits this space between loss and reclamation. She teaches tools to unearth your resilience through nervous system wisdom, body based practices, primal movement and somatic healing.
What You'll Experience
We will offer an exploration of body grief and the impact of medical trauma on our relationship with our bodies. We will discuss how oppressive narratives about “healthy” or “normal” bodies affect our healing journeys, and introduce you to ceremonial practices that foster reconnection and reconciliation with your body.
The Role of Ritual
We will explore the role of ritual and ceremony in our lives, offering descriptive not prescriptive ideas to inspire you with possibilities. These include rituals designed to honour transitions and cultivate present-moment awareness as well as opportunities to develop personalized rituals that speak to your unique experience.
We begin with an opening ritual then share how this work has taken shape over the years. We will offer an introduction to ritual design and ceremonial structure, including stories to bring these teachings to life. We will create space for small group sharing and large group connection.
*While the workshop will be recorded, we ask that you try to join live with video turned on.
Investment
To make our teachings accessible, we’re offering a sliding scale approach for our 2-hour workshop on May 31st. Select the best option for you in the application form (and see FAQs for more information):
- $40 Supported by Community
- $50 Standard Tuition
- $60 Supporting Community
Apply to Join Us
FAQs
This workshop is designed for individuals who:
- Are navigating chronic illness journeys and seeking meaningful ways to process their experiences
- Have undergone organ transplantation and are reconciling with their changed bodies
- Are recovering from surgery or medical interventions that have altered their relationship with their physical selves
- Experience chronic pain, disability, or recurring health challenges that have created distance between mind and body
- Feel disconnected from their bodies due to medical trauma, diagnosis-related grief, or ongoing treatment
- Want to develop personal rituals to mark significant transitions in their health journey
- Are caregivers supporting loved ones through illness who wish to create supportive practices
- Healthcare professionals seeking to understand embodied approaches to complement medical care
- Are interested in body-centered healing practices that honor the complexity of illness experiences
- Have felt marginalized by medical systems that prioritize cure over care
- Want to explore how cultural, ancestral, or personal rituals can support healing beyond the medical model
- Are seeking community with others who understand the unique grief that comes with bodily changes and challenges
The workshop takes place on Saturday, May 31st from 10am – 12pm PT (1pm – 3pm ET). We will alternate between teaching, sharing and connecting as a community. There will be a portion of the workshop dedicated to slide-based learning, exploring the basic concepts of ritual design, synthesizing these learnings as a community, and developing rituals based on the questions and requests from the group. While the workshop is recorded, we strongly encourage you to join live if possible.
In order to make this workshop more accessible, we’re offering a sliding scale model where you can pick the tuition price point that feels best to you. Here are some guidelines to consider:
Supported by Community $40: You would like to request some support because you are facing financial instability or have faced systemic oppression or injustices.
Standard Tuition $50: You can pay the regular amount requested and are in a financially stable place, but cannot support someone else at this time.
Supporting Community $60: You are in stronger financial position and would like to support someone else with a subsidized request.
We want to offer those living in Canada the option to pay the same rate but in Canadian dollars. If you would like to request this, please include it in your application form.
Payments are non-refundable as you will have access to the recorded workshop if you miss it live. Prices are in USD but can be paid in CAD by Canadian residents if paid via email transfer. Please email megan@beceremonial.com to arrange Canadian payment.
