About us
2019
The year Nici started The Grief Space
1000+
People who have experienced our rituals and retreats
120
People who have completed The Art of Grief Tending training
400%
Increase in google search for ‘grief circle’ in the last three years
Our vision
a message from Nici
May we remember the lost art of grief tending where we honour grief as a gateway to feeling more connection, intimacy and aliveness.
May we recognise grief as wild, demanding and unknown. As well as subtle, tender and found in the everyday moments of quiet aloneness.
May we find humility as grief strips us of our identity so quickly we wonder how the foundation of our lives ever rested on something so fragile.
May we honour grief as a technicolour kaleidoscope of both the seen and unseen, in loss, endings, regret and longing, in the never was and the never will be.
May we turn towards the layers of our grief with curiosity, love and an enamoured heart, expanding our capacity to hold it all.
May we honour how grief changes us, deepens us, softens us; the ways we are brought to our knees only to be closer to ourselves, to each other and to the earth.
May we welcome grief as a portal, an initiation, an invitation, both a welcoming and a reckoning; a time to reassess and reimagine all we thought ourselves to be.
May we remember that we were never meant to do this alone, that we need stewards, guides, rituals and ceremonies to find our way back to belonging.
May we see that the world needs our grief now more than ever, that the earth is desperate for us to weep, to rage and to remind our bodies what it means to feel.
May we trust that when we feel our grief, we heal alongside our ancestors who came before and we offer a new way for the generations to come.
May we keep our faces turned towards the winds of sorrow so that we remain open to wonder and resolute on the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.
May we remember the natural cycles of death and rebirth and reclaim grief as the much-needed medicine of our times.
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Nici’s Story
I came to grief work, as many of us do, through the experience of a deep personal loss. It was a complicated grief filled with fear, anxiety and confusion. It was loss so fracturing to the human heart that it took me nearly a decade to find my way back to my body, back to a sense of safety.
It was in this time that The Grief Space was born, a living breathing creation of everything I had been searching for, of everything I once needed. My early years of grief showed me the stark reality of how little our culture knows how to grieve, how to make space for it, how to help us move through it. With the desperation of longing and a whisper of hope, my grief led me on a pilgrimage to find the teachers, ceremonies and practices to hold me.
Little by little, I was guided through a deep journey of healing. Slowly I was shown the art of grief tending, the commitment to come back to ourselves over and over again through the practices of community, embodiment, ritual and rest. Having now sat with hundreds of people in grief, I trust that grief is not something to be feared but instead desires the simplicity of our presence, our welcome and our unconditional love.
And so naturally, as I began to return to Love, I also returned to the earth. For I now know that grief work, is soul work. Through the portal of loss, bereavement or trauma, grief shatters our hearts open. We expand our capacity to pay attention to the collective grief our earth is holding right now, and the desperate need for healing, remembering and reconnection. In this way, grief is the most powerful medicine of our times. When you show up for your sorrow, your show up for life.
So here we are, you’ve found your way to this space because something inside you has called you to feel your grief and longing. Someone somewhere is rooting for you to heal, to find your way back to the unconditional wellspring of love that is all around.
You are so welcome here.
With love,
Nici
Gratitude to my Teachers
I am immensely grateful to the many wonderful practitioners and teachers who have supported me on my own journey of healing and belonging. Everything I share through this work has been generously passed to me: The art of grief tending from Francis Weller, Sophy Banks and Jewels Wingfield. The art of politicised grief work and radical liberation from Holly Truhlar, Camille Barton and Adrienne Marie Brown. The art of feminine embodiment from Xochi Balfour. The art of stillness, silence and presence from Katie Abbott. Thank you to my mentor, teacher and friend Fiona Arrigo for first believing in me and this work.
Qualifications and trainings
Grief tending facilitator training - Francis Weller
Nature based leadership training - Jewels Wingfield
Apprenticeship to Grief Tending - Sophy Banks and Jeremy Thres
Transformational Life Coaching - Animas
Elemental Teachings: Apprenticeship - Adya Cadden & Xochi Balfour
Earth wisdom - Xochi Balfour
Community, Ritual and Grief Tending - Francis Weller
Women’s Circle Facilitation Training - Anoushka Florence
Occupational Psychology MSc - City University
Psychology BSc - Bristol University