Grief is an energy we all carry, and more often than not, it settles deep within us—especially in our bellies, where emotions are stored and processed. That’s why we call our retreat Belly Monster—a space dedicated to acknowledging, honoring, and releasing this held grief so healing can truly begin.
For a limited time, we’re offering $200 off your retreat registration—because we believe in making healing accessible. Secure your spot before June to claim this special offer!
We will be providing five different workshops in one day all focusing on healing through grief energy. Our workshops are perfect for beginners and those who haven’t explored alternative healing modalities such as talking circles, writing to heal, art therapy, or compassion inquiry. It’s all about having fun and trying something new! Our creative approaches to healing ensures that everyone feels welcome and that the focus is on the experience rather than the skill level. We will be focusing more on spiritual healing and collaborating with local spiritual healers.
FULL AGENDA
Welcome to the 3rd Annual Belly Monster healing retreat!
Location of event in the AMAZING new space called The Aux: https://theauxevanston.com/
More details please go to https://www.approachablehealer.com/
Immerse yourself in a transformative journey of healing and self-discovery at the 3rd Annual Belly Monster Retreat. This year, our theme is grief, and we invite you to explore various creative and spiritual approaches to healing.
Event Overview: Join us on Saturday, June 21, 2025, in Evanston, IL, for a day of workshops designed to help you process and heal with grief energy. Our retreat offers an accountable and supportive environment where you can connect with others and learn from experienced practitioners.
BRING YOUR OWN Yoga Mat, blankets, pillows, crystals to charge (if that’s your thing), eye masks and other comfort needs for the Sound Healing
BRING OBJECTS that represent what you are grieving or who you are grieving
Workshops Include:
- Guided Healing: Bilateral Meditation for Grief: Led by Jenny, this workshop uses bilateral beats to guide you towards healing through connection with your higher self or others. Whether you believe in the afterlife or prefer to connect with your wisest self, this meditation will help you set the ideal intention for your personal healing journey.
- Art Therapy with Amy: Engage in creative strategies to confront and tame your ‘belly monster.’ Amy’s art therapy sessions provide tools to process grief and integrate wellness practices into everyday life.
- Breathwork for Grief: A Healing Workshop: Led by Ruth and Steve
Grief is a profound and personal journey, often held in the body as unspoken emotions and tension. This Breathwork for Grief workshop offers a safe, supportive space to explore and release the pain of loss through conscious breathing techniques. Through guided breathwork, meditation, and gentle somatic practices, participants will be invited to connect with their emotions, process grief at their own pace, and find moments of relief and renewal. This practice helps to soften the weight of sorrow, allowing for clarity, acceptance, and a deeper sense of inner peace.
Led by an experienced facilitator, the workshop will include:
• A grounding meditation to create a safe container for healing
• Instruction on breathwork techniques designed to move stagnant emotions
• A guided breathwork session with curated music to support emotional release
• Time for reflection, journaling, and optional sharing in a compassionate group setting
- Soul Sounds workshop: led by Musical Mindset.
This intimate session features an intuitive acoustic sound healing set that celebrates the beauty of feeling what is alive within us.
Through the vibrant tones of the didgeridoo, melodies of the native flute, and soothing ukulele songs, accompanied by his overtone vocals, this sound journey will create a rich tapestry of sound that invites deep emotional connection and exploration. These instruments, steeped in ancestral traditions, serve as powerful catalysts for expression and awakening, connecting us to the wisdom of those who came before us.
This workshop is a sacred space where you can fully experience the depth of your emotions and connect to the essence of what it means to be alive.
- Courageous Embodied Grief: led by Becky Carter
Elements of grief weave their way through our lives and our bodies as we navigate different experiences of loss. Whether anticipated, sudden, cultural, ancestral, societal, or existential, each loss takes shape within us as we move through the cycle of life force energy and the counter vortex of death and grief. In this experiential session, participants will explore how they embody grief while recognizing and nurturing the capacity within self to endure the current of grief with courage and curiosity.
Heart Healing: Release & Renewal: A Closing Sound Ceremony for Grief led by Saints and Angels Healing Through Sound
This guided sound meditation is designed to gently support emotional release, heart-centered healing, and energetic integration at the end of a powerful day of grief work. Using crystal singing bowls tuned to 432 Hz, along with Solfeggio frequencies (417 Hz for release, 528 Hz for transformation, and 174 Hz for grounding), Peter layers in ocean drum, rainstick, Zen singing bowls, tuning forks, gong, and the sacred rhythm of the shamanic drum to create a multidimensional field of sound. This ceremony seals the day’s deep emotional processing with breathwork, visualization, and vibration—offering a soothing, vibrational embrace to close the retreat and carry participants forward in peace and renewal.
Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to transform, heal, and grow in a supportive and nurturing environment. We can’t wait to see you there!
