THE RETURNING HEART

Grief as the Path to the Heart That Never Left

Body - Earth - Ritual

A nine-day in-person process devoted to accompanying grief through the body, the earth, and shared human presence.

Held once a year.

Grief does not move in straight lines.

It moves through the body, through memory, through the rhythms of the heart.

Many forms of loss remain unspoken or unsupported in our culture.

This retreat offers a carefully held space where grief can be met with dignity, depth, and presence.

This is not a workshop.

This is not a weekend event.

It is a sustained container where the body is invited to participate in the grieving process and where transformation can unfold at a human pace.

For nine days we will enter a shared rhythm that allows grief to move through the body and the nervous system.

The retreat includes:

• deep somatic practices

• transpersonal maps applied to grief and transition

• carefully held ritual processes

• spaces for speaking and spaces for silence

• temazcal integrated within the therapeutic process

• cacao medicine and ally plants as ritual companions

• daily rhythm in contact with the land and the natural world

Round Transportation from Xico to KiekariTerra

This 2026 edition holds three pillars:

Body · Earth · Ritual

Grief is not approached here as a problem to solve.

It is approached as a living process that moves through the body, the nervous system, the heart, and the rhythms of life.

In this retreat, grief is held through an integration of somatic work, ritual practice, and relationship with the Earth.

The process includes:

Somatic practices

to support the nervous system in safely feeling and processing loss through the body.

Transpersonal maps of grief

to help orient participants within the psychological and spiritual dimensions of grief and life transitions.

Ritual processes inspired by ancestral traditions

that allow grief to be expressed and witnessed in meaningful ways.

Temazcal and earth-based practices

that support purification, emotional release, and reconnection with life.

Shared presence in a small group container

where grief is not rushed or forced, but allowed to unfold at a human rhythm.

Throughout the retreat, participants are guided to move between expression, silence, body awareness, and relationship with the land.

The intention is not to “heal” grief or make it disappear.

The intention is to allow grief to move, be witnessed, and find its place within the larger movement of life.

The ritual dimension of this retreat is inspired by traditional practices of Mexican curanderismo and Andean ritual medicine.

These traditions are approached with respect and context, and are integrated within a contemporary framework of somatic grief accompaniment.

Practices such as temazcal, cacao medicine, and plant allies are not offered as isolated ceremonies.

They are held as part of a larger therapeutic and ritual process that unfolds gradually over the nine days.

The work is guided with care, responsibility, and professional containment.

Why Grief Needs Ritual

In many cultures, grief was never meant to be carried alone.

Communities had ways to accompany loss through ritual, through the body, and through shared presence.

But in much of the modern world, grief has become isolated.

We are often expected to continue functioning quickly.

To move forward before the body has had time to process what has happened.

Yet grief does not disappear when it is ignored.

It continues living in the body, in the nervous system, in the heart.

Ritual offers a different way of meeting grief.

It allows the body to slow down.

It creates a container where loss can be witnessed.

It brings meaning, rhythm, and presence to experiences that often feel overwhelming or wordless.

In this retreat, ritual is not used as spectacle or performance.

It becomes a carefully held process that supports the body in metabolizing grief and reconnecting with life.

Because grief is not only about what has been lost.

It is also about the heartbeat that continues.

Grief does not only appear after the death of a loved one.

Many life transitions carry forms of loss that often remain unseen, unsupported, or without language.

This space welcomes different experiences of grief, including:

• the death of a loved one

• the end of a relationship or separation

• infertility or the grief of not becoming a mother

• pregnancy loss or abortion

• the transition into or out of motherhood

• relocation or leaving a place that once felt like home

• identity shifts and life transitions

• the end of important cycles in life

• unresolved grief that has been carried for years

• grief related to illness or changes in the body

• grief connected to the loss or removal of parts of the body through surgery or medical processes

• grief connected to the Earth — the loss of ecosystems, landscapes, species, and the deep relationship between humans and the living world

Some grief arrives suddenly.

Other grief moves quietly through the body over time.

Both deserve space.

This retreat is not about forcing closure or resolution.

It is about allowing grief to move through the body in a way that honors the heart, the nervous system, and the rhythms of life.

This retreat is intended exclusively for women.

It may be appropriate if you are moving through:

• the loss of a loved one

• separation or the end of a relationship

• identity changes or life transitions

• experiences related to motherhood or non-motherhood

• relocation or major life shifts

• endings that have not yet found words

This space may be for you if:

• you feel that in-person presence matters

• your body needs a slower rhythm to process grief

• you seek community without forced intensity

• you are willing to disconnect digitally during the retreat

• 8 nights of private accommodation (own private equipped comfortable tent)

• full meals

• ritual materials

• temazcal

• cacao medicine and ally plants

• daily somatic work

• transpersonal grief maps

• individual online session before the retreat

• group online integration session after the retreat

• transportation between Xico and KiekariTerra

The retreat takes place at KiekariTerra, my home in the mountains of Veracruz.

This land is located in the cloud forest, surrounded by rivers, trees, and the living presence of the mountains.

Over time, this place has been prepared and prayed with intention to hold processes of grief, transition, and deep listening.

It is not a retreat center in the conventional sense.

It is a living home and a piece of land that supports the work through silence, nature, and simplicity.

Participants will stay in private, equipped tents placed within the forest.

• No Wi-Fi

• Limited solar electricity

The simplicity of the place allows the nervous system to slow down and the body to reconnect with the rhythms of the earth.

Digital disconnection is part of the retreat process and supports the depth of the work.

This land holds the quiet necessary for grief to move and for the heart to find its rhythm again.

A place where grief can meet the body,

the earth, and the rhythm of the heart.

In many contemporary spaces, grief is often approached through short workshops or brief interventions.

While these can offer moments of insight, grief itself rarely moves in a single conversation or a few hours of reflection.

Grief lives in the body.

It moves through the nervous system, through memory, through the rhythms of the heart.

For this reason, this retreat is held over nine days, allowing the process to unfold gradually and with care.

During this time, participants have the opportunity to:

• settle their nervous systems

• reconnect with their bodies

• allow emotions to surface at a natural rhythm

• experience the support of ritual and shared presence

• integrate moments of expression with moments of rest and silence

The rhythm of several days together creates a different kind of space — one where grief is not rushed, analyzed, or forced to resolve.

Instead, it is given time, witnessing, and the support of the body and the Earth.

Sometimes what the heart needs most is not an answer, but a place where it can simply continue beating.

Grief asks for something very simple and very human.

Time.

Presence.

Witnessing.

In a world that often rushes us to move forward, this retreat offers a different rhythm.

A place where grief can be met through the body, through ritual, and through the quiet support of the Earth.

If you feel that your heart needs a space like this, you are welcome to begin the application process.

The deposit in non-refundable under any circumstances

Cancellations before April 10 may request a place transfer after review.

After April 10, no refunds or transfers will be possible

By confirming your participation, you agree to these conditions.

María Kiekari is a transpersonal psychologist and somatic practitioner devoted to accompanying grief, life transitions, and processes of deep transformation.

Her work brings together body-based psychotherapy, ritual practice, and relationship with the Earth.

She is trained in Somatic Experiencing®, prenatal and perinatal somatics, transpersonal psychology, and somatic movement education, and integrates these approaches with ritual traditions inspired by Mexican curanderismo and Andean earth-based medicine.

Over the years, María has developed a way of accompanying grief that honors both the psychological and somatic dimensions of loss, while also recognizing the role of ritual, community, and the natural world in processes of mourning.

Her practice takes place in KiekariTerra, her home in the mountains of Veracruz, where she holds small retreats devoted to grief, life transitions, and the remembrance of the body’s relationship with the Earth.

María is the founder of Earth Womb School, a space dedicated to the remembrance of ancestral womb medicine through somatic practice, ritual work, and earth-based initiation.

This retreat will be personally guided and held by María throughout the entire process.

-My work is devoted to creating spaces where the body, the heart, and the Earth can support the human experience of loss.- Maria Kiekari