Grieving Well
Welcome to the soulful world of The Welcome Connective
Fostering wellbeing together: connecting with ourselves, with others and the earth.
No matter what happens in the world, where we live, where we come from, we need and want to take care of ourselves and our whānau/family, and to make decisions in life that support wellbeing.
If you are not able to do this well, because you are grieving, feeling overwhelmed, distressed or powerless, in the face of many global, local or personal challenges, you are not alone.
The Welcome Connective offers programmes for new ways of grieving well and living well. Here you will be guided through questions and practices to support you - with purpose, soul, and active hope.
My programmes are available for individuals or groups, online or in person.
SERVICES
Grieving Well and Living Well
GRIEVING WELL
Grief is a personal experience that follows many kinds of loss, often pulling us into deep vulnerability and sorrow. Grief can feel painfully individual and lonely.
It does not need to be this way. It is a natural and vital part of life.
If you are grieving for a personal loss or for the challenges the earth and humanity are facing, “Grieving Well” can help. I offer a soulful grief tending journey where you will find solace and a whole new way to relate to grief.
How it works (individually or in a group)
Rather than letting grief wash over you, trying to contain it, or freezing it in the centre of your being, you can learn to safely grow a healthy relationship with sorrow. Grief is something we share with every other human being on earth. In our grief lies our deepest connection with humanity and love, our ancestors, and the earth itself.
Grieving well together supports us in living well, even in the face of major challenges.
I offer individual and group sessions, either online or in person. I will provide you with a compassionate space to share your experiences. You also have opportunity to learn about grief, and take part in helpful exercises, practices and processes. They will be tailored to your individual needs. Many people find three to seven sessions valuable.
Curious to find out more, or explore whether and how this may benefit you? Contact me for a free introductory on-line session.
This work draws on The five gates of grief:
Everything We Love, We Will Lose
The Places that have not known Love
The Sorrows of the World
What We Expected and Did Not Receive
Ancestral Grief
From the work of Francis Weller, including “The Wild Edge of Sorrow”, “Facing the World with Soul”, and “Grief Ritual Training Programme”.
LIVING WELL - A Deep Dive into Wellbeing
Wellbeing is very individual, can vary from day to day and depends on many individual and shared factors.
With all that is going on in our world these days, your overall sense of wellbeing may well have taken a hit. You may want to contribute to a different, better world, but don’t know how, because it can all feel quite overwhelming.
The good news is that you have many resources already available, though these may be hard to access when times are tough.
If you are struggling in any way with your wellbeing, “Living Well” can help.
I offer an in-depth sensitive and explorative approach, that will give you a whole new perspective how you can support wellbeing, your own and beyond, from the inside out.
How it works (individually or in a group)
The “Deep Dive into Wellbeing” guided programme offers a way of exploring the many dimensions of being and doing that can support you.
You will be taken gently and beautifully into your own deepest inner and outer resources, connecting you in a new way with what you know to be true for you, and guiding you into seeing new steps forward to what living well and greater wellbeing means for you; ways you may not have realised until now.
The group programme is a powerful way of making connections with others on a similar journey, learning from and supporting each other.
I offer individual sessions as well as group programmes, either online or in person. All sessions will be sensitively and compassionately tailored to your individual needs.
Curious to find out more, or explore whether and how this may benefit you? Contact me for a free introductory on-line session.
"To be truly well, we don’t need juice fasts or yoga fads. We need to detox from a culture rooted in perfectionism, white supremacy, and individualism--and move toward a model that embodies mutual responsibility and extends beyond self-help to collective care.”
June-Kerri Kelly
PRICING & OFFERINGS
Pricing depends on the service accessed. Please enquire for details, and keep an eye out for upcoming workshops, courses, and retreats.
ABOUT
Kia ora,
After a long and reflective journey into questioning what supports health and wellbeing, I launched the Welcome Connective in August 2021. When you participate in my programmes you will directly benefit from the depth and variety of skills, knowledge, practice and experience that I bring.
A mindful and compassionate approach underpins every aspect of this initiative.
I am a NZ registered occupational therapist / kaiwhakaora ngangahau, have a counselling diploma, and have been a mindfulness educator in health, tertiary education and community settings for more than a decade. The experience of mindfulness was the focus of my MHSc(Mindbody Healthcare) degree. My personal experiences of grief, gratitude and grace through relationship, parenting, friendship, community and permaculture practice also inform my work.
My most recent in-depth learning journey has been with Francis Weller in his profound year-long “Facing the World with Soul” and 5 months’ “Grief Ritual Training” programme. This inspired me to create “Grieving well”.
The Grieving Well and Living Well programmes are an integration of this journey. They guide and enable you to uncover your own deep well of resources, leading to a much deeper sense of connectedness and greater wellbeing.
I offer a deep bow of gratitude to all the teachers, elders and ancestors whose wisdom, guidance and compassion have guided me to discover the beauty and sense of wellbeing through “grieving well and living well”, as much as possible in alignment with nature and with others; and to Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) that forms the foundation of this beautiful country and its welcoming people.
Noho ora mai
Is this for you?
Our services are for people who want to explore how they can increase their own wellbeing and resilience and want to play an active role in addressing the challenges our world faces, and who resonate with the “what” and the “why” of The Welcome Connective.
We offer services that are complementary to your regular healthcare plan. We recommend not making any changes to your medication, or other interventions without consulting with your GP or specialist first.
If you have acute mental health challenges, this service may not be the best place for you to start. However, please feel free to contact me for more information and some exploration of what you are looking for. I may still be able to help.
Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart – the nature nurture day in your garden and mindfulness space was extremely nourishing for my mind and soul.
I’m glad your garden initiative has come to fruition and the outdoor environment (despite the rain) had such an impact on my senses, being able to freely touch and taste things added to the joyous experience.
-
Julie B.
(Nature Nurture Urban Retreat Day Participant)
Being a facilitator myself, I found your skills particularly effective in creating a safe, inclusive, gentle and open space in which to dive deep and interact. I felt well heard, cared for, responded to and 'held'. You were accepting and acknowledging of our different experiences and journeys. Looking a the range of activities and how they relate to wellbeing was revelatory!
-
Peta Joyce, Mentor/Supervisor
(Living Well Programme Participant)
A joyful exploration of well-being with a group of wahine who were respectful and engaged. The power of a circle was really evident and the vulnerability shared was magnificent. Thank you Marlies you held the space beautifully.
-
Anonymous
(Living Well Programme Participant)
I gained a much deeper understanding of what I could do to help my community in this time of climate change, and it gave me the validation, confidence and courage to take proactive role in the community.
-
M.E.
(Living Well Programme Participant)
I've had a very cognitive, intellectual and disembodied academic perspective on community wellbeing in the past. I experienced your approach as an embodied felt-sense of wellbeing - "living wellbeing" rather than studying it, living life rather than studying it.
-
B.O. Public Health Physician
(Workshop Participant)
The day enriched my experience of nature. I realised that using my senses to focus on the natural world really helped me being present. I can use this deliberate and intense focus on nature as another form of meditation in my daily life. The small group format worked really well.
-
M.E.
(Nature Nurture Urban Retreat Day Participant)
I would like you to know how much I felt treasured by the whole day. I think the emphasis on urban nature is absolutely what we need.
-
Niki Harre
(Nature Nurture Urban Retreat Day Participant)
Over the last 6 years I had become like a cardboard cut-out of a human being. Now I feel like a flesh and blood kind of human being.
-
Anonymous
(Individual Grief Tending participant)
I have experienced two of Marlies' grief workshops, and I found them helpful, enjoyable and profound. Marlies facilitates with clarity, warmth and professionalism, and I came away both lighter and more grounded. Highly recommended
-
Kate, 2025
The Earth Grief ritual I did with Marlies was a real and reassuring individual response to the sorrow and helplessness so many of us feel about the wrenching changes currently affecting our Earth. I felt eased by the process and Marlies held the small ritual group with capable understanding.
-
Antona Wagstaff
(Small Grief Ritual Group Participant)
Curious about what's coming up?
Sign up to receive the newsletter to find out more.
Are you interested in signing up or do you have questions whether and how one of our services may be right for you or your group or organisation? Send me a message or give me a call for more information.
Stay up to date with what’s coming up in the Welcome Connective by signing up for the newsletter.
Practices, processes and support for accessing the deep well of sources we can call on to live life well supported, with our griefs and with gratitude and joy, in a welcoming place – connecting with ourselves, others and the earth.
GET IN TOUCH
Have a question or want to express your interest in one of the services? Give us a call, check out our latest updates or send us a message.
+64 21 1575 048
marlies@thewelcomeconnective.org
