Samples: Past classes

SAMPLES OF PAST WORKSHOPS:

CLASSES FALL 2007 – WINTER 2008:

Milwaukee Area: Weekend of November 2-3  Contact Linda@lindabergh.org

St. Cloud Area: Weekend of November 9-10  Contact Linda@lindabergh.org

TWIN CITIES Friday and Saturday 9-3 Feb 1-2 2008 Cost $90
Location Twin Cities TBA Sponsor: Novalis Institute Faculty: Linda Bergh Marianne Dietzel, and Kim Pilgrim         Contact Linda Bergh at linda@lindabergh.org if you are interested.

How can we prepare ourselves to meet the transition of death - our own or that of a loved one? We live in a time when many of us are caring for aging parents, or for someone with a terminal illness. Presenters will share insights and guide experiences around conscious dying, care of the body, and the three-day vigil. The format will include presentations, self reflection and writing, group sharing and discussion Participants will come away information of the choices available, and an empowered sense of being present for self and others in thes threshold experiences.

“Beholding the Threshold” Transforming Grief Friday Evening and Saturday 9-3 March 2008 TBA Cost $90
We don’t ask for loss, but what do we do when it greets us? Through challenging and life changing experiences, we can actually come to meet life in an even more present way. Bereavement is a process, and has stages, and through adding consciousness and presence to that process we can arrive at the other side of the shore in new ways. Presenters will share their experiences of meeting loss and grief and finding an opening to transformation. Presenters
Linda Bergh holds a MA in psychology and in counseling. She has been a teacher and psychologist with adults and children for most of her adult life. She has been working out of Anthroposophy for thirty years, and is currently the core teacher for the Novalis Institute in the Twin Cities. She also self-published “She Would Draw Flowers” after the death of her daughter. She has been engaged actively in understanding the threshold of death since that time. She serves as a resource for the community, and is available for support and consultations.

Marianne Dietzel has a BA from Earlham College and completed Waldorf Teacher Training. She was a preschool/Kindergarten teacher for many years. After her daughter Nina died in a car accident in 1996, she learned to play the lyre and became certified as a Music Practitioner with the Music for Healing and Transition Program. Since 2002 she has worked for Hospice as a Volunteer Coordinator and is now a Bereavement. Coordinator. She is available for lyre playing for persons at the threshold and their families.

Kim Pilgrim has a MS in counseling. She has been a stay at home mother, substitute and coverage teacher in her children’s Waldorf school and is now a CranialSacral therapist. Her interest in threshold work comes from the positive experiences she has shared with Marianne and Linda in the deaths of their loved ones and from her mother’s own crossing when she was twentyone. She has been particularly supportive of the process of individuals opening to their own inner understanding of this threshold

Villa Maria at Frontenac Planning to offer another workshop Fall 2008

Workshop in Conscious Living, Conscious Dying
Intentional Practices & Communal Caring
with Linda Bergh, Marianne Dietzel & Kim Pilgrim of the Twin Cities Threshold Group
6 p.m. Friday, November 17 to 5 p.m. Saturday, November 18, 2006
 How can we prepare ourselves to meet the transition of death – our own or that of a loved one?
 How can we accompany a loved one through the journey of a prolonged illness?
 How do we help him/her open to completing life wishes, i.e., ethical will, words to loved ones, important tasks?
 What happens when someone you love dies suddenly, accidentally, or unexpectedly?
 How do we support ourselves as caregivers through extended periods of illness and death?
 How do we stay connected and participate in the days immediately following a death?
Hospice workers, family members, health-care providers, other care-providers and friends, come to learn how to consciously accompany and compassionately support the process of dying. Many of us are caring for aging parents, for a person with a terminal illness or for others facing a sudden loss. Honor life by finding ways of completing wishes, including life celebrations and ethical wills. Open yourself to graceful passages at the time of death. Learn how home death, care of the body, and after-death vigil can be alternatives to funeral home offerings. Reflect on ways individuals and communities can create an affirmative and healing environment for the bereaved.
Jean Lauer
Minister of Programs
Villa Maria Retreat and Conference Center
29847 Co. 2 Blvd., Frontenac, MN 55026
Phone: 651-345-4582 Toll-Free: 866-244-4582
Home Office Phone: 507-453-0576
Email: jlauer@hbci.com
Website: www.villamariaretreats.org

Viroqua, Wisconsin : Community requested Workshop April 2006
Conscious Dying with Linda Bergh, Kim Pilgrim and Marianne Dietzel from the Minneapolis Threshold Group
April 28 – 29, 2006 Location: Viroqua, WI – exact location to be announced
Friday, April 28, 7 pm – 9 pm
Conscious Dying
 Being alive while dying
 How the community can stay awake while facing death
 Much of the pre-planning emphasis is on paperwork – while this is important, being conscious to the dying process and making meaning from our lives should also be a part of our approach.
 Ethical wills – what are they and why would they be a tool for dying consciously?

Saturday, April 29, 9 am – 4:30 pm
9 am Welcome and opening circle; verse and/or song
9:30 Morning workshops
Crossing the Threshold - Support at the time of dying
 Question and answer session
 Share experiences
After death care at home
 Sacred time & sacred space
 Community consciousness – are we prepared to act?
 Unexpected & accidental death
11:30 Lunch break
12:30 Movement and song
1:15 The 3- day Vigil
 What is a vigil, why would we do it and how?
 How can we assist the family with their wishes?
2:45 closing session - continuing support for bereaved families