Upcoming events
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Song Circle
First Monday of Each Month 6:30PM-8:30PM
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Return to the Light: Winter Solstice Breathwork and Cacao Ceremony
Sunday December 21st | 1:00PM - 5:30PM
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Community Grief Ritual
January 10th | 2:00PM - 6:00PM
First Monday of each month | 6:30–8:30 PM | Somatic Wisdom Institute | Grand Rapids, MI | No Registration Necessary
Song Circle
Join us at the Somatic Wisdom Institute as we bring our voices together in the singing of heart songs! We will gather to share and celebrate songs of devotion from all around the world. These songs of love and healing are intended to connect us to our own hearts, to each other, to Mother Earth and to the Great Mystery. You are invited to bring any songs you feel inspired to share, we open sharing to the whole community the last 3o or 40 minutes of the gathering. Dancing and improvisation is encouraged!
January 5th
February 2nd
March 2nd
April 6th
May 4th
June 1st
Return to the Light: Winter Solstice Breathwork & Cacao Ceremony
Sunday, December 21st | 1:00–5:30 PM | The Vital Hive | Lowell, MI | $95
As we enter the longest night of the year, we gather in ceremony to honor the dark and welcome the slow return of the light. Winter Solstice invites us into deep listening and into the quiet places within ourselves—where clarity, warmth, and renewal are already forming.
Join The Vital Hive for a day of breathwork, cacao, song, and sacred presence. Together we will soften into the stillness of winter and remember the inner fire that persists, even in the darkest night.
Breathwork is a doorway into the inner world. When we breathe in a focused and intentional way, the thinking mind begins to quiet, and the deeper layers of our awareness come forward. As the mind softens, the body reveals what has been held—emotion, memory, insight, and intuition. In this space, we enter a non-ordinary state where we can access clarity, release old patterns, and reconnect with our innate wisdom. Breath becomes more than a physical act—it becomes a bridge back to the truth of who we are.
Cacao warms and opens the heart, allowing us to meet what arises with tenderness. As we move through this ceremony, we welcome the dark as fertile ground—the place from which new life, new vision, and new strength emerge.
The ceremony will be held with live music from The Vital Hive Band, weaving harmony, prayer, and communal voice into the winter night.
What to Expect
Breathwork & Cacao Ceremony:
Open the heart with cacao, journey inward with guided breathwork, and return through song and shared presence.
Community Feast & Celebration:
The ceremony will close around 6:00 PM, followed by shared food and connection.
Greens and dressings will be provided. Please bring a salad topping or side dish to share.
Warm Waters & Integration:
The sauna, hot tub, and cold tubs will be available after the ceremony for grounding, cleansing, and quiet integration.
Schedule
Arrival & Nest Creation: 1:00 PM
Set up your cozy “nest” with blankets, a yoga mat, and any sacred items you’d like to have with you.
Hapé & Sananga (optional): 1:15–2 PM
Please be grounded and in your place if participating.
Opening of the Breathwork Ceremony: 2:00 PM
We enter together with song, presence, and the turning toward the heart.
Ceremony Concludes: ~5:30 PM
Followed by food, community time, sauna, hot tub, cold tubs
Location: Lowell, Michigan (address shared upon registration)
Safety Note
Breathwork is contraindicated for individuals with heart conditions, uncontrolled high blood pressure, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, a history of psychotic episodes, or pregnancy. If you have questions, please reach out.
Contact: Micahm1@gmail.com
This is an invitation to slow down, to gather in warmth and presence, and to welcome the returning of the light—together.
Bring your body, your breath, your longing, and your warmth.
Saturday, January 10th | 2:00–6:00 PM | The Vital Hive | Lowell, MI | $65
Community Grief Ritual
“When we grieve together, we remember we belong to one another,”
Join us in tending the village heart as we warm our winter bones in the communal stirring of grief. Whatever form your grief takes — loss, longing, change, or heartbreak — it is welcome here. Each flavor of grief becomes a vital ingredient in our shared healing.
In this ritual, we gather to honor grief as a portal to aliveness and connection. Together, we sing, move, and feel. We practice allowing the wild and tender places of sorrow to open us more deeply to joy.
This space welcomes people of all experiences and all griefs — those newly touching grief, those long acquainted with it, and those simply curious about what healing in community can look like.
The ritual will be facilitated by Nic Despres, inspired by the grief rituals of our friend and teacher Josh Fox (Asheville, NC).
What to expect
To preserve the emergent and spirited nature of this ritual, it will be held tenderly with open palms, following the stream of what is alive within the unique group that attends. We will gather around an altar, orient to the space and each other, and share about how we will hold this space together. A few of the ritual technologies we may employ to call in our grief are: storytelling, music, poetry, heart-sharing, games, and somatic practices.
What to Bring
Altar items — sacred objects, votive candles, flowers, photos or items representing ancestors, your younger self, family, or beloved places
Water bottle, journal & pen
If staying for the sauna and potluck: a dish to share, salad topping, swimsuit, and towel
We want this work to be accessible and affordable. If cost is a barrier, please email Nic HERE to inquire about financial assistance — no one will be turned away due to a lack of funds.
Address emailed upon registration.
We look forward to being in ritual with you,