maria renée johnson
TRAINING + TESTIMONIALS
PARTICIPANT REFLECTIONS
"From beginning to end, Maria's knowledge and skill level were evident. The embodiment, writing and sharing exercises built into her grief workshop were facilitated with thoughtfulness, care and an impeccable sense of timing, each activity moving seamlessly into the next without the lag time or awkwardness often felt during video conferencing workshops. Maria has an uncanny ability to read the room, a special gift for holding gentle, calm command of the space, and a sensitivity to what is needed in the present moment that is only matched by her integrity as a human being. I cannot recommend her grief workshop strongly enough." (Haas)
"Maria was a soft and steady light during an uncertain and heavy time for me personally and in greater society. She is an incredible facilitator with important knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration to share. Each session I left a little lighter!" (Madison M.)
"This is an incredibly timely series. Maria offers a space that is very rare for many of us, while creating an environment to both learn and share. I would highly recommend." (Anonymous)
"Maria beautifully crafts a safe and nurturing space for each participant to share whatever is most present." (Jade H.)
"Maria is an absolutely wonderful facilitator and the perfect person to help you find, understand, and process your grief. She is a sweet and compassionate soul and is a true gift to this world. You'll be lucky to attend a grief series hosted by Maria." (Anonymous)
WHERE I'M COMING FROM
My background is multidisciplinary, spanning from science, conservation, social justice, environmental education, and the arts. Much of my work throughout the years has had an underlying or direct connection with environmental grief.
In 2020, I reached a turning point in my life. I had recently completed a Master's degree in marine science while recognizing that I felt more suited to work with people and the environment in a relational way while working toward a cultural shift. All the while, I was facing what felt like insurmountable loss in my personal life as well as from what was happening globally. I was struck by the lack of resources, support, and even basic acknowledgement of what we all were (and are) going through. The times we are living in are calling us to reexamine how we do everything -- including how we support one another.
So, I dedicated a lot of energy towards creating what I wish existed more readily. I've taken a Grief Immersion for Death Workers certification course with Inviting Abundance, a certification course to be trauma-informed and practiced with body-based regulation tools through a Somatic Embodiment and Nervous System Regulation Strategies course with Linda Thai, Coming Back to Ourselves: Embodiment and Culture in Grieving and a Mentoring Circle with Shauna Janz as well as Francis Weller, Holly Truhlar, Alexandre Jodun, Erin Geesaman Rabke, and Carl Rabke's 6-month ritual training Entering the Healing Ground. I've trained with Kai Cheng Thom and Camille Dumond in their Conflict Resolution training with the Waterline Co-Op, the Pocket Project's Facilitation Training for Societal Resilience, and worked for several years as an environmental facilitator. I've learned significantly about grief from the teachings of Martín Prechtel and Stephen Jenkinson, particularly in his series Grief/Dirt and Homecoming as well as animist teacher Bayo Akomolafe in We Will Dance with Mountains. I also volunteered at Tu Nidito working with grieving children and families in Tucson in 2023 and 2024. I've been more formally facilitating grief workshops and rituals of many kinds since 2020. All of this being said, much of griefwork is about unlearning dominant culture and the interlinked systems of oppression in order to reclaim the practice of grief and hold space for others to grieve with care. Much of my learning in this regard has been a substantial part of my formal education experience as well as additional trainings.
Perhaps more importantly, I have been a griever with particular attention to the living world since I was a child. Some of my first memories are connected to this grief and the questions it stirred, all of which has informed my work to this day. I've long felt to be a student of death, in a sense, having had multiple near death experiences in my early life. I've been privileged to have had significant access to the natural world and talented teachers of art, ecology, and the social spheres, who have challenged me to see and connect in different and deeper ways. The more-than-human inhabitants of the deserts, marine environments, and forests where I've lived have taught me about connection, relationship, grief, and how to be human more than any other teacher. It can be an isolating experience to feel such grief in an over-culture that diminishes, pathologizes, and lacks space for it. What has made the difference for me is to have community with others who grieve collectively -- this process has the ability to open us into incredible joy, gratitude, and a rich multi-dimensional experience of life. It illuminates our common humanity in a time where that is so, so needed.
I would describe my approach to griefwork as "ecological griefwork", meaning it is both informed by ecology as well as is, in it's own right, a process of reconnection and recognizing our inherent belonging. Grieving is the work of the heart and is based in practices of connection. Having access to our hearts is one of the most valuable things we can do -- and, is often one of the most challenging things to do when living during difficult times that seek to systematically rupture this connection. Griefwork guides a reclamation.
If you have any questions, please email me at griefecologies@gmail.com
"To truly and freely grieve as an entire people can revive an entire culture just as much as it can bring back to life an individual."
-- Martín Prechtel