#167 Weaving grief threads with Melissa Word

Hi sweet listeners,

I am delighted to bring you a charming, inspiring and joyful conversation with the wonderful Melissa Word. I have loved her Grief Threads program so much and could listen to her talk about bodies, grief and art forever. Here is some of what we explored:

  • Approaching dance & movement in a totally new way
  • Listening and learning from our grief
  • Opening our arms wide wide wide to what art can be
  • Finding secret information inside ourselves

Melissa Word is an artist, dancer, writer and somatic facilitator. Her work takes the form of live performance, workshops, textile collages, drawings and newsletters. She specializes in creating transformative group experiences for people who want to feel more creative and connected to themselves–quilting classes for grief, movement classes for anxiety relief and body image repair, voice work for expanding consciousness. She is a current arts educator with the Alliance Theatre, and formerly with the High Museum of Art and Boys and Girls Club of Atlanta. Her pedagogy is based in somatic inquiry, presence and mindfulness practices, experimental voice work, intersectional discourse, liberatory social movements, and the perennial power of play.

https://www.melissaword.com/

https://www.instagram.com/melissawordstudio/

Thank you so much for listening!

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The Creative Grief Club is a free, gentle space for people who are learning to live beautifully alongside loss. Join us for monthly Spark Sessions on Zoom, a slow book club on the Fable app, seasonal reflections, and a newsletter sent with love. No pressure, no performance. Just quiet companionship and a place to come back to.

Hi, I’m Yarrow

I’m a writer, grief companion and tarot reader living on the East coast of Scotland. 

I facilitate creative projects and gentle rituals for seasons of loss, make handmade textile magic and host the Grief Glimmers podcast. My wish is to change the culture around grief and death so that we can explore these experiences as gateways into a softer, more embodied life.