“When the ordinary fades, when the familiar rhythms and patterns of shared living erode, something is activated within the soul. Hidden invitations and initiations arise in a time of uncertainty. The soul recognizes the markers of descent—darkness, sorrow, anxiety—as requiring radical change. The conditions of trouble and uncertainty activate some profound movement toward alterations in the psychic landscape. These are the precise times when the possibility for shifts in the collective.”
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL. Check back here for 2026 Death Songs workshops.
Death as sacred metaphor, portal and inspiration.
A day-long retreat on November 1, 2025 * 930am-530pm
at Celebration Tree Farm & Wellness Center
facilitated by Sage Hayes and Dev Bry
>>>Join a small group of courageous movers and explorers for the first ever offering of Death Songs.
Death songs is an emergent invitation and ritual where we move together to the songs you want played at your funeral.
We practice death as an embodied and sacred metaphor, portal and inspiration.
We’ll spend the day together building conditions for connection, depth, bravely exploring death and life, intensity and mystery, love and letting go.
Because this is the first time this retreat is being offered, the design for this retreat is emergent and evolving. The flow of the day will follow these themes…
Morning:
Connectivity: building coherence and connection with each other
Altar building for our time together - honoring ancestors and sharing our invocations
Embodiment practice - practices which support feeling our body, moving into presence, deepening connection to self and building capacity to explore intuition, emotion, thresholds and release
Afternoon:
Sharing our death songs with each other through moving together, sharing, presencing and heart opening practices
Closing circle to harvest our experience from the day
During this retreat we will be moving, dancing, sitting, sharing, going outside - wear comfy clothing. We’ll have breaks and at least an hour for lunch around 1230pm.
The flow, invitations and activities during the retreat will be embedded with lineages of intuitive practice, somatics, family constellations, 5 rhythms, biodynamic craniosacral, authentic movement and a deep devotion to creating a culture of care, consent and community.
Bring your lunch. Snacks and tea will be available.
Space is limited to 8-12 participants.
An inception…
I’m inviting folks to join this iteration if you’re ok with being a part of something that is at its beginning, something new and unpolished. Mostly it will be a series of invitations to connect with yourself, each other and whatever is beyond that calls to you.
Registration:
Pricing for this offering is a spacious sliding scale, $75-$175. You can put a non-refundable $50 deposit now to save your spot or pay in full. You can fill in the amount you’d like to pay on the payment page.
About the sliding scale: Please be mindful that if you purchase a price at the lowest end of the scale when you can truthfully afford the higher ticket prices, you are limiting access to those who need the gift of financial flexibility. Being honest with yourself and your financial situation when engaging with sliding scale practices grows strong and sustainable communities. To understand more where you fall on the sliding scale, check out this great resource.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL.
Upon registration you will be sent a form to fill out and some preparation recommendations for our time.
Any questions - email me at sage@embodiedliberation.com
Where?
I am honored to be hosted by Jonah and Burdie at the Celebration Tree Farm & Wellness Center yurt. There are many trails on the property to explore during lunchtime or breaks. Celebration Yurt is a new beautiful circular space to celebrate creativity, wellness, community and the earth. The Celebration Tree Community Supported Forest is a place for families and people to connect with nature and each other through the forest, trees, wellness, art, food, and water.
Address: 125 Bowie Hill Road, Durham, ME
Why November 1?
is the Day of the Dead which made sense as the inaugural birth day of Death Songs. The Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, traces back to the ancient Aztec Empire, thousands of years ago, where death was seen as a natural part of life and not a cause for mourning. The Spanish colonization in the 16th century led to the merging of these indigenous traditions with Catholic practices, particularly All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. This fusion evolved into the modern celebration, which now combines Aztec rituals of honoring ancestors with Catholic holidays, culminating in a vibrant tradition that focuses on remembering and celebrating deceased loved ones. While we will not be utilizing Day of the Dead rituals because I am not from that lineage, I feel as though it is a powerful day to bring this form forth.
Why death songs?
This project / vision was born out of these political times where as a species we are struggling to let go of death centered and fear driven ways of being. I sat for a long time with the question - what will it take for folks to be able to let go of outdated ways and unearned privilege and turn more courageously towards and into the evolution of life itself? What came to me was the idea of helping us creatively turn towards our own mortality using movement, the power of our circle and a fullness of permission to look at and beyond our fears. This project is more a prayer than anything else.
Co-Facilitators
Sage Hayes (she/hey/they) :
Part deep sea diver, part astronaut - Sage has been facilitating many different types of groups for over 30 years. As an DJ for ecstatic dance, Sage has a sense that music and community will be transformative portal for exploring death and life. For the past 18 years Sage has training extensively in somatics, nervous system care, trauma healing and supporting countless clients and groups connect embodied agency. In this project, Death Songs, Sage is trying something new, an emergent form which invites folks into depth, movement, music and deep connection with self and each other.
Dev Bry:
dancer, death doula, devotee.
equal parts hip-hop and sacred chants.
group facilitation has been a primary practice for the last 20 years.
degrees and trainings
but most of her learning has come in the form of osmosis.
great teachers along the way including nature, relationship, matter, space
“Differences disappear when faced with death.”