Walking the Path of Grief, Together

Grief is love carried forward—an unfolding journey

to be met with compassion.

Woman sitting on a rock overlooking a winding road through green hills.

Rooted in both the greater Portland area and Lincoln City, Oregon, we offer virtual grief support to individuals and communities across the region and wherever their journey takes them.

We offer embodied grief support through personal sessions, workshops, and community gatherings to help you on your healing journey and find connection.

Curious about what that looks like?

We invite you to explore the website or reach out for a discovery call.

We’re honored to walk this journey alongside you.

Welcome — I’m Dawn

I guide people through grief with compassion, presence, and embodied practices that integrate body, mind, and heart. I bring years of experience in somatic movement, trauma-informed care, and grief education, alongside my own journey through loss, to create spaces—through 1:1 sessions, workshops, circles, courses, and retreats—where grief can be felt, expressed, and gently integrated. My hope is to support you in finding care, resilience, and connection, helping you navigate your grief in a way that honors your unique experience.

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Our Offerings

  • Grief is unique to every person, and so is the way we move through it. We offer compassionate, trauma-informed support to help you navigate loss with gentleness and care. Through individual coaching, embodied grief gatherings, workshops, and retreats, we create spaces where your grief can be witnessed, honored, and integrated at your own pace.

    Explore the Programs page to learn more about the ways we can walk this journey together.

  • Grief touches every workplace and community, yet it is often left unspoken. We partner with organizations to bring compassionate, trauma-informed approaches to navigating grief and loss. Through speaking engagements, workshops, and trainings, we help teams foster resilience, connection, and understanding—creating environments where people feel supported in both their work and their humanity.

    Explore the Invite Dawn to Speak page to learn more about organizational offerings and speaking opportunities.

  • Grief is multidimensional, and healing can be supported through many pathways. we partner with other health and wellness professionals to create integrative grief programming that combines diverse modalities—movement, body-based practices, creative expression, and more. These collaborations offer participants a holistic, supportive experience for connection, restoration, and embodied healing.

    Explore the Collaborations page to learn more about ways we can partner.

Start Your Journey — Book a Discovery Call

Take the first step in your grief journey with a complimentary discovery call. This 20–minute conversation gives us a chance to connect, explore your needs, and determine which of our offerings—1:1 sessions, workshops, or group gatherings—might best support you. There’s no pressure, just a welcoming space to talk and see how I can walk alongside you on your journey.

“I bring a blend of completed and ongoing training to my work, including certifications as a Grief Educator (with David Kessler) and Somatic Anxiety Coach and Breathwork and Movement Coach (through The Embody Lab). I am also deepening my practice through Yoga Teacher Training (through Akasha Yoga Academy) and a 7-month immersion in Nervous System Health & Restoration (with Dr. Arielle Schwartz). These experiences ground my approach in both knowledge and embodied practice.”
— Dawn
A circular badge with a blue background and light purple border. It features a stylized sunrise with rays extending upward from an orange semi-circle. The text around the edge reads 'I AM A CERTIFIED GRIEF EDUCATOR.' In the center, it says 'by David Kessler + grief.com' in purple text.

Somatic Anxiety Coach

I have completed The Embody Lab’s Somatic Anxiety Coach training, a program rooted in science, mindfulness, and body-based practices. This training deepened my ability to support others in navigating anxiety and stress with compassion, while fostering a greater sense of presence, resilience, and safety within the body. Combined with my certification as a Grief Educator through David Kessler, these practices allow me to hold space for the complex layers of grief and anxiety, guiding individuals with both heart and evidence-based tools.

Certified Grief Educator

I am a Certified Grief Educator through David Kessler, a program that combines evidence-based grief theory with compassionate, heart-centered approaches to loss. This training has equipped me to support individuals through the many layers of grief with sensitivity, presence, and care. Grounded in both knowledge and lived experience, I hold space for people to explore their grief in ways that honor their unique journey and foster healing.

Certificate of completion from The Embody Lab awarded to Dawn M. Geoppinger for completing a 60-hour somatic anxiety therapy program, dated July 4, 2025, with signatures of course instructors.

Breathwork and Movement Coach

I have completed The Embody Lab’s Breathwork & Movement Therapy for Trauma Healing training. This program explored the body’s innate wisdom to release trauma through breath, movement, and embodied awareness. I studied science-backed approaches to help guide clients from disconnection to embodiment, from rigidity to fluidity, and from numbness to aliveness. Through practices that honor the body’s primal language of sensation, breath, and movement, I learned to support nervous system regulation, emotional release, and deeper integration—offering tools that go beyond conventional talk-based approaches to healing.

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Common Reflections from Clients

“Clients often share that our sessions bring them a deeper sense of presence, embodiment, and transformation—sometimes for the first time in decades.”

Client Testimonial, Penny

“With Dawn’s guidance, grief becomes a doorway to strength, self-awareness, and healing.”

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Today holds a tender weight for me. On September 11, 2001, I was serving as an AmeriCorps volunteer in New York City with the Sisters of Mercy, placed at the Church of St. Francis Xavier. That morning, a late start and a phone call from my dad ke
There was a time when I wondered if something was wrong with me. The racing heart, the knot in my stomach, the way my body seemed to hold on to grief long after the world thought I should be “better.” What I’ve learned is this: y
✨ Certified Grief Educator ✨ 
I’m honored to share that I am now officially listed in the Grief.com directory, founded by grief expert David Kessler. 🌿 This directory includes only certified grief educators — practitioners who are train
Grief is one of life’s most profound teachers. It breaks us open, reshaping who we are and how we move through the world. While it can feel impossible in the moment, grief can also hold seeds of growth—what psychologists call post-trauma

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