the movement community

We’re committed to ensuring that no one grieves alone.

We believe in the power of movement, community, and ritual to help us move with our grief rather than away from it — elements that are often underutilized in traditional grief care. We also know how important it is — and how hard it can be — to move alongside other grievers who truly get it.

That’s why we created the Movement Community — and we’re bringing them to cities everywhere.

A Movement Community is a movement-based, peer-led grief group for individuals who have experienced the life-disrupting loss of a person they love. Each group is guided by a trained E-Motion Facilitator and includes 10–20 grievers who come together to move, connect, and make space for their grief.

Find a community near you

the Movement Community experience

Imagine a grief group that doesn’t take place in a circle of chairs, but in motion — walking, running, or hiking side by side with others who get it. That’s the Movement Community. Every Movement Community is designed to meet you where you are — whether you’re easing in gently or ready for more.Through weekly gatherings, daily practices, and shared goals, members begin to build a rhythm of movement, reflection, and connection.

core components

shared distance goal & movement program

At the start, your group will set a shared distance goal—like walking a 5K or running a 10K—and receive a weekly movement plan to help you build toward it. This plan supports consistent movement between gatherings and helps you gradually go a little further each week. You’ll complete your shared goal together in a culminating final gathering.

weekly in-person gatherings

Each week, you’ll gather in person, beginning with a short (10 to 15 minute) Sacred Circle where the facilitator will guide the group through intentional grief practices to help ground and center everyone. From there, you’ll get moving together toward your shared distance goal.

grief informed email

Between gatherings, your facilitator will send a personalized email that includes:

A grief concept to reflect on; A related audio episode from our Rx to Feel series; A quote or poem; A weekly movement plan to guide your practice.

why join the Movement Community?

Watch the videos to hear directly from our Movement Community members about the transformative power of the experience.

  • "Since my child died, I rarely moved my body. I hadn't run in 20 years. Yesterday I ran 6.2 miles. It was the community and the connection that got me to put on my running shoes each Sunday. To be vulnerable. To show up to be part of something bigger. To move my body with others who understood my pain in a way that no one else ever could. And to move with the pain. Together."

    Movement Community Participant

  • "“I feel like I was working so hard to do all the right things to grieve: read the right things, and attend the right groups, just be the best griever. But it’s such a lonely experience at the core and joining a movement community was like catching a wave. Like instead of treading water, I was catching a wave with all these other people and it completely changed my grieving experience.”

    Movement Community Participant

  • “E-Motion is very unique to me because of the people I have met. It helped a lot that it was centered around an activity that we did together every Sunday. It wasn’t just sitting around and talking about our grief, but we were actually experiencing it in a physical form and sharing it with other people as we were running together.”

    Movement Community Participant

  • "Before E-Motion, I had always grieved in isolation. In terms of the physical part of it, I’m 60 years old. I had stopped running simply because I thought I was old. Old people walk they don’t run. So to think that I can run and that I’m having fun with the process has a lot to do with the support and encouragement that I’ve received through E-Motion.”

    Movement Community Participant

  • “I feel like I'm at a turning point where I have space. I can hear other things and be with people who before I couldn't even look at. Now, there is a little more grace. It’s like I’m dipping my toe into emerging back into life. I attribute that to you and E-Motion.”

    Movement Community Participant

  • “I immediately felt this sense that not only was I welcomed in this space and this community, but that my son Felix was also there with me. And I was being encouraged to acknowledge my relationship to him, to name it, to say ‘I’m Felix’s mom”. And for other people to witness that and say it back to me. I didn’t know how badly I needed that. It seems like such a small thing and it was huge.”

    Movement Community Participant

  • “The Movement Community provides not only the witness and support but also this accountability to keep returning and connecting and reflecting and that’s so important because your life continues to grow and change around the grief but the grief remains this tremendous force that’s the same size at the center.“

    Movement Community Participant

find a Movement Community near you
become a Movement Community Facilitator

FAQ

  • Movement Communities are designed for anyone who has experienced a life-disrupting loss.

  • We are working towards bringing Movement Communities to communities across the country.

    All active and upcoming Movement Communities are listed above. If you're interested in joining one of these Movement Communities, please reach out to the relevant E-Motion Facilitator.

    If you're interested in joining a Movement Community and there isn't one in your city yet, please reach out to us here.

  • The Movement Community Experience typically ranges between 8-10 weeks. The duration depends on the interest level of the group and the distance of the culminating movement experience.

  • A typical Movement Community is comprised of 8-20 Movement Community Members and one trained E-Motion Movement Community Facilitator.

  • Every Movement Community has one or two trained E-Motion Movement Community Facilitators who are responsible for starting the Movement Community and moving the group through the experience. All Facilitators have completed E-Motion’s required Movement Community Facilitator Training.

    If you are interested in getting trained to become an E-Motion Facilitator, please reach out to us here.

    • Has experienced a significant life-disrupting loss or is a clinician aligned with the E-Motion approach.

    • Sees importance in movement, specifically running/walking, as supportive of your grief.

    • Aligns with E-Motion’s Core Principles and has exposure to similar philosophies.

    • Has the time and capacity to devote 1-2 additional hours per week to the Movement Community, outside of the group rmeet-ups.

    • Recognizes the value of connecting with others who have gone through loss.

    • Is at a place in their own grief journey, where they would be able and available to consistently and predictably create space for others:

    • Consider yourself beyond the acute phase of loss

    • Capacity to sustain energy level and focus on things such as email correspondence and preparation of weekly gatherings

    • While in the role of facilitator, prioritize others' emotional needs over your own.

    • Has completed E-Motion’s Movement Community Facilitator Training.

  • Please read the criteria above. If this feels like a good fit, please reach out to the E-Motion Team here.

  • In order to start a Movement Community, there must be a person who is interested and willing to become the E-Motion Movement Community Facilitator. The Facilitator is responsible for managing three core steps to ensure a successful launch: preparation, implementation, and closing with care. The Facilitators are introduced to all these steps during the Facilitator Training and also receive ongoing support from the E-Motion HQ Team during the leadup and implementation of the Movement Community.