on grief & belonging
what I believe about grief
Grief is not a disorder. It is not a weakness, not a failure of resilience or faith. Grief is a natural and intelligent response to loss, separation, and change. It is the soul’s way of honoring what matters to us, what we love and have loved, and what we long for. In a culture that rushes us to move on, numb out, or carry our sorrow in silence, we forget that grief is not something that happens to us—it is a practice. And not just that, it’s a practice of belonging, core to capacity to feel connected, seen, loved, and accepted.
We are all carrying untended grief—old heartbreaks, unlived dreams, chronic illness, ancestral wounds, unspoken goodbyes, and changes we navigated silently. Left unacknowledged, this grief can harden in the body and spirit, showing up like anxiety, burnout, addiction, or the aching feeling that something vital is missing. Untended grief behaves like unhealed trauma, asking—sometimes demanding—to be witnessed, held, and metabolized. We need places where grief can speak its many languages: tears, silence, trembling, poetry, rage, remembering.
Grief is not the absence of healing—it is part of healing. It is a continued expression of love, a declaration of longing, a testament to how much we care. In this time of widespread isolation, when so many are sick with loneliness, community grief tending becomes a sacred act of reconnection. It is how we restore the broken threads between us, how we remember how to belong—not just to one another, but to the world itself.
Our culture has forgotten how to grieve, and it shows. We are in urgent need of grief literacy—of learning how to be with sorrow, and how to tend it in others. Community grief rituals are one way we remember what it means to be human together. Personal grief tending is also a key ingredient to this movement towards belonging. In grieving, we do not collapse—we root deeper into life so that we may rise together.
on alyssa rose
Guidance through life, death & Grief
Alyssa Rose walks with those navigating life's most profound transitions. As a Grief Tender and Death Doula in Portland Oregon, she bridges ancient ritual practices with modern somatic therapies to create sacred spaces for those facing loss, death, and deep change.
Drawing from her extensive work with hundreds of families and communities, Alyssa’s unique approach to grief care honors the somatic, emotional and spiritual dimensions of the liminal and alchemical process of grieving.
Alyssa is passionate about creating a grief literate culture that is resilient and compassionate enough to hold us through life’s challenges and uncertainties. It is here that we practice belonging, and transform a culture sick with loneliness into one ripe with connection.
Experience
Alyssa Rose Healing Arts: 2018 - present: grief guide & ritualist, life transitions doula.
Grief ritual facilitation: Monthly Portland Circles, Monthly online death salons, , Monthly Pregnancy Loss circles, virtual villages, 6-month grief support containers, custom grief ritual design.
End Of Life Choices Oregon: 5+ years - training & experience volunteering
Hospice: Massage with Housecall providers 2018 - Covid, Companion volunteer with Signature Hospice: 5+ years
Masssage: Knott Springs, Salsihan, and Stephanie Inn Spas, private practice.
Education, training, experience
East West College of Healing Arts - Massage & energy work
Upledger Institute - Craniosacral Therapy
Ancestral Medicine & Animist Psychology via Daniel Foor
Grief Tending via Laurence Cole & team
Grief support for pre-natal loss and abortion via Amy Wright-Glenn
Mayan Abdominal Massage - Zhenya Novareign
Closing of the Bones Ceremony - Erin Wilde
13 Original Clan Mothers & Mentorship - Luna Itzell
Trauma informed & Psychedelic Integration Coaching - The Condor Approach
Universal Law Life Coaching - Soulciete & Dr. Erin
BFA - University of Michigan
Sristi Institute of Art, Design & Technology - Bangalore, India