Rise Up to overcome grief & trauma
Recently I recorded a session for an online learning retreat for grief and trauma, which takes place from 20-22 May.
The event will raise money for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital through a charity set up by yoga teacher and grief coach, Leah Morgan, of Still We Rise Coaching. The retreat brings together over 20 professional speakers with specialisms in grief and trauma, with the aim of empowering the audience to access helpful advice and practical and emotional tools
Leah has organised the event in memory of her daughter Maggie-Mae, who lost her battle with leukaemia in 2018, aged just 18 months. It is estimated that just 1 in 5 million babies are born with the disease.
"My life was turned upside down when Maggie-Mae was born with leukaemia," recalls Leah. "Despite being incredibly poorly, she managed to hold on tightly to life and responded well to the incredible treatment she received at GOSH. Maggie appeared to have beaten the disease until two days after her first birthday, when it returned and she quickly became critically unwell."
GOSH were able to to offer more treatment and help Maggie-Mae get well enough for what should have been a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, the leukaemia Maggie had was extremely aggressive and returned days after transplant - something that even the hospital’s haematology team were not expecting. Just five days later, on her mother’s birthday, little Maggie-Mae died.
"Being Maggie-Mae's mummy is a role that fills me with the deepest pride. In her 18 short months Maggie taught us the meaning of living and loving fully. It's now my mission to ensure that message continues. In her name I am dedicated to supporting anyone experiencing grief and trauma, and especially those who have had their lives changed unrecognisably by childhood cancer.”
The talks featured in the retreat can be viewed online in return for a donation, and all money raised from the event will be directed to Maggie-Mae's Brighter Future Fund, to go towards GOSH's childhood cancer research strategy. Replays will be available to everyone who registers for up to seven days after the event.
Leah says: "Some of the themes covered in the retreat include resilience, post-traumatic growth and recovery, understanding anxiety, navigating grief, parenting, anxious teens, positive mindset and much more. We also have yoga and meditation practices that will allow you to safely explore your own experience with grief and trauma."
Leah and her family have already raised almost £50,000 in Maggie’s memory, but this will be their first fundraising event since the beginning of the pandemic. Leah is also planning a charity ball for September and will be running the London Marathon for GOSH in April 2023,
