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The Art of Dying

When You Die Before You Die, You Discover You’re Still Here
 

A weekend retreat at the Sanctuary, Community for Conscious Living & Dying
July 18–20, 2025 • Swannanoa, NC

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Walk with Death. Return to Life.

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What if turning toward death could awaken your deepest love for living?

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This July, The Art of Dying invites you into a soul-stirring, three-day retreat where death is not seen as an ending, but as a wise teacher. Through contemplative practices, ritual, music, and sacred play, you’ll come alive to what truly matters.

 

Held in the peaceful embrace of the Sanctuary home of the Center for Conscious Living & Dying, this immersive weekend calls you to slow down, open up, and reconnect—with yourself, with community, and with the mystery that holds us all.

 

We’ll gently explore the little deaths—the everyday endings and transitions that shape our lives—and discover within them a sacred doorway to greater joy, connection, and meaning.

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​​​Registration & Tuition

Inclusive Tuition
$1,295

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Early Bird Discount
$1,095 (register by June 15)

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NOTE: Housing, travel, and breakfasts are not included. Lunch and dinner are provided.

You are warmly invited if you:

  • ​Crave refuge from the chaos of the world

  • Long for meaning in the midst of uncertainty

  • Feel grief that hasn’t been given space

  • Want to remember how to laugh and cry, fully

  • Are ready to embrace death as a way back to life

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What You’ll Experience

  • Contemplative and embodied practices, including a Grief Ceremony and a Death Passage Experience

  • Ritual, music, movement, and ceremony

  • Heart-centered conversation and creative expression

  • Sacred space beneath Grandmother Oak and the ceremonial fire

  • Time in authentic community, held with tenderness and presence

  • Connection with others who are seeking to remember what matters most

Nourishment is Part of the Practice

Due to the nature of this retreat—and the soul-deep work we’ll be doing—meals are included to help you stay grounded and well-supported.

 

Included Meals:

 

  • Dinner Friday & Saturday

  • Lunch Saturday & Sunday

  • Teas and nourishing snacks throughout the weekend

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Please eat breakfast before arriving each day.

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NOTE: Travel and accommodations are not provided. Click here for a list of nearby lodging.

​Registration & Tuition

Inclusive Tuition
$1,295
 

Early Bird Discount
$1,095 (register by June 15th)

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Held at the Sanctuary

You’ll be held by the sacred landscape of the Community for Conscious Living & Dying—land that breathes presence, connection, and reverence for all that is becoming and unbecoming.


Every ending holds the seed of a new beginning.
Come home to what matters most.

“Every day we practice dying... when we let go, when we surrender and remember who we truly are.”
 

— inspired by Dr. Aditi Sethi

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