Sacred Pause

A Healing Retreat for Women Who Have Lost a Loved One to Suicide

Saturday, November 7, 2026
10:00 AM–5:00 PM
Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge, Dawsonville, Georgia

You Have Been Carrying So Much

The grief. The unanswered questions. The responsibility of continuing with everyday life while a part of you is still trying to understand what happened.

Sacred Pause is an invitation to step away from the noise, expectations, and demands of daily life—and spend meaningful time surrounded by the beauty of nature and women who understand the complexity of suicide loss.

This intimate retreat experience is not about rushing your grief, fixing what cannot be fixed, or pressuring yourself to “move forward.” It is a carefully held space where you can exhale, reconnect with yourself, honor the person you lost, and allow moments of peace without guilt.

You do not have to explain your grief here.
You do not have to pretend to be okay.
You do not have to carry everything alone.

You are welcome exactly as you are.

How Sacred Pause Can Support You

Sacred Pause cannot take away your loss—but it can help you feel less alone as you learn gentler ways to carry it.

Through compassionate connection, nervous-system regulation, mindful movement, nature, reflection, and meaningful ritual, this experience is designed to help you:

Feel understood by women who recognize the complexity of suicide loss
Calm emotional overwhelm and move through difficult grief waves with greater steadiness
Release some of the tension, responsibility, and emotion you have been carrying
Reconnect with your body after months or years of living in survival mode
Honor the person you lost while allowing yourself moments of peace, connection, and hope
Leave with practical healing tools you can continue using in everyday life

You may not leave without grief. But you can leave feeling more supported, more grounded, and more confident that you do not have to navigate it entirely on your own.

Meet Your Retreat Host, Jayne Madigan

Jayne is a four-time survivor of suicide loss who understands the heartbreak, unanswered questions, and complicated emotions that can follow this kind of loss.

She lost her uncle to suicide in 1992. Between 2022 and 2024, she experienced the devastating suicide losses of her nephew, a close family friend, and her brother. These experiences deepened both her personal healing journey and her commitment to helping other women feel less alone.

Jayne is a Certified Neuropsychotherapist, Suicide Bereavement Clinician, Master EFT Practitioner, Energy Medicine Specialist, Reiki Master, Grief Support Facilitator, and Nervous System Regulation Expert.

She created Healing After Suicide™ to provide compassionate retreats, support groups, workshops, healing experiences, and practical tools for women learning how to live after suicide loss.

A central focus of Jayne’s work is teaching post-traumatic growth tools and techniques that help women regulate their nervous systems, process difficult emotions, reconnect with themselves, and begin discovering what life can hold after profound loss.

Post-traumatic growth does not mean the loss was necessary, that the pain disappears, or that grief becomes something to be grateful for. It means that even after life has been forever changed, it is still possible to grow around the grief—to develop greater strength, deeper self-understanding, renewed purpose, and a more meaningful connection to life.

Jayne understands that grief is not something you simply “get over.” Her work gently supports women in learning how to carry both their love and their loss while slowly creating space for connection, meaning, hope, and life again.

**Your Sacred Pause Experience**

Your Sacred Pause experience begins before we arrive at Amicalola Falls. During two live virtual gatherings, you will meet Jayne, begin connecting with the women joining you, and learn gentle somatic and nervous-system regulation practices to help you feel supported and emotionally prepared for our time together.

Then, against the breathtaking backdrop of Amicalola Falls and the North Georgia mountains, we will gather in person for a restorative day created especially for women who have lost someone they love to suicide.

This is an opportunity to step away from daily responsibilities, soften your shoulders, breathe more deeply, and spend time with women who understand the complexity of this grief.

Throughout the day, you will experience compassionate connection, gentle Qigong, nourishing food, a professionally guided nature walk, and practical healing tools to support you on your grief journey.

You are welcome to participate in whatever way feels right for you. You may share, listen, reflect quietly, laugh, cry, rest, or simply take in the beauty around you.

This is your time to pause, feel supported, and remember that even in the midst of grief, moments of peace, connection, meaning, and hope are still possible.

Our connection will continue after the retreat with a live virtual integration gathering, offering space to reconnect, reflect on the experience, and carry the healing tools from our time together into everyday life.

Your Experience Includes

Virtual Support Before and After the Retreat

Your Sacred Pause experience begins before we gather at Amicalola Falls and continues after you return home.

During two live virtual pre-retreat gatherings on Zoom, you will begin building meaningful connections with other women who understand the unique and often complicated experience of losing a loved one to suicide. You will have space to share, listen, reflect, and receive support without pressure or judgment.

You will also receive a live post-retreat virtual integration gathering, giving you an opportunity to reconnect with the group, reflect on your experience at Amicalola Falls, and receive continued support as you carry the healing tools and insights from the retreat into everyday life.

The virtual gathering dates and private Zoom details will be provided to registered participants.

Jayne will teach gentle somatic and nervous-system regulation practices informed by neuroscience. These practical tools are designed to help you meet your grief exactly where you are, calm emotional overwhelm, move through difficult grief waves, reconnect with your body, and create a greater sense of steadiness and safety

A Day to Exhale at Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge, Dawsonville, Georgia

Healing Circle

Jayne will guide a gentle, restorative Healing Circle designed specifically for women who have experienced the suicide of someone they love.

Rather than asking you to share your personal story with the group, this guided experience will focus on reflection, nervous-system regulation, somatic healing practices, and meaningful rituals that honor both your grief and the love that remains.

You will be invited to participate in whatever way feels comfortable, with no pressure to speak or disclose personal details. This is a time to slow down, reconnect with yourself, release some of what you have been carrying, and feel supported in the presence of women who understand this unique kind of loss.

Gentle Qigong

Qigong is an ancient mind-body practice that combines gentle movement, intentional breathing, and mindful awareness. A guest Qigong instructor will guide you through a calming experience designed to support relaxation, grounding, emotional release, improved balance, and a deeper connection with your body.

The slow, flowing movements can also help ease physical tension, quiet the mind, and support the nervous system during times of grief and stress. Qigong is gentle and accessible, making it ideal for all ages, experience levels, and mobility needs.

No previous Qigong experience is needed. Movements may be performed standing and will be adapted for your individual comfort.

Guided Nature Walk

Reconnect with the steadiness and beauty of nature during a gentle walk through Amicalola Falls State Park, led by a professional park naturalist. Along the way, our guide will share insights about the park’s landscape, wildlife, and natural history, allowing us to experience the surroundings with greater presence and appreciation.

The route will avoid steep stair sections and will be selected with the comfort of the group in mind. Participation is always optional and is subject to weather and park conditions.

Lunch at Amicalola Falls Lodge

We’ll pause midday to enjoy a nourishing lunch together at the restaurant inside Amicalola Falls Lodge. Surrounded by the beauty of the North Georgia mountains, we’ll share a relaxed meal, meaningful conversation, and time to simply connect—without rushing or having to plan a thing. Lunch is included in your retreat experience. Dietary information will be collected before the event.

Healing Tools You Can Continue Using at Home

Your Sacred Pause experience will continue long after our day together. You will receive a beautifully designed digital Sacred Pause Healing Guide filled with practical, easy-to-use tools and techniques to support you through the changing emotions of grief.

Inside, you’ll find gentle, somatic, mind-body practices to help you navigate unexpected grief waves, calm and regulate your nervous system, release difficult emotions, reconnect with your body, and create moments of steadiness and peace. These tools can be used whenever you feel overwhelmed, emotionally activated, disconnected, or simply in need of comfort.

The guide is yours to keep and return to whenever you need a compassionate reminder that healing can happen one small, supportive moment at a time.

This Retreat May Be for You If...

You have lost someone you love to suicide—whether that loss happened recently or many years ago—and you are longing for a space where you do not have to explain your grief.

Sacred Pause may be especially meaningful if you:

Feel alone, even when surrounded by people who care about you
Are tired of pretending you are okay
Carry guilt, anger, fear, regret, or unanswered questions
Feel pressure from others to be “doing better” or to have “moved on”
Have been living in survival mode and want to feel more connected to yourself again
Want a safe, compassionate space to honor both your grief and the life you are still living
Long to connect with other women who truly understand the complexity of suicide loss

You Deserve a Sacred Pause

You may spend much of your life taking care of other people, managing responsibilities, and trying to remain strong.

For one day, you are invited to set some of that down.

Come breathe in the mountain air.

Move gently.

Eat a nourishing meal.

Remember the person you love.

Connect with women who understand.

And allow yourself to experience a little peace without believing that peace means you have forgotten.

Your love remains.

Your life remains, too.

Registration

Early-Bird Registration: $147 (first eight women to register)

Regular Registration: $197

Sacred Pause is intentionally limited to approximately 15 women to protect the intimacy and emotional safety of the experience.

Your Registration Includes:

The full One-Day Retreat from 10:00 AM–5:00 PM
Healing Circles and Facilitated Practices
Instructor-Led Qigong
Guided Nature Experience
Nourishing Lunch
Digital Sacred Pause Healing Guide
Two Pre-Retreat Virtual Gatherings
One Post-Retreat Virtual Integration Gathering
Connection with a Compassionate Community of women

Transportation and overnight accommodations are not included.

Optional Overnight Stay Not Included

Women who would like additional time in the mountains may choose to reserve a room at Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge before or after the retreat.

Overnight accommodations are completely optional and must be booked and paid for directly by each attendee.

Jayne plans to stay at the lodge, if you liked to join!

Lodging availability and rates are determined by the lodge and are not included in your Sacred Pause registration.

Visit https://amicalolafallslodge.com for more information. and to book room (optional).

Cancellation and Refund Policy

Your registration includes the in-person Sacred Pause retreat at Amicalola Falls, as well as the live virtual gatherings held before and after the retreat.

Cancellations received on or before October 15, 2026, are eligible for a refund, less any nonrefundable payment-processing fees.

After October 15, 2026, all payments are nonrefundable and nontransferable. This policy applies whether or not you attend the virtual gatherings or the in-person retreat, as planning, professional services, meals, materials, and other retreat arrangements will have been finalized.

If Sacred Pause is canceled by Healing After Suicide™, participants will receive a full refund of all retreat payments made.

Healing After Suicide™ is not responsible for transportation, lodging, or other personal expenses incurred in connection with the retreat.

Weather and Event Postponement Policy

Sacred Pause will take place rain or shine. Because much of the retreat can be held indoors, ordinary rain or changing mountain weather will not automatically result in cancellation. The schedule may be adjusted, and the guided nature walk may be shortened, relocated, postponed, or replaced with an indoor healing experience when necessary.

If severe weather, hazardous travel conditions, an official park closure, or another circumstance beyond our control makes it unsafe to hold the in-person retreat, the retreat will be postponed and rescheduled.

Your registration will automatically transfer to the rescheduled date. Because your Sacred Pause registration also includes virtual gatherings and other retreat elements that may already have been provided, weather-related postponements are not eligible for a full refund.

If you are unable to attend the rescheduled date, you will receive a credit for the unprovided in-person portion of your registration. This credit may be applied to another eligible Healing After Suicide™ experience within 12 months.

If Healing After Suicide™ permanently cancels the in-person retreat and does not offer a rescheduled date or an eligible credit, participants will receive a prorated refund for the portion of the retreat that was not provided.

Healing After Suicide™ is not responsible for transportation, lodging, or other personal expenses incurred by participants.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to share my story?

No. You will always have the option to share, listen, reflect privately, or pass during a group activity.

Is this therapy?

Sacred Pause is a supportive educational and somatic healing experience based on neuroscience. It is not group therapy, medical treatment, or a replacement for professional mental-health care.

What should I wear?

Wear comfortable clothing and supportive walking shoes. November weather in the North Georgia mountains can vary, so layers and a weather-appropriate jacket are recommended.

Is the nature walk strenuous?

The intention is to provide a gentle nature experience without steep stair sections. The final route will depend on weather, park conditions, and the needs of the group. You may choose not to participate in any physical activity.

Can I attend alone?

Yes. Most women attend Healing After Suicide™ experiences on their own. You will be welcomed and thoughtfully introduced to the group.

Does it matter how long ago my loss occurred?

No. Women at many different points in their grief are welcome.

Is lunch included?

Yes. Lunch is included in your registration.

Are overnight accommodations included?

No. You may independently reserve a room at Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge, but lodging is optional and separate from the retreat.

What happens after I register?

You will receive a confirmation email followed by additional retreat details, an attendee information form, virtual gathering dates, preparation guidance, and arrival instructions.