Why Practice for Death?

With the exception of Savanasa, or "corpse pose" offered in the final three-five minutes of yoga classes, Practicing for Death is lost as a formal act of letting go.  In our "money-first, survival driven, life-at-all-costs culture", most of us don't remember the benefit of intentional rest and restoration.

Bringing ourselves to practices for death, like Savanasa, is one of the most valuable acts of self-care and self remembering. It is an act of returning to our basic goodness, our essential nature --our formless nature dwelling in human form. Practice for Death connects us to the timeless and impermanence nature of life preparing us for our final act of letting go.

We Practice for Death to the door to our hearts. We practice to feel our nervous systems, recallibrate, relax and release. We practice so that the cells and muscles of our body can experience surrender.  And inside this deep release, healing, forgiveness, acceptance, and connection can be happen.  We practice so that our words begin to flow with greater ease, even when speaking about death, fear or pain.   We explore practices from many cultures to broaden our perspectives while embracing foundational truths about the beauty and mystery of death and life.

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How do I Practice for Death?

In Sacred Passage: End of Life Doula training we explore practices from many cultures to broaden our perspectives while embracing foundational truths about the beauty and mystery of death and life. 

In the first segment of the Conscious Dying Institute’s End of Life Doula Certificate program, students prepare "The Self as Primary Healing Instrument" so that no matter who we are with, regardless of condition or diagnosis,  or in what care setting, our very being is the source of caring for others.  We grow our presence and healing capacity through enlivening breath and movement practices, communication and connection practices, but most of all in a life-changing, deep meditative activity called:

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Maha Savasana: The Vigil Practice For Death.  With a partner, we experience both watching over a human being while they are practicing being in their final moments of life, and we receive being watched over, in a vigil so that we say our final words, feel a final touch, and prepare our consciousness to practice dying.

As we practice dying, and internalize a profound sense of surrendering into the final moments of life.  Many of our graduates express that Maha Savasana: Vigil practice for Death is one of the most profound experiences of their certificate training. We learn through the practice to support each other, surrendering completely in the way we would most like to die. Each phrase in this practice is a complete in itself and each line resonates differently and stronger for each of us. We select one or two phrases and these are said into the left ear of the person who is practicing for death. People report that the phrases are relieving and heart opening.

Some say they have never known until this practice that the right words could be so healing.

In Sanskrit, these phrases, short meaningful kernels of truth, are called Pith sayings. When we use one of the lines in the practice in our own restorative inner journey, we come to know its importance for healing, surrender, rest and release in our own lives and the lives of others.

During the later phases of active dying, the hearing is the last sense to go. It is important to remember that what we say during this time is of the highest importance and can be healing and elevating to the spirit of the person departing as well as family. Using the Practice for Death, or specific phrases, can be one of the most meaningful caring offerings during near death and dying. Now I use this practice as a teaching tool. Like many practices from the wisdom traditions, there is a story behind this practice (see below)—Tarron Estes

Practice for Death: The Story

The “Practice for Death" that I call a mediation or sometimes a poem, came to me in a dream by my Teacher, Ginny Jordan. In the dream, Ginny discovered that cancer had returned for the third time. Her children and husband were wildly, furiously, desperately trying to soothe her and help her. They were all maddened and struggling hard to make the truth of her illness go away.  I was in the room, in dreamtime, but invisible, watching.

Ginny tried desperately to get them to stop. When nothing would make them leave her in peace, she called to me to take her away. So in the dream we moved out of her house and floated into a beautiful green garden. Ginny lifted her arms and an emerald green silk robe came down from the sky. She grabbed the tails of it and wrapped it around her.

She looked at me with deep thorough peace and said “Thank YOU”. She stood still with her arms crossing her chest and began to say the words in the “Practice for Death” - one line after the other. When she was finished, she looked at me again and said, “Now Tarron, this practice is for your work. IT IS YOUR WORK.” And with that she kissed my cheek and disappeared.

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I woke, sitting straight up in bed with a feeling of gratitude and dread. I wrote the words down without lifting my pen and went back to sleep. The next morning I called Ginny to tell her my dream. When I told her, she asked me, “What kind of dream is this?” And I said: “Well, it’s both a teaching dream as well as a foretelling dream.” Then she told me that indeed the cancer had returned and her family was having a much harder time with the information than herself.

She had been my dream teacher for many years. We were both silent for a few moments realizing that the foretelling was both about my work and her illness, and that the teaching was for both of us.

Now I use this practice as a teaching tool. We learn through the practice to support each other, surrendering completely in the way we would most like to die. Each phrase in this practice is a complete in itself and each line resonates differently and stronger for each of us. We select one or two phrases and these are said into the left ear of the person who is practicing for death. People report that the phrases are relieving and heart opening. Some say they have never known until this practice that the right words could be so healing.

In Sanskrit, these phrases, short meaningful kernels of truth, are called Pith sayings. When we use one of the lines in the practice in our own restorative inner journey, we come to know its importance for healing, surrender, rest and release in our own lives and the lives of others.

During the later phases of active dying, the hearing is the last sense to go. It is important to remember that what we say during this time is of the highest importance and can be healing and elevating to the spirit of the person departing as well as family. Using the Practice for Death, or specific phrases, can be one of the most meaningful caring offerings during near death and dying, —Tarron Estes

We continue this article next week with a sharing of other practices for death from various wisdom traditions.  Thank you for reading!