Inspiration from Eckhart Tolle

“A culture that denies death inevitably becomes shallow and superficial, concerned only with the external form of things.  When death is denied, life loses its depth.”  Eckhart Tolle

We found inspiration in this video from Eckhart Tolle.

Wisdom from Morty Lefkoe - How to Stop Suffering

Many of us have grown up believing that dying equates to suffering.  Morty Lefkoe offers perceptive insights on suffering, and how to reframe the notion of suffering.  This can be particularly helpful when supporting someone at end of life.

End of Life Doula Resource: Find something that inspires.....

Practicing self-care is of utmost importance to End of Life Doulas.  And sometimes it's as simple as a deep, calming breath, a conscious rinsing of your face, or an inspiring verse.  May this poem bring comfort and care to those at end of life and those who serve them.

Eagle Poem, by  Joy Harjo  

To pray you open your whole self

To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon

To one whole voice that is you.

And know there is more

That you can’t see, can’t hear;

Can’t know except in moments

Steadily growing, and in languages

That aren’t always sound but other

Circles of motion.

Like eagle that Sunday morning

Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky

In wind, swept our hearts clean

With sacred wings.

We see you, see ourselves and know

That we must take the utmost care

And kindness in all things.

Breathe in, knowing we are made of

All this, and breathe, knowing

We are truly blessed because we

Were born, and die soon within a

True circle of motion,

Like eagle rounding out the morning

Inside us.

We pray that it will be done

In beauty.

In beauty.

Joy Harjo, “Eagle Poem” from In Mad Love and War. Copyright © 1990 by Joy Harjo. Reprinted with the permission of Wesleyan University Press.

Vancouver Phase 1 Student

First of all, I would like to thank you for the role that you have played in bringing this workshop on Conscious Dying.   It was the most profound workshop with highly conscious people, and therefore absolutely transformational.  I felt like I was in a bubble in the universe of like-minded people.  I bow to you for your commitment and thank you from the bottom of my heart for the role you are playing in elevating human consciousness.  MM

Vancouver Doula Student 2017

There is no possible way to express enough gratitude for your generous gesture towards me in the program! The situation with the father of my children had been away of my conscious awareness for a long time--the loss of LOVE and the loss of my maternity in the way that most women experience it in a day to day basis.
I do not even know how it happened that I raised my hand to work with you. My infinite gratitude to you to have receive my pain and open my compassionate heart towards the man I have LOVE THE MOST DURING ALL MY LIFE. For whom this love has never vanish even if immense suffering has come upon me and I my children. May the suffering of my children and myself bare the fruit of true compassion towards Alfredo.
 I would like to extend my gratitude to all the participants for their generous time and attention given to me during the program. Let them know that I am committed to be a channel to lessen the suffering of others as a token of gratitude to all and every one present with me during this last two days!
    Blessed be your father that perceived the wisdom teacher in his woman child! May I honor all your teachers and guides in the work you do!
                                               ¡Con todo mi cariño y gratitud! G M

End of Life Doula Amy 2017

I just wanted to thank you all again for such a lovely weekend we shared. It was truly a beautiful experience and you are all such beautiful souls! I returned home from our time together with words and emotions lingering from the death experience … and wrote “SURRENDER” … so I thought I would share here …

SURRENDER

As she sits in stillness, she takes note of her inner space - her space full of past wounds, rushing thoughts, and emotional roller coasters; her space full of ideas, hopes, and dreams. The space that holds her physical being.

And she clearly sees that she is more - that she is not simply defined by what is contained within. She is separate from anything that moves through and all that accumulates inside her body, her mind …

So she let's go of all of it ... inviting a moment of pure surrender ... a surrender that draws her beyond her suffering, beyond her attachments, beyond her perceptions and beliefs and dreams.

And in that moment, resting in that expansive space of no boundaries, no limitations …

She just is.

As she dwells silently, curiously in that place of pure Love, she recharges her heart, her soul. She finds peace, comfort and strength.

With the Beauty that permeates, it would be easy for her to stay, to get completely lost in the place of intoxicating Love ... but she becomes aware of that which waits for her return; that which pulls, tugging tirelessly at her attention.

So once again, and with intention, she surrenders.

She surrenders back into her human-ness to hold her space full of past wounds, rushing thoughts, and emotional roller coasters; her space full of ideas, hopes, and dreams.

She surrenders because she realizes that her close proximity to woundedness, pain, and emotion does not separate her from Love; it actually accentuates Loves presence. It allows her the opportunity to embrace what it means to be human - to experience dis-ease, suffering, fear, longing - all of which open her heart to tenderness, compassion, and empathy for herself and others.

She surrenders because she knows that it is all one and the same. By fully embracing the condition of being human, she surrenders to Life; and her surrender to Life is, ultimately, her surrender to Love.

End of Life Doula Jill

Thank you all for keeping the energy strong. This emails have been so helpful to me as I plopped back down to earth and struggle with the balance of keeping the weekend alive and taking care of business.

Listening to my heart - I shared the link to the Sophia's bath and have been coming back to that clip throughout my day. This was well received and a few "curious inquiries" about the topic. Yeah! Blessings always in all ways to each of you. My world is sweeter because of each one of you.

Jill

End of Life Doula Shoni

From Shoni K -

Good Morning Tarron,

Thank you again for the weekend. With an awareness for each of our individual needs you gracefully guided us toward new pathways.

~shoni

End of Life Doula Christopher

From Christopher S - May 2015

Thank you for that poem Tarron. Thank you for this work you are teaching. 
Here's a poem I wrote a while back that I realized could have been written about our weekend together.

Thank you for releasing so many healing tears.

Tears fall,
Relax, do not sob or fight with the flow.
Open every tightness
Let light into the dark frozen places that resist.
There is warmth and tenderness in tears,
Let this tenderness,
melt the hardness.
The softness you try to shield and hide
feels vulnerable
because life is tenuous and brief.
You know the kiss of death -
it always patiently awaits
for you to let it in.
But who is this that does the letting?
Who is the one that receives this kiss?
Breath moves through this body -
this “I” cannot stop it.
LIfe itself determines how many more times
this belly fills with invisible sustenance
and then without clinging
releases and surrenders the breath
for another to begin.
There is no celebration,
no awe or wonder at how breath continues,
but there should be.
Why should there be any clinging to a tear
as it forms in this eye,
and then trails down
this cheek?
LIfe is in this tear,
it is in the emotion,
a rising energy that this body struggles to contain.
Don’t struggle.
Something bigger than this body is moving through it
that causes the tear to form
and this breath to rise and fall.
Become this motion in the belly.
Become the energy beneath emotion that births tears.
Become the openness
in which all this is occurring.