Train In One Of The Top 10 Fastest Growing Jobs Of The Future
How Do I Practice for Death by Tarron Estes
The Evolution Of The End Of Life Doula Movement by Jeff Markel
The Grace of Dementia by Sara Bensman
Holding Space with Death by Marie David
Becoming a Sacred Passage Doula by Shirley Grant
Initiation Of A Death Doula By Kristie Zahn
The trainings for Death Doulas that are available through institutions such as The Conscious Dying Institute are necessary. They teach attendees and give them an experience that provides them with a working knowledge of how to be present when there is loss. The attendees gain benefit because they learn about themselves and can translate what they have learned to be a utilized when others are dealing with loss.
Read MoreJerry was 61 years old. He was a tall man with pale blue eyes. His hair, although grayish, hinted at having once been blond. Finnish/Irish he was. He successfully managed a large real estate firm. He had also created a remarkable family. Jerry and Joyce had two exceptional sons, Mike, 35 and Pat, 31. Both were married and Mike had a baby girl. Both were slender and tall like Dad but they had the dark Spanish eyes of their mother. I was Jerry’s nurse.
Jerry had a history of glomerulonephritis that resulted in chronic renal failure. During the last couple of years he had been managing his own peritoneal dialysis and enjoyed the freedom this method allowed compared to hemodialysis. He came to the ICU after suffering a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, which was repaired emergently.
I soon took a personal interest in Jerry and developed a privileged bond with him and his family. Jerry was in my care day after day, stretching into weeks. I worried about him on my days off and hoped that upon returning I’d find him faring well.
Read MoreI recently certified with Conscious Dying Institute as a Sacred Passage Doula. Some people asked me why I took the course since I am already a registered nurse certified in Hospice and Palliative Care. I work at a fifteen bed inpatient hospice unit and have done so for over seven years. My answer is thoughtful and measured. Working in the inpatient hospice setting I feel comfortable giving medications, managing symptoms and educating the dying and their families. I am also comfortable with integrative therapies such as Healing Touch, Mindfulness, Aromatherapy, and Guided Imagery. I hold certifications in Healing Touch and Focused Awareness Meditation. And yet, I felt there was more I could learn about working with the dying and their families.
I was right. The Sacred Passage Doula program gave me tools, insights, and practical information to bring back to the hospice unit.
Since the class I have found myself even more present and aware with the dying and their families. I look forward to bringing more of the class ideas into the inpatient hospice environment.Read More
I was terrified. Even though I knew I had received great training, even though I have worked as an in- home care provider for the disabled and knew I could handle physical care. Could I live up to the standards of the people that trained me. In part at least foolish as they had expressed nothing but confidence I me.
Read MoreAs a hospital and hospice chaplain, I am finding the tools and perspectives explored in the Death Doula training to be very helpful. While I have clinical perspectives that are at the forefront of my connections with patients, they are ‘rounded out’ by the existential and practical insights of the training. For example, a few days ago I was visiting with a palliative care patient in the hospital. He has a new prognosis of less than a week to live, although he has been living well with cancer for years.....
Read More“Everything’s important and nothing really matters.”
This is the message relayed to me by my dear friend and brother before he died. A paradoxical statement creating a still point where we sit and witness. In my attempt to give him merely a glimpse of how his life is reflected in mine, I produced a song.
Composed by singer and songwriter Jay Brown [another dear friend and brother]. In his composition he carried the message a step further…
Read MoreIn less than two months, I will take my first steps to join the growing numbers of conscious-death practitioners in North America. I will enter this privileged position as a Sacred Passage End-of-Life Doula trained and certified, by the host of this blog, the Conscious Dying Institute.
Like those before me, I come to this rich opportunity to serve the dying and their families through life experiences that are distinctly my own. Yet, with this training, I am joining a collective of peers and future colleagues with whom I imagine I already share something quite profound: a comfort with mystery.
Read MoreCreative ways of exploring death and dying in our community was the theme of the gathering where I met Grigsby and Anne a year ago. They were a notable couple: Grigsby, a tall, slender, intelligent, poised male - a Yale-trained historian and Jungian philosopher and Anne, a beautiful, eloquent and thoughtful woman – a former counselor. Recently, I had the honor of bearing witness to Grigsby’s dying process, an experience that has deeply impacted my thoughts about end-of-life care. Grigsby chose to consciously approach the end of his life with strength, equanimity, courage, honesty and mindfulness, with little medical intervention from the time of a terminal diagnosis until his death in his own home seven weeks later.
Read MoreIn Phase 2 of our End of Life Doula Certificate program, we work with 5 domains of life as a framework for discussing and potentially realizing end of life desires and wishes for those in our care. One of the domains of like focuses on after death care. Many individuals these days have a great interest in “going green” ….. we wanted to share this article about: Going green when it's your time to go…..
Read MoreHow do we communicate in our culture about the end of life?
A leading Hospice Society – “Hospice is about living. Hospice strives to bring quality of life and comfort to each patient and their family. Our successes are in helping a patient and family live fully until the end. Often patients will feel better with good pain and symptom management. Hospice is an experience of care and support, different from any other type of care.”
A leading Cancer Society – “Learning that you have advanced disease growing and not responding to treatment – may make you feel lost and afraid. At this point, you know that the cancer is not going away and the time you have left to live probably is limited. But knowing what to expect and being prepared to deal with it can enable you to get the support and care you need so you can have the very best quality of life possible.”
These expressions of how to be supportive at the end of life from both organizations is very closely aligned. At the Conscious Dying Institute, we recognize that the end of life is a special time whose depth can transcend all involved regardless of training and approach.
Read MoreWe wanted to share this very interesting article about multi
Read MoreIn last week’s blog, we explored the concept of practicing for death …. a concept we present in the first segment of the Conscious Dying Institute’s End of Life Doula Certificate program. The name of this first segment is: Conscious Dying Practices For Awakening NOW! Along with a focus on awakening, awakening to our innate healing gifts and talents, awakening to the power of bold inquiry, awakening to the gift of presence, there’s quite an emphasis on practices, and not only our own practice for death meditation featured last week.
In keeping with one of the Conscious Dying Principles developed by Founder, Tarron Estes, “Honor other’s beliefs while staying true to your own,” our death doula training program introduces practices from many traditions. Read on to lift your spirit with words and practices from other wisdom traditions.
Read MoreIn the first segment of the Conscious Dying Institute’s End of Life Doula Certificate program, students experience an immersion in preparing the self as a healing environment. As such, we focus on self-care and nurturance, connecting to individual healing gifts, establishing and re-establishing a sense of purpose, and deepening awareness of our own desires, wishes and beliefs about end of life….. and in particular, our own end of life. We do this through practice…..lots and lots of practice, with students participating in breath practice, communication technique practice, movement practice, and many other tools of the trade.
Why do we Practice?
Read MoreI’ve been asked many times what it was that sparked my fascination with all things deathly since 2012. Everyone has a different answer to this question – some begin exploring when they, because of age or perhaps a diagnosis, become face-to-face with their own mortality. Others, because they were left feeling unsettled after a bad experience with the death of a loved one. Still others intrinsically know that we need to retrieve the “old ways”, the knowledge and practice of folding death back into the arms of a family or community.
For me, it was a gradual waking up to realize that we had it wrong in North America.
Read MoreKathleen Taylor is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with over 20 years of experience in hospice, palliative care, and advance care planning. She currently operates a coaching and consulting practice primarily serving the healthcare, social service and nonprofit sectors. In her career, Kathleen has fostered communication within families, in conference rooms, and in communities. Her intention is to bring her skills and insight regarding clarity and authenticity to every interaction. Kathleen is based in Tampa Bay, FL.
Those who are called to the healing path of End of Life Doula know that they will see life and death in all its fullness in their service to those at end of life. End of Life Doulas offer their presence in witnessing all of life's gifts and challenges, the suffering and the healing, the learning and the surrender.
Cultivating the skill of being present is a foundational practice in our End of Life Doula program. And it's the worlds most versitile skill. Offering one's precence is an incredible gift, in all circumstances. It's not just for end of life care. We resonated with this article from the New York Times, The Art of Presence. It's a beautiful reminder that "most people need presence" and "non-verbal expressions of love are as healing as eloquence".
To be trained and certified by the Conscious Dying Institute places you as a participant in the movement to Restore Death to its Sacred Place in the Beauty, Mystery and Celebration of Life, Create a New Wisdom-Based Culture of Care and Healing and Contribute to the Evolution of Human Consciousness.
Training represents a prime opportunity to expand your knowledge and skills. Skills that will be useful-- as we are all destined to be touched by death. Through shared learning and practice, End of Life Doulas elevate the experience of deathing. They learn to surrender and trust deeply in each moment. The rich, intensive, life-evoking training graduates receive prepares them to be supportive end of life companions who offer comforting healing care guided by what people want and need most.
Read MoreMy father died when I was seventeen years old. I was young and the thought that my dad would die never entered my mind. It might not have entered his and it certainly did not enter the minds of anyone who knew him. He was healthy, handsome and hearty.
When he died of a heart attack there was shock. He was forty three years old with a wife and two children at home. He passed in the middle of the night with EMTs, blinking red lights and a neighborhood that was awakened from its slumber. Walls were punched, screams were let loose and tears flowed.
I am about to celebrate my seventieth birthday and have survived my own heart attack.
Read MoreThis week we continue with the conclusion of Dr. Matthew Wilburn King's story about learning from death and illness as a teacher. "Death and disease are not enemies; both can be great friends on our journey through life. We should embrace them." We publish this with gratitude for Matthew, and for all the caregivers serving those walking with death.
The trainings at the Conscious Dying Institute offer the possibility of facing our own fears of death and gaining skills to be really present and helpful to others and their families as they pass through their last days. This is a healing path, the sacred work of being an End of Life Doula. Trainings offered in Boulder, Vancouver, Asheville, Gainesville.
Read MoreI knew I was going to meet the angel of death prior to his visit.
At first I felt trepidation and angst. I didn’t know what to expect from such a powerful spirit, but I knew that he might be coming to collect me, even if I wasn’t ready to go.
I had been diagnosed with Stage IVB of a rare blood cancer, and although my oncologist couldn’t state if I was going to live or die, he made clear that I had a 15 percent chance of survival. In other words, 85 percent of the people diagnosed at the same time as me with this rare blood cancer are now dead.
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