The Death Positive Movement: Part 2

Harnessing the Desire to Wake UP within the Alternative

Growth and Sustainable Lifestyle Community

Occupy Death | Occupy Life

The Death Positive Movement is upon us. Unlike "Occupy Wall Street", now gone and perhaps forgotten, “Occupy Death” is a radical grassroots movement with long lasting potential to restore death to it’s sacred place in the beauty, abundance and celebration of life.

Occupying Death can be a heroic, intentional journey, a sacred rite of passage we may choose to take that changes the current culture of medical deaths to a culture of care and healing at end of life. To change the existing medically dependent death denying culture, it is imperative that we confront and accept our inherent genetic encoding--come to terms with our inevitable biological ending and open into the potentially transformational healing portal possible during the time of our dying. We can't change the fact that we die, but we can change how we go through the process of dying.

When we Occupy Death, we receive the spiritually and emotionally rich times of life that our dying process can bring and even contribute to the evolution of consciousness: our own, our loved one’s, our communities, nation, and humanity, and our planet.

On this journey we remember that we, all living beings, every elemental expression of life; all life passages and life cycles from birth to death exist within the unitary field of consciousness where forms change and energy continues on.

The unitary field of love and consciousness is the energy reservoir in which we give and receive abundant radiant vital life. It is the reservoir from which we drink and serve others during their dying without depletion and from which all of our care of others is guided.

It is this reservoir in which we remember who we truly are, beyond form, where we receive what we need without worry, and from which we draw our wisdom to know what to do and how to be in service to others.

Occupying Death is an Imperative.

It is how this fortunate generation must respond to life defying, life at all costs futile care. It is how we respond to the life negating practices that strip away quality moments of life.

Occupying Death brings us in contact with a transformational portal of life where we relearn how to uphold the amazing life giving opportunities during the dying time, just as we bear witness to the joy and radiance during birth. .

We become victorious vs. victims of current life negating bio-cidic health care practices.

We turn toward the dying times with our love and gifts and innate inherent goodness and being of great benefit to others.

It isn’t news to anyone that we have withdrawn our awareness, intimacy, caring, and true support from Death.

Whether collective or personal, Occupying Death answers 4 End of Life imperatives:

Ethical/Spiritual/Moral
FINANCIAL/Payer/Federal
Medical/EVIDENCE BASED
Personal/Family/Cultural/National

Why address National Financial Imperative?

Cost of Institutional EOL Health Care drives U.S. deficit
Majority of people die in institutional care

Why address ETHICAL/MORAL/SPRITUAL Imperatives?

Institutional Health Care creates needless suffering
And is often “Futile” Care
Institutional EOL Health Care denies humanity the transformational portal, celebration, and honoring of death as a sacred life passage.

Why address the Medical Evidence Base Imperative?

Without a strong foundation in evidenced based Palliative solution proven to work on improving patient care and cost reduction from within the medical system itself, none of the other challenges will be solved.

Palliative addresses all Imperatives:

1. Financial/National Imperatives

Examples of reduction in direct costs for both hospitals and payers (Insurers/Medicare) average approximately $6600.00 per patient

2. Palliative Care Addresses Ethical/Moral/Spiritual

Positively Affects Patient Care and Satisfaction
Overall patients are more satisfied with hospital care and provider communication
They reported higher levels of caring, respect and understanding with their providers
Psychosocial palliative interventions positively affect nurse patient communication measures
Pati ents in the palliative care intervention felt more in control, listened to and their wishes were taken seriously by the care team

What does all this mean?

The type of care people want at end of life is the very care that cost less.
Comforting Care drives patient satisfaction scores in health care ---the measures payers use to reimburse hospitals.
How much a payer spends drives the national debt and individual health care cost.
In this case, doing what is right is what reduces cost for big systems and increases quality of life for everyone

How Do we effect these changes? Let's see!

Occupy Life | Occupy Death: Harnessing the Desire to Wake UP in the Alternative Growth and Sustainable Living Demographic

Most baby boomers that came into personal growth and development, the "Transformational Movement" began "Waking Up" with Werner Erhart, now known as the father of the Transformational Movement, in the mid 1970s. Since then, spiritual seekers, alternative healers, mediators, new agers and growth cravers have tasted, touched, danced, wailed, blissed out, lit up, sat on cushions, tuned in, turned on, felt "let down", high, awakened, and perhaps even moderately addicted to a myriad of “transformational” methods, workshops, & spiritual retreats of all types.

Right NOW, another Transformational "Waking up Wave" is taking flight. But it isn't lead by a person--rather by a very natural though dreaded phase of life culminating with the energy we call "Death. As the boomer generation comes closer to this inherently vulnerable, chaotic, and potentially healing time of life, leaders are appearing to support the individuals through the deep fear, resistance, denial, toward a desire to awaken before death comes.

Lead by thought leaders like Tarron Estes and her transformational learner organization, The Conscious Dying Institute, the Death Positive Movement can be another transformational opportunity for awakening for spiritual seekers, alternatives, boomers, and green purveyors of everything.

This alternative demographic will want more out of death than our parents had. We will claim a more natural and caring healing way of being with dying as our parents’ and friend's frailty and imminent dying, are upon us.

OCCUPY DEATH, OCCUPY LIFE!!! The New Mantra

Atishas’ NINE CONTEMPLATIONS

Death is inevitable.

Our life span is decreasing continuously.

Death will come whether or not we are prepared for it.

The life span for us - and all living beings - is not fixed.

Death can come at any time.

There are myriad causes of death.

Our human body is fragile and vulnerable.

At the time of death, our material resources are of no use to us.

Let’s Practice for Death

Let’s find ways to meet death and welcome her. Let’s go back to our ancient spiritual roots and find our way, meeting ourselves fully in presence and love as we enter into yet another opportunity to become that we truly are…

Let’s Practice for Death. Let’s find ways to meet death and welcome her. Let’s go back to our ancient spiritual roots and find our way to meet ourselves fully beautifully in presence and love as enter into yet another opportunity to become yet again that we truly are…

How do we Practice for Death? At Conscious Dying Institute, we can help you do this. Read more here: Why Practice for Death? Wisdom Traditions Offer Many Practices For Death. Stay tuned for the next in blog in this series.