https://contemplativedying.com/blog daily 0.75 2024-10-04 https://contemplativedying.com/blog/saint-francis-and-why-he-inspired-me-to-take-off-my-clothes monthly 0.5 2024-10-04 https://contemplativedying.com/blog/h5u34uuecdkgamamfnl9oreaicxvzd monthly 0.5 2023-10-02 https://contemplativedying.com/blog/x0mk7vowyiydcu63hck7ew7dnr6ks5 monthly 0.5 2023-04-26 https://contemplativedying.com/blog/the-women-gathered monthly 0.5 2023-04-26 https://contemplativedying.com/blog/hphir01lu5p40txnkpokjw5srlvris monthly 0.5 2022-09-23 https://contemplativedying.com/blog/lp9b7y8u46im0ernh5yz4bm0d7blfp monthly 0.5 2022-03-07 https://contemplativedying.com/blog/blog-post-title-one-2bsxk monthly 0.5 2022-02-16 https://contemplativedying.com/blog/blog-post-title-four-7jw5g monthly 0.5 2022-03-03 https://contemplativedying.com/about daily 0.75 2024-06-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/34813402-5a60-43d4-893b-df9bdfa63025/IMG_3540.jpg About - A warm hello to whomever this page greets! https://contemplativedying.com/contact daily 0.75 2025-09-29 https://contemplativedying.com/homepage daily 1.0 2025-09-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1618511387030-5LI1E5QMVTQ2RY9S00A4/20140228_Trade+151_0046+1.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1618511440608-5BVMHVN4WR2I9YQV1WWR/Aro+Ha_0010+1.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1618511467879-K5J9BYNACHJVDV3BNSFU/Aro+Ha_0387+1.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1618511743693-J3A8OYH6X8C7RXNU5K0J/20140301_Trade+151_0124+1.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1750357585474-KW9979QXXBZB4BJWVFZK/unsplash-image-dvACrXUExLs.jpg Home https://contemplativedying.com/deathdoula daily 0.75 2025-09-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1663868483729-YV8VYPVSJXOJYB327PB3/unsplash-image-VUOiQW4OeLI.jpg Death Doula - Support for the Dying As a certified death doula my role is to welcome each individual as they near the end of life, with love. I am a caregiver who seeks to support my clients emotional, mental, physical, relational, and spiritual selves. I am an advocate for the individual and families wishes, and don’t make decisions for anyone. I educate families on care options that many are unaware of. End of life can be a messy, painful, vulnerable, and confusing time, but it can also be a life changing and sacred experience if we enter in with presence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1644979745452-NKWFWU35P6I2XQHONKOW/unsplash-image-PGnqT0rXWLs.jpg Death Doula - Guided Conversations for Families As a family member, or friend is nearing the end of their physical life, we often don’t have access to some of the tools we would like. Grief can overwhelm our senses, and we can get stuck in shock, in a reactionary state, in depression, in anger, in confusion, and so much more. At times it can be helpful to have someone outside of the family facilitate conversations that navigate how to support the individual dying, how to support one another, and name some of the things that can be sensitive to name in the face of death. It is not uncommon for families to have conflict over money, unsaid expectations, and when emotions are high family systems can face a lot of stress. These facilitated conversations give everyone a chance to be heard, and create space for families to not only create boundaries, but share their love for one another. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1644979408881-UEX76VLNINSV41UHA9OB/unsplash-image-aPa843frIzI.jpg Death Doula - Family Support I support families by providing respite care, with the hopes of preventing all too common burn out. I support by helping organize medications, changing diapers, emptying urine bags, scheduling reminders for those administering meds, giving bed baths, talking with extended loved ones of the family to keep them updated on the patients status, helping plan for the celebration of life, and much more. As I support my clients its vital to also care for the needs of the family as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1644976692042-HEV3U41XJEJLZH5Q87PC/unsplash-image-S_VbdMTsdiA.jpg Death Doula - Honoring the Dead Death can be something we rush through, or that we are rushed through by others. After a body is no longer breathing we often jump into calling the mortuary to come take the body away. This is not wrong, and sometimes it is what families want and need, but it is not the only option. As a death doula it is my role to educate families on their options and offer different rituals and honoring ceremonies that are appropriate to each families belief systems. This process does not only allow us to show our respect for those who have died, but it gives us the space to breath and be present with ourselves in the process as well. https://contemplativedying.com/eolppackages daily 0.75 2025-06-19 https://contemplativedying.com/deathward daily 0.75 2025-09-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1714594694574-VTERJYYFSZ1VC5BW0F1O/image-asset.jpeg Death Work - End of Life Meditation This is a one time facilitated experience offered to individuals, couples, or groups interested in learning more about their relationship with Death, and in return awakening to their lives in new ways. A brief conversation around ones relationship with Death. A guided meditation that walks one through the physical, emotional, and spiritual stages of death. Quiet time of reflection on the meditation. Closing conversation. About 1 to 1.5 hours long https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/77d4ce7c-4f7d-4230-b01d-13eebabace5b/unsplash-image-wheECAe3rT8.jpg Death Work - Death Coaching: Planning for the end, living for the now. Many of us have learned to avoid death, live in fear of it, or even idolize it. As a result many of us have cultivated unhealthy relationships with death and find ourselves unprepared when deaths touch comes. This process is about learning to grapple with death not only to prepare for the event of a sudden death, but to learn to truly live our most full lives while we’re here. Through the lens of death, we will take a loving look at our lives and ask ourselves- If I were to die am I living the life I truly want? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1716316572861-78JQUXKRO3KUBC5VZWH4/image-asset.jpeg Death Work - Workshops In our American “death avoidant” culture we are quick to shy away from conversations around death. Together, I believe we can cultivate safe spaces that invite communities to process death in healthy ways in order to cultivate more understanding, compassion, and love for ourselves and others. These workshops respect the diverse needs of the community recognizing the sensitivity of the topic for many. We focus on death education and planning, which are important topics for people of all life stages. Where can these workshops be held? Places of worship, assisted living facilities, hospitals, and even businesses looking to empower their employees. Reach out for more info! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1644978749739-SCQADGQR004E0GXKK4V9/unsplash-image-UrzN-8K1PCE.jpg Death Work - Death with Friends A time to gather and have a facilitated talk about death, with a fun, and heartfelt approach. These nights are designed to normalize conversations about death, to help us take some practical steps towards preparing for our deaths, and to ultimately inspire us to live our lives with intention. These gatherings can be done with family members, friends, or even strangers. These gatherings are great for birthday parties! https://contemplativedying.com/workshops daily 0.75 2024-05-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1663876758848-PMU6IUQ43DTY7Z6PTDPL/unsplash-image-5U_28ojjgms.jpg Workshops - Workshops for Caregivers at Healthcare Facilities Rachel Naomi Remen has wisely said, "The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering and loss daily and not be touched by it is as unrealistic as expecting to be able to walk through water without getting wet. This sort of denial is no small matter.” As a M.D. she saw how easy it was for healthcare workers to become burnt out, numb, disassociated from not only the self but from patients as well. With the hopes to cultivate compassionate environments that care for both workers and patients, I use both conversational, and experiential techniques that invite healthcare workers of all positions to both examine their own health and relationship with death, and then take a loving look at how this is impacting their interactions with patients. We also spend time learning about techniques that cultivate presence, compassion, and the workers are given tools and information to help them enter into their work more consciously. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1663884506562-EGSI6PCUDDIQ0C3RU0FE/unsplash-image-376KN_ISplE.jpg Workshops - Workshops for Assisted Living Homes I work with unique communities to create specialized workshops that help people process their mental and emotional health at the later stages of life. Every community has different needs, so I work with the staff to provide care in a way that honors the culture at hand. I invite clients to process their mental and emotional health through storytelling, sharing, and gratitude activities. It’s so important that we create spaces for people at the later stages in life to process both the beauty and pain their life has held in safe and not forced ways. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61bcde2c6a4fee331263e2b3/1663877582414-QZRQZN9PZY1PEQY6LXF3/unsplash-image-dGxOgeXAXm8.jpg Workshops - Workshops for Places of Worship At the end of life people often look to their places of worship for support. As beautiful as much of the support faith based communities give, as a result of a lack of education around death, some places of worship have been known to cause unintentional harm to its congregants by using regurgitated phrases when someone dies, such as, “It was God’s Will” or “At least they are in a better place.” Regardless of wether or not people ascribe to these beliefs, I have seen people left feeling belittled and unsupported in the face of these comments. We can do better to become educated about appropriate language that we can use, and have authentic conversations around how we feel about death without the fear that our answers aren’t “holy enough.” Places of worship are wonderful spaces to introduce these sort of conversations around death that help us not only examine our own relationships with death, but examine how we can be lovingly present to others in the face of death. https://contemplativedying.com/eol-support-packages daily 0.75 2024-04-18 https://contemplativedying.com/eol-workshop-packages daily 0.75 2024-02-23