Tag: mindfulness

EOLPodcast

Ep. 556 Zen Caregiving: A Mindful Approach to Caring for Others with Roy Remer

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Learn about mindfulness and compassion-based tools to nurture and empower caregivers as they serve the needs of others.

About the guest:

Roy Remer is the executive director of the Zen Caregiving Project in San Francisco and the lead creator of the Mindful Caregiving Education curriculum. He is an educator and end-of-life caregiver since 1997 and a dedicated practitioner in the Soto Zen tradition. Roy is also the author of Zen Caregiving: How to Care for Yourself While Caring for Others. Learn more at the website:

ZenCaregiving.org

Get the book here

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

In this episode:

  • Being a caregiver is part of the human experience and will affect most of us
  • Caregiving can be a pathway for growth but certain illnesses (especially dementia) can exact a huge toll on caregivers
  • The value of learning genuine presence
  • How this book can help everyone be better prepared in the future to become a caregiver
  • How serving others differs from helping, which is outcome focused
  • Our compassion is incomplete if we don’t also care for ourselves
  • Caregivers do not receive adequate preparation or support physically, emotionally, or spiritually for the task of caring for others
  • Why grief and guilt are common experiences of caregivers
  • Simple rituals for processing grief while providing care

Links mentioned in this episode:

Resources:

Related episodes:

Other links:

Transcript:

Roy Remer InterviewDownload
EOLPodcast

Ep. 422 Practices to Prepare for the End of Life with Patt Lind-Kyle

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Learn how meditation practice can help decrease the fear of death and prepare you for a peaceful end of life.


My guest Patt LInd-Kyle is an authority on mindulness meditation, chakras, and the Enneagram who will share practices for addressing the fear of death. She is the author of 4 science and spirituality books including her latest Embracing the End of Life, A Journey into Dying and Awakening and Heal Your Mind, Rewire Your Brain. Patt is also a thought leader on how the mind and brain work together to arrive at a sense of who we are. She has studied the dying process in preparation for her own death and has become a leading authority on death and dying consciously. Patt has produced a series of guided meditations to accompany her Embracing the End of Life and Heal Your Mind, Rewire Your Brain books. Learn more at her website:

www.Pattlindkyle.com

Get the book

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • Why it is important to face the fear of death
  • The benefits of meditation for confronting the end of life
  • How to start a meditation practice
  • How to let go of the need to control death 
  • How facing death helps us live life more fully

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu and to those who’ve bought me a coffee! Also many thanks to all of you who joined the $10 for 10 Years Campaign! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

EOLPodcast

Ep. 297 Compassion 101: Why We Are Failing and How To Do Better

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Learn how to increase your own capacity for compassion toward yourself and others and make the world a better place in the process.

In this episode I share some of the research and articles I’ve been reading in the book Compassion: Bridging Practice and Science, edited by Tania Singer and Matthias Bolz. It seems to be that we are in need of greater compassion as a society right now to help us cope with our current adversities and grow stronger in love and kindness in the process. I have some poems and practices to share that hopefully will inspire all of us to higher consciousness. View Tania Singer’s website:

www.taniasinger.de

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • Why we need more compassion in our society right now
  • 5 reasons why we are “failing” at compassion
  • The difference between empathy and compassion according to researchers
  • Why overdoing empathy can lead to burnout while practicing compassion can prevent it
  • The positive benefits of compassion practices
  • How and why to begin practicing self-compassion
  • The difference between self-compassion and self-esteem
  • Study results on using the Lovingkindness Meditation (Metta) as a regular practice
  • Mantras to use for self-compassion and Lovingkindness

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest supporters Stefanie Elkins and Claire Murphy Jones! Your contributions make all the difference!

EOLPodcast

Ep. 268 Death Nesting: Bringing Together Ancient and Modern Death Care with Anne-Marie Keppel

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Learn how to utilize ancient techniques in caring for the dying in this modern world.

My guest Anne-Marie Keppel is a death doula and home funeral guide who will share with us some of the ancient techniques of death care that she utilizes in her work as a community death care provider. She is the author of the books Death Nesting: Ancient & Modern Death Doula Techniques, Mindfulness Practices and Herbal Care and The Death of Faefolk, a book for teens. Learn more at her website:

www.stardustmeadow.com

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • How Anne-Marie became interested in being a death doula
  • The two doula paths: ancient and modern and why we need both
  • How to create a “death nest” for a dying loved one
  • The use of herbs in doula practice
  • Creative tips for helping children deal with death
  • Suggestions for “moving with grief”
  • Why death doula training for teenagers is a good idea
  • How to use the book Death Nesting as a resource

Links mentioned in this episode:

  • View the cover of my next book (The Journey from Ego to Soul) here
  • Get Anne-Marie’s book Death Nesting here (Commission link*)
  • Read Yes! Magazine article on death doulas by Dr. Cynthia Greenlee here
  • Books by Victoria Sweet: God’s Hotel and Slow Medicine (Commission links*)
  • Community Deathcare Training with LaShanna Williams: www.asacredpassing.org
  • Find Death Doula Training for Teens here
  • Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio
  • Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
  • Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu! Your contributions make all the difference!

End of Life, EOLPodcast

Ep. 222 The Benefits of Medical Hypnosis at the End of Life with Roger Moore

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Learn how hypnosis can help dying patients, their loved ones, and their medical providers find greater ease and less stress as they cope with the end of life.

podcastMoore

My guest Roger Moore is a medical hypnotherapist who frequently works with patients at the end of life and their caregivers. He’ll discuss how he utilizes hypnosis to help ease symptoms for his patients and share tools that all of us can use to deal with stress. Learn more about Roger’s work at his website:

www.hypnosishealthinfo.com

Download “Orange Blossom” mp3 here

Listen here:

 

This episode includes:

  • What is “medical hypnosis”
  • What happens in a typical session of hypnosis
  • The “wiggle” technique for returning to the present moment
  • How hypnosis benefits both patient and caregiver
  • How hypnosis helps with the fear of death and dying
  • The “flow through” technique to prevent taking on the suffering of the patient
  • How self-hypnosis tools can help healthcare providers deal with stress, grief and guilt
  • Hypnosis as a tool for learning mindfulness
  • When is the best time to recommend hypnosis as an end-of-life tool
  • Hypnosis can help patients reduce their need for pain medication
  • “Orange Blossom” recording for stress relief

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest Patrons: Gail Clemson, and Kathy Bates; your contributions make all the difference!

End of Life, EOLPodcast

Ep. 199 The Wisdom of the Heart: Compassionate Care Training for EOL Doulas with Francesca Arnoldy

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Learn how a training program for end-of-life doulas is preparing a wide variety of students to care for their loved ones with compassion and heart.

PodcastArnoldy

My guest Francesca Arnoldy has trained as both a birth and death doula and continues to guide clients through these passages at the beginning and end of life. She is the developer and program director of the End-of-Life Doula Professional Certificate Program at the University of Vermont that provides training for not only doulas but also other medical providers and lay people in caring for the dying. She is the author of the book Cultivating the Doula Heart: The Essentials of Compassionate Care. Learn about her work at her website:

https://www.contemplativedoula.com

doulaheart

Get the book here.

Listen here.

 

This interview includes:

  • Similarities between birth and death
  • The unexpected success of the EOL Doula Certificate Course at the University of Vermont
  • Why the course stresses the importance of doing personal inner work before serving others
  • How the shift in death awareness seems to be accelerating now
  • The difference between sympathy, empathy and compassion
  • Why we need to avoid trying to “fix” others
  • What it means to truly “hold space” for others
  • How the doula program fills a gap in medical care and is being gradually accepted by the medical community in Vermont

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on Patreon.com/eolu!

EOLPodcast, Hospice, Spirituality

Ep. 196 The Doctor Who Became a Doula to Improve End-of-Life Care with Jackie Yeager MD

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Learn how death doula training helped this physician find more meaning and fulfillment in her end-of-life medical practice.

PodcastYeager

My guest Dr. Jackie Yeager is a hospice and palliative care physician who has also trained as a death doula in order to provide the best possible care to her patients. She discusses her passion for slow medicine, especially at the end of life, and describes a new course she is launching on medical information for caregivers and death doulas. Learn more about the Informed Caregiver Course at her website:

www.informedcaregiver.com

Listen here:

 

This interview includes:

  • Why Dr. Jackie decided to become a death doula
  • What is “slow medicine” and why it is important
  • How mindfulness and spiritual practice help her be a better doctor
  • How death doulas augment traditional hospice care
  • How physicians struggle with grief over the deaths of patients
  • The scope of practice for a death doula
  • What is included in Dr. Jackie’s Informed Caregiver Course

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on Patreon.com/eolu, especially my new Patrons: Kimberly Ogle, Linda McCarthy and Sherilee Bakken!

 

 

EOLPodcast, Tragedy

Ep. 170 Learn to Pause in Times of Tragedy with Jonathan Bartels RN

kwyattmd

PodcastPause

 

 

JonathanBartels
Jonathan Bartels RN

As an RN in the emergency room, Jonathan Bartels had seen his share of trauma and tragedy and he understood the toll it takes when grief and loss are unacknowledged and stifled. But one day, at the moment of a patient’s death following a failed resuscitation attempt, he received an inspiration to “Pause,” which would soon spread to hospitals around the world. He shares that story with us today.

Learn more about The Medical Pause here.

Other links from this episode:

Being With Dying Training

Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare

Patreon.com/eolu (all donations welcome!!)

Leave a review on iTunes

“Ineffability means to lose words in the experience of the moment. Silence captures the moment more than any words” – Jonathan Bartels

Included in this interview:

  • How Jonathan was inspired to institute the first Medical Pause
  • Why we need to pause in times of tragedy
  • How to implement The Medical Pause in any setting
  • Best practices for The Medical Pause
    • Ask permission of people in attendance
    • Don’t proselytize
    • Allow people to opt out
    • Allow it spread organically rather than as a policy
  • What it takes to start a movement that is changing the healthcare system
    • Timing
    • Willingness to stand up for what’s right
    • Pure and positive motivations to help others
    • Willingness to fail
    • Courage and vision
  • How to “burn brighter rather than burning out”
    • Journal
    • Physical activity
    • Mindfulness
    • Healthy diet
    • Supportive practices

Tune in next week for a new episode! Until then …

Face Your Fear           BE Ready           Love Your Life

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End of Life, EOLPodcast, Grief, Hospice, Spirituality

Ep. 112 Grace and Grit: Conscious Love & Conscious Dying with Ken Wilber

kwyattmd

Learn how Treya Wilber’s spiritual practice helped her transcend fear and die consciously as told in Ken Wilber’s book Grace and Grit.

PodcastWilber

wilber2EdIn this episode I share a powerful and heartfelt interview with Ken Wilber where we discuss the subject of “Conscious Dying” and how the life and death of his wife Treya so beautifully teach us to live and die consciously, as told in the book Grace and Grit.

Website: kenwilber.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

IMG_0371I’m still in Italy as this broadcast airs but will be returning to Colorado in a few days. Check out the photos from my last days of travel on Instagram and Facebook!

Hopefully I’ve made progress on my new book, too!

Patreonbecome2xAs always this podcast is made possible through your generous donations at Patreon.com/eolu. Thank you so much to those of you who have been chipping in every month to help defray the costs of producing and broadcasting this podcast and the End-of-Life University Interview Series! Go to Patreon.com/eolu to become a patron!

FEATURED PRESENTATION:

Whether or not death and dying are issues that concern you at this time in your life, you will find value in listening to Ken’s discussion of this important subject. Each of us must come to terms with our mortality in the physical realm and be prepared for an unknown future. Each of us also must face losing those we deeply love, and caring for them through illness and adversity.

We can learn from Ken and Treya’s experiences how to love totally and consciously during our lifetimes – and how to let go of that love and life itself when that time arrives for us.

This interview will cover:

  • The meaning of “conscious dying” from a spiritual perspective
  • Ken’s caregiver journey and how it became his spiritual path
  • How Ken and Treya “carried one another’s pain” during the course of her illness and dying process
  • The Buddhist practice of tonglen and why it was important to Treya
  • How the term “passionate equanimity” describes Treya’s approach to living and dying

Ken Wilber is a philosopher, sage, author and integral theorist who has been called “the Einstein of Consciousness.” He is:

  • The most translated writer on consciousness studies in the United States
  • Author of 22 books on spirituality and science –
    • A Theory of Everything
    • A Brief History of Everything
    • Sex, Ecology and Spirituality
    • The Integral Vision
  • Creator of Integral Theory – a model for organizing different perspectives of life and consciousness

His book Grace and Grit chronicles the life and death of his second wife Treya Killam Wilber.

Get Grace and Grit on Amazon.

I hope you enjoyed this interview and have been inspired to take up your own spiritual practice to help you live with “passionate equanimity.”

There will be a new episode every Monday so come back again and learn with me! If you like this content please leave a review on iTunes.

Until next week…

Face Your Fears.                     BE Ready.                        Love Your Life.

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End of Life, EOLPodcast

Ep. 98 The Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation for Caregivers and Health Professionals

kwyattmd

Learn how to get started with your own practice of mindfulness and enjoy improved health in body, mind and spirit.

PodcastMindfulness

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In this episode my guest Gia George, who is a yoga and meditation teacher, will tell us why and how to start a simple meditation practice. You’ll learn what you need to know to get started with mindfulness and maintain a routine that will help with stress and life’s challenges. Visit Gia’s website at divinelygia.com.

Patreonbecome2xThis podcast is supported through generous contributions on my page at Patreon.com/eolu. If you would like to chip in $1 or $2 per month you’ll receive access to our monthly “Hospice Happy Hour Hangouts” and I will promote your EOL-related book, business, organization, or website on the podcast. THANK YOU to all of my Patreon supporters! You make this podcast possible!

In this interview you will learn:

  • The physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefits of a mindfulness meditation practice
  • How meditation can specifically benefit those in the caregiving and healthcare professions
  • Why meditation is actually a form of “listening prayer”
  • How to begin if you’ve never meditated before
    • When to meditate
    • Frequency
    • How to sit
    • Dealing with thoughts
    • Avoiding self-judgment
    •  Maintaining the practice
  • How “guided meditation” can be a good way to get started
  • Being mindful during every day activities to improve focus and relieve stress

ZenQuestGuidedCheck out Gia’s Zen Quest Guided Meditation CD if you’d like some help getting your practice started:

Zen Quest: Guided Meditations, Healing Journeys is a compilation of 7 guided meditations, each 10-minutes in length. These vision quests take you on relaxing journeys through your mind, heart, and soul, as you explore the healing metaphors and symbols of the Universe. Each meditation is rich with hidden gems of wisdom, woven through a beautiful quest. Go to this link to listen to samples and purchase the CD if you are interested: Guided Meditation CD

Watch Gia’s FREE weekly meditation videos on YouTube: Meditation Monday

Tune in every Monday to a new episode! Until the next time remember:

Face Your Fears.                   BE Ready.                   Love Your Life.

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End of Life, EOLPodcast, Grief, Uncategorized

Ep. 96 A Caregiver’s Letter to His Dying Wife with Joe DiNardo

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Learn how this caregiver coped with his wife’s illness and rose above grief to experience unconditional love.

PodcastDinardo

JoeDiNardosmallIn this episode I share an interview with Joe DiNardo who talks about his book A Letter to My Wife and discusses how his long-term practice of mindfulness meditation helped him cope with being a caregiver and grieving his wife’s death.

www.alettertomywife.org

Thank you to all of my supporters on Patreon.com/eolu who have helped keep this podcast on the air! We just had our first “Hospice Happy Hour” hangout last week and it was a great success.

Patreonbecome2xIf you are interested in joining the hangouts or in having me promote your website, book, product, organization, or cause on this podcast, sign up to contribute just $1 or $2 per month and become a patron – Patreon.com/eolu!

My guest this week is Joe DiNardo, an attorney from Buffalo NY, who served as a caregiver for his wife Marcia during her cancer diagnosis, treatment and eventual death. As a long-term practitioner of Vipassana meditation, Joe found that his mindfulness meditation practice helped him through the difficult challenges of caregiving and grief and he has much wisdom to share with us from the perspective of a family caregiver.

DinardobookcoversmJoe is also the author of the newly released book A Letter to My Wife, which follows his journey with late wife Marcia, from cancer diagnosis through death. The website states that “His practice of mindfulness is explored throughout this heartfelt dedication and serves as the foundation for his recommendations on coping with loss and healing. His story, which includes both practical advice and profound wisdom, is a real-life example of how powerful and guiding meditation can be during life’s painful and challenging chapters. ”

In this interview you will learn:

  • What Joe learned about being a caregiver from accompanying Marcia through illness
  • His best advice for other family caregivers
  • How he discovered the practice of meditation and began to apply it to his life
  • How mindfulness meditation helped him on a daily basis during Marcia’s illness and throughout his own grief process

You can purchase A Letter to My Wife at Amazon.com: Get the book here!

Tune in next week when we will learn how to start a meditation practice with my guest Gia George who is a yoga and meditation teacher, singer-songwriter, and my daughter!

Until then remember:

Face Your Fears.                    BE Ready.                   Love Your Life.

Love,

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