Today is “Self-Care Monday” and I’ll be taking a little time off to have cataract surgery. In this brief audio recording you will learn three simple steps for being in the present moment with a patient that can help you feel more focused and less stressed. I hope you’ll take time for some self-care too as you work to help others experience a better end of life and prepare for your own future path. See you next week for a regular episode where I’ll share a new interview!
Welcome to this weekly bonus series of brief stories designed to touch your heart and offer you comfort, joy, laughter, and inspiration as we face uncertain times together! Remember always to choose LOVE over fear!
Story 11: To everything there is a season
To everything there is a season
Featured Verse: Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Welcome to this weekly bonus series of brief stories designed to touch your heart and offer you comfort, joy, laughter, and inspiration as we face uncertain times together! Remember always to choose LOVE over fear!
Story 10: What Life is Bringing Me Now
What Life is Bringing Me Now
Featured Quote:
Viktor Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning pp. 98-99
What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. … Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual. … When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his task; his single and unique task. He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden.”
Learn why and how to intentionally develop your personal death-awareness in order to live your best life.
If you are a death-worker in any field you probably feel that you are highly aware of death and its many facets. But did you know that the human brain has a primal mechanism to protect us from thinking about and acknowledging our own personal death? Yes it’s true. We can be advanced teachers of death for other people and still be in denial that we ourselves are going to die. In this solo episode I’ll talk about how and why we need to strengthen our own death-awareness for the betterment of our lives and our work.
Join the team at Patreon.com/eoluand get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it)
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 newest Patrons Kathryn Mattes, Kristy Lynn, and Astrid Raffinpeyloz, your contributions mean everything to me!
Learn why being present for others is actually a perfect self-care practice.
My return guest Kirsten DeLeo is an international trainer with the Spiritual Care Program and teaches about contemplative caregiving. She is the author of the newly-released book Present through the End and will discuss how and why we should strengthen our own ability to be present with others as part of our spiritual care of the dying. Learn more at Kirsten’s website:
Join the team at Patreon.com/eoluand get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it)
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,your contributions mean everything to me!
Learn how to make the most of the present moment and give the gift of presence to those you love.
In Part 4 of the Mortal Wisdom Series I’ll discuss how to develop the skill of Presence to use in your personal life and work. Presence is the secret of living fully in every moment and you’ll learn how to enhance your ability to stay focused and present in day-to-day life. These are the lessons we can learn from our mortality and how to thrive in life while knowing that death awaits. Listen to Parts 1, 2, and 3 first if you haven’t heard them yet!
Presence is an essential skill for working with dying patients
Many dying patients seem to have a new-found ability to focus on the present and appreciate each moment
According to Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn presence is the ability to align body, mind, spirit, emotions in a single focus on the here and now
Being fully present with a patient or a loved one allows us to create a sacred space within which healing and transformation can occur
Steps for developing the skill of presence:
Create time (5 minutes) and space for stillness each day
Tune in to your physical body
Breathe deeply with intention
Allow emotions to arise without attaching to them
Let thoughts drift by
Practice total focus during small moments e.g. eating a special food, watching a sunset, listening to music, spending time in nature, being with a loved one
The experience of awe has these benefits
Greater humility (and less ego control)
Increased social harmony and interconnectedness
Improved immune health
Decreased anxiety
Increased wellbeing and happiness
Daily AWE Practice:
I am Awake in this moment
I am Willing to experience and accept whatever life brings in this moment
I am Engaged fully in living my life moment to moment
When someone is about to die, if you sit with him stably and solidly, that alone may be enough to help him leave this life with ease.
Dr. Karen Wyatt discusses the lessons she learned about life from working with hospice patients. These lessons were the foundation of her award-winning book What Really Matters: 7 Lessons for Living from the Stories of the Dying.
In this call you will learn:
-the true meaning of joy
-how to let go of the past
-why you must let life change you