Making Peace With Death & Dying

Consciousness/Thriving
Relationships

Understanding Grief: Mourning In A Healthier Way

It is true that there are stages to grief, though no two people grieve in exactly the same way. However, something has been missing in our understanding of grief that offers an opportunity for many of us to lessen our pain and suffering when…
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8 Guidelines for Communicating With Doctors

When going to a doctor's appointment, just showing up is not enough. There are things you can do to support yourself in getting maximum value from the visit. Many people see doctors as experts who are going to fix them and therefore give over…

The Importance of End-of-Life Preparation

We live in a society that has an enormous taboo against thinking about and talking about death. Yet there is a 100 percent probability that each of us will die. For the 80 percent who do not put their affairs in order, their loved ones will…

Why We Need to Talk About Death and Dying

Both individually and collectively, we are paying an enormous emotional and financial price for being silenced by our society's taboo against talking about death and dying. Other societies educate their members about the reality of death and…

Talking to Doctors About a Terminal Diagnosis

If you receive a terminal diagnosis, you may be shocked or not, but one thing is very clear, you have some important decisions to make. Others can advise you and/or express their concerns, but ultimately it is you, and only you, who must decide…

6 Ways To Talk About Death And Dying

In response to my 8/9/10 post entitled "The Importance of End of Life Preparation," Valencie Bathe wrote: How I want to die needs to be dinner table conversation... not whispered and forgotten. There is no shame in dying and planning to die…
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The Power of Bearing Witness

There are times in life when the highest honor, the greatest love is paid to another by simply bearing witness to his or her experience. Bearing witness is largely nonverbal. It is the choice to give the gift of a pure expression of love and…

Honoring the Memory of a Deceased Loved One

This post was inspired by an email I received from a reader regarding last week's blog, "The Power of Bearing Witness." He wanted to know how to bear witness to a friend who had died. When bearing witness to the living, it is essential to take…

Facing the Holidays When You’ve Lost a Loved One

If you have recently lost a loved one with whom you would otherwise be sharing this holiday season, you might be finding yourself wanting to burrow under your covers with a box of tissues until the holidays have passed. If this sounds like you,…

More About Carrying Your Grief Through the Holidays

Last week's article, "Facing The Holidays When You Have Lost a Loved One" seems to have struck a nerve. So, I'd like to go more deeply into this topic this week. While grief is an exquisitely private matter, in order to move on, most of us need…

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