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A Christian Reading Vigil
Christian Reading Vigil – First Stage: Days 1 through 7
Christian Reading Vigil – Second Stage: Days 8 through 20
Christian Reading Vigil – Third Stage: Days 21 through 49
Christian Reading Vigil: Addendum, Prayers for the Dead and Dying
Christian Reading Vigil: Reading Instructions
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A Caregiver’s Guide to Reading from a Spiritual Text for the Benefit of Another – drawings by Lin Larsen
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Tip 1, Active Listening
Tip 2, Life Story Telling
Tip 3, Empowerment
Tip 4, Relaxing Events
Tip 5, Paperwork
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Tip 7, Keep a Journal
Tip 8, Beginning Steps
Tip 9, Caregiving Stress
Tip 10, What You Know
Tip 11, Not This, Not That
Tip 12, Share the Care
Caregiving Redefined
Incorporating Spirituality into our Work – Part 1
Each Word a Universe – Table of Contents
A Peaceful Passing
Each Word a Universe, Dedication and Introduction
Fire Crisis
Health Crisis
Jim’s Story
Labyrinth Reader’s Experiences
Letter from A Terminal Patient
Litany of Lives that Matter
Mortuary Experiences
My Experience with the ABD at the Halifax Airport
My Work with the American Book of the Dead Readings
Personal Experience with Death
Preface
Reading as like Children’s Stories
Tiny, Bereft Landscapes
Why am I Here?
End of Life Matters
How to Plan your End of Life Celebration ??
Phowa
Signs of Passing – How Imminent Is Death?
Symptoms of Transition
Exercises
Chinese Exercises
Creating a Chamber Space
Easiest Morning Warmup Exercises List
healing sounds
rejuvenation
Relaxation
RunnerResonance1
RunnerResonance2
Simple Presence
Tantui 1 and 2
Fin de la vida importa
PRAYERS
Baha’i Prayers
Buddhist Prayers, Practices & Presence for the Dying
Catholic and Anglican Prayers
Catholic Prayers
Hebrew Prayers
Phowa
Sufi Prayers
The Secret of Prayer
An All Purpose Prayer
Clear Light Prayer from Tibetan Book of the Dead
Ten Steps for doing a Prayer or Reading
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Art of Dying and Living: An Exploration of Life, Death, and the Afterlife February 23 – 27, 2022
Excellent Gentle Tai Chi Qigong Meditation Workout
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Expected Death
Posted on
February 4, 2022
by
webmaven
Expected Death ~ When someone dies, the first thing to do is nothing. Don’t run out and call the nurse. Don’t pick up the phone. Take a deep breath and be present to the magnitude of the moment.
There’s a grace to being at the bedside of someone you love as they make their transition out of this world. At the moment they take their last breath, there’s an incredible sacredness in the space. The veil between the worlds opens.
We’re so unprepared and untrained in how to deal with death that sometimes a kind of panic response kicks in. “They’re dead!”
We knew they were going to die, so their being dead is not a surprise. It’s not a problem to be solved. It’s very sad, but it’s not cause to panic.
If anything, their death is cause to take a deep breath, to stop, and be really present to what’s happening. If you’re at home, maybe put on the kettle and make a cup of tea.
Sit at the bedside and just be present to the experience in the room. What’s happening for you? What might be happening for them? What other presences are here that might be supporting them on their way? Tune into all the beauty and magic.
Pausing gives your soul a chance to adjust, because no matter how prepared we are, a death is still a shock. If we kick right into “do” mode, and call 911, or call the hospice, we never get a chance to absorb the enormity of the event.
Give yourself five minutes or 10 minutes, or 15 minutes just to be. You’ll never get that time back again if you don’t take it now.
After that, do the smallest thing you can. Call the one person who needs to be called. Engage whatever systems need to be engaged, but engage them at the very most minimal level. Move really, really, really, slowly, because this is a period where it’s easy for body and soul to get separated.
Our bodies can gallop forwards, but sometimes our souls haven’t caught up. If you have an opportunity to be quiet and be present, take it. Accept and acclimatize and adjust to what’s happening. Then, as the train starts rolling, and all the things that happen after a death kick in, you’ll be better prepared.
You won’t get a chance to catch your breath later on. You need to do it now.
Being present in the moments after death is an incredible gift to yourself, it’s a gift to the people you’re with, and it’s a gift to the person who’s just died. They’re just a hair’s breath away. They’re just starting their new journey in the world without a body. If you keep a calm space around their body, and in the room, they’re launched in a more beautiful way. It’s a service to both sides of the veil.
Credit for the beautiful words ~ Sarah Kerr, Ritual Healing Practitioner and Death Doula , Death doula
Beautiful art by Columbus Community Deathcare
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Art of Dying and Living: An Exploration of Life, Death, and the Afterlife February 23 – 27, 2022
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Caregiver Revolution Pages
6 Steps to Doing a Reading
A Christian Reading Vigil
Christian Reading Vigil – First Stage: Days 1 through 7
Christian Reading Vigil – Second Stage: Days 8 through 20
Christian Reading Vigil – Third Stage: Days 21 through 49
Christian Reading Vigil: Addendum, Prayers for the Dead and Dying
Christian Reading Vigil: Reading Instructions
What is a Reading Vigil?
About
Caregiver Resources
A Caregiver’s Guide to Reading from a Spiritual Text for the Benefit of Another – drawings by Lin Larsen
Beat Caregiver Stress – Drawings by Lin Larsen
Caregiver Links
Links to past blogs
Reading List
Caregiver Tips
Tip 1, Active Listening
Tip 10, What You Know
Tip 11, Not This, Not That
Tip 12, Share the Care
Tip 2, Life Story Telling
Tip 3, Empowerment
Tip 4, Relaxing Events
Tip 5, Paperwork
Tip 6, Prayer Works
Tip 7, Keep a Journal
Tip 8, Beginning Steps
Tip 9, Caregiving Stress
Caregiving Redefined
Incorporating Spirituality into our Work – Part 1
Each Word a Universe – Table of Contents
A Peaceful Passing
Each Word a Universe, Dedication and Introduction
Fire Crisis
Health Crisis
Jim’s Story
Labyrinth Reader’s Experiences
Letter from A Terminal Patient
Litany of Lives that Matter
Mortuary Experiences
My Experience with the ABD at the Halifax Airport
My Work with the American Book of the Dead Readings
Personal Experience with Death
Preface
Reading as like Children’s Stories
Tiny, Bereft Landscapes
Why am I Here?
End of Life Matters
How to Plan your End of Life Celebration ??
Phowa
Signs of Passing – How Imminent Is Death?
Symptoms of Transition
Exercises
Chinese Exercises
Creating a Chamber Space
Easiest Morning Warmup Exercises List
healing sounds
rejuvenation
Relaxation
RunnerResonance1
RunnerResonance2
Simple Presence
Tantui 1 and 2
Fin de la vida importa
PRAYERS
Baha’i Prayers
Buddhist Prayers, Practices & Presence for the Dying
Catholic and Anglican Prayers
Catholic Prayers
Hebrew Prayers
Phowa
Sufi Prayers
The Secret of Prayer
An All Purpose Prayer
Clear Light Prayer from Tibetan Book of the Dead
Ten Steps for doing a Prayer or Reading
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