Motivation for Living Well to Die Well “Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely” Buddha As I reflect over my life and some of the extraordinarily difficult things I have had to go through, somehow, I have always had a sense of joy. Moments such as welcoming the…
I have been working part time in the NHS as a healthcare chaplain since September 2022, when I was offered a training placement as part of my Post Graduate Diploma course in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care. After the placement I was able to get a job as a healthcare chaplain in the NHS. My mindfulness…
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard for others to see. While you hold it you can’t get lost. Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die; and you suffer…
In the place that is my own place, whose earth I am shaped in and must bear, there is an old tree growing, a great sycamore that is a wondrous healer of itself. Fences have been tied to it, nails driven into it, hacks and whittles cut in it, the lightning has burned it. There…
If death is inevitable, if it is a sure thing that this face, these hands, this body that holds a lifetime of this living, will, someday, no longer be here, if you don’t get to take a single thing with you — then — why spend a moment more refusing, worrying about who might disapprove,…
“Analysis of death is not for the sake of becoming fearful, but to appreciate this precious lifetime.” Dalai Lama Do you feel prepared for your own death? Do you feel equipped to calmly and kindly support loved ones through their final weeks to their death? What is your attitude to the word ‘death’? Do…
Since the middle of December I have been working as a hospital chaplain, visiting patients who are seriously ill. I have never worked in a hospital before and my main worry was that I would be distressed and not know how to cope with some of the suffering I would encounter. It turns out that…
The UK Social Attitudes Survey Report on Dying is based on the premise that discussion about and preparation for dying will lead to a ‘good death’ with reduced distress for those involved – the person dying and their family and friends. This report demonstrates a trend towards growing openness to the topic of dying, but…
Before I started practising yoga, I had no idea about the power of the breath in regulating the body. This changed twenty two years ago when I began to practice yoga and then within a couple of years trained to teach yoga. I became aware of the yogic practice of pranayama, a practice of breath…