Blog Archives

Welcome to the Blog page of Heartful Living and Dying.
Maya makes every effort to properly and respectfully credit any sources referenced in her blog posts, her Hospice IDT offerings, or Resources page; please report corrections or additions via the contact page. If you wish to use material from this or any of Maya's websites, please email [email protected] for permission. Maya lovingly requests that you credit her by sharing her name, website and contact links in written material,
and verbally as well if using material in live presentations. Thank you so much, and May Your Living and Dying be Heartful, Friends!

And now, here is the Blog. . .

Intuition/Spiritual Senses/Inner Knowing

3/31/2026

Recently, I was given the opportunity to share my thoughts on the various forms of Intuition and how these are (or are not) at play in my work as a Spiritual Director and Supervisor of Spiritual Directors. I will share my reply to this here, as a number of you have asked questions that veer into these arenas. This may be a bit thick, unless intuition happens to be your cup of tea. If so, or if you are curious, read on!

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Clairvoyance. Clairaudience. Clairsentience. Claircognizance. Glairgustance. Clairaliance. Precognition. Clairempathy. Clairtangency. Channeling. Spiritual Senses. Pre-birth Memory. . .

The universe of Intuition is one of my personal home bases. I experience each of the types of intuition listed. I believe that every one of us is born with access to these, and that through our various life experiences, familial or cultural fears or customs, bit by bit most of us are taught to shut these down or out.

People have asked me why it is I have access to such freedom in the area of intuition, what did I "do" or how was I "gifted". I do not see either of these - doings or giftings - as the answer. Rather, what I was blessed to experience was enough open human beings around me who did not extinguish that which was within me. I was never told that the "invisible" friends I spoke to were "just" my imagination. I was not scolded for knowing things many would say I "could not know", my peace was not broken when I stayed alone in a field communing with God-as-I-understood-God as a child. I was led to teachers and mentors throughout my early life who were supportive and let me know I was not "weird" for the things I experienced. And so I kept these gateways open - to sense, and see and hear and feel, to smell and taste and Know and dream and vibrationally align myself with the Divine - these things that we are born with were not taken from me. Further, I have been blessed to have had on and off along the way, mentors who have assisted me in deep study of the body, heart, mind and spirit, so as to learn to discern what I am experiencing.

My caution, I suppose, or advice, to anyone exploring re-awakening the intuitive senses, is around discernment. The best training for discerning intuitive experiences is any training that leads one ever more deeply to knowing The Self. Every heart is connected to God/Goddess/Goddex/GreatMystery/Soul-of-Nature/Your-own-deepest-heart/Source; to the Sacred, however you perceive and relate to this. That connection can be deeply lost, even to the point of being inaccessible in a lifetime for some (namely, the DSM5's Cluster B Personality Types), but most of us have access to Source-as-we-know-Source through our deepest heart. My view is that any training in intuition worth it's salt will begin and end with exercises to Know the Self. Early lessons around discerning one's wounding and how that may be coloring sense of self, around particularly those which make one susceptible to a need to be seen, a need to be validated, a need to be special. . . as long as one is still wrestling with these (very human) issues, intuition may be anywhere from mildly to greatly unreliable. This, in my understanding, is because as long as we WANT a certain thing, we are no longer a fully open receptor, and could be liable to receive what we desire, rather than a true, pure intuition.

The way I assess any intuitive knowing I receive is by reading myself first. Is my body settled - both today, and in the bigger picture? If not, in what ways am I still ungrounded or not present? What would I WISH the intuition to be? If the answer is the same as the thing I believe I am intuiting, how might I know if it is my projection/desire/ego vs. a true voice of Sacred Mystery? Tuning in to my BODY-wisdom is always my deepest and most trustworthy barometer. The mind can think its way into something, the emotional body is swayed so easily, but the body has no judgement, only truth in it. So, when people are working with me on this subject, it is many, many exercises on learning one's body's language with which we begin.

Whew. If anyone made it through all this, I hope you found some tidbits of use to you on your own journey.

Wishing Grace upon you each and all,
With Love Always,
Rev. Maya

Poet Andrea Gibson; Come See Me In The Good Light

3/26/2026

Hello Dear Friends,

Thank you for your wonderful messages regarding the previous blog post. And I have one more I could not recommend more passionately: The documentary "Come See Me In The Good Light", about one of the most authentically ALIVE - even in death - writers and souls I know of currently in the public eye; the late poet and performance artist, Andrea Gibson.

In this beautifully made film, you will be privileged to walk with Andrea and her bright and courageous partner Megan Falley, as they navigate diagnosis of Andrea's incurable cancer with glowing presence and the raw and vibrant partnership I would wish for anyone seeking committed relationship.

The film is a tour-de-force accomplishment in filmmaking, living/loving and dying, making art not against but along with all odds, and walking within the mystery that is the one diagnosis we all share: we are dying, and, if we dig in and fall open, perhaps we can traverse this reality with a breathtaking curiosity and gratitude.

Not for the faint-of-heart, definitely for the passionate-of-being, both from a personal perspective and as a person who's work focuses on the rigors of being human in Living-and-Dying, I highly recommend this film.

Then go write your version of poetry, whatever that may be!

Much Love,
Rev. Maya

Four Films on Death & Dying for Anyone With a Body:

3/11/2026

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Greetings Friends.

Below are four documentaries about Death & Dying that may be of interest - in my view, to anyone alive - but discern for yourself if the time is right to explore these topics further. . . Or, if you are already a die-hard Death Explorer, ENJOY!

Extremis

Award winning documentary. “Witness the wrenching emotions that accompany end-of-life decisions as doctors, patients and families in a hospital ICU face harrowing choices.
Trailer:
https://youtu.be/TJiY8duVgz0?si=ken2E1s2kA4oSwrF

The Funeral Director

Documentary. “In this documentary, we get a glimpse into a world most of us never consider until it’s thrust upon us by bereavement. But, far from morbid or dark, this is a life-affirming story, full of empathy, unexpected revelations and strangely, hope.”
Trailer:
https://youtu.be/DHyC_pY1gZo?si=smoaqGXz3zU0tMWD

End Game

A short documentary. “documentary explores the end-of-life support system provided by doctors, nurses, chaplains and hospice professionals”
Trailer:
https://youtu.be/FgJD6ksdkWY?si=-OtAELpvBj8z7yXp

Surviving Death

Series. “What does it mean to die, and is death the end of our existence? Weaving together innovative new research with firsthand accounts from those who’ve been close to—and even experienced—death, this series takes viewers on an extraordinary journey into a world beyond human existence as we know it.”
Trailer:
https://youtu.be/Cq5V9SgO1_A?si=mldso5KasDJOZtiw

Note: The first episode is specifically about the phenomenon of Near Death Experiences. I found this episode interesting as I have had experiences that parallel these. Further episodes are focused on mediumship and the paranormal, thus fall further from the arena of Death & Dying.

Wherever you are on your own timeline or in your relationship with our one universally-human truth (that we will die), I hope perhaps these explorations may be of service to you.

If you would like to think about, learn about, share about topics related to Death & Dying, I invite you to join me and members of the group I host monthly; Memento Mori; Open, Honest Conversations on Death & Dying. (You can learn more by clicking HERE - or by clicking the "Memento Mori" page in the navigation bar.)

I wish you vibrant presence in all your moments here on Earth and/or beyond,
With Love Always,
Rev. Maya

You are always welcome to reach out to me: [email protected] for personal communication or [email protected] for business inquiries about our listings page.

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And now, here is the Blog. . .

Intuition/Spiritual Senses/Inner Knowing

Poet Andrea Gibson; Come See Me In The Good Light

Four Films on Death & Dying for Anyone With a Body:

Extremis

The Funeral Director

End Game

Surviving Death

Author:

Archives

Categories

And now, here is the Blog. . .

Intuition/Spiritual Senses/Inner Knowing

Poet Andrea Gibson; Come See Me In The Good Light

Four Films on Death & Dying for Anyone With a Body:

Extremis

​The Funeral Director

End Game

Surviving Death

Author:

Archives

Categories

The Funeral Director