Hello Dear Ghosties, Ghouls & Goblins!
 
Whether you celebrate this Spooky Night as Halloween, All Hallows Eve, Samhain (pronounced Sah-wen), a time to honor Ancestors or those accused of ‘witchcrtaft’ in “the burning times”, the gateway to All Saint’s Day or Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), as a time of deep introspection, or a thinning of the veils between the worlds, as a time to welcome in the harvest or simply a day to lock your doors and turn off the lights,
May you celebrate in JOY AND SAFETY!
Please amp up the kindness and care on this night on which may of our young folk are out an about!
 
And to add (I hope) to your fun, entertainment or curiosity, here are a few seasonal videos:
 
Any of you old enough to remember Caspar the Friendly Ghost?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhdo7U_Knhc
 
Pumpkin carving master James Hall explains pumpkin carving in 13 spooky levels of difficulty:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0irTfZpKx4&t=6s
 
What is Samhain? A bit about the Pagan Holiday in Irish Folklore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0gbhtIMbDQ&t=55s
 
Dia De Los Muertos (Day of th Dead) is NOT “Mexican Halloween”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfdWV0QkwH4&t=95s
 
Some serious talk on Honoring Ancestors - Luisah Teish, an author, storyteller, and priestess of the Ifá/Orisha faith of Yoruba-speaking West Africa and the African Diaspora (and one of my dearest mentors): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z5VbCAJZ5A
 
What is All Saint’s Day (Christian, for kids), with donuts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826IwSHTehs&t=205s
 
The Birth Place of Halloween – Archaeologists from University College Dublin have completed the first excavations of a hilltop enclosure in Ireland reputed to be the birthplace of Halloween:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNBsHwsS6lY
 
Some History on Witches and Witchcraft:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMbGf1HGaSg
 
Soothing music for Witches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl53QRq2kTM&t=1156s
 
Beautiful chant by Native American artist Chinoa, from her album “Spirit of Salishan” – Ancestors Honor Song (you can buy her music on Amazon https://music.apple.com/us/album/spirit-of-salishan/275052549 ) but here is the link just to listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3_f9q9PNqY
 
Any maybe my favorite – a silly Witchy dance to get you out of your chair:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjUV-byB8ls&t=10s
 
So, whether you celebrate in fun and frolic, somber honoring, wild abandon 
or a decidedly closed door to your privacy,
 
A Blessed Hallows Eve to Us All!
 
In Light & Shadow,
Maya

Hi Friends,
I want to share this fabulous TedTalk by Daniel Maskit. Maskit shares his experience being on the Autism Spectrum and invites us all to consider opening our vision to other ways of seeing and experiencing neurodiversity.  Take a look; I can almost promise at least that you know someone, maybe even care deeply for someone, perhaps even ARE someone - who is on the spectrum. It is a beautiful talk.

CLICK HERE to watch Alien Superpowers | Daniel Maskit | TEDxKingAlfredSchool

CLEAR, PRESENT & WHOLE;
A Somatic Exercise Triplet

Here is a link to a rather basic video of today's Somatic exercise. You can also find it on the MEDITATIONS page.

CLICK HERE to watch the video.  The password is: heartful

If you are a learn-by-reading type, below are the steps for the exercise. 
This post also includes links for resources and some notes on the process.


I. First part: Release
(Based on Chinese medicine’s meridians; see a basic description of the meridians here: https://www.risingmoontaichi.net/the-meridians )

• Run hand from head, around behind ear, down neck, down arm and off of ring finger – as you breathe out, say “Releasing”.  (Tripple-warmer meridian governs fight/flight/freeze response. Calming these meridians with this simple exercise will help your mind and body regulate after trauma, stress, or just a busy day.)
• Use your other hand to do the same on the other side.

 
II. Second part; Becoming Present
(Based on Somatic Healing techniques; https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/somatic-therapy )

• Run one hand from other hand up your inner arm, to shoulder (squeeze gently and say “I”),
• Continue to where shoulder meets neck (squeeze gently and say “am”)
• Continue to rest hand on heart (press gently and say “here”)

 - Use other hand to do the same on the other side.

• Place both hands on center of chest/heart.  With your hands, feel your chest move with your breath.
• Feel with your chest the warmth of hands resting there.
• Press gently. Pause here.  Say “I am here”.

 
III. Third part; Self Containment/Replenishment
(Based on Polarity Therapy https://www.lifeenergyinstitute.net/aboutpolaritytherapy/ )

• Place one hand belly, other to base of skull, where it meets your neck (say the word “Safe”). Rest here for a moment.
• Place left hand on right side of ribcage and right hand on left elbow. Be present in this body-hold.
• You can imagine the needs of those you love and care for as “cords” attached to you, or simply focus on your own thoughts of caregiving, and as you breathe out, imagine these falling away, or you can visualize cutting them gently away with a beautiful, imagined blade or scissors.   (Whatever energy belongs to those others, returns to them, making them more whole.  Your own energy or thoughts are now yours, contained in this gentle and surprisingly powerful and re-energizing Holding-of-Self).
• I usually complete the exercise by placing one hand on belly and other on heart and saying “Grateful”.

 
You can do all three parts of this exercise – or just one if you have little time – depending on what you are most in need of (release, presence or re-energizing).
I suggest the simple Holding-of-Self as it is easy to do even when people are near you: Place left hand on right ribcage, right hand on left elbow.  Take a moment within to feel your self re-gathering energy before you proceed to your next task.
 
Be clear, present and energized, dear friends.
 
Much Love,
 
Maya

This morning in our hospice interdisciplinary team meeting, I read a piece by writer and spiritual director David Auten.  Auten offers a brief and gentle journey to appreciation of our moments here on Earth.  Please visit his blog HERE.
As always, you can also find all references on the Resources page of this site.

Peace and Delight in your Moments,
Love,
Maya

'Ahoy Friends of Life, Death and the Whole Shebang!

Today I want to lift up a social media "influencer" I adore: @hospicenursejulie (on tiktok and Instagram).  Julie McFadden is sharing fabulous content on the topic of dying, and her focus is DEMYSTIFYING the process, as she says "normalizing death".   Julie posts information and actual footage of people in active dying (with all permissions from those who share these with her). She prefaces each video with a description of what will be seen and then offers a trigger warning before the video plays so you can opt out of the visual if you wish.

Julie's mission is to assist us all in befriending the process of dying so when we or our loved ones are present for it we are less afraid. She discusses changes in breathing, bodily secretions, open mouth, changes in skin coloration - and shares that all these things are perfectly normal and do NOT mean your loved one is suffering.  Julie also shares what most people, if they are able to speak, say just before they die (I love you, or the name of their mother or father who have usually already passed) . . . and that, as many of us who work in hospice know, a surprising number of people - whether they are religious or spiritual in life or not - see and speak to "angels" and loved ones who have already died.

If you would like to watch Julie's videos or perhaps share them with family members, caregivers of the dying, your patients or clients, here are some links to start you off:

CLICK HERE to visit @hospicenursejulie 's instagram account.
CLICK HERE to watch a Youtube intervierw with Julie. 
CLICK HERE to read an article about Julie from Insider.

Julie is also listed on the Resources page of this site.

A Blessed Life and a Blessed Death to you all!
Love,
Maya

 Hello Friends,

I recently had the privilege of experiencing Steven Jenkinson  (R) and Gregory Hoskins (L) in their show "Nights of Grief and Mystery". Jenkinson is known for his work in what he calls "the death trade". He is is a Canadian writer, teacher, 'anti-death-phobia advocate' and former director of palliative care at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto. He is also a musician and spoken word performer.   The show, a mix of music and spoken word, is filled with Jenkinson's particular brand of off-the-grid wisdom, activism and sublime stories of the dying, our culture's fear of death and segues into his fascinating, personal life story.

Jenkinson has written a number of books - I recommend any of them.  He advocates for DYING WELL - for every one of us. And lifts up death as something far more than a thing to be feared. For this, I bow at his feet.

From his book "Die Wise; A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul" -
“A good death is everyone’s right.​ ​The idea makes no sense in a culture that doesn’t believe in dying at all.​ ​Grief is the radical etiquette needed by a death phobic, grief illiterate time.​ ​Dying is the fulfillment, not the end, of life.​ ​
From a young age we see around us that grief is mostly an affliction, a misery that intrudes into the life we deserve, a rupture of the natural order of things, a trauma that we need coping and management and five stages and twelve steps to get over.
Here’s the revolution: What if grief is a skill, in the same way that love is a skill, something that must be learned and cultivated and taught? What if grief is the natural order of things, a way of loving life anyway? Though addicted to security, comfort and managing uncertainty, our culture could learn to honor, teach and live grief as a skill, as vital to our personal, community and spiritual life as the skill of loving. In a time like ours, grieving is a subversive act. “Grief: It’s how you love all those things in life that end.”​​​

The National Film Board of Canada's award-winning documentary "Griefwalker" (mentioned elsewhere in this blog, and listed on the resources page) is well worth a watch for anyone alive - for we will all find our selves in need of befriendment of death at some point. 

Here is a trailer for the film:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLQWM2j3AVg

Click HERE to go to Jenkinson's website: https://orphanwisdom.com/
And HERE to see and purchase his books.

Jenkinson's work came to my attention some years ago and remains a light for me and so many others who are courageous enough to develop authentic relationships with life, death and all the roads of loving and letting go that being human entails.

Thanks Stephen Jenkinson for your inspiration, and thanks also to Gregory Hoskins (who's work I am less familiar with, but equally enchanted by) .

With Love to All,
Maya