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Embracing All Phases of Life

“Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” ~ David Bowie

I was able to be present at my brother’s first child’s birth.  I witnessed the midwife encouraging my sister-in-law through the process.  It was a home-birth.  The intensity, followed by the beautiful release and bliss we all felt when my nephew came into the world was overwhelmingly familiar and very similar to what I’d felt in the past working as an in-home caregiver and death doula for the dying.  

To me, death and birth are as similar as a sunset is to a sunrise

I was once interviewed by a high school student on what it meant to be a Thanatologist, and I realized as I answered her questions that I smile a lot about something many view as a somber topic.

The pain and emotions experienced when losing someone we love is not something to smile about, but witnessing the displays of love, courage, and radical acts of kindness I see coming from family members of a dying person, hospice workers, caregivers, and friends ~ truly is a joy.

Landing in my Role 

Achievements

 

  • Companioning In-Home Deaths   Those I have cared for as they died are my primary teachers.  And so are the families I have worked with (2001-2020)
  • Hospice Care Advocacy  I became the first Community Outreach for Hospice Maui pioneering the team as an educator in healthcare offices and the greater Maui community, and later for Hospice Hawaii (now Navian) on Oahu  (2014 – 2021)
  • End-of-Life Care Education  creating and providing workshops, webinars, mentoring programs, courses, and classes for individuals and organizations, both locally as well as globally (2018 – Present)
  • Completing my own Advance Care Directive  Hawaii State and the Five Wishes document (2018)
  • Facing two big common fears ~ at the same time!  Public Speaking about Death (2014 – Present)
  • Spiritual Practice  Light and Sound Path (1998 – Present)

Expertise & Training

  • Creating & Leading Educational Workshops, Courses, and Classes on the death, end-of-life care, and grief, empowering others to better handle the special needs & challenges of the dying process
  • Hosting Presentations & Discussions on Advanced Care Directives, Hospice Care, Grief, and screenings of  “Being Mortal”, a documentary based on the book by Atul Gawande https://youtu.be/lQhI3Jb7vMg
  • Certified in Thanatology (Death, Dying and Bereavement) through the Association for Death Education and Counseling since 2015  requiring written exam, letters of recommendation and employment in the field, and continuing education
  • Employed and contracted by Hospice organizations for 5 years on Maui and in Honolulu
  • 3 Hospice Training Programs Completed in 2002 & 2003 serving as a hospice volunteer & 2014 as a hospice employee doing community outreach & education
  • Important Books Studied:  Final Gifts, Coming Home, Alive For Now: Using Death as a Teacher to Thrive in Life (the workbook referenced during my workshops Alive for Now on Amazon), and It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss In a Culture That Doesn’t Understand
  • Workshops with Frank Ostaseski  physical classes, podcasts, interviews, and teachings of his
  • Workshop with Roshi Joan Halifax & Frank Ostaseski on compassionate care for the dying at Buddhist Upaya Zen Center ~ Eyes Wide Open
  • Studied works of Stephen Jenkinson including his documentary, Greifwalker
  • Ram Das, attended talks given by him, kirtan with him in his home here on Maui, screenings of movies on his own death, and attendance at his funeral/memorial celebration
  • International Death Doula Training program on Maui in 2018. By Doorway Into Light
  • Doorway Into Light workshops, an educational non-profit providing conscious and compassionate responses to dying and death since 2006, founded by Ram Das & Bodhi Be: DoorwayIntoLight.org
  • Reimagine, co-facilitated and attended many educational workshops and talks by this educational non-profit dedicated to reimagining end-of-life: LetsReimagine.org

Podcast & Public Media Interviews

Wellbeing Through Personal Empowerment Podcast

2023

‘Grief and End of Life Care with Laura Miner’

Exploring Death Podcast Interview

2019

‘Dancing with Death and End of Life Care with Laura Miner’

Gutsy Women Radio Kaku 88.5 FM & Channel 55 with Amorah St. John

2023