Death Doula Services
What is a Death Doula?
a facilitator between this life and the next. an end-of-life Usher. psychopomp. a companion and confidant. someone to bear witness to your raw and authentic humanity. a piece of your circle of support. a guide as one leaves the earthly plane and their physical body.
Why seek an End-of-Life Doula?
We all die. our time on this earth is limited. our bodies are fragile. as humans, the only guarantee is that we are born and we will die, yet we shy away from the topic of death. having a doula’s support as we prepare logistically and emotionally can give us and our loved ones comfort, peace, and direction as we face our mortality.
How does it work?
my Role is to hold space for you as you hold vigil with yourself. to create conditions that make the rest of your time on earth full of things that brings you joy and solace. to ensure your wishes are honored pre and Postmortem. offering Spiritual, Practical, Logistical, and Emotional Support as you wrap up affairs. helping you navigate what is truly important/meaningful as you reflect on death/dying.
OFFERINGS
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OFFERINGS 〰️
DEATH
CLEANING
Known as “döstädning” in Swedish, death cleaning is the process of downsizing your earthly possessions to ease the burden for yourself and your circle of support as you prepare for death. By simplifying your life, you can discover what things are truly meaningful and what is merely an object inhabiting space.
This time is also a practice in letting go. So many of us own things that no longer serve us, by intentionally releasing our belongings we can free ourselves both emotionally and physically.
It’s hard to get rid of objects we’ve accumulated over the years, they are a time capsule. People, memories, and emotions are entangled in things we keep, whether good or complicated. This process is not meant to force you to relinquish items you love, rather it is to be deliberate about what you hold onto. Together, we can free up your life by surrounding you with things that are truly valuable.
Grief & Mourning
Support
What are we to do when someone we love dies? If we’re lucky, we get a couple days off before work and life move on. People offer condolences and then never ask again. And here we are, left with a hole we don’t know how to fill.
Our society isn’t designed for us to slow down, to be soft, to grieve. The systems in place don't hold space for us. They don’t give us time. They expect us to continue operating as we were, but we are not the same. How could we be? How do we honor ourselves and the person we lost amongst it all?
We carve out time. We create rituals and routines. We allow ourselves to feel it all. We sit with the numbness. We talk about it. We share our stories and their legacies. We make art, we scream into a pillow, we dye our hair. Let’s figure out how you grieve. Let’s find healthy coping mechanisms. Let’s honor your experience and emotions. Let’s honor the one you lost.
end-of-Life
Planning
I offer nonlegal aid for wrapping up end-of-life affairs. This can look like sourcing important legal documents, organizing paperwork, passwords, etc., or curating your wants/desires as you approach the end. We can plan a vigil, a wake, or make funeral arrangements. This service is designed to determine what YOU want.
It is difficult enough to learn how to navigate legalities and logistics when a loved one dies, especially while processing grief. Having your records consolidated and orderly will be a kindness to your constellation of care, as they will need access to these files when you pass away.
It is very confronting to create a plan for the end of your life. Uncomfortable as it is, you do not have to be alone in this process. Be tender with yourself. Allow yourself to be helped and cared for. You are going through a lot already, you do not need overwhelm on top of it all.