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In this episode you can view as a video podcast on YouTube or on Spotify

Annalouiza and Wakil discuss the first twenty episodes from Season One and all of the profound and inspirational insights that we learned from our guests.

We also talk about what is coming in Season Two, including a new website and new video offerings for paid subscribers that will include discussions of some of the episodes, short classes on preparing for end-of-life, role-playing ways that you can communicate about grief and loss, and examples of what you might experience as a care giver for someone who is dying.
Summary

In the first season of the podcast, we explored the impact of death on people's lives and the challenges of discussing death in our culture. We found that many people had experiences of death in their childhood that were not acknowledged, leading to a disconnect with death later in life. The fear and discomfort around death were attributed to societal pressures and the saturation of death-related images in the media. We also discovered that nature and community were important resources for people in navigating death and grief. We emphasized the importance of open communication, forgiveness, and expressing love to prepare for the end of life.

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Also, we would love your financial support and you can join us on Patreon. Anyone who supports us at any level will be invited to a special live, online conversation with Annalouiza and Wakil.

And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

Send us a Text Message.

In this episode we meet Dr. Janice Lundy, who is a grief support specialist and a grief educator. She is the founder of the Metta Center, which offers specialized training in spiritual direction, also known as spiritual companionship, including one-of-a-kind grief companionship training. Having experienced a great deal of loss in her own life, she knows firsthand the transformative power of healing through grief.

Jan is a celebrated author and lifelong educator who currently serves as the Gerald May Professor of Spiritual Direction and Counseling at the Graduate Theological Foundation. For the past 20 years, she has hosted a vibrant private client practice as well, specializing in spiritual direction, pastoral counseling, and grief companionship. She holds a Doctor of Psychology degree in Pastoral Logotherapy, which she incorporates into all her work.

Logotherapy is the therapy of meaning established by Dr. Victor Frankel, author of Man's Search for Meaning. Jan believes that navigating grief, loss, and life's many challenges with the support of a non -non-judgmental, compassionate companion can help us connect with greater meaning and purpose in life.

In our conversation, Jan shares her journey of becoming a grief companion after experiencing personal loss. She emphasizes the transformative power of grief and the importance of companioning others through their grief journeys. Jan explains that a grief companion walks alongside a grieving individual, offering deep listening, presence, and unconditional love. She distinguishes between grief companioning and grief counseling, highlighting the role of each in supporting those who are grieving. Jan also discusses the sacred nature of grief and the impact of grief work on our understanding of death.

Links
Grief Companion Center Website
Spiritual Guidance, Education & Counseling - www.JanLundy.com
Dr. Raymond Moody's Life after Life website
Dr. Alan Wolfelt - from the Center for Loss and Life Transition
Viktor Frankl's Books
George Bonanno's Website

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Also, we would love your financial support and you can join us on Patreon. Anyone who supports us at any level will be invited to a special live, online conversation with Annalouiza and Wakil.

And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

Send us a Text Message.

Paul Minor is a transpersonal and spiritual counselor and a Thanatologist. He shares his personal experiences with death and how they influenced his career path.

Paul's work involves transpersonal spiritual counseling and Thanatology, the study of death, dying, and bereavement. He emphasizes the importance of addressing death anxiety and grief in a holistic and sacred way.

Paul faces challenges in breaking through societal taboos and misconceptions around death and spirituality. He strives to be a companion and create space for the mystery of death in his work. In this conversation,

He discusses his work in end-of-life care and the importance of spiritual companionship. He emphasizes the need for community and supportive networks in this work and highlights the significance of closure and saying goodbye in the dying process.

Paul also shares his fears and concerns about the end of life, including the lack of closure and the possibility of pain. He explores various practices and resources that can support individuals in facing these fears, such as the Five Wishes document and the nightly hospice practice.

Additionally, Paul expresses his interest in working with end-of-life dreams and visions and their potential for healing and connection.

Links to things we mentioned:
Alan Wolfelt from the Center for Loss and Life Transition - https://www.centerforloss.com/about-the-center-for-loss/about-dr-alan-wolfelt/
The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief by Francis Weller
Dr. Christopher Kerr from Hospice Buffalo - https://www.drchristopherkerr.com/tools
The Ignation Examen - https://www.jesuits.org/spirituality/the-ignatian-examen/

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Also, we would love your financial support and you can join us on Patreon. Anyone who supports us at any level will be invited to a special live, online conversation with Annalouiza and Wakil.

And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

Send us a Text Message.

Gary Sturgis, a grief specialist, speaker, and bereavement facilitator, shares his personal experience with loss and his journey to support others through grief. He discusses the importance of providing resources and support for the LGBTQ+ community, who often face unique challenges in their grief. Gary emphasizes the need for understanding and respect when supporting someone who is grieving and encourages seeking help and connection during the grieving process.

Gary survived the greatest loss of his life and now works as a Grief Specialist, Speaker, and Bereavement Facilitator.

He is recognized as one of today’s most insightful and original voices on grief and loss. With an online presence of over a quarter of a million followers, he uses his Facebook page, SURVIVING GRIEF, to guide and support those that are struggling with a significant loss.

Gary is the author of three books on grief, including his bestselling daily companion, SURVIVING GRIEF - 365 Days A Year. His books have a way of reaching into your heart with an honesty and openness that will transform you from the inside out.

He feels passionate about providing support to those that are experiencing the loss of a loved one, and he finds it a gift to be able to help others navigate their way through the maze of grief in a very personal and meaningful way.

SURVIVING GRIEF Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SurvivingGriefGarySturgis

SURVIVING GRIEF Website: https://sgrief.com/

Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Gary-Sturgis/author/B08656V1DW?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1708199741&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Story: https://www.grapgrief.com/stories/surviving-grief-gary-sturgis/

Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ewle6dQ7AY

We shared this quote at the end:

"There are stars up above, so far away, we only see their light long, long after the star itself is gone. And so it is for people that we loved, their memories keep shining ever brightly, even though their time with us is done, and the stars that light up the darkest of nights, these are the lights that guide us. As we live our days, these are the ways we remember." -Hannah Senesh

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Also, we would love your financial support and you can join us on Patreon. Anyone who supports us at any level will be invited to a special live, online conversation with Annalouiza and Wakil.

And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

Send us a Text Message.

For this unique episode, we will be interviewing Professor Harald Walach PhD.

Professor Walach is a clinical psychologist, philosopher of science, and researcher
at the interface between medicine, psychology, and consciousness studies. He is a professorial research fellow with the Next Society Institute at Kazimierash Simonavichius University in Vilnius, Lithuania. He is the founding director of the Change Health Science Institute in Basel, Switzerland, where he lives as a freelance scientist and an author. His recent work focuses on the role of spirituality and consciousness within science, for our health system and our culture at large.

We were introduced to his work by our friend Neil Douglas Klotz who recommended a presentation that Professor Walach did speaking to his belief that scientific research called transhumanism into extending life and doing away with death altogether, is a bad idea because death is an important and necessary part of our lives.

Professor Wallach discusses the impact of death and the dangers of transhumanism. He argues that death is an important part of life and gives meaning to our existence. He highlights the risks of artificially extending life, such as the loss of value in decision-making and the creation of a gerontocracy. He also criticizes the elitism and colonialism inherent in the pursuit of life extension. Professor Wallach explores the limitations of technology in achieving immortality and emphasizes the importance of consciousness in understanding life. The conversation explores the ethical considerations of prolonging life and the commodification of the human body. The speakers discuss the balance between prolonging life and maintaining quality of life, as well as the importance of fair and equitable access to medical interventions. They also touch on the fear of death and how it is used as a marketing tool.
**************
E-Mail: hw@chs-institute.org hwalac@gmail.com
Homepage
CHS-Institute
Books
- Brücken zwischen Psychotherapie und Spiritualität
- Hugo de Balma – Die Wege nach Sion trauern
- Das große Komplementär-Handbuch
- Spiritualität - Secular Spirituality
- Psychologie: Wissenschaftstheorie -
Editor Complementary Medicine Research
Editor Springer Series Neuroscience Consciousness Spir

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Also, we would love your financial support and you can join us on Patreon. Anyone who supports us at any level will be invited to a special live, online conversation with Annalouiza and Wakil.

And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

Send us a Text Message.

In this episode, we talk with Julie Lockhart, a retired academic. During the last years of her career, she led a grief support nonprofit called WinterSpring, where she discovered the beauty and depth of personal stories. There she shared her own experience, which helped grieving people feel less alone.

Julie loves an adventure, especially in wild places. She spent most of her career in academics, publishing extensively in peer-reviewed journals.

From that, she has embraced writing personal essays about her adventures, life experiences, and grief, sharing insights from what she has learned. Her essays
have been published in the Journal of Wild Culture, Minerva Rising, bioStories, and Feels Blind Literary. Julie is a Pushcart Nominee for her essay, “Worthy,” and a three-time runner-up in the Women on Writing Essay contests.

In our conversation, she discusses the impact of childhood experiences, the loss of her ex-husband, and a miscarriage, on her writing and work. Julie highlights the importance of telling stories and supporting children and teens in their grief. She also emphasizes the need for adults to understand grief and trauma, navigate family dynamics, and create memorials to remember loved ones.

Julie's website: julietales.com (https://julielockhart80.wixsite.com/julietales)
WinterSpring: https://thelearningwell.org/winterspring-grief-support-and-education/
(Since Julie retired, they merged with a nonprofit healthcare organization called La Clinica and are a major component of that organization’s wellness program.)
The Dougy Center: https://www.dougy.org/ This is the leading children’s grief
organization in the country.
Companioning Model from Alan Wolfelt: https://www.centerforloss.com/

And the poem we shared was from Mary Oliver, titled "Heavy"
That time
I thought I could not
go any closer to grief
without dying
I went closer,
and I did not die.
Surely God
had his hand in this,
as well as friends.
Still, I was bent,
and my laughter,
as the poet said,
was nowhere to be found.
Then said my friend Daniel, (brave even among lions),
“It’s not the weight you carry
but how you carry it –
books, bricks, grief –
it’s all in the way
you embrace it, balance it, carry it
Heavy
by Mary Oliver
when you cannot, and would not,
put it down.”
So I went practicing.
Have you noticed?
Have you heard
the laughter
that comes, now and again,
out of my startled mouth?
How I linger
to admire, admire, admire
the things of this world
that are kind, and maybe
also troubled –
roses in the wind,
the sea geese on the steep waves, a love
to which there is no reply?

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Also, we would love your financial support and you can join us on Patreon. Anyone who supports us at any level will be invited to a special live, online conversation with Annalouiza and Wakil.

And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

Send us a Text Message.

Arlene Hoag, a hospice volunteer and co-chairman of the Mountains of Courage conference, shares her experiences and insights on death and dying.

She discusses her early encounters with death, the grief she experienced when a friend passed away, and the importance of communicating with loved ones who have passed.

Arlene also emphasizes the significance of supporting grieving individuals and caring for loved ones with dementia. She shares how a class at a spiritual community camp and a gravestone exercise influenced her perspective on death.

Arlene concludes by discussing her work as a hospice volunteer and her challenges in promoting conversations about death and dying.

In this conversation, Arlene Hoag discusses various aspects of end-of-life care and the importance of community and connection during this time. She shares personal stories and reflections on death, as well as practices for self-resourcefulness.

Arlene also introduces the concept of home funerals and the value of allowing time for grieving.

She mentioned this book - Please Be Patient, I'm Grieving, by Gary Roe, and The Living/Dying Project, as well as a movie they made at the Living/Dying project called Dying Into Love.

At the end she shared this poem by the Sufi mystic, Hafiz called “There is a game we should play.”

There is a wonderful game we should play,
and it goes like this:

We hold hands and look into each other's eyes
and scan each other's face.

Then I say, "Tell me a difference
you see between us. "

And you might respond, "Hafiz, your nose
is ten times bigger than mine!"

Then I would say, "Yes, my dear, almost
ten times!"

But let's keep playing.
Let's go deeper, go deeper.

For if we do, our spirits will embrace
and interweave,

our union will be so glorious
that even God will not be able to tell us apart.

This would be a wonderful game to play.

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Also, we would love your financial support and you can join us on Patreon. Anyone who supports us at any level will be invited to a special live, online conversation with Annalouiza and Wakil.

And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

Send us a Text Message.

In this episode, we speak to Laura Davis, author of The Burning Light of Two Stars, The Courage to Heal, and four other books. In addition to writing books that inspire, the work of Laura’s heart is to teach. For over twenty years, she’s helped people find their voices, tell their stories, and hone their craft. She teaches online and at retreat centers around the world.

She's a featured speaker for The National Association of Memoir Writers and a popular craft teacher at The San Miguel Writer's Conference. In May, Laura will be leading her signature Writing as a Pathway Through Grief, Loss, Uncertainty, and Change retreat at a beautiful retreat center in the Northern California redwoods. You can learn about Laura’s retreats, workshops, and classes, and read the first five chapters of her memoir at www.lauradavis.net.

Writing as a Pathway Retreat - https://lauradavis.net/writing-as-a-pathway/

Laura’s press kit regarding her book, with images, etc.
The Burning Light of Two Stars

We mentioned the Book - The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

And Laura mentioned The Inner Work of Age: Shifting From Role to Soul by Connie Zweig

The poem we shared was -

Allow
by Donna Fauld

There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a
stream and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tide
will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry
you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting it all in –
the wild and the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and success.
When loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils your
vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes.

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Also, we would love your financial support and you can join us on Patreon. Anyone who supports us at any level will be invited to a special live, online conversation with Annalouiza and Wakil.

And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.