Paths of healing through life and death

The path underfoot crackles with each footstep. The sweet smells of flora wafting through breezes that travel along with us as we move through the trees. Our gazes move from moss covered rock to lichen drenched branches that sway in the towering arbours overhead. Each walk is a new entry point into human connection while being held in the sweet embrace of nature.

One of the many paths walked and talked on in Pacific Spirit Park. A park that is part of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) territory in Vancouver, BC.

In the past few years of life, I've been walking some very divergent pathways from which I never would have thought I would be treading along. From thinking, in my young life, that I would have a career in graphic design for the rest of my life, and that would glide me into and through retirement one day... to learning to teach, share and create community with yoga, meditation and reiki... to helping individuals with decluttering and handyman skills... to this current time in my life where I am holding space for humans, and animals, that are in the final journey of their corporeal lives. Death and end of life journeys that I have been invited to bear witness to have been a profound pathways and deep learnings. And it doesn't start and end at the end, it actually starts somewhere in the middle. Or, as one of my friends like to say, "in the medley".

I've been inviting friends, colleagues and clients to join me on walks through the forest and share conversation and connection time among the trees. Discovering that these 'walk and talks' are more healing and nourishing than I had originally anticipated. We breathe in the oxygen enriched air and let the textures that surround us create a safe and compassionate space of gathering in and letting go. With the quiet intimacy of these spaces, there are no distractions or cluttering's of the mind, and we can lean into deeper thoughts and feelings. The introduction of 'forest bathing', or Shinrin-yoku, I show individuals how 'grounding / earthing' can energetically AND physically help heal and release energy back to the earth. All of this combined together to lead deeper conversations about death and our relationship with our mortality. All of this to say that my life continues to inspire and aspire within and around me, and nature has become my partner along these next pathways.

If you or someone you know has a challenging time with conversations around death, or are in the end chapter of living in this world, reach out... I'm hear to lend an ear... and space holder with a sturdy shoulder.