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No-one can be sure that relationships bring happiness...
but one thing we can be sure of...
Happiness brings great relationships...
So be happy first!
"Bless you Jackie,
your work is invaluable"
Sue T
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 When dealing with death, the solution is the same whether the death is our own or that of a loved one. As hard as it is to accept, we must understand that death is a part of life. As some have quipped, death is the only thing in life that comes with a 100% guarantee. It is helpful to realise that while our bodies are mortal, all human beings are eternal - our soul and spirit will never die. Our spirits - the essence of who we are - will live forever!
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Of the many challenges provided by life on earth, death of a loved one or indeed of your own physical body is perhaps the most universal. Unless we die at a young age, it is likely we are going to lose someone we care about. The fact that virtually all of us share this experience suggests it offers profound opportunities for growth. Were it not so, we as souls would be less likely to seek lives on the physical plane.
What is a Soul Midwife?
Soul Midwives are a growing group of people that bring peace, serenity and love to those facing the end of their life and those caring for them. Soul Midwives work hard to break down the barriers and make dying a little less of a taboo subject to talk about, not only at the end of life but during life. We encourage and enable people to explore the options that are available to us all and help facilitate a peaceful and dignified crossing of the sacred threshold. It is a multi-faith but non-religious practice and a Soul Midwife will give non-intrusive emotional, mental, spiritual and physical guidance and support throughout the transition process. After my brother's death in 2000, I explored many emotional, mental and spiritual pathways and one of the conclusions I came to was that during the process some of my family, friends and I could not accept he was going to die. In the main, we were all hoping for the miracle that never came and therefore my brother could not relate to us on the same level. He was lucky enough to have met some friends and teachers that gave him that support and eased his journey. The concepts of a Soul Midwife include giving that support, not only to the dying person, but also as a comfort to the relatives during this traumatic time. The practice includes:
Companionship with the person facing the transition, honouring their life and respecting their individuality and uniqueness. The sharing of life stories and reflecting on life's journey.
Helping to overcome fears and enabling the passing to be the best possible for them. Offers support for those struggling with the spiritual aspect of living and dying.
Helping to talk through any emotional difficulties, coming to terms with the process and encouraging a healing of the heart and the healing of relationships.
Offering mild therapies to ease the mind and relax the body. Research has shown that people who have regular relaxation therapies do not need as much pain relief as those that don't.
Encouring family and friends to be a part of this process and help them to fulfil their unique way of saying goodbye. Bringing loved ones into the process and encouraging them to perform small comforts such as stroking feet or forehead. Helping to create memory boxes, photo albums etc for loved ones.
Resources relaxing music, specially formulated for transition stages and the use of singing bowls and crystals.
Teaches simple breathing techniques to help relaxation and healing
Provides healing similar to Reiki
Offers a link between the services of the medical profession and the needs of the ill person
Provides information regarding funeral services including sourcing information on local natural burial grounds and funeral celebrants. | |
History
Soul Midwifery is not new. Many years ago every town or village would have a wise woman or man who would tend to the newborn, sick and dying. They would bring the spiritual input required when people were going through big shifts as well as the practical aspects of caring for people. Death was viewed as part of life and the whole family would have been involved in a passing. As technical advances in medicine emerged this practice was replaced by more scientific methods of dealing with health issues and emotional and spiritual issues fell by the wayside, giving way to machinery, monitors and medical jargon. Emotional issues are now evolving again in the form of counselling & psychotherapy and I am finding people are gaining more of a curiousity about our spiritual aspects which is necessary for our well-being, especially when facing the end of life.
"Soul Midwifery skills combined with shamanic energy medicine, soul to soul counselling, the belief that every single human life, no matter what creed, colour or culture they have been born into, has the right to leave this planet with dignity and grace...are my credentials for assisting as many human beings to pass over from this life into the next CONSCIOUSLY, or as close as can be for as we know, just as each individual birth is different, so is each death to human life. Our journeys' will go forth on the other side and it will be easier for our 'pure consciousness to be conscious!!"
Quote from fellow midwife, Shelly Coles (thank you Shelly for your heartfelt wisdom and support).
THE AFTERLIFE
We don't all believe in an afterlife, some of us definitely do believe there is something and some of us are not sure. In my research and spiritual quest, I have found much evidence for such a phenomena, which of course on the human level cannot be proved. I have found that when a loved one dies, we are often at a loss and 'out of sorts' for a while, as our bodies and minds adjust to our new situation - a new 'normal'. It is during this time we start to wonder where this energy/soul that we have loved as a physical entity has gone. Sometimes we are able to connect with a soul on an energy level during this time. Whether you believe in this phenomena or not, it does bring huge comfort to those left behind and there are many people out there that can help with this connection to the newly departed.
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Butterflies evolve from caterpillars. They are birthed from a death. They represent the positive outcome of the cycle of life.
You are a butterfly. You create beauty from decay. You create opportunity from loss. You create joy from sadness.
Whenever you find your heart breaking, your body aching or your mind floundering, just remember that you will fly again.
You will soar into the sky with an effortless beat of your wings. You will encounter bright new flowers whose fragrance delights you. And you will look around at this wonderful Universe and see your loving light reflected back to you.
Within every being there is a butterfly waiting to be born. Shed your caterpillar skin and allow yourself to fly!
When I come to the end of the roadand the sun has set for me,
I want no tears in a gloom-filled room.Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little, but not too much,and not with you head bowed low.
Remember the love that once we shared,
Miss me, but let me go.
This is a journey we all must take and each must take alone;
It's all a part of God's perfect plan, a step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick of heart go to the friends we know.
Bury your sorrows in doing good,
Miss me, but let me go
Death is nothing at all...
Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, that we still are. Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone, wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play ,smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was, let it be spoken without effort, without the trace of a shadow on it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was: there is absolute unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well.
Canon Henry Scott Holland
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There is no greater privilege than being with a fellow human being as they leave this existence and depart into another world. It is indeed an exquisite and wondrous thing to hold the loving space as they fly into the unknown and their spirit is set free.
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You never die
you are immortal
and infinite,
Your body is an overcoat
you use for a lifetime,
It is you who keeps
the body alive,
when your body dies,
you leave it,
Death is only a
change of reality,
Death occurs to
give you opportunities
for growth. |
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First there must be order and harmony within your own mind. Then this order will spread to your family, then to the community and finally to your entire kingdom. Only then can you have peace and harmony. Confucius.
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Soul Transition
