What Now? On the threshold of life, death, and grief.

Poets and writers often capture the experiences, thoughts,  and emotions we may struggle to express or put into words. In this episode, we do something a little different and indulge in our collective love of the written word.   We share and discuss some of our favourite poems, quotes and song lyrics that address what it means to be alive yet wrestle and dance with our mortality. 

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In this episode, we speak with two experts in dementia healthcare. Dr. Sarah Brisbin and Jill MacPhee help us understand the complexity of dementia both for individuals diagnosed and living with dementia and their families and care partners. Our guests bring their expansive medical knowledge in this area, but it's their humanity and genuine caring for their patients and families that shine through in this conversation. 

Dementia is a disease that will affect most of us in some way in our lives, so this conversation is for all of us.  

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We have the honour of speaking with meditation teacher Vinny Ferraro who leads Spirit Rock's program: A Year to Live, which focuses on waking up and living life more fully through the exploration of death as spiritual practice. 
In this conversation, Vinny shares his personal perspectives, interwoven with Buddhist teachings on how turning toward the present moment and the natural inevitability of death, teaches us about life and provides us a guide for living.  He also walks us through "The 5 Remembrances" a core Buddhist teaching about the essential truths of life.  This is a conversation that will have listeners thinking and reflecting deeply.

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In this episode we address the task of what to do with the belongings and “stuff” we accumulate throughout a lifetime. Often as a person approaches death, or a person has died, family and close friends need to make decisions about how to disseminate a lifetime's worth of stuff. This can be an overwhelming undertaking during an already emotionally exhausting time. To support those engaged in this difficult task the co-hosts provide strategies and ways to think about our attachment to things, precious and otherwise, that gets left behind when someone dies.

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In this fascinating conversation with author, psychologist and neuroscience researcher, Mary-Frances O’Connor,  we learn what happens in the brain when we experience loss and grief.  She expands the understanding of grief by sharing her discoveries of how our brain participates and responds to our loss. Dr. O’Connor explains, both here and in her book, information that is “power enabling,” because her research shows why we must be patient with ourselves (and our brains) during the grieving process. This is a fascinating conversation that will normalize and validate the common human experience of grief. 

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In this episode we delve into the world of “positivity” as it relates to the experience of living with a life-threatening illness or the experience of being bereaved. Often, well meaning friends and family espouse the power of positive thinking. Thinking positive can be supportive and helpful, however if it becomes the only emotional expression accepted or tolerated by others it can put undue pressure on the person who is trying to cope during a time of enormous change and challenging emotional upheaval. The demand for this type of thinking does not make space for the full emotional range of the human experience and is sometimes referred to as toxic positivity. This is a discussion that is relevant to anyone going through a time of struggle or for those supporting others through hardship. 

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In this episode we speak with award winning writer Patricia Pearson, author of: Opening Heaven's Door; What the dying may be trying to tell us about where they're going. During this fascinating conversation, Patricia shares findings from her extensive research about the "hinterland between dying and death." It's a fascinating discussion for anyone who has been curious about this liminal space and time. 

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For many, it's not the most wonderful time of the year. 
Those living with life threatening illness (and their families) might be entering this season with awareness this could be the last. For others, if grief is "raw" and new we may be wondering how to survive the holidays.  If our grief is historical, then we may find the holidays trigger our grief.  It's a challenging time of year!
In this episode the hosts give space to all of these realities, recognizing there isn't a solution to any of this but there are ways to approach the holidays that are compassionate and caring of ourselves and our loved ones. 
The theme of the episode is giving ourselves permission to let the holidays be what they need to be; reducing the pressure and letting go of the expectations for making it special and perfect.

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The role of caregiving can be physically and emotionally exhausting. It can also be one of the most important and fulfilling things we can do for another person and for ourselves. In this episode we explore some of the unique issues and experiences of being a caregiver for someone living with a life threatening illness.

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In this episode we speak with Dr. Daniel (Dan) Rosenbaum about the exciting new role that psychedelic assisted psychotherapy is playing in helping those living with a life threatening illness. Dan covers the past, present and future of this exciting and revitalized world of research and it’s potential real world applications.

Have feedback about the podcast? Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch with us: [email protected]