Yesterday a new friend died. She was my client and she died on day 19 of her VSED journey. It was quite the process, and all in all, her death flowed quite smoothly. She was loved up a lot in the last three weeks of her life, with visits and phone calls from many friends to say their goodbyes. And she had her sweet child by her side throughout. I've learned so much in the last month and a half, I'm still reeling a bit. And then there was the humor at the end when the two women pick up crew from the mortuary scolded us for not telling them which guerney to bring when they came to pick up her body in the casket. What the hell?! That gave us all a good laugh though, after they drove off.

My mama died 11 years ago today. My eldest child, my son, died a year and two months ago. My maternal gramma, the first great love of my life, died when I was 17, and pregnant with my firstborn. My maternal grampa died while I was sitting on his lap, when I was 2. My father died when I was in my early 20's. I don't remember how old I was when my great aunt Bunny died, but she was 101. All my aunts and uncles have died. I can't count the number of friends who have died in just this last year alone. It is inevitable. Our loved ones will die and leave us grieving, or we will die and leave them grieving. Dying is a part of life. Grief is the cost of love.

In the words of Alberto Villoldo, We are luminous, undying, beings on a journey through infinity. When the shamans in the high Andres do prayer ceremony they use two threads, a red thread and a silver thread. The red thread represents our jouney through the earth, our biological journey, our journey on the mother. This is called the red path. The silver thread represents our journey through the stars and this is the great journey that all the shamans prepare for. This is the way we all travel, on the earth, and through the stars. The goal of all the shamanic teachings is to learn to leave this life alive, to bring our consciousness with us. We are assured infinity. That’s the nature of everything in the cosmos, and as she changes from one form to another, so do we. Our task is to understand the scope of our journey and to participate in it consciously.

Wow. It has been 12 years since my mama died and since I embarked on this journey to help others experience their own Sacred Goodbyes. I am profoundly touched and honored by each and every dying person and their family who has welcomed me to share in their journey. I am currently helping my first Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) client carry out her wishes. She is a free and beautiful spirit who is doing her death her way.

I'm also in the midst of an online training with Alberto Villoldo, The Deathless Elixir of Immortality! We are exloring the mysteries of the afterlife and discovering the possibilities of immortality. In the first session he taught us a daily practice called, I Am My Breath. Turns out this is the Four Count Breathing practice that I teach all of my clients who deal with anxiety. This breathing style was practiced by ancient shammans and is used as a great reset for our nervous system. It moves us out of flight and fight and into our parasympathetic nervous system (a network of nerves that relaxes our body after a period of stress and danger).

Four Count Breathing 1. Inhale to the count of four. 2. Hold to the count of four. 3. Exhale to the count of four. 4. Pause to the count of four. Repeat.

Aberto Villoldo says, "We are luminous, undying beings on a journey through infinity." This earthly journey on the Red Path, is our journey on the mother. When we die, we continue on our journey on the Silver Path, the journey through the stars. I just purchased this print by Christina Smith, on Esty. The image deplicts our journey on the red and silver path so well.

Checking my phone messages after a massage today I found a message from a woman who was requesting my services for a home funeral. Her friend's husband just died today, fell flat on his face while jogging with his wife. Sixty-six years old. His name is John. My goodness. This is my first home funeral call. I wasn't nervous but my mind was racing about how I could help these people. I have some very tight work commitments this week and next with out-of-town plans this weekend. They live almost 3 hours away. I have a partner who will be doing this work with me so I wondered if she would be free to help. I wanted to help them. I returned their call.

His body is already at the funeral home. An autopsy will probably be done. They have a meeting with the director of the funeral home tomorrow. They will probably move forward in that direction but will call me if they decide to bring him home.

Safe journey to you brother John. Blessings to you and to those you've left behind.