My journey with the death of my twin sister in utero created a theme in my life to transform our relationship with death. That theme was amplified after the death of my mother when I was in my thirties. Mom’s death put me on the trail of letting go before my deathbed. That led me to the guidance of Mother Earth’s wisdom. I have woven her wisdom and intelligence into all the work I have done over the years. Food as a chef, foraging, herbalism, plant-spirit medicine, healing the feminine, sexuality, and death.

The plant allies are an extension of her intelligence, and for over thirty years I have journeyed to plant spirits and made plant spirit essences. Connecting with plants on the spirit level deepened my respect for the refined consciousness that plants carry. I have realized they have so much more to offer than most realize.

I was a hands-on death doula for years after a hospice training and just couldn’t get behind the oftentimes excessive use of pharmaceuticals being used. I watched people become sedated to the point they were basically unconscious during the final phase of their life, partly because that’s what many pharmaceuticals do, and partly because of people’s fear of death. They wanted to be unconscious. Both were an obvious issue that robbed people of what could be a very sacred passage.

I quit being a hands-on death doula and focused on what it would mean to our relationship with death if we followed Mother Earth’s lead throughout life with many deaths and rebirths. Mother Earth is the master of death and rebirth and our dying process.

I thought, what about people who live a more natural life? Use herbs, food, energetic protocols, shamanism, etc as a path of maintaining their holistic health? That demographic is huge and growing.

I wanted to offer an alternative to those who are in resonance with a more natural approach to end-of-life care. It is a demographic that wasn’t being served in alignment with their lives. If you lived a holistic life, would you want your journey through the most powerful, sacred portal of your life to be out of alignment with who you are? I have learned way too much about death and what is possible and how it affects the evolution of your soul to want to be as present as possible.

So, to support a conscious death, I realized we need conscious medicine to support the physical discomfort if there is any. The pain, nausea, anxiety, and insomnia, as well as our spiritual unfolding. I feel it’s important to have this plant-based alternative, especially for people who have lived their lives supported by plants instead of pharmaceuticals.

I ended up writing a book, Plant Medicine for End-of-Life Care, to support people to integrate plant and Earth wisdom into the dying process, whether it is at the end of life or the deaths and rebirths we experience throughout life. The book is a guide not just for death doulas, caregivers, and family members; it supports everyone going through transformations.

Acclimating your body to the refined energy and consciousness of plants for support as you embark on transitions, deaths of relationships, phases of life, etc., and birth new versions of yourself throughout life, plants can support the physical discomfort and all that is triggered when riding waves of transformation, which is a death and rebirth. They can also greatly support you at the end of life for your final passage.

There is a large collective movement of transforming our relationship with death. This program is an extension of the book, Plant Medicine for End-of-Life Care, supporting death doulas to feel comfortable with offering a natural alternative to support someone on the dying journey and the family members, as well as those wanting to go through the deaths and rebirths through life consciously supported by the wisdom of Mother Earth and her plant kingdom. There will be plenty of discussion alongside whatever I have to share.