EMBRACING
THE BLESSINGS OF DEATH
Thoughts
on Death, Dying, Grief and Loss
(A
participatory evening)
Sandy
Stork, MC
Any
contemplation on the nature of death and its role in our lives should include a
consideration of the phenomenon of grief. The two are so intertwined that they
nourish and grow, one from the other. Sandy has long believed that grief lives within
us, is a part of our being, often subtle and silent until awakened by a loss;
that grief and death are not to be denied or feared but to be embraced and
honored. In the last chapters of life, as we all approach death, we have
an opportunity to explore our own dying and to grow into it by accepting its
inevitability and the adventure it offers us.
During
this evening’s presentation, we will learn how to do deep, yogic breathing to
clear and settle the mind, which is necessary to inviting a richer relationship
with our eternal selves. We will explore how the experience of loss and death
can enrich us. And depending on the size of the group, we might break up
into small subgroups to discuss our feelings and thoughts as well, following
the format that Sandy and her team use in the monthly Death Cafe gatherings.
Sandy Stork describes herself as
a person who has discovered, in the autumn of her years, that her love of
learning has blossomed into a deeper exploration of the nature of mind,
consciousness, and spirituality. Trained as a teacher of history, her path
changed course in mid-life when she moved to San Juan Island where she bought a
bookstore and raised her sons in an environment of openness that challenged her
conventional attitudes about life and the environment. Following graduate
school at Seattle University, she worked for Harborview Hospital Mental Health
with elders and in 1997 moved with her husband to their log home on Sumas
Mountain in Deming. The last 12 years of her work life was with the
Nooksack Tribe where she worked with adults and elders. After 20 years
learning from the old as they approach the end of their lives, and after
witnessing the trauma of tribal members as they struggle with generational
grief, and then personally experiencing profound loss after the death of her
husband, she came to appreciate the significance of death to our lived
lives. In August, 2013 she started Death Café of Whatcom
County. Her experiences with grief have left her with respect for death
and the importance of embracing it in personal and intimate ways. For more information, visit www.deathandcoffee.com
Thursday,
April 16th
7-9 pm (Doors open at 6:30)
Fairhaven
Branch Bellingham Library
Fireside
Room (Under Front Steps)
$5-10
Donation (No one will be turned away)
For information: cyndy.sheldon@comcast.net
All of you in the BIONS community are encouraged to
make announcements and pass out literature at our events about your related
programs. Visit our Facebook page where you can also list your programs and
get updates on BIONS events.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bellingham-Institute-of-Noetic-Sciences-Community/343430979582
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bellingham-Institute-of-Noetic-Sciences-Community/343430979582
IONS
Website: noetic.org
All views presented are not
necessarily those of IONS or of the BIONS Team.
