Supporting People as Life Changes
Showing up for others
I feel called to support others on their own life journey. This calling has been shaped by the insight given by a near-death experience in childhood. As time has passed I have come to realise what a life-enhancing gift that has been as it has helped me see the magic of the living and dying of life, and be able to be there for others through life transitions including health changes, palliative care and at the end of life.
My own experience of accompanying individuals as they journey through illness and the end of life has shown me how precious this time is. I’ve seen the beauty of connections enhanced by compassionate and tender care.
I have trained extensively in this area including with the Conscious Dying Institute as a certified end of life doula and coach, Dale Borglum of the Living/Dying Project, Frank Ostaseski and Joan Halifax, and the Onespirit Interfaith Foundation. I have worked for a funeral director, while also developing my own training, spiritual accompaniment and coaching practice focusing on supporting people when life changes.
I launched my first course in this space, Flowers at the Bedside - connecting to nature at the end of life, shortly after my father died in 2019. Over time I extended the content of this course to become a three-month training called The Natural Carer. Students have included palliative and hospice nurses, therapists, funeral directors and coaches. I have offered public and private workshops on the topics outlined below.
Alongside this I have been invited to give guest lectures and short courses for the Conscious Dying Institute, the Alchemist’s Kitchen, and Cranford Hospice.
I am currently writing a book to support the way we show up for others when life changes, and creating new online content for publication in 2024.
Offerings
new courses, workshops and resources coming in 2024
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Not knowing someone’s wishes when they need care through illness can create huge amounts of stress for everyone involved. I provide practical advice on key care tools such as Enduring Power of Attorney, Advance Care Planning, Living Wills, Book of Wishes, Wills and Funeral Planning.
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I teach verbal and non-verbal techniques for compassionate communication. These methods help hold space for difficult conversations when life changes. I have taught these techniques to family members, palliative care and hospice nurses, and people navigating their own changes in health and wellbeing.
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I use and teach a range of techniques to work with nature in the context of health changes, palliative and end of life care. These include working with plant essences, aromatics, creative visualisation, forest bathing, horticultural therapy.
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I’m dedicated to the exploration of what it means to be human. Contemplating one’s own wellbeing and mortality can give rise to a desire to explore the mysteries of living and dying, the idea of soul and spirit and the wonder of life and the afterlife. I love holding space for people to explore these themes and mysteries. My training as an Interfaith Minister draws from the wisdom traditions that abound in the world’s numerous faith paths, examining the role of spiritual accompaniment, sacred activism, ritual, and ceremony in the modern era. I offer blogs, podcasts, group and individual coaching.
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I believe that ceremony, either with a little ‘c’ or a big ‘C’ is a wonderful thing that we can do for ourselves and for others. It helps make this time of life sacred. It makes our life sacred, and other people's lives too. Through courses, blogs, podcasts and coaching I offer ways to help people create ceremony and use it as a life-enhancing tool for transformation.
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Self-care for carers is an important part of how we show up for others. All of the offerings outlined here are as valuable for the carer as for those being cared for.
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I have created a range of natural products to help as conduits for connection, for making relationships and bonds sacred, for hellos, goodbyes and for remembrance. They’ve been used in homes, hospitals, hospices and funeral homes.
See the range here
“Georgina’s course is bringing back what once was understood and finding our own place in this life. At times it was confronting but by the finish it had taken me to a place where I felt all aspects on the path towards death and dying were covered within the warm embrace of nature and Georgina with her support and gentle guidance, as well as the meeting of an amazing group of like-minded people.
The course was more than just practical in its content; it tapped into the natural connection that we have so easily lost but we have all around us and reconnected us to this. It also helped in my own preparedness for the inevitable. ”
“In creating these products you have given us beautiful ways to care for our loved one’s. And you’ve reminded me that we are all just a little bit magic”
“Regardless of the knowledge or experience you come into the course with, you will grow and learn something from the rich range of information that is compiled and at your fingertips. It felt like being filled-up, emotionally, spiritually and professionally.”
“Georgina takes you on a journey where death re-finds its natural place alongside birth and life. I felt Georgina weaves old wisdom filled knowledge of how to treat the whole person when in a dying process and connects it with the healing forces of nature and the natural rhythms that surround us. She offers a deeply honest, helpful and healing approach to living well and dying well. I found the course unexpectedly life affirming and uplifting and would highly recommend it for those interested in end-of-life care.”
From the Blog
how can we be truly compassionate if we have not explored our own responses to the very things we wish we could run away from?