Holding Space: On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go

Meditation, massage, yoga, eating well, therapy, and healthy relationships help open us to acknowledge, honor, and accept the forces compelling us to numb uncomfortable feelings through disassociation or fracture.

illicit substance abuse should be regarded as a public health concern rather than a criminal justice matter,

What started as a personal quest to unravel the mysteries of birth and death became central to my professional work as an adult.

We are born. We die. Dying is inherent in living, and its presence offers us all the opportunity to focus on what matters most—something that is as strong as death.

While the growth of the home birth and home funeral movements are to be celebrated, we can draw upon the ancient wisdom of holding space for the birthing, dying, rejoicing, and bereaved, even if the modern hospital remains the location of the vast majority of births and deaths. Location is secondary; skilled and loving support matters most. Will th

Whatever techniques we draw upon, we can learn to sit with another person’s grief, anxiety, hurt, fear, and loss with more compassion and spaciousness. I often ask myself: What still hurts? What isn’t in place? What is beyond the scope of my sense-making capacities? What story still blows my heart so open that I’m left scrambling for any solid grou

However, my role in holding space isn’t to offer up metaphysics to conjure courage. It’s not my place to interpret these events or assign meaning to another’s loss. It’s not my place to assuage the tremendous missing by reminding Christine that Harlee is still, somehow, present. The bereaved themselves are the people who have the right to craft nar

Love can hold space for fear.

Buddhist “wheel of life.”