Japanese funerals and beliefs

I have been researching shukatsu which is a practice that has been on the rise in Japan since about 2009.   This practice involves the person planning out their end of life and funeral service prior to illness.   The increase in shukatsu practices is a result of increasing aging population, families moving further away and a shift in mindset that life is a circle, there is no ending, just transformation.     read more

On a winter's day in January, nine souls from our community deathcare group gathered in one of our serene rural homes to rehearse what was once an intuitive, communal act-caring for our dead.   

This magical home funeral session was a space for hands-on practice, a way to deepen our comfort with deathcare, and strengthen our ability to support one another when the time comes. (read more)

I loved my grandmother very much.   My whole life, for some reason, I would always say she was like my mom to me.   I spent every weekend with her at her house.... is how I remember my time with her.   It was like an escape from my home to be with her.

One day when I was maybe when I was 11 or 12, I was at her house for a sleepover and she drew the bath water for me.  I remember her coughing a lot. (read more)

We are moving towards our annual blessed darkness, the Winter Solstice.  This is the time of year to take advantage of sheer and complete darkness as a healing element.  Black is the most restorative hue for the retina.

If you were to lie down in a darkened room in Shavasana (Corpse Pose), with cupped hands over your eyes, to dispel any light entering, the sustained pose would gift your eyes the inner re-set instructions to re-vision your world again...(read more)