True Work of Dying H

I discovered "The True Work of Dying" while browsing through a friend's book case. I was immediately drawn to the title and asked to borrow it. I read it every night before falling asleep for about seven days, from beginning to end. I was especially interested in the sections entitled "Birth/Death Parallels" and "Midwives and the Labor of Dying" which articulated many things I intuitively felt in my own experiences with home birth and helping people to die at home. As I got deeper into the book I could not help thinking how helpful it would have been to have read this book during the years that I worked as a home health care provider for elderly people. Now as a yoga teacher, I have many opportunities to openly discuss death and dying with my students. While there are many other insightful books on death that I also recommend, "The True Work of Dying," is a book I feel most comfortable giving to my own parents (whose religious and philosophical beliefs are different from mine) and all of my students. I highly recommend this book for every one, but especially for other yoga teachers working with people at midlife and older. Suza Francina, Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, author, "The New Yoga for Healthy Aging," and "The New Yoga for People Over 50."

I'd read many other books on death and dying (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Stephen Levine, Tibetan Book of Living and Dying)after my parents died in 1979 and 1983, then after friends' passings in 1993. I bought this book two years ago after a friend's mother had hospice care. I didn't start reading it until my brother-in-law was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor in July 2005. It is such a wonderful book. There are beautiful stories of real hospice experiences that are inspiring and comforting. The information given to assist a dying person, helps one understand the process very well, and it demystifies a natural stage in life. Further, support for caregivers is addressed in a compassionate and supportive manner. This book became my guidebook as my brother-in-law went through his process, to peacefully pass in April 2006. I've shared it with family members to help them understand and gain support. I am so thankful this book was written.

This book opened my eyes to the beautiful process of dying. With numerous touching stories stories coming from the experience of two OB and hospice nurses, it showed the relationships between the birth of a baby and the dying process, with the dying process as a form of birth into a new, spiritual life, and a natural part of life. It deals with the physical realities of the dying process, and also the emotional/spritual processes. I read this book because I'm going into the ministry and have a heart that reaches out to those in mourning. What I discovered was that it helped to prepare me for my father's dying of cancer the following year, it helped me to come to closure with him and to release him in a very loving way, to find joy in the midst of the sadness rather than fear. I highly recommend this book to everyone in the "helping" professions, and also to everyone facing the death of a loved ones, or even facing one's own death. I'm so glad I read this book, I'm getting a second copy!

"The True Work of Dying" is a valuable book for any Hospice worker or volunteer and anyone else dealing with its subject. It is filled with helpful insights and informations. Some of the death stories shared are amazing and a helpful guide to stay open and open-minded to the many ways and possibilities of the dying process and death. Since reading the book two years ago, I have shared it several times with grateful family members of dying patients.