How do I know if I'd be a good end of life doula?

It's being in touch with your calling, your purpose. People who are drawn to this space have the knowing, a feeling that they're comfortable in the area of end of life. And that's important because right now because we are seeing a pandemic of fear surrounding end of life. 

For those who are comfortable in that space, it's these type of people who actually feel and are stepping forward to say I feel called to be of service. So let me pursue education to learn as much as I can in this profession. I hear all the time from people that they just kind of knew what to do. They were able to be present and supportive in this kind of crisis. That knowing is really beautiful.

My students often say they've been connected to death all their lives. They're the one who wasn't scared as a little kid when grandmother died. They just have an inner knowing. A lot of times people are teased or mocked for an interest in death because the culture is generally uncomfortable with it. 

In a culture that pushes away death, we also push away the gifts of people who are called to deal with death. Welcoming, inviting and cultivating those gifts is critical for developing a new model and a new healthier way of being with it. So one way of knowing is if you've always had an interest in it. Often people say, "I just can't explain it. I just know it's for me." There's a calling. 

One of the first skills is to have your own relationship with death pretty well worked out because what you offer when you walk into the room is your own stability. People are unstable and they need to be able to lean on your energetic stability and ease with death. There are also the skills of how to do things that are involved in dying. In addition to that is being able to actually apply those skills with dying people and their families. It's one thing to know them and it's another to apply them in a professional setting.