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Somatic Principles of Living and Dying: Seeing Death as Part of Vitality and the Moving Arc of Life

A One Spirit Learning Alliance program facilitated by Jeanne Denney


Death matters to every moment of human life and to our psychological health. Death is “somatic” or body-centered in its core. Dying is a deeply energetic, emotional, spiritual, and physical process in which consciousness and the body change together over time. Yet this important process is not covered in somatic theories, and we often do not include the unity of mind and body in end-of-life work.

During this day we will study how energy, consciousness and the body change over the entire human life, with special attention to the energetics of the dying process itself. What we find teaches us about human life in every moment. How can we be both fearless and sensitive in service to the dying? Together we will practice “finding” this state within ourselves and being present with one another as we explore the jewels within silence. To fully experience these somatic principles, we will include The Deathbed Exercise, which is a profound and useful way of experiencing the4 somatic principles of death and dying.