As hospice workers, we are familiar with being a witness to suffering. Sitting with people at the end of their lives, we know that no cure is possible. But is there something more that takes place here? Can we be a healing presence, even in the face of such loss and sorrow?
Healing can be defined as a movement towards wholeness. Presence is defined as being fully present with our awareness. To be a healing presence is to use our own Being, our own presence as a means of helping one move towards wholeness. To sit with one at the end of life is a gift and the greatest gift we bring to this time is our loving awareness and presence. We don’t really need to ‘do’ anything. We are simply present—with our love, concern, attention, and witness.
In fact, I would suggest that healing is always a two-way transaction. When we are a loving witness to someone else’s suffering, we too, become more whole, more complete, more fully human and compassionate.
Working in hospice, we are faced with an ever-changing array of situations, emotions, and physical conditions in our patients. It can be challenging, frustrating, and confusing, and yes, even disheartening at times and we often have clients who are non-verbal, unresponsive, or in memory care. Stripped of our ability to converse and talk and listen with patients, it can be challenging to know how, and if, you are making a difference.
It was with this challenge in mind that the Being a Healing Presence Workshop was created. During this time we will explore more deeply how it is we show up in a healing way, even when conversation is not possible. It is an invitation to open into a deeper awareness of how much just our presence is a gift and how we can strengthen and recognize those qualities within us and also develop a tool that we can use with any patient under any circumstances. It is also an opportunity to honor the sacred calling that brought us to serve in hospice in the first place.
This is available as a half-day workshop or as a day and-a-half retreat.
