Pastoral Passages
Tender Loving Care
Compassionate Guidance
Providing Loving Support to Those Embracing the Dying Process
Cynthia Buckley
Soul Midwife
End of Life Guide
Walking Our Loved Ones HOME
As a Soul Midwife and Interfaith Minister of Walking Prayer, I devote my mission to supporting those facing End of Life issues, empowering families and loved ones with the tools needed to face the journey before them. Providing educational information about the dying process, what one may expect and how to provide comfort for the dying as well as those who tend to their needs.
What does a Soul Midwife do?
"Soul Midwives are non-denominational multi faith (or no faith) practitioners who guide and support those going through the dying process. They aim to ensure that the dying person has a loving, dignified and peaceful death. Dying gently is all about switching the focus from cure and medication by giving loving care with a very human touch. Soul Midwives are not generally trained medical professionals and they do not aim to duplicate the amazing work that doctors and nurses do. Soul Midwives work alongside the medical profession -often stepping in when the doctors have done all that they can do.
​
If we are privileged enough to sit at the bedside of someone who is dying, there are lots of things we can do to ease their passage"
*supporting and recognizing the individual needs of the dying person to enable a tranquil death
*giving healing using sound,touch and oils​
*Keeping a loving vigil
*Creating a Healing and Sacred space
* working with the spirit and soul of the patient at all levels and stages of transition
*Ensuring that they have felt loved and supported until their last breath."
Felicity Warner
Soul Midwives
A Divine Unraveling
Death is a process involving body, mind and soul.
It is a process of shedding and releasing
It has a Divine grace and rhythm
It is a Divine unraveling which deserves respect and honor.
So many families and loved ones travel this road alone without medical, hospice or caring community. I hope to provide them with the tools needed so that the burdens they bear are lightened and the road easier to travel.
TLC Tender Loving Care
"TLC which stands for Tender Loving Care is all about doing small things that make a big difference to people who are dying, We all want people to feel loved and cherished when they are dying and don't want them to feel alone, frightened or distressed. TLC may make them feel much more peaceful and accepting.
​
TLC is very simple and has been designed so that anyone with a good heart and good listening skills can sit and help another who may be alone and perhaps in distress at the end of life.
​
Although TLC is simple, it is very trustworthy work. People who are dying are often fragile and vulnerable. We need to be aware of this at all times, to honor them in every simple and important way. To listen to them, to not burden them with our own thoughts and expectations, to be tender, loving and kind."
Felicity Warner
Soul Midwives Founder
​
​
The Key Skills you will learn
* Techniques to soothe the dying process
* Offering kindness and reassurance
*Creating loving space at the bedside
*Recognizing the 4 Stages of Dying
*Listening skills​
*Simple vigiling
*TLC Core skills and when and where to use them
​
​
TLC Training
TLC training will provide you with the tools necessary to recognize the 4 stages of dying and how to implement comforting techniques to address these stages. You will learn how to create and hold Sacred Space, listen with your heart and how to hold simple Vigil. Most importantly you will approach death and dying with new eyes and understanding.
This Full day training program has been modified into 3 modules so that you may take them all at once or in smaller bits to accomodate your schedule and learning process.
Deep Listening Skills and Gentle Soothing Touch
In this module we will discuss what skills we need to develop to truly LISTEN and HEAR someone on many different levels. We will discuss how we can make that sacred connection at End of Life and how to be truly present as well as using practical techniques to offer comfort and support. Easing fear and anxiety and creating a sense of calm and peace will be our main goal.
How to Hold a Loving Bedside Vigil
We will discuss practical things we can do and use to create a loving supportive space at the bedside. We will learn how to adapt our surroundings no matter where we are to ensure that the dying feel cared for and safe. The purpose of the Vigil is to honor the dying one's experience and nurture it by giving them all of our attention , kindness and love creating a calm and loving atmosphere. We create a spiritual space for the soul to transition peacefully from the physical body.
The 4 Stages of Dying
This module addresses the process of dying and how it relates to the elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Air and how their withdrawal affects the physical body. We will discuss how we can help the dying as they journey through these stages observing the physical and emotional signs and the senses affected as well as the therapeutic techniques we can implement at each stage.
The love and care we give at the end of life are among the most precious gifts we can share with one another
Mourning Cafe
A Safe Place to talk about Dying
Mourning Cafe is a safe place to cozy up with a cup of tea or coffee and unpack our concerns and worries about death and dying. We have always known how to care for the dying, but as our loved ones were taken from their homes to hospitals, care facilities and hospice we lost that tender part of our souls. Join me once a month in reconnecting with those skills in a safe space where we will embrace End of Life topics, share our stories and have our voices heard.
Birth of a Soul Midwife
Born an empath to a strict New England famiy where emotions were frowned upon was a challenge. I would be protected from death and dying until I was married with children of my own. In the early 80's I would walk my first loved one HOME and a year later I would do the same for my mother. My grandmother saw this as my gift while caring for her...I would not realize how profound that observation was until decades later. I have had the honour of accompanying many souls on their way HOME...they have been my finest teachers..they helped me to unwrap the gift that is ME...I am a Soul MIdwife...My gift is walking with the dying and their loved ones.
