Sacred
Art of Living and Dying Programs
Education
and Training Series for the Modern Anamcara
The
Sacred Art of Living and Dying program series mirrors
one of the important roles of the Anamcara: a spiritual
midwife to the dying, especially with respect to spiritual
pain. As human beings face the journey towards final release,
there are common patterns of emotional and spiritual distress
and demonstrated ways of alleviating this pain. The premise
of the program is that all spiritual pain is ultimately
related to the values of forgiveness, meaning,
relatedness and hope.
Anyone,
regardless of profession, spiritual background, or previous
experience is welcome to participate in the core study
units offered through the Sacred Art of Living and Dying
series. For persons called to support others on their
spiritual journey at the end of life, two additional levels
of training and supervision invite persons to become Anamcara
end-of-life practitioners. All levels of the Sacred Art
of Living and Dying series teach practical skills based
on the time-tested lessons of history as they apply for
our needs today.
The
Sacred Art of Living and Dying is based on the ancient
wisdom that, for all of the support an Anamcara may provide,
it is the dying who become their teachers at the end of
life.
Introduction
to the Sacred Art of Living and Dying
Customized
presentations for your organization
The
Sacred Art of Living Center invites you to bring Sacred
Art of Living and Dying to your community!
We
can now provide an introduction to Sacred Art of Living
and Dying to your organization, tailoring this training
to your needs and the particulars of your audience. These
overviews are generally between 1-3 hours in length.
In
most cases, there is no cost to the sponsoring organization
for these introductions, except for travel costs for the
facilitator. The information stands alone as valuable;
we also hope that some attendees will subsequently want
to attend the full educational units.
Groups
that might benefit from these introductions include hospices,
hospital palliative care units, skilled nursing facilities,
assisted living facilities, church groups, and service
clubs.
"Hosting
the program at Providence was a great way for our staff,
volunteers and community to be exposed to what it means
to be a companion to those who are suffering, dying or
helping a loved one in that process. . . The program is
inclusive, experiential and informative. I highly recommend
it for anyone who is open or curious about the experience
of the dying and those who walk with them."
—Donna Vande Kieft, Chaplain, Providence
Hospice, Everett, WA
Check
our Calendar and Registration
page for dates and locations
Download
an Introductory PDF Flyer
Please contact us
for further information.
|
Sacred
Art of Living and Dying
Student
Anamcara: Core Education
Four
study units provide the historical and theoretical
foundation for the Anamcara:
|
Each
of the four study units is grounded in the contemporary
health care sciences and inspired by the great spiritual
traditions and collective wisdom learned from the dying.
Each
unit is a workshop-retreat that offers an ideal way
to introduce the general public, the incidental caregiver,
and the healthcare professional to the Anamcara tradition.
While there is an advantage to taking these education
units in sequence, anyone is welcome to participate
in the parts and order of the series that they find
helpful.
Download
a brochure outlining
the education units (PDF, 150kb).
Download
a comprehensive syllabus for the education
units (PDF, 49kb).
Download
the Spiritual Health Assessment Form (PDF,
65kb)
Sacred
Art of Living and Dying
Unit I: Understanding
Spiritual Pain
Participants
learn about the rich cultural history and clinically
sound practices for detecting and alleviating spiritual
and emotional distress at the end of life. Proven results
for patients include reduced anxiety, an improved quality
of living and more effective pain management. Caregivers
learn valuable models for addressing death anxiety as
the most critical issue for the dying person.
Outcomes
you can expect from this program:
-
Training
in practical and clinically-sound practices to alleviate
spiritual and emotional distress at the end of life.
-
Strong
grounding in the rich monastic history of spiritual
caregiving and practice.
-
Proven
results to relieve physical and spiritual pain and
the voluntary reduction of analgesics at the end of
life.
-
Experience
with valuable tools for addressing death anxiety,
which affects not only the dying person but also family,
friends and other caregivers.
-
Essential
education about bereavement care and caring for the
caregiver, helping to avoid costly burnout for staff
and volunteers.
Download a PDF flyer
for Unit I
View
current dates/locations and register.
Sacred
Art of Living and Dying
Unit II: Diagnosing Spiritual
Pain
Participants
study in depth the time-tested primary diagnoses of
spiritual pain: forgiveness, relatedness, meaning and
hope. Through a series of case studies as well as reflecting
on personal experience, traditional and contemporary
modes of inner healing are applied to pastoral practice.
The result is an enhanced ability to recognize and celebrate
the final gifts of growth and transformation revealed
at the end of life.
What
you can expect from this program:
-
Experimentation
with each of the four spiritual pain scales: hope,
meaning, forgiveness, and relatedness pain.
-
Examination
of the relationship between ethical and religious-based
decision making.
-
Study
of the current understanding of 'religious abuse'
as a critical factor for some patients in coming to
peace at the end of life.
-
Reflection
on the correlation between the traditional stages
of human development and the stages of faith development,
especially as it impacts end of life care and bereavement
issues.
-
Define,
compare, and contrast personal modes of pastoral practice
with alternative modes of therapeutic presence.
Download
a PDF flyer for Unit II
View current dates/locations
and register.
Sacred
Art of Living and Dying
Unit III: Healing Spiritual Pain
Participants
experience and are mentored in a wide range of creative
and effective psychospiritual tools for end of life
care. The spectrum of practices includes art and music
therapies, guided imagery, coma work and prescriptive
ritual tailored to the spiritual belief of each patient.
Holistic therapies are drawn from the world's great
spiritual traditions and applied with contemporary scientific
skills.
What
you can expect from this program:
-
Experience
with three different styles of guided imagery which
have a proven clinical track record for alleviating
spiritual pain
-
Practiced
with the principles of Coma Therapy for use with patients
in states of altered consciousness.
-
Experimentation
with one of several art therapy projects which can
be applied for bed bound patients.
-
Study
of the acclaimed science-based research of Drs. Larry
Dossey and Joan Borysenko on the effectiveness of
‘non-local’ prayer on healing.
-
Development of a practical ritual to be used in end-of-life
care based on traditional and contemporary models.
-
Reflection on a Bereavement Model for ‘reconciling
grief’ based on the work of Dr. Alan Wolfelt’s
Center for Loss and Transition in Boulder, Colorado.
-
Walking
the labyrinth and reflection on its unique history
as a symbol of spiritual pilgrimage.
Download
a PDF flyer for Unit
III
View
current dates/locations and register.
Sacred
Art of Living and Dying
Unit IV:
Transforming Spiritual Pain
Participants
take previous courses to a deeper level of personal
integration. The meaning of life and death, compassion
and caring are explored in a nurturing environment.
Based on lessons that the dying teach the living, this
retreat format allows for ample reflection on the meaning
of end-of-life ministry. Exercises include meditation,
life-priorities evaluation and self-care skills for
maintaining a centered, professional presence.
What
you can expect from this program:
-
Study
and some personal experience with some of the different
principles and techniques of 'energy work' by using
bio-feedback mechanisms as a means of assisting a
patient's state of physical and emotional well-being.
-
Experimentation
with two guided visualization formats for the 'healing
of memories.'
-
Exploration
of the ethical dimensions of end-of-life caregiving
as impact the long-term emotional and spiritual lives
of professional caregivers.
-
Examination
of the distinction between caregiver burnout and fatigue
as well as other practical antidotes to stress.
-
Exposure
to basic theory and techniques related to Jungian
dream analysis, particularly as it relates to emotional
and spiritual pain at the end of life.
-
Discussion
of basic rights and obligations [including legal prescriptions]
regarding body ‘aftercare,’ burial, memorial
services and grief support for extended family systems.
Download
a PDF flyer for Unit
IV
View
current dates/locations and register.
Sacred
Art of Living and Dying
Apprentice
Anamcara: Practical Skills
The
Sacred Art of Living and Dying series offers intensive
Professional Training Modules corresponding to each
of the core study units. Modules provide a supervised,
hands-on experience of the most frequently-used Anamcara
tools.
Participants
deepen and apply the time-tested skills of the Anamcara
tradition under the mentorship of nationally renowned
Anamcara instructors. The Apprentice enters into a discernment
process to create a real-life Practicum Project for
the application of tools from the Anamcara tradition,
supervised by Master Apprentices.
Topics
explored over the course of the four Professional Training
Modules include:
-
Creating
Ritual and Sacred Space
-
Respecting
Ethnic, Cultural and Spiritual traditions at the end
of life
-
Understanding
the Masculine and Feminine aspects of Grief
-
Becoming
more fluent in Coma Communication
-
Interpreting
the Healing Power of Dreams
-
Taking
Guided Imagery to a deeper spiritual level
-
Working
with Music Therapy as a spiritual practice
-
Exploring how Energy Work can heal body, mind and
spirit
-
Experiencing
the Creative Arts as a means of transformation
-
Prescribing
antidotes for different aspects of Spiritual Pain
Sacred
Art of Living and Dying
Master Anamcara:
Lifelong Mentorship
Sacred
Art of Living Center invites graduates from the Sacred
Art of Living and Dying Apprenticeship series to become
Anamcara practitioners in a more structured and supervised
application of the tradition.
The
Anamcara Project assists in the creation of appropriate
venues for Anamcara practitioners as well as on-going
mentorship and supervision. Sacred Art of Living Center
will bestow the designation of Anamcara only on persons
who have fulfilled the requirements of the Master Anamcara
track or its equivalent.
Areas
of specialization for Anamcara practitioners include
but are not limited to:
-
Health
Care Residency Programs
-
Faith
Community Ministries
-
Sacred
Art of Living and Dying in the Community, School and
Workplace
International
Testimonies
What people have said about Sacred Art of Living and
Dying
“The
Sacred Art of Dying is essential because spirituallity
is the most valuable factor in pain relief.”
Dame Cicely Saunders (1918-2005), Founder of
the Modern Hospice Movement
“The
Sacred Art of Dying is critically important because
at the end of life it takes much more than medicine
to ease human suffering.”
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) , New
Delhi, India
"It
is with enthusiasm that I strongly endorse the Groves’
work, which is making a significant contribution in
changing the culture of health care in our society."
Susan W. Tolle, MD, Center for Ethics in Healthcare,
Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon
"It
is not an exaggeration to say that the content of the
Sacred Art of Dying programs may do more to change end-of-life
care in the English-speaking world than any other educational
effort I am pleased to be taking its lessons to Asia."
Unpok Choe, MD, Director of Providence ElderCare,
Seoul, South Korea
"Eye
opening and deeply inspirational, the Sacred Art of
Dying [now recorded] in The American Book of Dying will
be as influential and groundbreaking as the works of
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in their time."
Jane Dystel Literary, as quoted in The New
York Times
"The
Sacred Art of Dying is responsible for transforming
our agency’s care of the dying from a medical
model to a holistic model this has been an extraordinary
benefit not only for the terminally ill but for their
families and caregivers as well."
Social Services, Nursing Staff and Administration
of Asante Health Care System
"While
the physical and emotional aspects of end-of-life care
are well understood, the spiritual dimension is least
recognized and absent from leading medical journals.
When I began practice as a board certified oncologist,
I had no clue of this. I have worked with Richard for
over 10 years and have seen him in action as a bedside
clinician and as a teacher and leader. He is a master
in weaving the sacred art of dying seamlessly into a
care plan; the result is the relief of suffering."
Steve Kornfeld, MD, Oncologist and Hospice Medical
Director
"Sacred
Art of Dying is a timely gift that deeply touches both
heart and soul in a culture that tries to deny death
at the most important time of every person’s life
we strongly urge that every parish participate in this
program."
Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Department of Pastoral
Care and Bereavement
"I
have continually been impressed with the work of the
Sacred Art of Living Center, which is inclusive and
respectful of diverse faith traditions and imbues everyday
tasks of care giving with the sacred."
Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield, National Jewish Renewal
Movement, P’ne Or Congregation
|
