Death Nesting: The Heart-Centered Practices of a Death Doula

A practical and compassionate guide to physically, emotionally, and spiritually caring for the dying

- 2024 Coalition of Visionary Resources Gold Award

- Shares practices for emotional soothing, breathing techniques to reduce anxiety and pain, ways to reduce stress during the active dying process, and techniques to physically care for the dying, including methods to assist bedridden individuals

- Explores ceremony and energetic boundary guidelines, Reiki and ancestral support techniques, and herbal care for nourishing and healing on a spirit level

- Presents self-care methods for moving with grief, ideas for "things to do" when there is nothing to do, mindfulness practices for contemplating your own mortality, as well as guidance for talking with children about death and dying

- Winner of a 2020 Independent Publisher "IPPY" award

Just as we might prepare a nest for one about to give birth, so can we lovingly prepare a nest for one who is dying.

In this practical and compassionate guide, death doula educator Anne-Marie Keppel incorporates ancient and modern techniques, mindfulness practices, and herbal support to show how anyone can care for the dying, whether at home, in hospice, or even in the ICU. She demystifies the dying process by explaining what the body goes through during end of life and presents practices for emotional soothing and other ways to reduce stress and anxiety during the active dying process. The author provides techniques to physically care for the dying, including methods to assist bedridden individuals. She shares ceremony and energetic boundary guidelines, Reiki and ancestral support techniques, and herbal care for nourishing and healing on a spirit level.

Providing support for caregivers and loved ones as well, Anne-Marie explores self-care methods for moving with grief, ideas for "things to do" when there is nothing to do, and mindfulness practices for contemplating your own mortality. She also offers visualizations and techniques for talking with children about death and dying.

Sharing glimpses into the world of spirit to reveal the poignancy of the dying process, the author shows that death is a sacred rite of passage we all experience.


About the Author
Anne-Marie Keppel is a death doula educator and founder of the nonprofit Village Deathcare. A nurse assistant, Reiki Master, and lifelong meditator, she guides individuals transitioning out of life and assists families with the end-of-life journey. Experienced in home funerals, green burials, and psychedelic-assisted therapy, her work as a death doula has been published nationally in the Washington Times, on USNews.com, and in PULP Magazine. She won an Independent Publisher "IPPY" award in 2020. Anne-Marie delights in the joy of living with her family in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.