The Heart of Dying Doula

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The Heart of Dying Doula Trained end of Life Doula, legacy work, vigil support, somatic care and body work.

D E A T H Is all around us It’s in the seasons, it’s part of the cycleIt’s in our families, friends and relationships. I...
01/05/2026

D E A T H

Is all around us
It’s in the seasons, it’s part of the cycle
It’s in our families, friends and relationships.

It’s even in us, now

We live on a spiral
We cycle though little deaths all the time
As we grow and change as people

Endings of a relationship
Endings of a job
Endings of behaviour
Endings of a place
Endings of a season
Endings of our earth bodies

And yet we live on

In memory
In story
In spirit

We decompose and go back to the dark soil of the earth mother

We birth, live and die again and again again

We also get to begin again

What death are you facing right now? What ending is near?

Rest easy sweet bird

Xo Kim

Guess what? Nobody is getting out of here aliveI’m not saying that to scare you, or sound dramatic but it’s the truth an...
23/04/2026

Guess what?

Nobody is getting out of here alive

I’m not saying that to scare you, or sound dramatic but it’s the truth

and the more we can accept that death will come, hopefully the more you allow yourself to

LIVE FULLY

All we have is this moment (we can be hopeful for long lives and we just don’t know when our time here is up)

We have a choice daily to meet ourselves with love and grace and gratitude.

Remembering we are not just a body and once we die we become spirt. We are both right now.

It’s our job to remember we are connected to the divine

To live fully in this human school and receive all the teachings and experiences we possibly can.

Including our relationship with death.

Our bodies know how to die

We can move toward old age with consciousness and acceptance

vs.

Being riddled with fear, anxiety and gripping at what was and what might be coming, missing out on the present moment that you DO have to enjoy life’s wonder, gifts, connection and love.

I want to be fully awake and present when I die, if my journey allows it.

I want to trust my body knows what to do

I want to be surrounded by friends and family and
Sent out of this world with tender love and gratitude for a life fully lived.

Xo Kim

THE ANCIENT ONEA few years ago I had this moment It’s remarkable to stand along side of a wise one so great.His roots du...
22/04/2026

THE ANCIENT ONE

A few years ago I had this moment

It’s remarkable to stand along side of a wise one so great.

His roots dug into place for over 1000 + years
This Douglas Fir tree, is one of two old growth trees remaining on Bowen Island, BC

His name is Opa

You can see he was scarred by saws and marked by loggers axes.

Opa was sparred for a reason
He stands surrounded by a cathedral of cedars
The presence of this sentient being is an honour and it is a humbling experience to stand at Opa’s feet.

“ I once read that after
an especially exhausting life, some souls choose to reincarnate as a tree.. spending a century just resting

i haven’t looked at trees the same since”

Thank you
Thank you
Thank you

Xo Kim

Thank You
Thank you
Thank you

S T O P ✋A S K I N G A I And start asking your ancestors There is living breathing knowledge that is present for you if...
20/04/2026

S T O P ✋
A S K I N G A I

And start asking your ancestors

There is living breathing knowledge that is present for you if you are willing to listen.

If you are lucky enough to have grandparents or great grandparents or even elder parents still alive and in your life.

Learn from them
Ask them about their very full lives

I love LOVE and I love hearing the stories about when couples fell in love.

Watching how our loved ones make and prepare food, their knowledge of the land they live on.

How their worlds have changed for better or worse.

How they passed time as a kid

Where they travelled, what kind of shinnanigans they got up to.

There’s so much to know

What questions would you ask your ancestors?

Let me know below 👇
Xo Kim

S H R I N E vs. A L T E R What’s the difference Shrines are a dedicated place, often larger or more formal, where offer...
14/02/2026

S H R I N E vs. A L T E R

What’s the difference

Shrines are a dedicated place, often larger or more formal, where offerings, images, or relics of the departed are kept. It can be a family space or a religious structure.

An Altar is a smaller or temporary surface for placing items of remembrance, prayers, or offerings. Altar setups can be mobile and used in daily rituals.

I love making alters, I have been doing it as long as I can remember.

When speaking with spirit, it’s always so clear they loved to be honoured and remember.

Alters are great ways to keep the conversation and connection open and alive after our loved ones have passed.

I recently made this alter for my sweet Costa Rican rescue Lilo.

LILO 🌺
November 2002-Sept 22 2017
Lilo, Looters, Mr. Guy, the Brown One, My Latin Lover, Bunny, Bun Bun, Liloto Son, frijoles, Handsome, Senior Lilo, Muchacho

The Cheekiest, fastest, and most sensitive little dog

My side kick, my co-pilot, my main squeeze

He had been with me since he was found in the ditch along the side of the highway in Costa Rica, he would dig holes and sit in them on the beach while I surfed, he would ride in my bike basket to town, he did my first yoga teacher training in Rhode Island, he moved back to CR with me, Back to Canada, he chased deer in Ontario, he chased bears up a mountain side away from me in BC, he would jump over puddles, avoid the rain, and hated getting his face wet

He loved wearing a red bow tie, because that’s what the finest, most dapper of dogs do..

Run wild my sweet boy
You are missed

Xo Kim

LOVE LETTER FROM THE AFTERLIFEBy Andrea Gibson My love, I was so wrong. Dying is the opposite of leaving. When I left my...
13/02/2026

LOVE LETTER FROM THE AFTERLIFE
By Andrea Gibson

My love, I was so wrong. Dying is the opposite of leaving. When I left my body, I did not go away. That portal of light was not a portal to elsewhere, but a portal to here. I am more here than I ever was before. I am more with you than I ever could have imagined. So close you look past me when wondering where I am. It’s Ok. I know that to be human is to be farsighted. But feel me now, walking the chambers of your heart, pressing my palms to the soft walls of your living. Why did no one tell us that to die is to be reincarnated in those we love while they are still alive? Ask me the altitude of heaven, and I will answer, “How tall are you?” In my back pocket is a love note with every word you wish you’d said. At night I sit ecstatic at the loom weaving forgiveness into our worldly regrets. All day I listen to the radio of your memories. Yes, I know every secret you thought too dark to tell me, and love you more for everything you feared might make me love you less. When you cry I guide your tears toward the garden of kisses I once planted on your cheek, so you know they are all perennials. Forgive me, for not being able to weep with you. One day you will understand. One day you will know why I read the poetry of your grief to those waiting to be born, and they are all the more excited. (Continued in the comments)

O W L 🪽I was recently gifted this beautiful owl wing by one of my doula clients and friend. Owls are silent in flight… s...
03/02/2026

O W L 🪽

I was recently gifted this beautiful owl wing by one of my doula clients and friend.

Owls are silent in flight… so if you can image the softest feathers you have ever felt.

I instantly started fanning my own heart… the wing is so soft and I think will be such a great tool for grief and for tending heavy and broken hearts.

I’m honoured and humbled to receive such an offering

Thank you
Thank you
Thank you

Xo Kim

O N L I N E ✨I just completed my first video end of life session, I have always been apprehensive about being able to ma...
23/01/2026

O N L I N E ✨

I just completed my first video end of life session, I have always been apprehensive about being able to make a connection via screen.

The truth is, it really opens up my ability to support more people far and wide.

This client today only has a few days left and being able to guide and support him from 5hrs away in the hospital felt really potent and important.

Always deeply humbled and honoured
With this work

Thank you
Thank you
Thank you

Xo Kim

B R A V E H E A R T S On the winter solstice, I wrote down 12 wishes, and each day (without looking at them) I burned o...
01/01/2026

B R A V E H E A R T S

On the winter solstice, I wrote down 12 wishes, and each day (without looking at them) I burned one… until today—the final one was the wish that I get to focus on for 2026.

My wish for this year is: “I hope I can assist people with crossing over with love and song.”

Early last spring, I started a community singing group called Brave Hearts. We have been gathering monthly ever since—some consistent members and some who come and go.

Like many things, singing began to braid into more than just our monthly gatherings. It really became a lighthouse for me each month, with more depth and purpose.

In late fall, the idea of threshold singing landed in my lap. It just so happens that many of the Brave Hearts singers are also Hospice volunteers.

We are hopeful for opportunities to sing alongside the grief and bereavement sector of the Perth Hospice Hub, as a means of healing and community support in the new year—and hopefully so much more.

Tender New Year

Xo Kim

M O V I N G through the H O L I D A Y S The holidays often glow with joy, but grief travels in the body too. Let’s lis...
22/12/2025

M O V I N G
through the
H O L I D A Y S

The holidays often glow with joy, but grief travels in the body too. Let’s listen to what our bodies are telling us, and move with them, not against them.

Small but helpful somatic tools

1) Notice without judgment
Tension, heaviness, or breath that catches.
Pause 60 seconds. Name it: “tension,” “tight jaw,” “soft belly.”
Breathe: inhale 4, exhale 8 Soften on the exhale.

2) Grief as companion, not problem to fix
Acknowledge who’s missing in a moment.
Set gentle boundaries: “I’ll stay an hour, then step outside for air.”
Create a small ritual: a candle, a photo, a memory note.

3) Grounding gestures for joy + sorrow
Box breathe with a gratitude tilt: inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 6, hold 4. Name one gratitude each exhale.
Slow movement: eyes soft, shoulders down, walk for a few minutes.
Sensory comfort: warm mug, blanket, favorite quiet song.

4) Gentle commitments
Trim the schedule to a few meaningful moments.
Rest slots after events: 10–15 minutes of silence, tea, or slow stretching.
Seek safe touch or, if not possible, words and presence.

5) A tiny memory ritual
Light a candle for a departed loved one.
Say a brief line aloud: “Your memory threads through today.” “Thank you, I love You”
Place a memory note in a keepsake box. Return as needed.

6) The paradox welcomed
Joy and sorrow can share a moment. Both can be true at once.

Xo Kim

C H A N N E L L I N G S P I R I T ✨There is so much we don’t know Over my whole life, even as a child I could see, hear,...
17/11/2025

C H A N N E L L I N G
S P I R I T ✨

There is so much we don’t know

Over my whole life, even as a child I could see, hear, and speak to spirit in some form

It’s hard to know for sure without dying ourselves what is next for us.

I think whatever someone believes in will show up for them when they pass. If they call on Jesus or Elijah, Muhammad, or Buddha, that’s who will greet them.

The Great Mystery
Of it all

Xo Kim

———-
Image found on Pinterest

Honoring Grief by Pixie LighthorseThank you for this blessed day: this blessing of life on us, heavy with awareness of w...
19/08/2025

Honoring Grief by Pixie Lighthorse

Thank you for this blessed day: this blessing of life on us, heavy with awareness of what has been surrendered.
Inspire us to grieve enough. Remind us not to strive for completing the process for the sake of being done. Help us with our tendency to avoid. Establish in us a belief that we get to wear the face of our pain, not a brave mask that puts others at ease. Help us to speak and honor our pain with the understanding that we do not suffer our losses alone. Ease our minds when those who cannot relate to our suffering don’t know what to say or do for us. Hold our rage and abandonment while we come to discover what is at the bottom of our deep sorrow. Empathize to us that someone, somewhere understands, despite our contrary thoughts. 
It is a comfort for our hearts to be able to access the spirit of what is no longer. Unlock the passageways so we may commune with those we remember. Allow the souls who have been reclaimed to visit in our dreams and visions. Help us preserve the love we came to count on.

Continued in comments

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128 Bridge St, Carleton Place
ON
K7C1V2

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