March 10, 2022
Let the Dying Take the Lead in Their Death
Following up on my reading of Roshi Joan Halifax’s “Being with Dying,” I learned that it was important to let the dying take the lead in their own death. Try to ascertain what is best, but don’t medicate someone who is dying if they don’t want it. Don’t medicate them just because you’re uncomfortable with their level of anger. Ofr grief. Or any one of a multitude of emotions that they may need to process as a way towards feeling fulfilled. Our mental faculties tend to unbind before the body releases itself.
Letting these emotional experiences happen are part of accepting death as the ultimate moment in life. The low-tide experiences, the chaos, may be necessary as part of the process…