To kick off 2016, Jane Duncan Rogers ran a Planning a good death workshop, incorporating her own book, her Good Death Checklist and Final Fling’s planning tools, giving workshoppers the chance to chat, share, think, talk, plan and record.

Here, Jane shares a bit about the session and the feedback.

Our sell-out Planning a Good Death workshop attracted folks from all walks of life.

They had one thing in common. They want a sense of peace. They want to know that when the end comes, those left behind will have a much easier time because they’ve ‘taken care of things’.

I get that. When my husband eventually died after a year of living with cancer, I was so very glad we had discussed all sorts of questions about the things I should do, and what he wanted, after his death. It made it so much easier for me, especially as I had completely underestimated how grief would totally wipe me out for so many months.

I would have welcomed a Good Death checklist then.

I used my experience to compile the checklist from all the our questions and discussions… plus a bit of research. The result was The Good Death Guide: 27 Questions to Ask and Answer Before You Die.

I’ve been glad to share it with people in my local community to complete in a group together.

We’re just finishing the first group now, with a second one about to start.

Feedback on Planning a Good Death workshop

Michael Williams shares his experience of the workshop in this 1 minute film.

I loved these quotes from the film:

“It wasn’t morbid at all… it was a lot of fun”

“I felt liberated”

“I felt grown up”

“Do the things we’re scared of doing – put your house in order”

Feedback on the Good Death Guide

“This Guide has been really helpful in me getting organised” Janet

“Since this workshop started, I’ve cleared 99% of my paper stuff. The Good Death Guide has been really helpful.”  Rita

“A lot of stuff is valuable to me but worthless to others. I realised it was important to keep some things while I was still alive” John

“After two years of thinking about getting a Power of Attorney, I’ve started the process with a solicitor, and it’s a huge relief” Erica

These are all people who were interested in taking care of their affairs before they died, but for one reason or another, hadn’t got round to doing it. Now, there is an opportunity to join with others in the same boat and get your Good Death Guide done.

A new face to face course starts on Sat 13 February in Findhorn, Scotland.

Jane is planning a live online course very soon, so you can join in from the comfort of your own home. We’ll keep you informed.

Sign up to get a copy of my free mini-course Brushed By Death? 3 Tips to Helping Your Loved Ones After You Die. You’ll then also be on my mailing list and will be the first to hear when the next Good Death Guide workshops are happening (on and offline).

If you’ve been like any of these people, thinking this would be a good idea, but not actually managing to get it done – or you’ve started but haven’t completed – or you feel the need to discuss some of the issues involved with others in the same situation, then please sign up to hear more!

“Jane brings a pragmatism to delicate and sensitive subjects that makes them so much easier to engage with.” Deborah Jay-Lewin

Jane  is working to enable a world where dying, death and grief are considered a natural, normal and nourishing part of conversation.

Having worked in the world of psychotherapy and personal growth for most of her life, she now helps those who wish to prepare themselves for their own death by having them complete their own Good Death Guide – a priceless document that brings relief to the dying, and to those left behind. She also works with those who are bereaved, helping them move through the process more easily and healthily.

This has all been inspired by the events that happened to her after her husband died in 2011, and after she wrote her book Gifted By Grief: A True Story of Cancer, Loss and Rebirth, published in 2015.

Visit Jane’s website for more info