Meet me…
My story
Like many death doulas, and others who answer a calling, I have an ‘origin story’. My moment of conscious awareness of a calling to deathwork came on a snowy evening in 2014 when I sat with my dying father in palliative care. He was not what we think of as conscious and had not eaten or spoken for several days. He became agitated and began flailing and crying out. Pulling at the sheets and grasping for things I could not see. He seemed upset and certainly I was. Both on his behalf and my own - because I did not know what was happening or what to do. I found a nurse who said she would call the doctor about upping one of his medications. Then she left us.
A volunteer materialized in the room and asked if she could sit with him. And me. I said yes as I wanted to help and had no idea how. She sat quietly with her face close to his and matched her breathing to his. His was quick and shallow and uneven. She slowly calmed her breathing and his breath and body slowly calmed as well.
I had a double flash of insight. First, there was a better way to do this dying business that no-one had told me about. And second, I could do this.
My lineage
At this elder-ing time of my life I feel called to tenderly prepare well for my own death and to work with others to do the same. To teach and learn as I go. I identify as a Crone, an archetypal figure of the wise old woman. In the third stage of my life as an earthly woman.
I live as a settler, an uninvited guest, on the unceded territories of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples, known as the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, on the southern tip of what is now called Vancouver Island. I came here as an adult, with my young family, attracted by the natural beauty, the sea, and the strong energy of this part of mother earth. I am blessed to live here with my husband Steve and our three-legged cat called Angel, and to have my mother and all three grown sons, their partners, three young grandsons, and two grand-dogs living nearby.
How ceremony has helped
One of the key waypoints along the death doula path for me was my Crone Ceremony on my 60th birthday in 2018. I was initiated into this third life stage, invited to consider my legacy so far, what I wanted to set aside, and what I was calling in. It was a pivotal and emotional moment in my understanding of my calling to teach and learn about death, and of the importance of ritual and ceremony in that. See more here.
A second ceremony, that I co-created with my Deathwalker Creations colleagues in the summer of 2021, was also powerful for me. We designed it to support ourselves and several others in the shared path of being deathwalkers in a culture that does not easily understand such an archetype or recognize such a calling. I had learned more about manifesting ceremony by then and was able to more deeply commit myself to this path. My ceremony work is informed by two important resources - Circle Way and Be Ceremonial.
My professional background
I have worked as a policy analyst, researcher and writer in Indigenous rights, women’s rights and in human services, including disability services and childcare, for nigh on 40 years. Building on my BA (Honours) in Political Science from Queens University, I held staff positions with Indigenous organizations and governments in the NWT and BC, until 1997, when I switched to contract consulting to allow me to better balance my paid work with my role as a mother.
For about ten years during this time, I also provided business planning, management and communications support to a local financial planning/investment team that specializes in socially responsible investing - and happens to be owned by my hubby.
Since 2020, I have focused primarily on developing my training, practice and offerings as a death doula. However, I remain open to small policy, planning, and writing projects from time to time – whether related to death or not.
My death doula training and development
My learning is ongoing – always a combination of integrating new knowledge for my own development and healing, and practicing skills and expanding networks to be of service to my clients. Here are the courses, workshops and volunteer work I have completed:
Empowered Living: Advance Care Planning Workshop, Circle Space (2018)
BC Hospice Palliative Care Association Volunteer Training Program (2018)
Volunteer at Saanich Peninsula Hospital Palliative Care Unit (2018-19)
End-of-Life Doula Certificate Program, Douglas College (2020)
Getting Comfortable with Death, Circle Space (2020)
Living Well, Dying Well Program, Centre for Earth and Spirit (2021)
Awakening the Archetype of the Deathwalker, Centre for Sacred Deathcare (2021)
Reiki First Degree, International College of Energy Healing (2021)
Mortal Motivation, the heartrageous coach (2021)
By My Own Heart and Hand – Home Funeral Training, Canadian Integrative Network for Death Education and Alternatives (2022)
Subtle Energy Principles for Sacred Deathcare, Centre for Sacred Deathcare (2022)
Immanence, Sacred Grief/Shauna Janz (2022)
Trauma-Informed Grief Support, Sacred Grief/Shauna Janz (2022)
Reiki Second Degree, International College of Energy Healing (2023)
When Death is Coming, Centre for Sacred Deathcare (2023)
Holding Space at a Deathbed, Centre for Sacred Deathcare (2023)
After the Last Breath, Centre for Sacred Deathcare (2023)
Designing a Healing Funeral, Centre for Sacred Deathcare (2024)
My networks, memberships and collaborations
This work should not be done alone. It is meant to be done in community. I actively sustain and expand my support networks and connections in order to keep myself healthy and always learning. I belong to a local mutual support and networking group that we affectionately call the Death Biz Gals, as well as the following:
