Living Well, Dying Well - with Hermione Elliot

08/04/21 • 53 min

In this week’s episode I am excited to welcome guest presenter Andia Cally. Together, we interview Hermione Elliot, who shares her wisdom and wealth of experience and knowledge on a subject that eventually impacts us all—death. Based in the UK, Hermione is an End of Life Doula and the Director of Living Well, Dying Well, an organisation that pioneered (and continues to offer) the only certified end of life training in the UK, since 2009.

It was a rich and very rewarding conversation. Hermione’s compassion, experience and insight around the importance of preparing for, and creating, a positive end-of-life experience was humbling.

We touched on many topics, including that:

the role of a End of Life Doula is to create a calm, comforting, safe and loving space to help the dying person and their family let go
death itself is brief and much of their work is around supporting the preparation for death and what comes after
for the dying it is often important to tie up loose ends and let go of attachments to things and people
every death is unique and often reflects how a person has lived
end of life can be harder for the ones being left behind than the one dying
we can rehearse for death by regularly ‘stopping to listen to the whispering of [our] soul’ rather than waiting for deathbed regrets
death is a human, rather than a medical event, which is why hospitals and institutions don’t do death well
the end of life is treated differently in various cultures
death and permanent brain injury can affect people at any age, so it’s worth creating an advanced health care directive a.s.a.p
Covid-19 has made people more aware of the importance of having loved ones with you as you die
every person that does their training is doing a public service as they normalise and expand the conversation around death
including children in the conversations and experiences of death will help them to face the inevitable in the future
healing rituals, like washing the body of a loved one, or bringing them home for a few days can be very healing.

Death is a challenging topic for many of us, including me. I hope that like me, you find this interview enriching and feel reassured that it is possible to die well.

Bio of Hermione Elliot

After a career in nursing, midwifery, palliative care, training, health coaching and mentorship, Hermione brought all her interests and experience together to develop the End of Life Doula Training in 2009. She established Living Well, Dying Well as a not-for-profit organisation to further this work. She is passionate about engaging with people from all walks of life, encouraging them to become more informed and confident about being with death and dying – recognising it not as something to be feared, but as a natural and normal part of life.

Links to training and information

Home | Living Well Dying Well – End of Life Doula Training (lwdwtraining.uk)

Home End of Life Doula UK – Death Doula in the community (eol-doula.uk)

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It was a rich and very rewarding conversation. Hermione’s compassion, experience and insight around the importance of preparing for, and creating, a positive end-of-life experience was humbling.

We touched on many topics, including that:

the role of a End of Life Doula is to create a calm, comforting, safe and loving space to help the dying person and their family let go
death itself is brief and much of their work is around supporting the preparation for death and what comes after
for the dying it is often important to tie up loose ends and let go of attachments to things and people
every death is unique and often reflects how a person has lived
end of life can be harder for the ones being left behind than the one dying
we can rehearse for death by regularly ‘stopping to listen to the whispering of [our] soul’ rather than waiting for deathbed regrets
death is a human, rather than a medical event, which is why hospitals and institutions don’t do death well
the end of life is treated differently in various cultures
death and permanent brain injury can affect people at any age, so it’s worth creating an advanced health care directive a.s.a.p
Covid-19 has made people more aware of the importance of having loved ones with you as you die
every person that does their training is doing a public service as they normalise and expand the conversation around death
including children in the conversations and experiences of death will help them to face the inevitable in the future
healing rituals, like washing the body of a loved one, or bringing them home for a few days can be very healing.

Death is a challenging topic for many of us, including me. I hope that like me, you find this interview enriching and feel reassured that it is possible to die well.

Bio of Hermione Elliot

Links to training and information

Home | Living Well Dying Well – End of Life Doula Training (lwdwtraining.uk)

Home End of Life Doula UK – Death Doula in the community (eol-doula.uk)

Previous Episode

Repair, Reduce, Refuse, Reuse, Recycle with Justin Bonsey

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To mark Plastic Free July, we go a little deeper and look at waste and recycling in New South Wales, Australia and beyond. I speak with Justin Bonsey who works in the waste industry.
Justin is the Strategic Lead of Resource Recovery at the Southern Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC), overseeing regional projects on infrastructure planning, waste data, regulatory reform and circular economy markets and has a long history working in various waste and recovery sectors.

Justin isn't one to stand still and is passionate about finding waste solutions, having co-founded Responsible Runners and Responsible Cafes.

In this interview, Justin speaks about how:

helping a friend in Northern Thailand sparked his interest in how to live more sustainably
his experience of seeing a lot of waste while running on Bondi Beach gave him the idea for Responsible Runners, encouraging runners and walkers to pick up any litter they see on Sydney's beaches
he campaigned with Boomerang Alliance to introduce the container refund scheme in NSW
the impact of banning exported plastic waste and tyre waste to South East Asia meant local authorities had to find another, more sustainable solution
in NSW glass is being recycled and used for building roads
consumers not knowing what is and isn't recyclable can contaminate a whole truckload of waste
the Responsible Cafes movement grew from 800—5000 cafes in a couple of months after the ABC's War on Waste aired.

I really enjoyed the discussion with Justin and was grateful that he gave some of his time and shared his considerable expertise on a Sunday, proving how committed he is to reducing our waste consumption.

Bio of Justin Bonsey

Justin Bonsey is Strategic Lead, Resource Recovery at the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC), overseeing regional projects on infrastructure planning, waste data, regulatory reform, and circular economy markets. Formerly a Boomerang Alliance campaigner for container deposits and bans on single-use plastics, he co-founded sustainability initiatives Responsible Cafes and Responsible Runners to address litter and marine debris, and help businesses improve their sustainability practices.

Links:
Responsible Runners Facebook
Responsible Cafe's
Justin Bonsey Interview Transcript

Next Episode

Sustainable Schools Network - Katie Norman

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Educating our children and making them aware of how to live their lives sustainably is no mean feat. In this episode, I speak with Katie Norman about her business called the Sustainable Schools Network (SSN).
Katie is the chief steward for the organisation that has been in operation for almost two years. The SSN philosophy on Education for Sustainability (EfS) is to engage in an ongoing reciprocal dialogue that explores playful possibilities in our collective educational spaces. As much as this is an inward, and at times, personal journey for us all, it is very much about creating a shared path and a shared vision that engages curiosity, critical thinking and creative expression. Although they started this organisation with a focus on sustainability, the more they lived the experience of sustainability, the more they realised that sustainability is about learning.

In this interview, we discuss how:

the Sustainable Schools Network came about
sustainability requires a whole-of-school approach that involves everyone from the kids to the teachers, school staff and parents
the journal that they produce quarterly to educate students on a wide array of subjects around sustainability is becoming a great success and a useful tool
this program is available to all schools throughout Australia
children can influence change, not just for themselves, but for the people around them, including their parents
schools that engage with this program and educate children about sustainability has a ripple effect, with 9,100 schools throughout Australia using it, shaping our future leaders
change starts with us as individuals
sustainability wasn't included in curriculum for student teachers as part of their core subjects.

I really enjoyed this interview with Katie and am sure that you will too.
Links
Sustainable Schools Network
Facebook
Linkedin

Beaming Green - Living Well, Dying Well - with Hermione Elliot

Transcript

Jeremy Melder 00:00

Hello, my name is Jeremy Melder, and I'm the presenter from Beaming Green. Before we start, I would like to acknowledge that this podcast is being held on the traditional lands of the Bundjalung people and pay our respects to elders both past, present, and emerging. The Beaming Green podcast is a podcast that will help you take out some of the stress and confusion about how to live your life more sustainably. We do this by introducing you to inspiring