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“Life, Death, and the Possibility of Pleasure reads like a guide to grace. Though grief is not typically associated with ease, Oceana weaves a warm and intimate space, filled with humor and wisdom, that lets the reader relax into it.”
Lisbeth White, Writer/Healer/Ritualist, Author of the forthcoming book American Sycamore
Life, Death, Grief and the Possibility of Pleasure
by Oceana Sawyer
It’s possible to elevate many life experiences with a small bit of effort in the realm of pleasure, including the very challenging experiences of death and grief. Oceana Sawyer will take you through a step by step exploration of what constitutes pleasure and how to access it.
She goes on to give simple practical guidelines for how to apply that information to the challenging experiences of death and grief. Through stories and examples, the reader will be shown how easy it can be to uplift the human experience of dying and grieving into a more expansive space that allows for greater depth and a richer journey through life all the way to the end and beyond. Most importantly, the author describes the purpose and benefits of pursuing a path of pleasure in any phase of life.
The reader’s journey will also be enhanced by supplemental material related to the application of particular sensory practices as described by a variety of noted end of life contributors including, Melanie DeMore (song at vigils), Naila Francis (poetry and movement for grief), Roshni Kavate (food memories for grieving) and Ash Canty (grief and the sixth sense).
"This book feels as comforting to me as experiencing a sunset with my whole body. The idea of Pleasure-centric Grief Care is a healing modality that we need individually and as a collective. Life, Death, Grief and the Possibility of Pleasure flips grief on its head in a way that is profound; we all need to see things from a different perspective when we are feeling a loss."
Anne-Marie Keppel, Community Deathcare Educator and Author of Death Nesting: Ancient & Modern Death Doula Techniques, Mindfulness Practices and Herbal Care
“Oceana proposes that we reject constant striving and struggle as the highest life goal, measuring success in external achievement. She calls upon us to attend to our needs, to nurture what is authentic and to actively seek what feels good. Her inclusion of pleasure at the end of life seems radical but is a reminder that we are fully alive till the moment we die.”
Claudia Coenen, CGC, FT, MTP, Author, The Karuna Cards, Shattered by Grief: Picking up the pieces to become WHOLE again, The Creative Toolkit for Working with Grief and Bereavement: A Practitioners Guide
“A deeply personal and furious dance to reclaiming the fullest of our humanity, Life, Death, Grief, and the Possibility of Pleasure offers a path towards sensual decadence into the journey's darkest spaces.”
Dr. Claudelle R. Glasgow, PsyD PLLC, Licensed Psychologist
Oceana Sawyer
Oceana Sawyer is a death and grief consultant/facilitator focused on the liminal space of active dying and grief. She is currently researching and holding space in the realm of embodied grieving in a context of somatic abolitionism. Drawing upon her experience as a sensuality educator, meditation practices, earth-based spirituality, and an intensive study in the expressive arts and integral counseling psychology, she brings a grounded, compassionate presence to her work with individuals and groups. This book is a by-product of a lifetime of conversation, contemplation, and joyful sighs.
Contributors
The reader’s journey is enhanced by supplemental sensory practices as described by these noted end-of-life contributors. (Click the + to read more or here for full bios.)
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Ash Canty (they/he) is Psychic Medium, Death Guide & Spiritual Life Coach. They support and walk others in the threshold of death & dying and coach others in embodying the full power of their spirit and spiritual gifts. They offer mediumship readings to those who are here in the physical plane that want to rec-connect with their loved ones or other benelevont beings in multidimensional realms. They believe when we deeply align and listen to the body, mind & nervous system we can gain greater access to experience our own psychedelic connection to the nature of everything and raise the collective consciousness upward and beyond. You can find out more about their current offerings at: www.sovereignspiritdeathcare.com and on Instagram @sovereignspiritdeathcare
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Roshni Kavate is an Artist, Healer, and Activist. She is the creative director of a grief wellness platform called Cardamom and Kavate and founder of the reproductive justice platform, Marigolde. She believes grief is a portal to wholeness. Through rituals and storytelling, we can reconnect to our origins and be our wild selves. The question that guides her is What is our grief craving? and how can we nourish and feed it?
She has created two publications: Mending a Broken Heart: Recipes and Rituals to Nourish Grief and Bloom: A Modern Pregnancy Loss and Abortion Post Partum Care Guide. She can be reached at @cardamomandkavate and @we_are_marigolde www.cardamomandkavate, www.wearemarigolde.com
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Melanie DeMore is a preeminent vocal artist helping to preserve the African American folk tradition through song and Gullah stick pounding. She is a singer/songwriter, composer, conductor, and vocal activist who believes in the power of voices raised together. A founding member of the Grammy nominated vocal ensemble Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, she is also a charter member of The Threshold Choir that brings songs of comfort to those who are in the midst of life’s thresholds, including under hospice care and in their final moments.
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Naila Francis is a writer, grief coach, death midwife and ordained interfaith minister. She holds space and offers ritual and ceremony for people at many of life's sacred thresholds, including birth, marriage, death and other transitional passages. Her work is often informed by her love of poetry, the gifts of healing rooted in nature and community and her commitment to expanding our grief literacy and death awareness. She is a founding member of Salt Trails, a Philadelphia collective making grief public and visible through community rituals. For many years, Naila worked as a journalist, interviewing artists from all backgrounds, before finding her way to the vocations of companioning others through grief and dying after suffering several personal losses in her own life, including the death of her father.