How Thinking About Death Can Improve Your Life | Alua Arthur

How Thinking About Death Can Improve Your Life | Alua Arthur

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

Death isn't the most appetizing topic, but contemplating mortality can be a massive source of motivation, perspective, and even stress relief. In this episode, life lessons from a death doula, who helps people at the end.


Description:

There seems to be one clear bug in the human operating system — most of us do not like talking about death. Yet when we do talk about it, it can genuinely upgrade the quality of our lives.


Our guest today is Alua Arthur, a former attorney who is now what's called a death doula, which is someone who helps guide people through the end of their lives. Through this work, she has learned some extraordinary stuff about how to live life right now.


Alua is also the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization. Her debut memoir, Briefly Perfectly Human: Making An Authentic Life By Getting Real About the End, will be released on April 16, 2024.


This conversation took place at the 2023 TED Conference in Vancouver, immediately after Alua delivered her triumphant talk, which is out now.


Special thanks to the TED Audio Collective. You can listen to Alua's talk and other TED talks on the TED Talks Daily podcast.


In this episode we talk about:


  • How death can be a powerful motivator
  • How consistently being aware that you're going to die can be a "stress reliever"
  • The utility of imagining your ideal death
  • Her view on reincarnation
  • How the concept of "healing" can sometimes be used as a weapon against ourselves
  • The importance of not leaving things unsaid
  • How "hope" at the end of life can sometimes be unhelpful
  • What surprises her about death
  • How her work helped her out of her depression
  • The five steps that you should take when confronting your own death
  • The harm that can sometimes result from too much medical intervention toward the end of life
  • The often fraught relationship that vulnerable and marginalized people can have with the medical community
  • The benefits of thinking about what version of yourself you want to meet on your deathbed
  • The death meditation that she uses when working with people
  • What to say and do when you are with somebody who is grieving
  • And a practice she calls, "The dying things exercise"


Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/Alua-Arthur-archive


Where to find Alua Arthur online:

Website: goingwithgrace.com

Social Media:


Book Mentioned:


Other Resources Mentioned:



Additional Resources:


Episoder(1029)

A Four-Word Buddhist Teaching for Instant Calm and (Just Maybe) Lasting Peace | Bart van Melik

A Four-Word Buddhist Teaching for Instant Calm and (Just Maybe) Lasting Peace | Bart van Melik

If you struggle with the terrifying reality that everything changes, this conversation is for you. Bart van Melik is a meditation teacher, psychotherapist, and our Teacher of the Month for January. In...

27 Feb 16min

Michael Pollan On: Reducing Rumination, Reclaiming Your Attention From the Machines, and MDMA-Assisted Therapy

Michael Pollan On: Reducing Rumination, Reclaiming Your Attention From the Machines, and MDMA-Assisted Therapy

Plus, making the mundane sacred, meditating in a cave, and lowering the ego walls. Michael Pollan is the author of ten books, all of which were New York Times bestsellers. His latest book is A World A...

25 Feb 1h 6min

How To Handle the Feeling of Never-Enough, Quiet the Comparing Mind, and Reduce Financial Anxiety | Morgan Housel

How To Handle the Feeling of Never-Enough, Quiet the Comparing Mind, and Reduce Financial Anxiety | Morgan Housel

A financial psychology expert on the science of contentment.   Morgan Housel is the New York Times Bestselling author of The Psychology of Money and Same As Ever. He's a partner at The Collaborative F...

23 Feb 1h 11min

How To Increase Performance By Working At Your Edge -- Plus A Quick Hack For When Panic or Anxiety Swells

How To Increase Performance By Working At Your Edge -- Plus A Quick Hack For When Panic or Anxiety Swells

How do you stay engaged without getting consumed? That's one of the central questions in this conversation between Dan and high-performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais.  Together they explore:  ...

22 Feb 1h 15min

The Best Way To Feel Calm (Is to Not Try To Feel Calm)

The Best Way To Feel Calm (Is to Not Try To Feel Calm)

In this episode, Dan takes live questions from subscribers to the 10% with Dan Harris app. Topics include: meditating through grief and serious emotional pain, the hidden addiction to feeling calm dur...

20 Feb 20min

A Buddhist Antidote To Fear And Anxiety | Devin Berry

A Buddhist Antidote To Fear And Anxiety | Devin Berry

The two practices that helped turn this self described scowling, sarcastic skeptic into an expert meditator.   Devin Berry is a Core Guiding Teacher at the Insight Meditation Society and a residential...

18 Feb 1h 7min

The Science of Happiness: Five Simple Strategies for Reducing Anxiety and Increasing Connection  | Sonja Lyubomirsky and Harry Reis

The Science of Happiness: Five Simple Strategies for Reducing Anxiety and Increasing Connection | Sonja Lyubomirsky and Harry Reis

What it really means to feel loved, and why many people who are loved don't feel it. Sonja Lyubomirsky is a preeminent happiness expert and Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of C...

16 Feb 1h 3min

How To Handle Constant Exhaustion (Without Blaming Yourself) | Jay Michaelson

How To Handle Constant Exhaustion (Without Blaming Yourself) | Jay Michaelson

A conversation with meditation teacher Jay Michaelson about what to do when you're constantly tired, fried, and running on empty. If you feel exhausted seemingly all the time—whether it's a low hum or...

15 Feb 32min

Populært innen Helse

fastlegen
rss-gukild-johaug
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
hvordan-har-du-det-mann
psykodrama
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
leger-om-livet
rss-garne-damer
foreldreradet
bak-fasaden-en-reise-i-livet-med-sykepleier-ine
hormonelle-frida
hjernesterk
g-punktet
rss-lopedrommen
morten-ramm-lar-kakla-ga-til-du-sovner
klimaks
biohacking-girls-din-podcast-for-optimal-helse
helsetipspodden
sinnsyn
treningsprat