I am a palliative care nurse and permaculture educator with a spiritual self which is deeply rooted in Earth-based seasons and patterns.  Issues relating to death and dying are intrinsic to most aspects of my life. Several years ago, I started exploring how permaculture can improve how we die in the UK and in many parts of the world. Central to this was the fact that “Dying with dignity” appears in Holmgren’s Permaculture Flower, and  generated many interesting discussions in my peer groups within the permaculture community. This eventually resulted in the launch of my permaculture project: Creative Dying, a free online resource.
 
 
Death and Dying in the UK
 
In the UK and in many other parts of the world. Death and dying is still a very difficult, taboo topic, cloaked in the fear and unknown.  The way in which many of us die at present in the UK is at odds with permaculture principles and ethics. People do not often get the death they would like, many needlessly dying in hospital experiencing unnecessary and distressing procedures, tests and treatment, away from their home, with resulting feelings of confusion and lack of control.
 
Inequalities around whether a person is enabled to make decisions about what they would want for their end of life and care after death are huge – age, disease type, social class, sexuality, race, mental health,  with very real consequences about whether someone then has a ‘good death.’ In my experience, fear, distress and lack of control about how we die can often mean life time effects on emotional and physical health to those left behind, due to complex bereavement.
 
The environmental impacts of how we die are also very significant. – from the resources needed for end of life care in hospital, to the damaging actions of many aspects of the funeral/after death industry, - embalming, cremation, coffin materials  - and financial affordability (the average cost of a funeral in the UK in 2018 was £3500 for a cremation, and nearly £4300 for a burial )
 
My experience in the permaculture community is that even within groups of people who are very knowledgeable, empowered and solutions focused about other aspects of their lives are reluctant to talk about how their end of life might be.
 
So, what can permaculture offer as a way solutions focused way forward?
 
Before We Die
 
People who talk about and plan for their death, tend to have a much better experience of death, and those around them : - family, friends and community - then go on to have a more open and positive attitude towards death, loss and supporting others as they approach death. Planning for what we want to happen as we die and after our death is much easier to do when we are well, than waiting until we are unwell and perhaps too poorly to make decisions. There is a much greater chance that End of Life wants and wishes will happen if we have a plan, and others close to us, are aware of those plans.
 
 Ways to start talking about death and dying, and making plans include:-

• Attending Death Cafes – a growing popularity around the world in recent years – essentially an open space to drink tea, eat cake and talk about anything to do with death and dying.

 

• Holding a Death and Dying Dinner Party – invite family/friends/community to share dinner and talk about death

 

• Actively design a plan for your own end of life, including ensuring any legal systems – wills, Power of Attorney, are in place and up to date.

 

• Consciously make an effort to connect with and support people in your (in real life and/or online) communities who are approaching the end of their lives, or people who have been recently bereaved.

 

• Attending community arts, information giving and support events. The Dying Matters coalition in the UK has encouraged many more Death and Dying diverse community focused events in recent years. 

As We Die
 
If we had some control (most people, with the right support, do), what would we want our death to look like? Where would we want to be (if possible?)  Who would we want to be there? What support would we need and want?
 
One exciting and rapidly growing role is that of a Death Doula – non-medical people who are trained to be alongside terminally ill people and support those close to them, at the end of their life. There are several places in the UK where Death Doula training is available now and the numbers of people working in this sphere is spreading steadily.
 
Obviously we cannot all predict how we die and for some we might not be able to achieve the ideal death we hoped for ourselves. It can be useful to have a ‘plan B’. For example, if you were to die in hospital, who would you want to be there? What kind of medical/nursing intervention would you want? What possessions, music, art  would you want to surround you from home?
 
 
After We Die
 
What do we want to happen to our bodies after we die? How do we want our life to be remembered and celebrated?
 
With our present systems of after death care in the UK, many people can feel frustrated, and let down, with their experience of grief deepened, as after death care activities carried out by health care professionals and then practitioners in the funeral industry can feel impersonal and profoundly disconnected from the identity of the person who has died.  In addition, the financial cost of much of this is beyond the reach of an ever increasing number of people.
 
There is no legal obligation to use a funeral director for after death care in the UK – though if you choose to do so, there are some wonderful Funeral Director and celebrant businesses who can ensure the whole process is as in keeping with the life of the person who has died as possible. In addition wherever we die, we can choose to have friends and families take care of us (wash, change clothing . Making this request known to health care staff involved can mean this is more likely to happen
 
In the UK one of the most Earth regenerating ways to care for the body of someone who has died, is burial, where the body is wrapped/contained in a locally sources biodegradable material, in a geographical location where other life can benefit from the nutrients released by our decomposing corpse. (I’m currently knitting a cover from UK grown wool – which will be used a blanket, for hopefully many years, then my plan is my body will be wrapped in it before I am buried as close as possible to the place where I spend my final weeks of life.)  Organised Woodland Burial sites are the most obvious choice of location., but there are other perfectly legal options.
 
Globally there are some great projects emerging looking at ways of increasing Earth Care with relation to what happens to our bodies after we die. These include:-  
 
Recompose - transforms bodies into soil so that we can grow new life after we die. 
 
The Living Urn – growing trees from human ash

Ecoffins - environmentally friendly coffins and caskets 

​Conclusions
 
Permaculture design offers us many answers to how we can improve an experience we all face, and which connects every living being and system on our beautiful planet. Opening up conversations, exploring fears, empowering ourselves with knowledge and support and then making documented plans are all very real ways of ensuring we work towards Earth Care, People Care and Fair Shares as we die.
 
 Resources 
 
In this article I have provided an overview about how permaculture design can help with way we die, which will hopefully engage a much bigger conversation.
 
The following resources can help you to explore this topic further. As part of Creative Dying, my own project exploring how permaculture can improve how we die, I have a regularly  updated page sharing many online, in real life and print resources. Go to Creative Dying for lots more information and ideas about using permaculture to improve how we die. 
 
Other (UK focused) favourite key online resources of mine are
 
Natural Death Society
Dying Matters
Power of Attorney
Compassionate Communities
Soul Midwives

For those people who use social media as a way of connecting and learning new knowledge, there is a wonderful diverse community of people globally working word to raise the profile of improving attitude and experience of death, dying and bereavement. The hashtag often used to link this work is #deathpositive.
 
Finally – I would like to acknowledge the potential for triggering difficult feelings relating to loss and bereavement that people may experience through reading this article. These reactions are totally understandable and healthy.  Many of us have experienced events where grief has been ongoing and complex. If this has happened for you then giving yourself to engage in activities which for you can provide the support you need is very much ok. If you find that you are needing something more than your usual emotional support tools then I can recommend the following links as first steps
 
What’s Your Grief
 Cruse Bereavement Care

 An earlier version of this article "The Art of Dying Creatively" was also published in Permaculture Magazine (Autumn No 93)

​Some ideas for improving access to nature connection if you or someone you are close to has an illness or disability, meaning they find it difficult to be outdoors.

​Studies over the last few years have consistently demonstrated that being in nature is beneficial for both our physical and emotional health. From my own observations, I would also add that for many people connecting with the other living parts of Earth also brings increased levels of wellbeing to both the spiritual and social aspects of our lives too.
 
In my work as a palliative care nurse and as an unpaid Carer of several family members I have witnessed many instances where being able to be creative about how to connect with nature can positively influence the quality of life for people who are too unwell or disabled spend time outside on a regular basis. Over the past year I have become very unwell and currently spend most of my time in bed. This has given me a great opportunity to reflect further about how poorly and disabled people who for whatever reasons find being outside challenging, can benefit from nature connection.

​These are some of the ideas I have collated. Most of which I use in my own life too.

• Having beautifully fragranced flowers or pots of herbs inside in a space you spend a lot of your time. Or perhaps using essential oils in a diffuser, bath, or on a tissue. Essential oils can also help as part of a well- being plan, and some should be used with caution as they can have adverse side effects for you and people/pets around you if their use is not understood well. I can recommend permaculture practitioner and qualified aromatherapist, Dave Jackson for guidance and advice. He’s based in Cambridge England, and really happy to provide video consultations for folk who aren’t local to him. Dave’s details are in the resources section below.

 

• Asking a visiting, (in real life, or digital), friend or family member to tell you about their experiences of spending time in nature. I’ve found that this can also be a great distraction from chat focus always being about my illness too.

 

• Listening to a guided mediation involving sounds of nature :- the noise  of the sea, river waterfalls, bird song, gentle breeze through long grasses and rain.

 

• Watching films and TV programmes about nature. Listening to radio programmes and podcasts about the great outdoors

 

• Observing patterns in nature through a window. Watching the earth cycles, seasons and changing skies.

 

• Being creative about nature inspiration. Art, doodling, writing, textile crafts, singing, playing a musical instrument, making a collage, wildlife themed colouring books. I have also found that giving myself thinking and daydreaming time about walks, daytrips, holidays, sunny days, deep snow, summer rain, storms and gardens for example has been a wonderful thing to do when more practical activities are too exhausting or painful.

• Having houseplants in a space in the home where you spend a lot of time, which as well as lovely to see, also help to clean the air inside from potential toxins.

 

• With help if needed, creating a nature space/table/shelf in a place where you can see it often. Ideas of things to include could be a vase of local flowers, photos, small twigs/branches in a vase, stones, shells, herbs to dry. I have such a space and love to adapt it as the seasons change.

• If you are someone who has experience and knowledge about gardening, farming or other nature related activities and knowledge, could you mentor or teach others who would like to learn? Again, this could be face to face, or via digital (or written) communication: - Creating a blog, social media space or writing an article for a local paper, newsletter, or specialist publication.

• Sprouting seeds and pulses and/or growing herbs on a kitchen windowsill. Really easy to do by yourself, or by someone who helps you. Resulting in fresh, nutritious home grown food throughout the year.

• Reading books, magazines and blogs about nature. Looking at nature focused photos and art. Connecting with nature focused social media spaces. Perhaps finding (or creating) spaces on social media where there are others who are also enjoying and appreciating nature from indoors.

 

• Eating seasonal food and drinks and/or sourcing your food from local growers, farmers and preservers.

 
Being aware of any sadness, grief or loss you feel about not being able to connect with nature outdoors. Even just reading this short article may generate difficult emotions. And that’s ok. I’ve found that talking it through with someone close to you or writing, drawing or any other creative expression can really help, as do other ideas mentioned here.

​As well as hopefully providing some useful ideas relating to nature connection and immersion, an additional function of this article is to inspire further discussion about the urgent need for permaculture practitioners to address issues of privilege in accessing permaculture. 

Resources
 
There are a huge diverse number of resources relating to the ideas I have written about in this article. If you need some extra inspiration or a starting point. Here are some of my current favourites.
 
Dave Jackson Aromatherapist  
 
Writing by Flo Scott – Flo has written a number of articles in Permaculture Magazine and also has her own blog at http://permaculturedesigner.co.uk – In particular check out Flo’s most recent post “Top 5 things to do in an Indoor Garden”
 
BBC Radio programmes – all of the following are available as podcasts (or on iplayer for those in the UK) 
 
Gardeners Question Time
Open Country
Tweet Of the Week
Ramblings
 
Alice Fowler’s regular column in The Guardian newspaper 
Plus books and YouTube films by Alys
 
Permaculture Magazine – available via paper or digital subscription plus lots of free content 
 
Lots of fantastic books at Green Shopping 
 
One of my current favourite books from Green Shopping, including many, many gorgeous photos, is No Dig Organic Home and Garden by Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty
 
‘She Explores’ podcast
 
Facebook Group -  I have recently created a Facebook Group ”Permaculture, Chronic illness and Disability” for anyone with an interest in the topic to join. There is already a very friendly and  solutions focused culture emerging there, so please come along and join in if you are interested.

Hi again. Last month I wrote about my decision to commence a new chapter of my life and work as a Permaculture Practitioner, while living with a chronic illness. You can read that post here  And so in today's post I am going to share with you some of the tools inspired by permaculture, which I am currently using to thrive and grow, both personally, and within my work. Some of the images shared are purposefully blurred or left in a format where it is difficult to read the details. Using the permaculture principle "Design from Patterns To Details", this is mainly because the actual content isn't really relevant to anyone but me. Though you may well find the design patterns I have shared could well be adapted easily to help your own life design.

In July last year, several months after I had become very unwell, I was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. (M.E.) - at the time I was really shocked and scared by this news, and by the reality about how my life was probably going to be changed for the time being.

​I know from my past designing experience that The Design Web by Looby Macnamara, is a really useful design process for managing and then thriving with, life changing events. So, in the weeks following my diagnosis, I spent some time exploring the new and very daunting situation I found myself in, by focusing on each of the anchor points, and then more time looking at how the process of the Design Web as a whole, could assist me. From this process emerged my "Daily Tool Box" and also my new annual Focus Word for 2018 - "Creativity"

Utilising The Design Web in this way has been invaluable in how I have coped and thrived with such a disabling illness. I plan to evaluate and review this design in a few weeks time at the Spring Equinox, connecting to the energy of balance demonstrated, as our light and dark times become equal.

In December of 2017, my Design Web activities were working well for me, in terms of my emotional and  spiritual wellbeing, and I started to think about how I could carry on my work as a Permaculture Practitioner while living with an illness in which my physical and cognitive functioning was very much reduced compared to the year before.

A connection with pomegranates  growing locally to us at the time (and which I love to eat),  gave me the inspiration I needed to get some of my many ideas into a realistically achievable design format. Zoning is a tool often used in land based designing to help decide where to place the various systems and elements of a design. Zone 0- 1 being the area we observe and or visit on a very regular basis, and then through to higher numbered Zones which are visited much less frequently. The main aim being that the parts of a design needing lots of attention or use, (for example herb and salad crops, composting bin), are placed in a Zone nearest to the humans involved, and parts needing less frequent human attention,  (for example coppicing for firewood), are placed in Zone 4 or 5.  

In my design here I used Zoning to create a plan for how I could engage and connect with my permaculture interests, and within the limits my new living reality had created.  At Zone 0 for each topic I have structured or "wild" thinking time about a subject. And then through to Zone 4, organising low key community 'in real life' or online events, which although feels quite impossible now, could be  a realistic aim and hope  to have over the next year. 

My Daily Tool Box and Zones Table are placed in an easily observed area near to my bed, (where I spend 95% of my time just now), and so, (in the spirit of zoning), I am reminded of their applied usefulness many times a day. And as a result are already becoming an exciting and core part of my life so far in 2018.  

Hello!
 
It’s been a long, long time since I have shared anything here in the hub of Kt Shepherd Permaculture.

Throughout 2017 I had increasing and rapid problems with my health, resulting in being diagnosed with Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, (M.E.), in July. I had been unable to do any work, (either nursing or permaculture), since May. And once I knew what was wrong with me I needed to put all my precious energy into figuring out how I was going to survive and get better from, this new and very disabled place I found myself in.
 
I pinned notices on my website, saying I would be away from my work, until my health improved
 
I have learnt over this time about the many levels of complexity -  physically, socially, politically, emotionally, spiritually - that is the reality and experience of M.E.
 
I’m not going to use this space to focus on my illness. There is a huge amount of online information out there about these aspects of M.E.  Two of my favourite resources I can recommend to learn more, are Unrest, (a powerful, beautiful film released in the months following my own diagnosis. And, the Phoenix Rising Website.
 
Towards the end of last year, I remained very physically unwell, in bed for over twenty hours a day, (on good days). But cognitively I had improved and I had started longing for more connection with my permaculture work again. I made the decision to accept the experience of the new reality I found myself in, instead of putting 100% of my time and energy into finding a ‘cure’. All I have learnt about M.E. suggests to me that I could well live in the low functioning state I am in for many more months, maybe  years.  I want that time to be as great as possible.
 
As soon as I made the choice to design a way of returning to my permaculture work, I felt an emotional and spiritual weight lift. It felt more empowered and optimistic than I had for a long, long time.
 
So here I am.
 
Initially I’m planning on creating short, regular posts, explaining how I have used permaculture design ethics, tools and principles to ensure I thrive as much as possible while living with and healing from a chronic illness.
 
Watch this space 

Strands of Infinity is the latest book from Permaculture Designer and teacher Looby Macnamara. Its a beautiful collection of poems written by Looby, (and one poem by her 8 year old daughter Teya), over recent years. Subtitled "Poetry to reconnect", this is exactly what this powerful writing does. Connecting the personal, political and spiritual we are encouraged  to explore how these intertwining threads manifest  in our own life  journeys. The poetry in this book is inspirationally written for both for sharing at events and gatherings, alongside our own personal reflection.  With themes such as "Change the story", "Gratitude as Attitude," "This Woman is Rising" and "Will Humankind Survive", Looby's poems are wonderfully accessible on many levels to a diverse audience. I can strongly recommend Strands of Infinity  as a tool for our present and our futures. 

Today has a been a beautiful day and I've very much been inspired to join in with Three Things Thursday - An Exercise in Gratitude again. 

The sun has shone on a crisp, cold January Thursday, and I have been off work. I had a beautiful walk up Buckden Pike with little, George the Jack Russell,  from the fab George Inn at Hubberholme, followed by a trip to spend time at the farm further up the Dale. My currently 'pausing' Edible Garden is to the naked eye, overgrown and abandoned. On closer observation, the raised beds and growing baby trees were full of birds and other evidence of all kinds of diverse, healthy flora and fauna flourishing. 

As the sun went down and I made my way back to Skipton, I called into one of my favourite Fair Trade shops, Namaste, which I visit about twice a year, and bought some lovely new clothes there, with money my dad had sent me for my birthday.

And then to finish the day I met my lovely freind,  Yvonne, a wonderfully talented textiles artist,  for chats about art, life, death an getting older, over great Kashmiri food at The Aagrah. Yvonne gave me these beautiful felted gloves she had made. You can check out her website here. 

So actually, many more than three things to be gateful for today. Looking forward to more Thursday gratitude reflections throughout 2017.

Yesterday I faciltated an informal two hour workshop, "Design Your 2017" at the wonderful Settle Community and Business Hub, in Settle, North Yorks. The main aim of the workshop was to use a creative design process to inspire and empower people to develop their own planning system, in order to help achieve goals they have for the year ahead. Ten women from four counties, (including Ann via Skype), came along, and we spent a lovely morning sharing experiences, ideas and tools, with guidence from The Design Web by Looby Macnamara

The workshop was a new project for me and it felt like a positive way of using people centred permaculture design in non permaculture focused settings. Some women in the group use permaculture in other areas of their lives and others didn't. My general observations throughout the morning, and then the feedback afterwards, indicated that the format was really accesible to all though. The event could have definately been extended to perhaps a whole day, but overall this workshop design seemed to be really sucessful and its definately something I would repeat again. 

We left with plans to reignite a monthly gathering in Settle, in order to create a space for momentum, reflection , support and sharing of our 2017 stories.

This has been on my "would love to do" mindmap for a long time. Its something Jan Martin from The Snail of Happiness (TSOH) writes every week, and its so inspiring. Word from TSOH is that Three Things Thursday was invented by Emily of Ms Emily’s Home for Full-Grown Nerds , who writes ...

​....three things that make me smile: an exercise in gratitude – feel free to steal this idea with wild abandon and fill your blog with the happy....

There has been a lot of writing about the personal and community (global?)  benefits of expressing gratitude, recently. One article I particularly like is from happierhuman.com 

​So here it is, my first Three Things Thursday post
​​

Dried apples and tomatoes snack - care of my lovely friend Pippa who I met up with for a drink last week. Pippa and her husband Andrew run a permaculture project Those Plant People near Keighley, West Yorks. Their North facing land grows a massive variety of food all the year round. They use a dehydrator as one of the ways they preserve the harvest. 

Urban Death Project

The Urban Death Project is developing an innovative new model of death care that honours both our loved ones and the planet earth. At the heart of this model is a new system called Recomposition that transforms bodies into soil.....In our vision of the future, Recomposition will happen inside buildings designed for the communities they serve. Gardens are nourished by the soil created inside, as we connect with the cycles of life...and death.

I feel so connected to this project. Its inspiration has been key to my own design around permaculture and death - Creative Dying - 

The start of my own mini-indoors garden design, in my current accommodation. Just having a few plants on a window ledge has made such a difference to my life in the last few days, especially as the days in the UK are SO short and dark just now - more to follow about this design!   

Today is the Autumn Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere and Ive decided to use the energies and characteristics of this Earth Festival to start a design that hopefully others will also be able to take inspiration from focusing on  creating and maintaining balance in our lives. I've had a few months away from the focus of my work as a permaculture designer and practitioner, so it feels a great way to get back involved with documenting my reflections again. 
 
Im using OBRADIMET (Observe, Boundaries, Resources, Analyse, Decisions, Implement, Maintain, Evaluate, Tweak),  as a Design Process as its one that fits well with some of my initial ideas before I start considering the details.
 
Observe
 
What areas of my life feel in balance at the moment?
 
Work, play, Right Livelihood, physical health, emotional health, energy levels, spiritual connections, what I give, what I receive, …..
 
What don’t feel in balance?
 
What does balance feel/look like to me?
 
What does out of balance look/feel like to me?
 
Boundaries
 
What actual or potential boundaries are in my life which create unwanted imbalances for me?
 
What positive boundaries/edges do I have in my life which will help keep the balances I create?
 
Resources
 
What kind of resources do I have now that help create positive balance in my life?
 
What resources do I need to seek out?
 
Are there resources I have  identified  since the spring equinox, over the summer,  that can be useful?
 
People, knowledge, time, finances, skills, work, experiences, patterns, ideas …..
 
Analyse
 
How does all the information I have gained so far in the design connect and influence each other?

What are the functions of the design? 
 
Which permaculture principles can help with guiding my design ?

I have decided to focus on the Principles created by David Holmgren for this design 
 
How do the permaculture ethics of people care, earth care and fairshares help shape how I will create and improve balance in my life?
 
Decisions
 
From my  evaluation what decisions have I come up with my design?
 
Implement
 
How am I  going to implement my  decisions?
 
What realistic timescale will I use?
 
Maintain, Evaluate and Tweak
 
How will I maintain the momentum of my decisions?
 
How will I make sure that any tweaks made to the design,  after evaluation, are then included in the implementation plan?
 
Connections to other designs in my life, aim to mini -evaluate at every full moon and then big evaluation at the Spring Equinox...
​ 

Tools and Resources

Initial thoughts about design tools and resources I aim to use in this design  

Input/output analysis
Web of connections
Zoning (life/people focused)
SWOC (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Constraints)
Mindmaps
Flow Diagram

For more detail and ideas about tools used in permaculture design see Aranya's excellent book Permaculture Design - A Step By Step Guide 

Gaiacraft Learning and Teaching Tools - to help explore and identify permaculture principles in a creative way

​Letting in the Wild Edges by Glennie Kindred

Nicole Vosper's entire series of blog posts on Overcoming Burnout will also be a major resource contribution to this design. 

​So here we are, a basic framework for a design I am currently working on inspired by the timing of the Autumn Equinox and my return to deeper focus on my permaculture work and development.

Please contact me if you would like support from me either in my role as a Diploma (in Applied Permaculture Design) Tutor, or as a mentor/coach, with a similar design. 

This week is Dying Matters Awareness week in the UK - a big diverse event with many people and organisations holding events to promote awareness about subjects relating the death and dying. I decided a few months ago that this week would be my goal for launching the zone 3-5 phase  of a design, Designing Dying,  I started about 4 years ago as part of my Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design. 

I started the  latest phase of the design, now called "Creative Dying" by using a different design process (The Design Web by Looby Macnamara)  to explore the design at a new level. I presented my experience of doing this at the National Diploma Gathering earlier this month. 

Creative Dying is a website and coaching/workshop business which aims to support people - at any time of their life - to plan and design the death they would like.
​
It is focused at anyone who would like to explore the creative, positive and unique approaches that we can take to considering the end of our lives and how we die. 

Creative Dying uses permaculture design at its centre and will appeal to the many people throughout the world already using permaculture to increase resilience and healing in other aspects of their life and work. 

Im really passionate about the journey of this design for many reasons, and will be writing regular updates about its progress and hopefully success here.

creativedying.co.uk
Creative Dying on Facebook 
Creative Dying on Twitter