SACRED CIRCLE TRAINING CO. CIC
Like birth, we want to bring death back where it belongs; in the hands and hearts of loved ones,
in the home and community, in sacred space.
As a Community Interest Company (CIC), we are a 'Non Profit' Company which values are closely centred around social and community benefit. Any assets our company acquires flow back into the community towards exciting and groundbreaking projects such as the Earth Hospice.
MEET THE IRISH TEAM
TANYA BRYAN
Based in Ireland, Tanya supports people to reconnect with their own true nature and to come to terms with their limitations. This includes preparing for the end of life (practical and emotional process), managing crises, and questioning all that is.
Overcoming her own anxiety, to non-belonging and low self-esteem (and its effects on her life) has been a rich and valued teacher. She is always grateful to receive the wisdom that comes from listening to her own body. Recovering her voice, using sound and lament, to access somatic healing, played a huge role in her journey back to wholeness.
She is a licensed transpersonal therapist and mentor and offers guidance around accommodating the mystical and near death experiences.
TERESA O'BRIEN
Over the last number of years while Teresa saw clients on a one to one and in groups for healing & coaching the topic of grief and death came up frequently. This sparked a curiosity of working with grief and dying in a holistic way addressing emotional and spiritual needs of people. Teresa took the End of Life Preparation Training in Sligo in 2019 and became part of the growing Doula Community in Ireland & UK.
Teresa is passionate about holding space for people in both groups and a one to one to support healing by sharing stories, grief, joy and whatever comes forward. Teresa believes it is never too early to plan one’s own death and never too late to express grief. Teresa’s vision is to explore and open the doors to creative ways of coming together to share the process of both life and death. Teresa believes in the power and importance and healing of the ancestors and has undertaken training in Shamanisms, Meditation, Coaching and many Energy Healing modalities.
Teresa facilitates groups, provides one to one both in person and online session in healing and support and is a trainee an End of Life trainee facilitator with Sacred Circle.
Teresa had worked in Healthcare as a Nurse and recently returned to work as an End of Life Night Nurse with the Irish Cancer Society.
For further information please contact Teresa on 086 386 4544, [email protected] or visit www.teresaobrien.ie
MEET THE UK TEAM
SU BARBER
Susannah was formed in the freedom and restriction of being surrounded by Elders in an Old Rest Home in Malvern, run by her ancestors and living with her parents. She lived within the presence of death and the dying, without really knowing it, for the first seven years of her life. It was later when She returned to the house to witness the dying of her relatives one after the other, that the grieving ebb and flow really hit her.
During this period of grief there was also great love and she became a Mother late in life, which turned her life around from arts project management to training as a Birthing From Within Mentor and a Birth Story Listener. This time also introduced her to the learning path of Labyrinths that she has been meandering happily in ever since.
Su was invited to join Sacred Circle CIC as one the mentors for the EOL doulas right at the beginning, soon after becoming a director of the CIC and a pretty constant member of the community calls on Friday.
“Being a part of this focussed community with Death as the teacher, has meant I have learnt so much more. Birth was an amazing teacher and there are many similarities and many differences, such as the awareness of coming transformations, the crossing of thresholds, the ancestral patterns, the myriad of emotions, the ability to listen and not try to fix, but this work has taken it in more personally and much deeper. My own personal preparation and becoming more comfortable with Death has helped me to be more in Life.”
ALEXANDRA DERWEN
Alexandra is a poet, ceremonialist, and a respected facilitator.
Since their father died at age 14, Alexandra has found themselves intuitively in service of the dying and the bereaved.
Alexandra is also quite a revolutionary, radical and activist; convinced of the capacity of ceremony, ritual, and wholesome rites of passage to transform the dying systems that oppress us. You will meet Alexandra as lead facilitator on the in-person portion of the EOL doula preparation, as guide through the Lost Rites, and anchor of the Journey with Death.
Until then you can get stuck into Alexandra's work through their podcasts and books: Derwen Roots Website
DANIELA OTHIENO
Based in Hastings UK, Daniela came to this work through being born into a grieving family eighteen months after her eight year old brother had died.
Her eclectic life experiences of work, study, activism, and travel are woven together by endless curiosity and love for life in all its beautiful and difficult expressions. Daniela can listen, witness, and be with people fully, helping to create a solid ground for exploration.
Having seen how much death and grief have to teach about life, she believes in growing a culture of mutual support and space for everyone to find their own path through these realities.
YEMAYA RODRIGUEZ
Based in Cardiff, Yemaya says “I am a mother to four children and an explorer of human nature and liminal spaces. My life choices over the last 20 years have added layers of holistic experience in caring for humans; holding safe the sacred initiatory thresholds of death and birth and those in between.
I am a full spectrum Doula, a registered Occupational Therapist (OT), a Ceremonialist and more recently, I have started coaching Mothers to support them in their bonding and connection with their children while they themselves heal from their own maternal disconnect and childhood trauma.
I weave ritual and ceremony into my personal and family life, and in the assortment of ways I work with clients. I bridge the mystical and the glorious mundane, working with matters of the soul, spirit and body in my roles as Doula and Ceremonialist, with the practical and tangible problem solving and planning as an OT. In my coaching sessions I draw on all the tools I have learned, my own intuition and spiritual guidance to create a safe space of empowerment and truth.”
CHARLOTTE WILLOUGHBY
Based In North East England, Charlotte says "I started my working life training as a general and children’s nurse. I have worked in hospitals and community settings, more recently with people with dementia and their carers. I am also a psychotherapist and am interested in alternative medicine. During my life I have supported children and adults at the end of their lives. This was particularly difficult during the Covid pandemic when people were dying without seeing family and friends. Heartbreaking! That increased my resolve to be an end of life doula and I consequently did the training with Sacred Circle. This fits well with my spiritual beliefs.
Other completely unrelated topics are that I ran a restaurant with rooms with my partner for 9 years, not one to brag but it was considered one of the top six best fish restaurants in the country! I also love to dance particularly Argentine tango. It is a passionate dance and fits with my passion for life! I also love swimming in the sea all year around."
MEET THE EUROPE TEAM
LIEVNATH FABER
Based in Amsterdam, Lievnath is a senior Landecker Democracy fellow who works on the intersections of ceremony & ritual to mark lifecycles, activism and communal work. She is co-founder of Oy Vey Acts, a Jewish social justice organization in the Netherlands and writes about the challenges and opportunities of being a Jewish activist in progressive spaces. She also is co-founder of Alchemy of New Life, a local Dutch holistic life cycles organization providing education, support and community to those transitioning in pregnancy, birth, death and that which lies in between. Lievnath actively weaves together topics of ceremony & ritual, activism and the (Jewish) lifecycles together to kindle and foster a wholesome and thriving community. Lievnaths blog: www.thebedtimeactivist.com
JANA GORST
Based in Slovakia, Jana has been searching for a missing peace in her soul ever since she was a little girl. The gaping hole started to fill after she heard the ancestral call and returned after 16 years in UK to her place of origin Slovakia. Here she is building death conscious community, running courses, speaking, writing. She is passionate about connecting all aspects which makes us human.
MARCELA SCARPELLINIĀ
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Based between Venezuala, Spain and Ireland Marcela says āI rather listen than speak, I like accompanying people going through difficult times and I am better acquainted with silence and meaningful conversations than with small talk. Of course, I love to joke and listen to peopleās imprudent and gentle occurrences. Through the last ten years I have gained experience working with people through sharing yoga and have accompanied them in the process of getting to explore and know themselves. At times it has felt like accompanying the dying. As we have shed layers, seen different parts of ourselves emerge from working with our bodies we have shared fear, curiosity, fun and the joy that comes with discovering aspects of ourselves that were unknown.
As a death doula I approach the work in a similar way, supporting the people who I work with in exploring their inner resources, pointing them out and/or reminding them that there might be some places in which they might have not looked. My way of working might change as I work with different people and become aware of different needs, characters and as I get more acquainted with death as a teacher.ā
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