The True Work of Dying: A Practical and Compassionate Guide to Easing the Dying Process [Paperback]

Jan Selliken Bernard (Author), Miriam Schneider (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997

Compares dying and being born, and tells how to prepare for death.

Product Details

• Paperback: 237 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (P) (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380782898
• ISBN-13: 978-0380782895
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,089,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now it makes sense! Dying as Spiritual Birth, September 19, 2004

By 

Sandra Austin (Trenton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The True Work of Dying: A Practical and Compassionate Guide to Easing the Dying Process (Paperback)

This book opened my eyes to the beautiful process of dying. With numerous touching stories stories coming from the experience of two OB and hospice nurses, it showed the relationships between the birth of a baby and the dying process, with the dying process as a form of birth into a new, spiritual life, and a natural part of life. It deals with the physical realities of the dying process, and also the emotional/spritual processes.

I read this book because I'm going into the ministry and have a heart that reaches out to those in mourning. What I discovered was that it helped to prepare me for my father's dying of cancer the following year, it helped me to come to closure with him and to release him in a very loving way, to find joy in the midst of the sadness rather than fear.

I highly recommend this book to everyone in the "helping" professions, and also to everyone facing the death of a loved ones, or even facing one's own death. I'm so glad I read this book, I'm getting a second copy!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compassionate and insightful book, invaluable help, May 5, 2006

By 

J. Winston (Fairfax, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The True Work of Dying: A Practical and Compassionate Guide to Easing the Dying Process (Paperback)

I'd read many other books on death and dying (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Stephen Levine, Tibetan Book of Living and Dying)after my parents died in 1979 and 1983, then after friends' passings in 1993. I bought this book two years ago after a friend's mother had hospice care. I didn't start reading it until my brother-in-law was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor in July 2005. It is such a wonderful book. There are beautiful stories of real hospice experiences that are inspiring and comforting. The information given to assist a dying person, helps one understand the process very well, and it demystifies a natural stage in life. Further, support for caregivers is addressed in a compassionate and supportive manner. This book became my guidebook as my brother-in-law went through his process, to peacefully pass in April 2006. I've shared it with family members to help them understand and gain support. I am so thankful this book was written.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Spiritual Life Includes Facing Death, August 5, 2007

By 

Suza Francina "Yoga Teacher, Author, Animal... (Ojai, California) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The True Work of Dying: A Practical and Compassionate Guide to Easing the Dying Process (Paperback)

I discovered "The True Work of Dying" while browsing through a friend's book case. I was immediately drawn to the title and asked to borrow it. I read it every night before falling asleep for about seven days, from beginning to end. I was especially interested in the sections entitled "Birth/Death Parallels" and "Midwives and the Labor of Dying" which articulated many things I intuitively felt in my own experiences with home birth and helping people to die at home. As I got deeper into the book I could not help thinking how helpful it would have been to have read this book during the years that I worked as a home health care provider for elderly people. Now as a yoga teacher, I have many opportunities to openly discuss death and dying with my students. While there are many other insightful books on death that I also recommend, "The True Work of Dying," is a book I feel most comfortable giving to my own parents (whose religious and philosophical beliefs are different from mine) and all of my students. I highly recommend this book for every one, but especially for other yoga teachers working with people at midlife and older.

Suza Francina, Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, author, "The New Yoga for Healthy Aging," and "The New Yoga for People Over 50."