Colorado End-of-Life Collaborative

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Compassionate Care for the End of Life

Colorado End-of-Life Collaborative

Compassionate Care for the End of Life

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Colorado End-of-Life Collaborative

Compassionate Care for the End of Life

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Fall 2021 - Doula Member Spotlight

She survived a stroke and the pandemic, and she found her passion.  

After a stroke in October of 2015, Sara had to focus on rehabilitation. Her recovery was underwhelming. It was not until she realized she was grieving that things changed. Sara turned that grief into mourning the person she was prior to the stroke, and she began to speed up her recover process. 

Some medical professionals say the recovery within the first three months is the most important and the overall predictor. During the years that followed, Sara had debilitating migraines and continued seeing her neurologists and primary care physician. One suggested she add yoga and meditation to her recovery routine. She did and discovered that the mind-body connections worked for more than her head pain. After positive developments in her recovery, Sara spent seven months in 2018 becoming a certified and register yoga teacher. She then turned that training into a business to help others with limited mobility, balance issues and the elderly.

Sara built a successful adaptive yoga business, but was forced to end that business during the 2020 pandemic. With free time on her hands, and with her former private investigator spirit, she spent time going down rabbit holes researching Covid deaths and related concerns. When she came across the University of Vermont End-of-Life Doula certificate program, she saw a way to merge that training with her former hospice volunteer experience and the information she had gathered from her research to help people, solve a problem and fill a niche. 

Sara E. Stewart

End-of-Life Doula, Death Formulator and CEOLC Media Contact

 

Although Sara is trained and experienced with in-person, non-medical end-of-life care and concerns, her passion is to help others starting much earlier in their lives. Most of her clientele are adults (18 and over) wanting to complete end-of-life documents, organize their important documents and papers while removing trash and making sure their family members are financially prepared for their future without their loved one.

Sara is now known as a Death Formulator: a person who recognizes the need for a plan prior to a person’s demise. Her methodology helps adults DEFINE goals, CREATE a plan, and ASSIST with implementation that SUPPORTS a person’s wishes to sow a foundation for themselves and their family before they pass. Sara is co-author of the upcoming book, Death Doulas: The First of the Last Responders, and she serves as the Media Contact for the Colorado End-of-Life Collaborative.

Sara’s website and social media:

Zenful Life: http://zenfullife.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaraEStewartDEATHDOULA

Instagram @MsSaraEStewart

Email: zenfulsolutions@gmail.com

Phone: 720-593-9361

Sara in print:

Meet Trailblazer Sara E. Stewart

 

Sara's Profile

"The truth of life is suffering…our physical self, our emotions, our understanding. Suffering comes from the desire to have the non-existence of suffering. Suffering ends when we stop trying to change or let go of what we can’t control. There is a path that leads us from our desires. ~Taken from The Four Noble Truths

BACK TO SPOTLIGHT

CEOLC EOL Doula Member Spotlight

Member Spotlight - Sigrid Swerdlin

Summer 2022

I grew up a little sheltered from the world in a small rural town in Germany. Growing up I only had one living grandparent, but I was very close with my grandma, Anna, who passed away when I was 16 years old. She always said, “If ever I end up in a hospital, I will come out feet first.” And that’s exactly what happened.

Member

Member Spotlight - Janet Reichart, LCSW

Winter 2022

For as long as I can remember, I have experienced a fascination with death, with the dying process, and with how people grieve. Even as a child, I was drawn to stories about end of life, and about the medical aspects of death. Somehow, even in youth, I knew that the experience of leaving this physical existence is a deeply sacred transition, one that extends far beyond the cessation of a heartbeat.

Member

Member Spotlight - Sara E. Stewart

Fall 2021

After a stroke in October of 2015, Sara had to focus on rehabilitation. Her recovery was underwhelming. It was not until she realized she was grieving that things changed. Sara turned that grief into mourning the person she was prior to the stroke, and she began to speed up her recover process.

Member

Member Spotlight - Vanessa Johnston

Spring 2021

In 2015, Vanessa Johnston was looking for a new career. Her passion for teaching high school English had waned, and she wanted a different way to be of useful service in the world. She now spends her time as an End-of-Life Doula, a death educator, and an advocate for all the new options in the field of death care..

Member

Member Spotlight - Valerie Nicholas

Winter 2021

Valerie has always had an affinity for working with older adults, and she attributes this calling to her loving and influential grandparents. Valerie has been a life-long professional working with older adults and has devoted herself to end-of-life care as a hospice volunteer, life-cycle celebrant, and end-of-life doula.

Member

Member Spotlight - Kerry Arquette

Fall 2020

Kerry is the secretary and co-founder of the Colorado End-of-Life Collaborative, as well as the proprietor of End-of-Life Midwife. She has authored several books and is regularly invited to speak and teach about her work as an end-of-life doula, as well as a victim’s specialist for the Denver Police Department. Her most recent book, War Cries: Unheard Voices, Unmarked Graves, is a beautifully haunting collection of poems that give voice to the stories of many people much like ourselves who died during WWII. CEOLC is proud to feature her article, “Why Our Collaborative Is Imperative,” as we launch our new Collaborative Blog. Find out more about Kerry in this month’s Member Spotlight.

Member

Member Spotlight - Cindy Kaufman

Summer 2020

Cindy is the president and co-founder of the Colorado End-of-Life Collaborative, as well as the proprietor of HeartSpeak End-of-Life Companioning. She is regularly invited to speak and teach about what it means to be an end-of-life doula. Her most recent book, The Mortal’s Guide to Dying Well: Practical Wisdom from an End-of-Life Doula, was released in May 2020. Visit Cindy’s website to see more articles, publications and interviews.

Member