It's Ok That You're Not Ok - Grief & Los by Megan Devine; Mark Nepo

$45.00 NZD

Category: Grief & Loss

As seen in THE NEW YORK TIMES - READER'S DIGEST - SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH - HUFFPOST Featured on NPR's RADIO TIMES and WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO When a painful loss or life-shattering event upends your world, here is the first thing to know: there is nothing wrong with grief. "Grief is simply love in its most wild and painful form," says Megan Devine. "It is a natural and sane response to loss." So, why does our culture treat grief like a disease to be cured as quickly as possible? In It's OK That You're Not OK, Megan Devine offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others who have endured tragedy. Having experienced grief from both sides--as both a therapist and as a woman who witnessed the accidental drowning of her beloved partner--Megan writes with deep insight about the unspoken truths of loss, love, and healing. She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, "happy" life, replacing it with a far healthier middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it. In this compelling and heartful book, you'll learn: - Why well-meaning advice, therapy, and spiritual wisdom so often end up making it harder for people in grief - How challenging the myths of grief--doing away with stages, timetables, and unrealistic ideals about how grief should unfold--allows us to accept grief as a mystery to be honored instead of a problem to solve - Practical guidance for managing stress, improving sleep, and decreasing anxiety without trying to "fix" your pain - How to help the people you love--with essays to teach us the best skills, checklists, and suggestions for supporting and comforting others through the grieving process Many people who have suffered a loss feel judged, dismissed, and misunderstood by a culture that wants to "solve" grief. Megan writes, "Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution." Through stories, research, life tips, and creative and mindfulness-based practices, she offers a unique guide through an experience we all must face--in our personal lives, in the lives of those we love, and in the wider world. It's OK That You're Not OK is a book for grieving people, those who love them, and all those seeking to love themselves--and each other--better. ...Show more

Dying: A New Zealand Guide for the Journey by Sue Wood and Peter Fox

$33.00 NZD

Category: Ceremonies/Celebrants

The book has been written to help anyone who is dying from cancer or other terminal illness. Drawing on years of practical experience as counsellors in the field, Sue Wood and Peter Fox discuss what they and others have found happening in the terminal stages of illness - what the dying person can expect , what others have found important to do - and generally how to respond positively and practically to situations that are likely to arise on this difficult journey. The authors also address those involved in the day-to-day care and nursing, as well as the professionals. Their aim is to help deal with the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the patient and those caring for them, and to enhance the dignity and comfort of all concerned. First published 2006, Auckland softcover 196pp ...Show more

Healing a Teens Grieving Heart: : 100 Practical Ideas for Families, Friends & Caregivers by Alan D Wolfelt PhD

$35.00 NZD

Category: Grief & Loss

Healing a Teen’s Grieving Heart is for adults who want practical, day-to-day “how-tos” for helping the grieving teens in their lives. Some of the ideas teach about teenagers’ unique mourning styles and needs. Other ideas suggest simple activities and tips for relating to and spending time with the griev ing teen. A compassionate resource for friends, parents, relatives, teachers, volunteers, and caregivers.    ...Show more

Soul Midwife's Journal - Stories of Honouring Death by Margaret McCallum

$20.00 NZD

Category: Grief & Loss

How we do dying and death really matters. This affects not only the one who is dying, but all who are touched by his or her journey. I hope this small book can help in reclaiming our understanding of death as a natural process, and one more affected by our own choices than we may imagine.

Last Words: Approaches to Death in NZ's Cultures & Faiths by Margot Schwass

$35.00 NZD

Category: Grief & Loss

Death is part of all our lives - the deaths of people we love, the experience of terminal illness, the grief of friends or family. Yet we tend to speak of it with difficulty. And we know little about death in other cultures - what rituals are sustaining, what might cause distress, or what is appropriate in medical procedure. Last Words is a short book about ways of acknowledging death in the different cultures and religions currently in New Zealand. While it is designed for use by people working with the dying and the bereaved, the book is also intended for general readers - the New Zealand public. The book includes sections on: different cultures and faiths; Maori perspectives; facing death; and understanding grief. Information, drawn from interviews with the different groups, is up-to-date, and based on the New Zealand context. A practical section outlines the essential points of dealing with accidents, inquests, the coroners' court, and burial. Last Words will help people deal compassionately with many aspects of death and dying. ...Show more

Let's Talk about Death (over Dinner) - The Essential Guide to Life S Most Important Conversation by Michael Hebb

$28.00 NZD

Category: Grief & Loss

For readers of Being Mortal and When Breath Becomes Air, the acclaimed co-founder of Death over Dinner offers a practical, inspiring guide to life's most difficult yet important conversation Of the many critical conversations we will all have throughout our lifetime, few are as important as the ones di scussing death - and not just the practical considerations, such as DNRs and wills, but what we fear, what we hope, and how we want to be remembered. Yet few of these conversations are actually happening. Inspired by his experience with his own father and countless stories from others who regret not having these conversations, Michael Hebb cofounded Death Over Dinner - an organization that encourages people to pull up a chair, break bread, and really talk about the one thing we all have in common. Death Over Dinner has been one of the most effective end-of-life awareness campaigns to date; in just three years, it has provided the framework and inspiration for more than a hundred thousand dinners focused on having these end-of-life conversations. As Arianna Huffington said, 'We are such a fast-food culture, I love the idea of making the dinner last for hours. These are the conversations that will help us to evolve.' Let's Talk About Death (over Dinner) offers keen practical advice on how to have these same conversations - not just at the dinner table, but anywhere. There's no one right way to talk about death, but Hebb shares time- and dinner-tested prompts to use as conversation starters, ranging from the spiritual to the practical, from analytical to downright funny and surprising. By transforming the most difficult conversations into an opportunity, they become celebratory and meaningful - ways that not only can change the way we die, but the way we live. ...Show more

With the End in Mind - Dying, Death and Wisdom in an Age of Denial by Kathryn Mannix

$27.00 NZD

Category: Grief & Loss

In this unprecedented book, palliative medicine pioneer Dr Kathryn Mannix explores the biggest taboo in our society and the only certainty we all share: death. A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WELLCOME BOOK PRIZE Told through a series of beautifully crafted stories taken from nearly four de cades of clinical practice, her book answers the most intimate questions about the process of dying with touching honesty and humanity. She makes a compelling case for the therapeutic power of approaching death not with trepidation but with openness, clarity and understanding.With the End in Mind is a book for us all: the grieving and bereaved, ill and healthy. Open these pages and you will find stories about people who are like you, and like people you know and love. You will meet Holly, who danced her last day away; Eric, the retired head teacher who, even with Motor Neurone Disease, gets things done; loving, tender-hearted Nelly and Joe, each living a lonely lie to save their beloved from distress; and Sylvie, 19, dying of leukaemia, sewing a cushion for her mum to hug by the fire after she has died. These are just four of the book's thirty-odd stories of normal humans, dying normal human deaths. They show how the dying embrace living not because they are unusual or brave, but because that's what humans do. By turns touching, tragic, at times funny and always wise, they offer us illumination, models for action, and hope. Read this book and you'll be better prepared for life as well as death. ...Show more

Coping With Grief (5th edition) by Dianne McKissock; Mal McKissock

$20.00 NZD

Category: Grief & Loss

This new edition of the bestselling classic offers sensitive and practical advice on how to deal with the grieving process, from coping with the funeral to managing anniversaries and special dates. Suitable for both the bereaved and their support team, it explains what to expect emotionally, psychologic ally and practically from the first day through the first year, as well as outlining the physical and emotional reactions to grief, why men and women react differently, how children deal with grief, and some of the long-term consequences of bereavement. New chapters include complicated grief, memorialisation, talking to children about traumatic death, and compassionate ways to talk to the bereaved. Whether you have been bereaved, or are supporting somone who is grieving, this self-help book will prove invaluable, and show you how to survive or help others survive the most challenging experience a human being can have: the loss of a loved one. ...Show more

Dear Life by Rachel Clarke

$28.00 NZD

Category: Grief & Loss

'What a remarkable book this is; tender, funny, brave, heartfelt, radiant with love and life. It brought me often to laughter and - several times - to tears. It sings with joy and kindness' Robert Macfarlane From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Your Life in My Hands comes this vibrant, tender an d deeply personal memoir that finds light and love in the darkest of places. As a specialist in palliative medicine, Dr Rachel Clarke chooses to inhabit a place many people would find too tragic to contemplate. Every day she tries to bring care and comfort to those reaching the end of their lives and to help make dying more bearable. Rachel's training was put to the test in 2017 when her beloved GP father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She learned that nothing - even the best palliative care - can sugar-coat the pain of losing someone you love. And yet, she argues, in a hospice there is more of what matters in life - more love, more strength, more kindness, more joy, more tenderness, more grace, more compassion - than you could ever imagine. For if there is a difference between people who know they are dying and the rest of us, it is simply this: that the terminally ill know their time is running out, while we live as though we have all the time in the world. Dear Life is a book about the vital importance of human connection, by the doctor we would all want by our sides at a time of crisis. It is a love letter - to a father, to a profession, to life itself. ...Show more

After Alexander: The Legacy of a Son by Jan Pryor

$12.00 NZD

$30.00 (60% off)

Category: Grief & Loss

Jan Pryor blends her personal experience of losing a child with her professional understanding of family dynamics and children's development. The clumsiness of consolation; the challenges of organising a funeral and what to do with Alexander's ashes; the isolation, being far from friends and family; con tinuing family life with two other young children to care for; all are described directly but without self-pity. The experience of growing up in 1960s New Zealand - and the stand-off between traditional expectations of the role of a woman versus the pull towards a professional life - is interwoven throughout the memoir. After Alexander is a story of triumph over loss, and of optimism. It offers consolation and hope to parents who have lost a child, to those who fear losing a child, and to anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one. ...Show more

Beginnings and Endings With Lifetimes In Between by Bryan Mellonie

$23.00 NZD

Category: Grief

Have you ever wondered why a butterfly lives for only a few weeks? Or why a tree lives for hundreds of year? You may have been sad when someone in your family, or a favourite pet became sick and died. There is a beginning and an ending to everything that is alive. In between is a lifetime. Dying is a mu ch a part of living as being born. ...Show more

Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

$25.00 NZD

Category: Grief & Loss

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague? Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it? For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you? Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying of ALS - or motor neurone disease - Mitch visited Morrie in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final 'class': lessons in how to live. TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift with the world. Praise for Tuesdays with Morrie: 'This is a true story that shines and leaves you forever warmed by its afterglow' Amy Tan 'A moving tribute to embracing life' Glasgow Herald 'An extraordinary contribution to the literature of death' Boston Globe 'A beautifully written book of great clarity and wisdom that lovingly captures the simplicity beyond life's complexities' M Scott Peck ...Show more