In this episode, I invited Rhonda LoPresti, an End of Life coach, racing car driver and multi passionate midlife woman who I am lucky enough to also call a dear friend. 

As an End of Life Coach, Rhonda is passionate in holding and creating sacred space, personal ritual, spiritual practice and creative choices through dying and deathcare. She believes we can learn to die and in learning to die we actually awaken to life itself.  

Rhonda shares what she’s passionate about in her life, being an end-of-life coach and how we can prepare for death and live well.

We discuss:

What it means to be Multi-Passionate

[6:00 ]

Being passionate, not myopic, and not self-limiting our potential. Being enthusiastic about two things does not limit your capacity to achieve success. It’s an encouragement to investigate and see how one area or skill set can be transferred to another.

Rhonda’s Passion

[10:42 ]

Rhonda has been a student of Tibetan Buddhism for over 35 years. She is also an off-road car driver and racer. Her mantra is to stay open and curious. A student of Tibetan Buddhism, Rhonda has studied under Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche for 36 years and serves as a Board and Volunteer Member for Rangjung Yeshe Gomde California (RYG CA).  She has the honor of developing a dying and death program for its community of practitioners and gives group talks annually.  She also enjoys the work of Stephen Jenkinson, as well as Andrew Holecek and is currently in Holecek’s 4 part program Graceful Exits.  She regularly retreats for teachings on conscious dying, bardo and phowa practices and end of life planning.   

Being an End of Life Coach

[17:06 ]

In serving the dying and grieving, Rhonda favors conversations in the art of saying good-bye, exploring what death asks of us and deserves, how to prepare oneself consciously for the dying process, the compassionate merits of home family directed funerals, green burial awareness, and the welcoming and witnessing of grief.

[26:32 ]

Discussions about death and dying will help people be more open about this topic since we will all experience a loss. Being prepared can help us move on and heal quickly.

Planning for Death

[55:49 ]

There are many things to decide in death. Therefore, planning will be a great way to avoid problems when you are in that situation. Rhonda helps individuals to create a plan and make the necessary decisions. It doesn’t take long; just three to six hours of planning is needed to remove any headaches that could take up to three years.

Spiritual Care Directives

[1:08:55 ]

A Spiritual Care Directive can help people know the wish of someone dying. This will aid people in fulfilling their wishes appropriately. As founder of Peacefully Prepared, Rhonda has evolved a Spiritual Care Directive.  This 10-part signature process guides clients in planning out their end of life practice from their Vision all the way through to after death.  Rhonda also encourages end of life wishes and planning in her 5 chapter notebook called a Passing Plan. Rhonda sees these spiritual and practical processes as an act of self-love in preparing for end of life and an act of kindness to ease the grief and stress loved ones.  She is continuously serving and raising awareness about the home funeral option where we can apply our spiritual practices and create auspicious conditions at the time of death.  Having performed home funerals for her own family as well as clients, Rhonda is able to guide and provide resources for this treasured process.

Merit in Suffering

[1:12:53 ]

Suffering is associated with various spiritual ideas; some may consider it a method of offering to all creatures or paying off ancient de