Paymaneh Ghaffari

 

     Paymaneh became inspired to help those who are close to death and their families after two very meaningful experiences. 

      Initially, she had an opportunity at her children's school to assist with a mother who had suffered a massive asthma attack and had become incapacitated due to major brain damage. Paymaneh was one of many who stepped up to help the family in various ways including cooking, cleaning, spending time by the bedside of the mother and being support for the family.

       A second experience occurred at the same school when a mother  learned that her 3 year old son had an inoperable tumor on his brain stem. He wasn’t given much time to live and died shortly thereafter. Paymaneh went often to their house to just sit and talk to the mum. This seemed helpful to the her. 

      Paymaneh treasures the opportunity to share this precious transition. She feels happy that any help she may offer is very meaningful for all involved. Her strengths in this work are her abilities to be open and accepting with others, a very kind disposition based within a strong sense of compassion,  a very grounded personality, and the ability to hold space for others and their unique challenges as they transition. She feels that through her life experiences which include being born in London, England (of Iranian heritage), living in Iran until she was about 3-4 years old, being raised in England thereafter, in boarding schools and then moving to the States has given her a very multicultural perspective on life and created a wide ranging perspective on what it means to die with dignity. 

      The work she has done through the consciousdyingcollective.com has really helped her learn more about the whole process of dying and has really helped her look within her own being and welcome all the emotions that have come up around the different activities she participated in. This serves her in being much more aware of what a person might be going through when they know they have a limited time to live. The program at the Conscious Dying Collective has really helped her understand how to sit down with a person and really listen. Communicating on different levels is such a huge part of this work. 

    Paymaneh is able to support anybody who has a terminal diagnosis at any stage as well as their family and friends. She can also help those who are simply thinking about the end of life, with following through on advanced care directives and funeral planning as well as vigil planning.