exploring the heart of living and dying

The Authentic Presence podcast explores the deeper questions of human experience and care-giving. The show features inspiring conversations with on-the-ground practitioners, pioneers in medicine, palliative and hospice care, and contemplative thinkers. We look at what it means to care at the threshold of life and death and how mindfulness, meditation and contemplative wisdom can help us tap into our sources of well-being, purpose, spirituality and wholeness.

The podcast is hosted by Kirsten DeLeo, meditation teacher and Authentic Presence trainer. Kirsten is the author of the award-winning Present Through The End: A Caring Companion’s Guide for Accompanying the Dying.

This podcast explores the deeper questions of human experience and caregiving featuring conversations with on-the-ground practitioners, pioneers in healthcare, and contemplative thinkers. We look at what it means to care at the threshold of life and death and how mindfulness, meditation and contemplative wisdom can help us tap into our sources of wellbeing, purpose, spirituality and wholeness.

Kirsten DeLeo talks with Deanna Cochran, a longtime hospice nurse and a pioneer in the doula movement in the US. Deanna currently chairs the End-of-Life Doula Advisory Council of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). She is a graduate of the Authentic Presence, a training program in the contemplative approach to end-of-life care.

In this first episode, Erica Conery shares her experiences working as a night nurse at Albany Medical Centre/ NY in a ICU designated for Covid 19 patients. The interview was recorded on April 20, 2020. Erica was interviewed by Kirsten DeLeo, a faculty member of Authentic Presence.