This worksheet is designed to assist you in discovering your beliefs around death, dying and spirituality, and will help you work out what you believe is a life well lived. Discovering your beliefs is best done through visualisation of specific situations that relate to such issues. Do not rush the process and replay it a few times over two weeks - between your daily tasks.
Find a comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed. Lie down, tense hard and then relax every muscle in your body, starting at your toes moving up your body and ending with your facial muscles. Now that you are more aware of your physical self, imagine the situations below.
We all have to die some day. Visualise that you are now busy dying.Imagine the circumstances of your death. Is it old age, an accident, suicide, murder, or something else? Decide on a specific situation and go with that this time. You can do this again and try a different way another time.
Where are you? Imagine the place where you are dying in detail.Don’t censor yourself, it’s your imagination and you’ve got complete freedom.
Are you alone or are there people around you?
If there are people, who are they? How many?
What is the atmosphere like? Tense, relaxed, distraught, supportive, unhappy, caring, angry, grateful?
What is happening in you when you imagine this?
You are drawing your last breath, and… what happens next?
Do you think something happens, or is it just darkness? Write down every detail of your thoughts on this, bring it along and let’s discuss it in the next session.
Note your internal reactions: visual images, changes in body temperature; increase/decrease in intensity of hearing, smell, touch, taste or vision; sudden muscle tensions; urges and impulses; thoughts; memories;emotions and any changes in energy levels.
Write every impression down as soon as you are finished.
NB: People gain awareness at different rates. If very little happens when you do this the first time, you are probably not used to observing your internal processes without judgment. It might help to hear that you were probably very good at this when you were a child, and you just have to relearn this skill. Just persevere, even if it is difficult, as the reward is that you will soon be able to establish your needs, dreams, goals and purpose. Once you know what these are, you can take steps to make the necessary changes in your life.