The Last Chapter Deathcare

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The Last Chapter Deathcare

I'm Cecily, a death doula supporting people as they explore, uncover, and move through life and death as a creative process.

05/28/2026

This month’s Substack article is the final article in my Rituals for Remembering series. Media, in my opinion, is the most accessible tool for continuing bonds. In today’s post, I share the story of how rewatching Poltergeist has become a strangely uplifting ritual for remembering my dad. Plus, I give you a sneak peek at a list of films, shows, books, and albums I’d like to be remembered by. 👻📺🎞️📚💿

Is there a piece of media that reminds you of a loved one?

Read the article at the link below, and as always, thank you for being part of this mortally-curious community. 🥀

https://cecilyrobertson.substack.com/p/rituals-for-remembering-part-4

05/21/2026

Have you heard of body mapping? I’m a nerd for grief tools, and anytime I find something that resonates, I get excited to share it here! Last week I attended a yoga for grief and trauma workshop at Essential Yoga Studio. Heather Weddle (Healing Arts Collective Holistic Grief Coach) guided us through a body mapping exercise that I’ve been thinking about since. I don’t know whether it’s neurodivergence, overthinking, trauma, or a fun combination of all three(!), but I sometimes struggle to identify what I’m feeling in a given moment. Grief can be especially slippery because it’s not a singular emotion, and it’s not experienced exclusively in the mind. Maybe that’s why so many of us struggle to express our grief through language—words can feel too small, too limiting, or too tidy to accurately describe grief’s bigness.

Body mapping didn’t ask me to label the emotions I felt with words. It only asked me to slow down, tune in, and rest with them. It gave me permission to use metaphor and imagery to map my grief and allowed me to connect with emotional aches I didn’t know I’d been carrying. I translated the heat, discomfort, and restlessness in my body onto the page using lightning bolts, flowers, and tide pools. The map I made in that workshop was possibly the closest I’ve come to communicating the full spectrum of my grief. It is tattooed on my skin, carved from my muscle and at the same time, draped prettily over my bones. I’m so grateful to holistic grief practitioners who allow space for the full picture.

What would your grief look like if you mapped it on your body?

05/09/2026

This is a sticky weekend for me. It's the 2-year anniversary of my dad’s death and the 20th Mother's Day without my mom. I’m missing them both in different ways. My mother is almost mythological now, like a deity granting wishes via ethereal, eternal love. She sits on a pedestal that grows a little taller each year I get further from her. She’s less of an absence and more of an omniscience.

My grief for my dad, on the other hand, I feel most acutely in our loose ends. It’s a part of grief that doesn’t get talked about often: It’s okay to mourn what your relationship wasn’t. It’s okay to wish things had been different between you. It’s okay to grieve the ways you never were and mourn what might have changed if you’d had more time.

If this weekend is hard for you, whether you’re grieving a mother, grieving motherhood, grieving a relationship you wish had been different, my heart is with you.

04/27/2026

I'm feeling covered in fairy dust and fully alive. 🧚‍♀️🌸🍬

I hosted my first death contemplation workshop this weekend, and people showed up! Every step of the way I've wondered: Will anyone be interested? Will anyone be willing? Will anyone sign up? Will anyone show up? Will anyone walk out or throw tomatoes at me? 🍅

I'm just in awe of the group that joined us. They brought their bravery, their insight, vulnerability, strength, and softness. I will be eternally grateful for the souls who gathered with me and trusted me to lead them through something many people spend their lives avoiding. 🛡️❤️‍🔥

The best part (and the point) of contemplating our mortality is that it frees us to live fully. For me, that meant spending the rest of my weekend on a bike, playing mermaids with my friends, and topping it all off with a double scoop of ice cream. 🌬️🧜‍♀️🍦

💌p.s. I'm hosting two more death contemplations in May! You can sign up below:

5/2 at Pure Hot Yoga (not heated) from 3:30-5pm: https://www.purehotyoga.net

5/30 at Essential Yoga Studio from 2-3:30pm: https://www.wellnessliving.com/rs/catalog-view.html?k_business=425240&id_sale=3&k_id=957246

04/24/2026

This month’s Substack article is about using physical possessions to remember your loved ones. I tell the story of why I miss my grandmother’s toothbrush cup, why I regret not buying an overpriced room spray, and how my dad’s sweatshirt helps me with chores. 🪥🧣🧼🫧

Our stuff, whether sentimental or ordinary, is charged with a weight, an energy, and texture that carries our unique imprint. There’s a layer of memory that’s only accessible through tangible objects. The clothes and items our loved ones interacted with on a daily basis can act as emotional anchors and give us an opportunity to carry them through life after they’re gone.

What touch-rooted rituals do you use to remember your loved ones?

Read the article at the link below, and as always, thank you for being part of this mortally-curious community.
https://cecilyrobertson.substack.com/p/rituals-for-remembering-part-3

04/20/2026

A few folks have had questions about the upcoming Last Sleep Workshops! I thought I'd share a few more details for anyone who's curious. What other questions do you have? Let me know below! 👇

The first event is this Saturday at 4/25 at And Now, Yoga With Jessica! You can sign up here: https://www.wellnessliving.com/rs/event/and_now_yoga?k_class=950174

Registration is also open for the 5/2 workshop at Pure Hot Yoga (not heated) and the 5/30 workshop at Essential Yoga Studio!

Sign up for the 5/2 workshop: https://www.purehotyoga.net

Sign up for the 5/30 workshop: https://www.wellnessliving.com/rs/catalog-view.html?k_business=425240&id_sale=3&k_id=957246

04/15/2026

Several upcoming opportunities to contemplate your mortality with me! 🥀

I’m thrilled to offer The Last Sleep: A Death Contemplation & Yoga Nidra Workshop alongside one of my best friends. 💛

If thinking about death feels big, weird, scary, or unthinkable, this workshop is a gentle entry point. It's also a great place to deepen any death work you've already done. By exploring our mortality, we begin to understand what we want from life.

We will provide bolsters, blankets, journaling prompts, and an opportunity to reflect and share. You will also leave with a Hospice Foundation for Outreach Bucket List +1 folder, a comprehensive tool to complete your advance directive. 📝

The Last Sleep is a pay-what-you can workshop with a suggested donation of $25. A portion of your contribution will be donated to HFO, whose vision is to bring dignity and compassion to the end-of-life experience.

People of all backgrounds, identities, and belief systems are welcome! Dress comfortably and bring a sense of curiosity. 🦄

Registration is open for all events now! Sign up at the links below! Please message me with questions!

Register for our 4/25 event:
https://www.wellnessliving.com/rs/event/and_now_yoga?k_class=950174

Register for our 5/2 event:
https://www.purehotyoga.net

Register for our 5/30 event:
https://www.wellnessliving.com/rs/catalog-view.html?k_business=425240&id_sale=3&k_id=957246

04/09/2026

Every death is different, and so is every iteration of grief. Sometimes it helps to have a label for what you’re experiencing. Sometimes the isolation we feel can be mended with a word that helps us express the experience. And sometimes not. There are many types of grief, and even beyond formal definitions, there are endless shades and hues we can use to express that grief. Oftentimes we experience grief even without death. We can grieve romantic relationships, friendships, identities, jobs, or the future we envisioned. If you can love it, you can grieve it. May our ability to recognize grief in all its shapes and shades deepen our compassion for those going through it. Which of these types of grief have you experienced?

04/03/2026

Last week marked my mom’s 20th death anniversary. I suppose it should feel big. But in truth, it was the 17th anniversary that I dreaded: The year that would mark more time spent without her than with her. It was strange. It was sad. But it was also the same time that my grief began to shift—that the scales started tipping back into balance. As I’ve stepped deeper into death and grief work, I’ve deepened the waters of our bond. I think many of us fear that our dead will drift further and further away with each passing year, but when we claim responsibility for those relationships, we stay anchored. The years pass below us, above us, around us, but not between us. I’ve been writing a series called Rituals for Remembering on my Substack (see link below), so I thought I’d share a few of the rituals I used to connect with her last week:

🍓Eating strawberry Pocky. My mom lived in Japan for a short time, and one of the many gifts she shared with us from her time there was a love for this sweet treat.

🐾Wearing her sweatshirt. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of her in the sweatshirt I kept, but it has the same manic cat energy as the one pictured. It literally brings me closer to her, reminds me of solidness, her softness, and the comfort of being near her.

💌Reading her letters from college. I love running my hands over these letters, feeling the texture of the paper and ink, studying her tiny handwriting. Her sing-song, mischievous voice comes back to me when I read her words.

🌳Going on a walk with her. I love this simple visualization trick! I get to imagine the world with her still in it: how she might admire the budding trees, how she might move at 74, how she might stop to chat with a neighbor and pet their dog.

I miss her, of course. In a way that now feels like a birthmark or scar. Her life breathes into mine, and her death does too.

https://cecilyrobertson.substack.com

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http://lastchapterdeathcare.com/, https://cecilyrobertson.substack.com/

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