Spreading Wings at Maitri

For the past year I’ve been spending time at Maitri Hospice as a Living/Dying Project volunteer. Maitri provides both hospice and respite care. I have met some truly extraordinary people during my time there. Most days I wander from room to room visiting with residents at their bedside. Sometimes I am a friend who listens to whatever is on their minds. At other times I provide spiritual counsel, guided meditations and breathing practices to support pain relief. But mostly, I offer a presence of love and healing simply by choosing to practice being the angel version of myself while I am there.

I see my angel self as my highest form. Before I walk into Maitri, I release my own concerns. I use the tools Dale taught me, to ground and center in myself. I relax into a state of being that is willing and capable of responding openly to whatever might be asked or required of me. And then I actually imagine wings on my back and feel my face reflect the love that I allow to well up within me not only for the residents, but for myself. I then shine my light on each and every being I come into contact with in a very vulnerable way. What we practice, we become.

I have cultivated an angel within me. I now know what it feels like to be completely heart-centered. It is at Maitri that I have learned how to be and give the best of myself.This is a gift that has ripple effects in my life and I am deeply grateful for the experience.

— Kristin Singer
Living/Dying Project Volunteer