How to Overcome Death Reminders

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Cultures around the world have developed little death reminders for centuries from ancient Rome to Mexico's day of the dead. These traditions live on to this day, affecting how we think about death or how often we think about it. All of these death reminders are meant to help us put things in perspective. We can try and change our perspective on death, see it as normal and natural. And Rachel left us with this too. Starting to face her own death isn't just about accepting something sad and grim but also about recognizing how miraculous it is that we're even here.

Today we get some surprisingly joyful insights about coping with the dread of death – whether we’re concerned about our own mortality or losing those we love. It’s Day Three of The Dread Project Challenge, a five-day series that investigates an emotion so many of us are struggling with lately – from our dread of the next Zoom meeting to worries that have life-and-death stakes. Each day of the challenge, we tackle dread in a different way, and offer you a fun exercise for feeling a little better, even when you’re anticipating the worst.

Dread of death might be the ultimate dread we face in life, but Clinical Psychologist Rachel Menzies and Death Doula Alua Arthur explain why remembering we will die – instead of trying to forget – can help us accept the inevitable.

Check out dreadproject.com for more information about The Dread Project and daily prompts for The Dread Project Challenge. Please share how today’s Dread Project Challenge went for you by sending us a voice memo at morethanafeeling@tenpercent.com. Don’t forget to give us your name and where you’re from, and you might hear yourself on an upcoming episode!

Sign up for the Dread Project Listener Challenge here: dreadproject.com. If you’re seeing this after the challenge has begun, don’t worry! You can sign up and participate anytime.

For more information about More Than A Feeling, The Dread Project, and today’s guests, check out our show notes at: www.tenpercent.com/mtaf-podcast-episodes/death-but-fun. And follow us on Twitter at podfeelings.

And if digging into dread is very difficult or intense for you, some additional resources that could help are listed below.

Search for a therapist:

Mental Health Resources:

Apps:

Try the Ten Percent Happier app for free for thirty days by visiting tenpercent.com/more and check out this meditation that reflects on death and mortality with Joseph Goldstein; an episode of the Twenty Percent Happier podcast that discusses working with death and difficult struggles in your meditation practice; and teacher talks that explore death with Anushka Fernandopulle, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, and Jay Michaelson.
Dare App - free app to help with anxious moments

If you are currently experiencing a mental health crisis, please click here, text 741741, or call 988.

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