- About Loren Arienne Uecker
Compassion & Presence
Lying next to my own mother as she prepared to cross over, I awoke to a recognition of death as my life-teacher, as well as to a call to the work of death transitions. Bearing witness in this way, I felt as if one of my two eyes, previously shrouded, was given sight. In the inextricable dance between the energies of life and death, I had been gifted the sight of death, and could now see Life more clearly.
My longing to stay close to the Mystery I witnessed my mother die into, led me on a nineteen-year journey, beginning with hospice volunteering, unfolding into Graduate inter-faith chaplaincy studies at Naropa University’s Divinity School, followed by 13 years of serving as a professional hospice Chaplain & Spiritual Counselor. Along the journey I have additionally collected a unique blend of tools from years of study in body-oriented psychotherapy, mindfulness meditation, and shamanic modalities.
I believe that the dying process holds deep medicine for the dying and the living, alike. This medicine is, paradoxically, indispensable to our capacity to live and understand life fully. It is my honor and purpose, to serve the return of death to its rightful place in the totality of life, and to support the dying and their loved ones in drawing close to the spiritual journey that death invites and extends. It is my great joy to walk beside you as, together, we approach this Mystery ...
Trainings & Accreditations
Core Education
- Completed Masters of Divinity degree from Naropa University, 2007.
- Received ordination as a Buddhist Minister by the IOBM (International Order of Buddhist Monks), 2014.
- Qualified Meditation Instructor since 2006.
- Level IV Healing Touch practitioner.
Additional Trainings
- Due to complete 3-year Professional Shamanic Practitioner training, "The Art & Practice of Shamanic Healing" with Julie M. Kramer in September 2019.
- Body-Mind Psychotherapy training with Susan Aposhyan, Boulder, CO, 2013-2015.
- Psychopomp Training, Boulder, CO, 2012.
- "Sacred Call of The Healer" training, Boulder, CO, 2011-2012.
- Somato-Respiratory Integration (SRI), Wellness Educator Program, Westminster, CO, 2011.
- Completed 5 units of Clinical Pastoral Education as hospital resident chaplain at St. Anthony’s Hospitals, Denver, 2007-2008.
- Advanced Buddhist Seminary, Dharma Ocean, Crestone, CO, 2005.
- Formal apprenticeship with Janet Adler in the Discipline of Authentic Movement, Sebastopol, CA. 1999-2004.
Loren's Offerings
As we die, we are moved out of our sense of individual self and beckoned into something larger, something Beyond....
Unfolding along this journey, the veils that ordinarily keep us separate from our spiritual Source, become thin, and we are drawn near the Mystery. Perhaps as near as we have ever been.
When offered support to access this unique proximity to Source, we find it provides a deep well of sustenance and comfort, expanding our trust and capacity to move toward the unknown and the unfamiliar dimensions of the dying experience. In this way, we experience our fear, our grief, our losses, held by something greater, something at the very Heart of the spiritual world, to which we ultimately Belong.
End-of-Life Counselor
Dying holds the potential to be the utmost spiritually transformative event in the human life-cycle...
Yet we often lack the adequate support and road maps to accompany us on the journey and help us make sense of the unrecognizable experiences that can accompany this threshold. Spiritually centered end-of-life counseling offers a creative, heart-centered environment in which these experiences can be contextualized and explored, thus inviting the potential for deep spiritual healing where physical recovery or curing may no longer be possible.
Preparing well for this profound passage, requires touching all that we love along the way. This process can ask of us tremendous courage and willingness to stay present with life. As a counselor and guide, familiar with this territory, I walk alongside you, facilitating the voices of this unique transition to surface, bearing witness to and supporting the integration of what arises.
What is asking for release? What is ready to be celebrated? What gifts are yet to be given? What do I need to grieve? How can I allow myself to deeply receive from those who love me? How do I want to live as I am dying? How can I draw close to my spiritual support?
These and other important questions may arise. Together, we will create a sacred vessel to hold the invitations of this time, tending to the unknowns within a deep well of presence and resource.
Sacred Passage Midwife
Like birth, death is a labor that ushers us across sacred waters...
As a midwife to the dying, I am skilled and adept in navigating the final waters of life, and act as an indispensable guide for the dying and their family across the final threshold.
Together, we create a sacred space where:
- Vigil can be tended
- Dying can happen with greater ease and equanimity
- Presence is heightened
- Important healing between the dying and their loved ones can clarify and take place in a mindful & loving environment
Adding ceremony and ritual, we:- Create beauty and nourishment
- Honor the spiritual dimensions of the end-of-life threshold
- Invoke the participation of sacred elements and principles that enrich, protect and lend their support to the vessel of care surrounding the dying
- Mark the sacred passage
Grief Work
Grief is the very process by which we transform our lives from a path interconnected with our beloved, to one wherein we can rediscover joy, vitality and engagement, while still honoring their absence...
The loss of someone we love can be one of the most disorienting and trying experiences of a lifetime. Following a loss, the support of the family, friends and healthcare providers who have been our community, return to their lives...yet we are still grieving. If we have been a primary caregiver for our loved one, then we may also grieve the loss of purpose that we found in caregiving, a purpose perhaps more singular and meaningful than any we have felt previously.
Grief is the journey by which we reorganize and rediscover our purpose and identity in life. It is not a sign that something is wrong with us. Rather, it is a sign that the processes of nature are working in and on us accurately. The deeper our attachment to our beloved, the deeper this unwinding must necessarily be. Spiritual Counseling witnesses grief as a sacred space that has a vital place in the unfoldment of a fulfilling life. It supports the bereaved to find resources within the grief that allow space from, and greater flexibility within, its intensity. This leads to increased perspective and meaning-making and hones our navigation skills as we engage the delicate dance between our lives and hearts that grief requires.
Shamanic Support
Shamanism speaks to that which lies just beyond the reach of our ordinary senses, yet informs and infuses all that we perceive...
Journeying
Shamanic journeying enables us to access and receive direct support and guidance from a wellspring of unseen spiritual assistance. The immediacy of connection that shamanic journeying makes possible can be an invaluable resource in deepening spiritual resources at end-of-life. As a shamanic practitioner, I will:
- Guide you in journeys to connect with the natural world, animal helpers, benevolent ancestors, and beings who reside in spiritual realms and are available to offer their assistance
- Journey on your behalf to receive guidance on personal topics of inquiry
PsychopompAs a "conductor of Souls," trained in the ancient art of Psychopomp, I assist the Soul, or essence, in crossing over after it has left the body.In my role as a Psychopomp I will:- Prepare the spiritual ground for a Soul’s crossing
- Invoke and solicit unseen ancestral and spiritual assistance to open pathways that support a successful passage
- Support you in connecting with guides specifically available to support your Soul in crossing over
End-of-Life Educator
Loren has a passion for teaching and has developed and taught spiritual care models for hospice volunteer and staff across multiple organizations. She currently serves as core faculty for the Willow Farm Contemplative End-of-Life Care training program, educating hospice professionals, death doulas, volunteers & caregivers, and teaches regularly for Agape Hospice.
Ongoing Trainings
"Loren's capacity to hold a group through the curiosities that live in the realm of end-of-life care is remarkable. Her kind, gentle and poetic approach leaves us all in awe and wonder for the world we are about to step into..." -S.A., Death Doula & Hospice Volunteer
Being with Self, Being with Other, Being with Dying
How does our conscious presence with ourselves—our bodies, minds and hearts—directly inform and enhance our presence with others?
This embodied journey gets to the “heart of the matter”, directing us toward an intimate personal encounter with the active and dynamic continuum between Self and Other. Here, we will gain tools for sitting in the belly of suffering—our own and others, living and dying. This day-long retreat will introduce a variety of presence-practices. Background in meditation practice(s) of any form or tradition is encouraged.
Psycho-Spiritual Dimensions of End-of-Life
Explores the following topics in depth:
- Cultural contexts of end-of-life
- The dissolution of ego during death/dying and the transformative opportunities this process presents
- Meaning-making at end-of-life
- How to work with what arises for us as caregivers when we are in the presence of suffering (not fixing, judging or turning away)
- Gateways for developing presence and self-compassion that arise on the caregiving journey
