HOSPICE PHYSICIAN AND END-OF-LIFE DOULA
Articles
Conversations - Interviews - Presentations
“Conscious Dying, Fear of Death, and the Sacred Art of Letting Go | TWSP w/ Aditi Sethi”
Fear of death is pretty normal; in fact, it's a symptom of a culture that stopped teaching us how to die. In this episode, hospice physician and end-of-life doula Aditi Sethi joins us to explore what we are actually afraid of when we think about leaving this body, how community transforms the dying experience, why so many spiritual traditions treat the moment of death as the most important moment of a life, and what it looks like to build a sacred, home-based alternative to the isolation of modern dying.
“Therapist Uncensored Podcast - Facing Death, Finding Life Conscious Dying with Dr. Aditi Sethi
Dr. Aditi Sethi, the founder of the Center for Conscious Living & Dying, shares her profound journey into the realm of death and dying. She discusses the importance of presence, the healing power of music, and challenges faced in community-based end-of-life care. Alongside Sue Marriott, they explore the profound themes surrounding death and dying, emphasizing the importance of embracing death to enhance life. From concepts like ecstatic dying to the role of psychedelics in alleviating the fear of death, Aditi shares insights from her experiences as a death doula.
“Deathcare in Community: Four Models from Around the World Global Wellness Institute” - Dying Well Initiative with Christine Caldwell
At the end of life, no one should face death alone. Across cultures and continents, communities have developed unique ways to support the dying and their loved ones—offering care, companionship, and guidance through one of life’s most profound transitions. While each model is shaped by its local context, the need for communal support remains universal. Hosted by the Dying Well Initiative, a part of the the Global Wellness Institute, four deathcare practitioners from Latin America, New Zealand, and North America shared their insights and experiences on building in-community deathcare programs for the dying, their loved ones, and the community-at-large. This event is an invitation to reflect on how we, too, can foster stronger, more compassionate networks of care in our own communities.
"Finding Light in Life's Darkest Moments" - Uplifters Podcast with Aransas Savas
Through her own recent experiences of profound loss – including the unexpected death of her beloved father and a dear friend – Aditi demonstrates how conscious grieving can transform our relationship with death. The story of her young son Avi's raw, honest grieving at the community fire after his grandfather's passing stands as a powerful testament to what's possible when we create space for authentic emotion instead of hiding it away.
CCLD, based in Swannanoa, NC, provides compassionate end-of-life care in a home-like environment, bridging caregiving gaps and complementing traditional hospice services. Beyond direct care, CCLD hosts workshops, training programs, and grief-tending retreats to foster death awareness and intentional living. Its philosophy honors all seasons of life, offering individuals and families the space to meet death with dignity and grace.
Brody Hartman interviewed Aditi for this Portrait of Purpose to explore the journey that led to her groundbreaking work, and my photographs of her and the CCLD campus accompany this story as expressions of her commitment to conscious living and dying.
“The Last Ecstatic Days" - Panel discussion on Death, Dying and Bereavement Care
Dr Aditi Sethi joins others with Palliative Care Tasmania for this thought-provoking panel discussion.
“The Last Ecstatic Days" Discussion with Compassionate Communities
Dr Aditi Sethi joins Dr Jo Doran (Director, Compassionate Communities Australia) in conversation. www.compassionatecommunities.au
Good Grief Radio - “The Last Ecstatic Days" with Cheryl Espinosa-Jones
"Ethan Sisser wanted to die in ecstasy, surrounded by music, community, beauty, but mostly, love. His wishes did not fit neatly into even the hospice paradigm but he was able to draw together a group of supporters, one of whom offered him room in his home so that Ethan's community could care for him in the way he wanted. He also found Aditi Sethi, a palliative care and hospice doctor who agreed to act as his death doula, guiding him (and all of them) along the way. The film of his final days, The Last Ecstatic Days, captures a death epitomizing love and grace, with Aditi guiding those around Ethan to support him as he navigated his final passage from brain cancer. Aditi comes to the show to share what the experience meant to her and how she has evolved her work to embody the message that we can all die in a sacred way with the right resources and a loving community."
EOL University Podcast: “The Last Ecstatic Days:” How to Die Without Fear
“My guest Dr. Aditi Sethi-Brown is a hospice and palliative care physician, end-of-life doula, and musician. She is the founder and executive director of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying and an emerging and important voice for shifting our cultures understanding and approach to dying, death, and bereavement care. She discusses the documentary film The Last Ecstatic Days, which features her work with a very special patient at the end of his life.”
Infinite Wisdom with Dr. Aditi Sethi
Infinite Wisdom Guest Dr. Aditi Sethi shares her incredible story from her Indian roots to becoming a medical doctor to founding and running the Center for Conscious Living & Dying in the Asheville, NC area.
“The Last Ecstatic Days" panel discussion with SoundMind Pyschedelic Training Program
A post-screening discussion of “The Last Ecstatic Days” with Dr. Aditi Sethi from the Center of Conscious Living and Preeti Sethi from the SoundMind psychedelic training program.
Conscious Living and Dying with Dr. Aditi Sethi
“Welcome to Twice 5 Miles Radio with your host, James Navé. Today, I'm joined by Dr. Aditi Sethi, Director of The Center for Conscious Living and Dying in Swannanoa, NC. Aditi is dedicated to exploring how closeness to death can deepen our understanding of life and connect us to its profound mysteries. Our connection began when I selected speakers for TEDx Asheville, where I also had the pleasure of coaching Aditi. In our conversation, we delve into the essence of life and death, Aditi's preparation for her impactful TEDx talk, and I'll share key insights on effective public speaking. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion that promises to enlighten and inspire.”
“The Last Ecstatic Days" panel discussion with Open Path Psychotherapy Collective
A post-screening discussion of “The Last Ecstatic Days” with director Scott Kirschenbaum, Dr. Aditi Sethi of Center of Conscious Living and Dying and Open Path Psychotherapy’s Paul Fugelsang.
Best Life Best Death with Diane Hullet
Conversations about mortality -- life, death and what matters most with Diane Hullet.
The Last Ecstatic Days: An invitation to Live and Die Consciously with Aditi Sethi
Wilka Roig, president of Fundación Elisabeth Kübler-Ross México Centro, talks with Aditi Sethi, co-protagonist of the documentary The Last Ecstatic Days, and founder and director of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying in Asheville, North Carolina, about the call and the mission to the work of compassionate accompaniment and the work of end-of-life Doula.
All Healing Is Release: Conscious Dying as a Rite of Passage
“All Healing is Release: Conscious Dying as a Rite of Passage” Panel Discussion at the form & concept art gallery on October 20, 2023, as part of the Santa Fe International Film Festival. Panelists: * Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D., Buddhist Teacher, Founder of Upaya * Dr. Aditi Sethi, star of “The Last Ecstatic Days” and Executive Director of the Center for Conscious Living & Dying * Greg Lathrop, traditional medicine elder, rites of passage facilitator and Elder Council for the Center for Conscious Living & Dying * Scott Kirschenbaum, Director, The Last Ecstatic Days
Care of those dying and our own understanding of death is evergrowing. The Center for Conscious Living and Dying (CCLD) is a leader in that growth, whose holistic model celebrates the sacred wholeness of the human spirit, honors diversity, and embraces the final season of life. With the support of volunteer caregivers, CCLD is community and provides compassionate care in a peaceful, dignified, non-medicalized environment, with focus on a dying person's unique needs. Our guest is Dr. Aditi Sethi, hospice and palliative care physician, end-of-life doula, musician, and Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying.
The Value of Death w/Aditi Sethi on You're Going to Die: The Podcast!
Join host Ned Buskirk in conversation with Dr. Aditi Sethi, hospice & palliative care physician, end-of-life doula, & musician, talking about her work as Founder & Executive Director of the Center for Conscious Living & Dying, the dying of Ethan Sisser captured in the documentary The Last Ecstatic Days, & how Aditi’s life journey has led to her work & being in the world.
Practicing Gospel: Christian Talk with a Progressive Twist
Aditi shared with us her journey into establishing and developing the Center and to help us understand more fully its vision and work.
Honoring the Cycles of Living and Dying: The Key to Understanding Regenerative Communities
Join Page Faye as she dives into life, death and how intimacy with death brings us closer to aliveness with Dr. Aditi Sethi. “Aditi is a such a powerful force, and illuminated for me so many links between how our community systems have evolved to try to 'erase' death in similar ways to our agricultural systems. And in doing so we only make our social and food systems that much sicker...”
The Heart of Hospice Podcast: Interview with Aditi Sethi, MD
"Dr. Aditi Sethi-Brown, founder of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying, has devoted her career to promoting positive death experiences. She’s a rare hybrid in healthcare, both a hospice physician and an end of life doula. According to the Center for Conscious Living and Dying (CCLD) website, “CCLD has a vision for death, dying, and grief that involves greater community involvement and connection to the mystery of this season of life. Death is a mirror in which our own lives are reflected”. Aditi feels deeply the importance of supporting dying patients with not only medical skills, but with compassion and empathy. She started volunteering in hospice at age 17, realizing early in her career that she wanted to work in end of life care. Aditi has a beautiful dedication and philosophy that guides the work she does with seriously ill patients and their families."
"My guest Dr. Aditi Sethi is a hospice and palliative care physician and end-of-life doula. She is the founder and executive director of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying, a community supported end-of-life care home near Asheville NC. Aditi shares her journey toward working with death and dying and the creative inspiration that is bringing CCLD into existence. We discuss why the care home model may be the solution to many problems currently facing hospice and end-of-life care."
Reimagine: “The Last Ecstatic Days: A Conversation About Community Care.”
A conversation with Aditi Sethi, MD and Hannah Fowler, RN regarding the film "The Last Ecstatic Days,"
Reimagine: “Table Talk South Asian Perspectives on Palliative Care”
Drawing on medicine, end-of-life doula work, spirituality, activism, and the arts, this Table Talk, with Naheed Dosani, MD and Aditi Sethi, MD, provides South Asian perspectives on providing comfort and palliative care to the dying.
Ram Dass: Love Serve Remember Foundation: Women's Satsang: "Living and Dying with Care."
Aditi shares how we can embrace the divine feminine as we live our lives with awareness and presence and approach “letting go," and “death” in all its forms.
VNA (Visiting Nurse Association) Bereavement Team Series: “Conscious Death, Conscious Life”
Aditi shares her experience as a Hospice Doc and End-of-life Guide
UU Church: “Conscious Living, Conscious Dying”
Aditi and Jay offer music and reflections for UU church service in Black Mountain, NC.
Embodied: Meet The People Who Ease The Process of Death: End-Of-Life Doulas
In a time of ongoing collective grief, how are you thinking about your relationship to death? The work of death doulas can help you understand that transition.
Asheville Wisdom Exchange: “Conscious Life, Conscious Death.”
Death like life, can be approached with intention, curiosity and awareness and a willingness to be engaged with an open heart and mind. Hospice doctor Aditi Sethi-Brown and green cemetery operator Cassie Barrett share their first-hand experiences working with individuals and families who chose to approach death consciously and the incredible healing and peace that is possible when death is approached with grace. They will share their experiences as death doulas, and with home funerals and green burials.
"This week in the Liminal we meet Hospice physician & end-of-life doula, Dr. Aditi Sethi, and musician & Hospice music therapist, Jay Brown, and listen to their illuminating original songs, stories, and reflections on the role of music in Hospice settings."
"'Death is not a failure,' says Hospice doc, Aditi Sethi-Brown." A conversation with Biographer, Sheridan Hill
The Institute for The Study of Birth, Breath and Death
A discussion on Death and Dying during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
A reflection of the dying process, home funeral and green burial of beloved Paula Brown.
A conversation with Dr. Aditi Sethi-Brown, a musician, community organizer, budding entrepreneur and hospice & palliative medicine physician. We talk about end of life care, music, role conflict and much more.
Transforming Space, Self, and Loss
Part of Melody Lebaron's Agents of Transformation series, this is an interview with Aditi and Cassie, co-founders of Center for Conscious Living and Dying.
Fab Friday, Health and Wellness Series Dying at Home
Online webinar for "Osher LIfelong Learning Institute," entitled "Dying at Home," offering information and education regarding Hospice services, End-of-Life Doula services, Green Burials and more.
"Supporting Others Through Grief" - In a culture of death avoidance, when people are grieving, we don't really know how to support them. We haven't been given the tools and how to care for others in this vulnerable time isn't modelled for us. That results in a lot of people being isolated in their grief - a time when they need their community the most. Aditi Sethi-Brown, a hospice doctor, and Cassie Barrett, a green cemetery operator have held space for many people and families through their grief and will share tips on what we can do to increase our capacity to hold space for others as they grieve.
Discussion about the Ceremonial Grief Concerts that are offered quarterly by a group based in Asheville, NC, harnessing the powers of collective grieving and music to hold space for the work of spiritual transformation in the wake of grief.
Reflections
November 28, 2022
Center for Conscious Living & Dying plans to launch in Fall 2023! In the meantime you can check out our new website: www.ccld.community.
December 20, 2021
Recently, I, along with others in the Asheville community, had the honor of caring for Ethan Sisser during his final days of life. He was a 36-year-old soulful man with brain cancer, who requested his dying process be filmed with the intention of alleviating fears of dying.
We are excited to share that “The Last Ecstatic Days,” a feature documentary about dying well will be released in Winter 2022.
The film will bring you inside the world of conscious dying, traveling hand-in-hand with Ethan "E3” on his profoundly vulnerable journey to the other side. At the height of the pandemic he became a beloved social media influencer. He inspired thousands around the world with his message of conscious dying: “I am embodied. I am empowered. I am ecstatic.” This film is part of his powerful legacy.
You can view the teaser trailer above. If you are inspired, please donate to support the production/post-production of this film:
http://www.gleaningsfoundation.org/?page_id=1154
Website: https://www.thelastecstaticdaysmovie.com/
With gratitude!
December 17, 2021
"Green burials can change our relationship with death — and help the Earth."
Washington Post Article by Mallory McDuff, author of "Our Last Best Act," discusses green burials and honors Paula Brown, one of my dearest friends and the mother of my husband, Jay.
