Veronica (V) Wiley (they/them)
MBA, CDP, E-RYT 500, YACEP
V was born and raised in Denver, CO and serves the community in various ways as a caregiver, healer, educator, and community organizer. With degrees in music and business, certificates in yoga instruction, end-of-life doula care, dementia care, nature therapy, akashic records reading, and over a decade of experience facilitating classes and sessions, V has a multitude of expertise to draw from in serving individual and community needs. A strong background in the arts and humanities combined with an empathic nature enables V to meet people where they are from both a trauma-informed and culturally informed perspective. Passionate about the environment and more-than-human world, V is committed to educating and supporting folks through environmental and social sustainability projects, including working through unacknowledged, collective grief. V is a proud member of the Colorado End-of-Life Collaborative, a 501c (6) nonprofit organization that brings together end-of-life doulas and other resources for end-of-life care.
Vision & Mission
“To transform perceptions and experiences of dying by facilitating conversations, activities, & practices that embrace human death as a part of nature through the incorporation of death doula services, ecotherapy, and yogic teachings while promoting equitable access to quality end-of-life and death care.”
F.A.Q
What is a death doula?
A death, Doula is someone who provides physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual support before, during, and after the natural dying process. They can be a great resource in helping plan and carry out a vigil for someone nearing the end of their life. They can also create containers for folks to explore their relationship with their own mortality, fears, or questions about death and dying.
What’s the difference between working with a death doula and being on hospice?
A Death Doula is someone who can provide support to anyone at any point in their journey, whether they have a terminal diagnosis or not, similar to palliative care. Hospice is specifically for people who have a terminal diagnosis and a prognosis of six months or less to live death. Doulas often work in coordination with hospice to provide additional support when hospice can’t be present. While hospice offers 24/7 nurse support via phone, they do not provide round the clock in-person care. Death Doulas can either be there to help support in person or coordinate a schedule for family and friends to provide that support. Death Doulas also provide education about end of life and disposition options. My practice also includes support for dementia care and grief, in addition to vigil planning and support. Read more about vigil planning:
What is Ecotherapy?
Ecotherapy is based off of the principles and theory of Ecopsychology, which proposes that as humans our well-being is intrinsically linked to the planet’s overall well-being. This is not simply about using nature as a therapeutic tool, rather focusing on the relationship between the human and more-than-human world and creating reciprocity between the two as our ancient ancestors lived. When adding an ecotherapy lens to palliative care, the question of one’s relationship with nature directly impacts one’s quality of life. Read more here:
What is yoga?
Unlike what most people think of as yoga, which is primarily limited to physical postures, Yoga is actually an ethical theory of moral philosophical from South Asia. My practice, Corpse Pose Yoga, focuses on including the philosophical teachings as well as physical poses, breath techniques, and meditation techniques aimed at supporting people through grief, death anxiety, and mortality contemplation.
What is Corpse Pose Yoga?
Corpse Pose Yoga is about generating a healthy mindset regarding the acceptance of mortality, living and dying in right relationship with the world around us. Incorporating yoga philosophy and somatic ecotherapy, V Wiley offers insight and practical guidance through the mysteries of living, loving, dying, and grieving.
Based on the philosophy of Yoga from the South Asian tradition, Corpse Pose Yoga focuses primarily on devotion to autonomy and sovereignty with the understanding that what is truly in the best interest for one person is also in the best interest for all people. In order to think clearly and make choices aligned with right action, the system of Yoga presented by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra outlines the 8 Limbs of Yoga as a practical means of creating space for clear thinking. Yama (the first of the 8 Limbs of Yoga, and also the name for Death from the Upanishads) includes the principles of ahimsa – activism against systemic harm, satya – reliance on truth and facts, asteya – non-stealing, brahmacarya – respect for personal boundaries, and aparigraha – non-hoarding. You can read more about the how the 8 Limbs of Yoga applies specifically to grieving and dying here:
