Alma & Luna Care Services
End of Life Doula
Serving Santa Clara County, California
What is an End-of-Life Doula?
An End-of-Life (EOL) Doula provides companionship, guidance and support to those facing a terminal illness or close to transitioning (dying). The non-medical holistic approach encompasses emotional, spiritual, and practical care.
An EOL Doula offers resources to help the person transitioning, along with their inner circle (family, chosen family & loved ones), make informed decisions in a supportive environment.
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Learn more about EOL Doulas at INELDA.
Yesenia’s Calling as an EOL Doula
My greatest joy is to explore my inner emotional and spiritual world, to learn new insights and understandings about myself, and when possible heal hurts too. All in the hopes of expanding my understanding of the human experience. This way of being, to search within no matter what I may find, to collect insights and reflect on discoveries is the air that I breath.
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​​Sometimes, those transitioning have a need for someone to explore and hold space for their emotions and discuss fears, concerns, joy, hopes and losses. Someone who they can confide in and know that what is said will be welcomed with reverence. Often, those closest to the dying person are unable to offer this level of listening as they are occupied with logistics and/or navigating their own emotions and thoughts about their loved one's closeness to transitioning.
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I understand how death care can feel heavy, nuanced, isolating and overwhelming at times. I also understand the value of holding space for conversations that promote a more peaceful and dignified transitioning process. I can offer support on both fronts with compassion, patience and skill.
20+ yrs serving
Families & Elders
English & Spanish Speaker
She/Her/Ella
Services Offered
A compassionate space to speak honestly and openly about death and dying
Provide end-of-life care planning support
Incorporate traditions or create new rituals to mark special moments
Bring a focused, intuitive and warm presence to the bedside
Offer holistic, non-medical ways to manage pain
Help loved ones process their emotions and experiences
Discuss advance care directives
Develop a plan for how the space looks, feels and sounds
Encourage appropriate ways of touching the dying person
Assist with physical and practical care to ease the burden on caregivers
Guide loved ones through the early stages of grieving
Support the spiritual practices of all involved
Pet Parents
As a pet parent myself, I know first hand how much these beings mean to us. I remember feeling that no one would ever truly understand how much love and companionship these beings provided me. Know that you do not have to walk the journey of pet transitions alone.
Rest assured that you will not be judged for deeply loving your pet.
I already understand your special, unique connection.
One that will be celebrated and held with compassion.
Respite Services
Caregivers need self-care time,
no matter whom they are caring for.
I gladly provide companionship, conversation and that extra pair of eyes while caregivers care for themselves.
What can caregivers do during respite time?
Some examples are going for a walk, having coffee with a friend, running errands, gardening, taking a nap or doing anything that will help recharge.
What Yesenia Brings to the Table
Along my journey I have been gifted with connecting to fellow travelers, others who are also on a path of emotional and spiritual exploration, also seeking to expand their understanding of the human experience. These beautiful souls have and continue to enrich my life in more ways than I can name.
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No matter the length of time shared, be it a brief exchange or a long time relationship, sharing in those moments of clarity, understanding, grief, anger, sadness, joy and at times peace, these moments are what makes my spirit sing. And wanting more.
As a young girl, I would sit quietly for hours in the company of adults and Elders willing to share their stories, taking in wisdom they were given, learned or gained after a painful experience as well as holding space while they unloaded burdens they had carried.
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Over the years, not much has changed. Today it is normal to strike up a conversation in a grocery store with a person I have never met before. Then, 20 minutes later, each of us with our shopping carts filled with groceries and somehow managing to clear a path for other shoppers, we end up in tears over a profound memory they shared or a heavy burden they verbalized for the first time. Then, with lighter hearts we thank each other for the time offered and go off to our respective Next. Names are irrelevant, the authenticity of the connection during this time and the sacred truths that were shared from the heart is what matters most.
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When I cross paths with a person, most of them intuitively know that they can trust me with their thoughts and emotions, that they can freely and safely share what is on their mind and in their hearts. Somehow they know that I can hold space for what they are holding, even if it seems silly or scary to them. When the person does decide to share, ​what happens after is what ever the person needs at the moment: someone to listen, someone to sit in silence with, someone to give them permission to feel their feeling(s), someone to help sort out jumbled thoughts, someone to co-exist with them for that moment, offering complete undivided attention, listening with their whole self and with compassion and curiosity. Someone who can hold space for their whole self, which ever version of themselves that wishes to surface at that time.
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What I receive in return is the gift of walking with another being into their emotional and spiritual world, where the unknown lurks and possibilities await.
