WELCOME TO IKIRU
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Death is an inevitability that we all share. It is the natural conclusion of all living things. However, though our time in these bodies is finite, there is incredible potential to live more intentionally, with deeper meaning, with greater comfort and greater peace of mind through our last breaths.
IKIRU was established with three goals in mind:
Drawing on deep experience as a caregiver, a long career in nonprofit management, and a background in the arts, I offer an organized, culturally-sensitive, and creative approach to serving IKIRU clients and their families. It would be my privilege to discuss your unique needs and goals, and to support you and your loved ones as your End of Life Doula. Mina Devadas, Founder & End of Life Doula |
ABOUT MINA
Mina has been an end of life doula and hospice volunteer since 2017, serving clients and patients in private homes, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, assisted living and nursing facilities, and in acute hospice facilities. She also has worked for more than 25 years in the nonprofit and higher education sectors with organizations including the Children's Defense Fund, the National Childhood Cancer Foundation, The New School, and the State University of New York. Born in Washington, D.C. to parents of Japanese and Indian origins, she calls the National Capital Region her home. Mina received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). She is a current member of the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA).
JOURNEY TO STARTING IKIRU
By my late 40s, I had faced the deaths or serious illnesses of several friends and both of my parents. For nearly three years, I had accompanied my father as a caregiver and medical representative on his end of life journey. And, yet, none of those experiences prepared me for the unimaginable sudden loss of my beloved 54-year-old husband from stomach cancer.
Given his prognosis that he had less than one year to live, we quickly shifted to focus on the things that he felt most compelled to get done, as well as connecting to the people he was eager to see or speak with. We filled each remaining day, each hour, with love and purpose. As it turned out, we had fewer than 12 weeks left.
Over the course of his treatments, hospitalizations, and in hospice care, we were struck by how many people were navigating illnesses and dying alone or with few visitors. Knowledge of their suffering in solitude made us sad. Perhaps it was from hope or magical thinking that we dreamed together of volunteering when he felt better.
Following his death, compelled by our profound journey, I began considering how I might bring together my professional and personal experiences to help others live and die more intentionally and with greater comfort, meaning and peace of mind. I pursued training with the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA), and, in 2017, launched IKIRU to spark more positive conversations about death as part of life's continuum, to get people considering and planning earlier, and to provide compassionate, culturally sensitive EOL Doula services to people as they plan for the end of their lives.
Given his prognosis that he had less than one year to live, we quickly shifted to focus on the things that he felt most compelled to get done, as well as connecting to the people he was eager to see or speak with. We filled each remaining day, each hour, with love and purpose. As it turned out, we had fewer than 12 weeks left.
Over the course of his treatments, hospitalizations, and in hospice care, we were struck by how many people were navigating illnesses and dying alone or with few visitors. Knowledge of their suffering in solitude made us sad. Perhaps it was from hope or magical thinking that we dreamed together of volunteering when he felt better.
Following his death, compelled by our profound journey, I began considering how I might bring together my professional and personal experiences to help others live and die more intentionally and with greater comfort, meaning and peace of mind. I pursued training with the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA), and, in 2017, launched IKIRU to spark more positive conversations about death as part of life's continuum, to get people considering and planning earlier, and to provide compassionate, culturally sensitive EOL Doula services to people as they plan for the end of their lives.