Peaceful Exit - by Sarah Cavanaugh & Lynya Floyd (Paperback)

About the Book

Death is inevitable. What will your final days look like?

Book Synopsis

Death is inevitable. What will your final days look like?

For some of us, death will be quick and unexpected. But most of us will have time to think about and plan a peaceful goodbye- if we choose to. Taking the opportunity to prepare for your own death well in advance is an act of service to those you love, as well as to yourself. This book shows you how to do just that.

In Peaceful Exit, podcast host, instructor, and author Sarah Cavanaugh draws from years of research on death and dying to help you reimagine and plan for your own death. Along with her expertise, she shares stories and advice from dozens of experts, colleagues, and friends to help you envision your ideal choices. This guide teaches you:

• How to make peace with your relationships, your possessions, and your body while you're living-instead of scrambling for resolution in your final hours
• How to start considering what you want your final days to look like and how you would like your body to be treated after you die
• How to communicate your plans and wishes to your loved ones to make sure they are carried out

Many people avoid thinking about death, but eventually, we'll all have to. This book invites you to open yourself up to all the possible ways you can transition, celebrate your life, and choose what happens to you. Dying well is an art form. Peaceful Exit gives you the tools to learn that art and create a masterpiece for your final days.

Review Quotes

"In this culture of denying and fearing a fact of life-that we die-Sarah Cavanaugh's Peaceful Exit provides deep, inspiring insight about approaching the cycle of life. Reading this book will [help you] find greater meaning and joy in this part of being human and alive." -Dacher Keltner, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life

"Peaceful Exit is a compassionate invitation to face one of life's most universal realities with greater intention, honesty, and heart. Sarah Cavanaugh gently guides readers through the emotional and practical work of preparing for the end of life, showing that these conversations aren't just about dying well-they're about living more fully. This is a thoughtful and deeply needed resource for anyone hoping to bring more peace to themselves and the people they love." -Claire Bidwell Smith, licensed therapist, grief expert, and author of five books, including Conscious Grieving: A Transformative Approach to Healing from Loss

"Peaceful Exit is the book I wish I had at the beginning of my work to hand to clients and their families. And my own family. Sarah Cavanaugh writes with the clarity of someone who has done the hardest kind of homework, sitting inside her own unfinished grief and turning it into a map for the rest of us. What moves me most isn't the practicality, though the praise list, patch list, and pardon list alone are worth the price of admission. It's her insistence that making peace with death is really about making peace with life, right now, before the clock forces the issue. As someone who not only sits with the dying for a living but also faces my mortality every waking moment, I can tell you the work in these pages isn't theoretical. It's the work. Cavanaugh has given readers permission to do it early, on their own terms, with love instead of panic. This book belongs in the hands of anyone who has ever loved someone mortal, which is to say, everyone." -Darnell Lamont Walker, Emmy-nominated children's television writer, producer, death doula, and author of Never Can Say Goodbye: The Life of a Death Doula and the Art of a Peaceful End

"At its heart, this book is an antidote to avoidance by encouraging you to imagine a peaceful life. Sarah encourages readers to confront mortality, not with dread but with curiosity, courage, and purpose. These stories are vivid and engaging, and the practical guidance is the spark to get you going without ever feeling overwhelming. This is a guide for living well as much as it is a guide for dying well." -Lynne Twist, founder of the Soul of Money Institute and author of The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life