Alexandra Derwen

AG Derwen (they/them) is founder of the Doula course and social enterprise, author of 3 books called the Lost Rites which chart the loss and reclamation of our death rites and mourning practices from the personal to the collective and the systemic. More than 30 years a death doula in many different ways Alexandra is a keener, lamenter, performance poet and ceremonialist. An experienced facilitator and holder of space. Alexandra is down to earth and no nonsense, straight talking and suffers no fools; while being an extremely loving presence at the same time.

Tuomas Rounakari

Dr Tuomas Rounakari (he/him) is a violinist, lamenter, ethnomusicologist and co-director of the social enterprise. From Finland, Tuomas has for decades been holding lament workshops witnessing 1000s of laments. Tuomas and Alexandra met in person in 2024 and have been collaborating and co-creating ever since with the Bear Awakens, Dragon Awakens and Alchemy of Lament retreats as well as MCs for the Ash&Seed ConFests. For more information and all of Tuomas' incredible body of work check out: www.rounakari.com

Jana Gorst

Jana Gorst (she / her) is a hospice nurse and yoga teacher of many decades experience and co-founder of our Slovakian sister school of death doulas. Jana joined the 2018 Journey with Death in Lancaster in UK before heeding the call of the ancestors back to her native Slovakia in 2019. Weaving the slavic traditions into death care and reclaiming, remembering and reimagining community led end of life care in Czechia and Slovakia; Jana is a tremendously loving and gentle presence and brilliant facilitator of groups.

Beth Rabjohns

Introducing Beth Rabjohns (they / them) who has this to say: "Shwmae, I am Beth, a glad member of this Death Doula community; I journeyed with Death in 2024-2025 after taking part in the filmed retreat project ‘The Grief Astronomers’, and in the wake of my Father’s death. 

I am a queer, fat, autistic and creative person who is motivated by co-creating community spaces safe enough for the unmasking of our authentic and oppressed parts. My guiding principle is one of and for the liberation of all bodies and beings, seen and unseen. I’m passionate about connecting with the land of Cymru through Welsh language and unlearning the systems of domination and extraction that harm people, places, and cultural expression."

Gaia Devine

Introducing Gaia Devine (they / them) who has this to say: "I am honoured to support this retreat in service to the sacred work of tending to life's thresholds, bringing a deep reverence for grief, remembrance, and the unseen worlds that accompany us through death, transformation, and rebirth. My recent pilgrimage, returning to my ancestral roots, deepened my understanding that remembrance is ancestral, ecological, and collective, inviting us into presence and deeper relationship with body, land, and lineage. Alongside my death doula training, I am studying to become a Family Constellations facilitator, exploring how inherited stories and collective histories shape the ways we live, love, grieve, and belong. My work centres on creating spaces where people can reconnect with the wisdom of their bodies through womb circles, ancestral remembrance, and embodied practices that honour our cyclical relationship with the natural world. Rooted in an ongoing commitment to decolonisation as an embodied practice, I hold space with humility, compassion, and trust in the intelligence of both body and spirit, honouring each person's unique path home."

Luke Roberts

Introducing Luke Roberts (he / him) who has this to say: "My name is Luke. I am a writer whose interest in death, the necessity of grief and contemplative practice long preceded my own experience of sustained life-threatening illness, during which I met Alexandra and completed the Journey With Death course as well as attending many other events via Sacred Circle. 

My interests lie in myth, folklore, depth psychology and the relationships between psyche, spirituality, suffering, death and the world.  

I also believe humour has an important place in this work. Or perhaps I’m simply using that as an excuse to be undignified. 

I look forward to meeting everyone."

Sarah Ryan

Sarah (she / her) has been on the journey with death since 2025. She has a background in social enterprise working with marginalised groups as well as facilitation, activism, body work, older person care, art and horticulture. Life quest could be distilled down to the tending of life and nature, while it's young, maturing and dying.

Stefanie Blech

We are delighted Stefanie (she/her) returns again as a support facilitator for the 5th time! And is also our Community Coordinator.Originally from Germany and for many years calling Ireland home, Stefanie is a nature lover, grief and death doula and holistic practitioner. Guided by a lifelong curiosity about the human experience, her work is deeply inspired by nature, sound, movement, creativity, and the wisdom of life's cycles.