Wind Phones Are Helping Grievers in Unexpected Ways

The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Sending a message to someone we love on the wind using a Wind Phone is a beautiful way to express grief. Amy Dawson knows the power of being able to express grief emotions. She’s a Master Grief Coach and manages the My Wind Phone website. Amy didn’t originate the Wind Phone but she promotes the phones on her website. The first Wind Phone was created in Japan by Itaru Sasaki, using a phone booth and a rotary phone. The phones aren’t connected to any phone lines or modern wireless service. The person using the Wind Phone can talk into the phone, expressing their grief over a loss. It’s a dedicated space for grief, private, secure. Sasaki had created a way to continue communication after the death of a loved one.

Amy knows about grief, having experienced the loss of her daughter Emily from a terminal illness just after the start of the pandemic. Amy had read about Wind Phones, and felt drawn to the phones as a way of staying connected to Emily. Connecting people with the phones, and seeing the comfort they provide, gives Amy joy.

Here’s what Amy writes about her story: As of November 1, 2023, I have located and mapped over 165 Wind Phones, and new ones are added regularly. Exceptional, caring individuals inspired by Itaru have created and installed beautiful versions of a wind phone, sacred spaces for people to reflect and heal their grief. A place where those who grieve can continue and deepen their connection to the people they love on the other side. We often hear that when there is deep grief, there is great love; it is true. Creating this website and helping others ease their pain is where I choose to channel my grief. It is my way of making any sort of meaning from my beautiful daughter Emily dying. I believe it to be a calling that Emily guided me to, and I will live the rest of my life to make her proud.

Read about Wind Phones and how they work at mywindphone.com.

Find a Wind Phone in your location here.

Have a Wind Phone? Register the location of your phone here.

Visit internationaldoulalifemovement.com to learn more about doulas, or connect with others who are doing death doula work.

Register for IDLM’s FREE 2024 Birthday Bash Jan. 8 - 12, 2024 here.

If you’re interested in becoming a certified death doula through IDLM, click here.

Access all the courses that IDLM provides here.

See all the events that IDLM is offering by clicking here.

Get your set of Death Deck cards here! Use the code HOSPICE20 for 20% off your order.

Purchase the End of Life Deck for use with people with serious or terminal illness here.

Find The Death Deck on social media: Facebook Twitter (X) Instagram

Find more podcast episodes from The Heart of Hospice at The Heart of Hospice Podcast (theheartofhospice.com)

Book podcast host Helen Bauer to speak at your event or conference by sending an email to [e-mail].

Follow The Heart of Hospice on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Connect with The Heart of Hospice podcast on The Whole Care Network, along with a host of other caregiving podcasts by clicking here.