Glossary

Acceptance
The process of recognizing and facing reality as it is, without attempting to deny, change, or avoid it. At ESFIM, acceptance is an antidote to denial, as it allows us to embrace our experiences, including death and grief, in an honest and compassionate manner. By accepting what we cannot change, we begin the process of healing and personal growth.

Compassionate Accompaniment
Integral process of support and guidance offered to those who explore the dimensions of death, grief and personal transformation. It implies a loving, compassionate and active , receptive presence. This type of accompaniment is based on the fundamental truth that we all go through losses, transform through grief, and are going to die, on connection through the appreciation of our human condtion, fostering healing and personal growth the fundamental truth that we all go through losses, transform through grief, and are going to die, in connection through the appreciation of our human condtion, fostering healing and personal growth.

Self-awareness
Is the basis for a more genuine and authentic connection with oneself and others. It invites the conscious and intentional practice of observing our projections and reactions as reflection of our assumptions, limitations, bias, and all that contributes to our current state of being, and of assuming full responsibility for them. Through self-awareness, we explore the deeper layers of our being, understand what motivates our emotions, thoughts, and behavioral patterns in order to establish and sustain meaningful connection with self, other, and our world, without needing to control or change what arises in the present moment.

Self-reflection
Is the mirror and the magnifying glass that allows us to carefully observe and analyze our assumptions, limitations, biases, and everything that contributes to our current state of being. Through self-reflection, we explore the way these impact our perceptions, our life, our circumstances, and those we come in contact with. We deepen in the way we process our experiences and the learning from them, inviting contemplation and new perspectives. In this process, we make room for insight, and move towards conscious transformation.

Self-responsibility
It is the choice—once we have become self-aware, have reflected on everything that contributes to our current state of being, and hold ourselved accountable based on our deepest truths—to claim our sovereignty and become the authority of our full experience. We acknowledge that we are the sole responsible for how we feel, perceive, express, receive and make meaning of the fullness of who we are as generators of our reality. We take responsibility for our choices, actions, and responses, cultivating our autonomy in pioneering the path of our living and dying, recognizing that it is up to us to practice healthier, more authentic ways of being, serving, and connecting with ourselves and the world.

Identity
Our perception and understanding of ourselves, which includes personal characteristics, values, beliefs, experiences, and relationships. Identity is explored as part of the process of self-awareness and personal growth, helping us to better understand who we are and how we relate to the world around us in the context of life, death and grief ,beyond our patterns and defenses.

Illusion of Separation, Property, Control
Misguided or distorted perception we have about reality, the separation between us and what surrounds us, that we have rights over certain aspects of our experience and no responsibility, that to avoid the unfamiliar and the inevitable we must control ourselves, others, and the environment. At ESFIM, it is addressed through the process of awareness and reflection, exploring how these illusions influence our understanding of life, death, transitions, and the meaning of our existence.

Intention
The deliberate definition of our purpose to collaborate and regenerate with the cycles of life, death, and transition. Intention sets out the conscious path of our learning, growth, and evolution, founded on its essence and not in what form it may take. As we manifest our intention, it evolves and guides us further. In an organic, reciprocal way, intention evolves through us, and we evolve with it.

Symbolic language
Signs, symbols, synchronicities, images and imaginal visions, both in dreams and waking life, are coded messages that guide us towards a greater understanding of ourselves and the world around us, thus facilitating the process of exploration and healing in the context of death, grief, and life transitions. By responsibly breaking through limiting patterns, defenses, and beliefs, symbolic language facilitates the exploration of death and grief in a more nuanced, personal way, connecting us to meaning and deeper truths.

Death
Permanent cessation of vital functions of an organism. In a symbolic context, it refers to the transformation, change, transformation, or termination of a stage of life or an aspect of ourselves. Therefore, when we talk about death we do not refer only to biological death.

Symbolic Death
Processes of personal transformation in which a symbolic sense of termination or closure is experienced, similar to the concept of death, but which does not imply a literal physical cessation .These experiences manifest in dreams, changes, losses, or other moments of transition, marking the end of a stage, pattern, or aspect, and the beginning of a new phase of development and personal growth.

Transition Processes
Stages of adaptation, growth, and transformation in a person and aspects of their life as a result of changes, losses, grief, and deaths. These are processes that involve leaving behind the familiar in a previous stage stage of life and identity to embrace the unfamiliar of a new situation, role, and approach in life.

Surrender
Process of liberation through acceptance of and collaboration with that which we cannot control or change. It allows us to soften and release resistances, to become more receptive to the fullness of the present experience. Through surrender, we cultivate unconditional trust in and allow ourselves to flow with the natural course of life and its transition cycles, finding peace and ease in the midst of challenging and uncomfortable circumstances.