Monday 9am/9pmET

Winner of Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network’s
Spring Host Extravaganza 2019!

The Story Walking Radio Hour with Wendy Fachon

Tune in to Nature’s loving vibes. Listen to nature-inspired stories and interviews with environmental educators for new ideas about how to make our world a better place. Sustainable Living Newswriter, nature walker and youth educator Wendy Nadherny Fachon hosts the Story Walker Radio Hour to talk about issues that matter and to introduce you to people who are coming up with creative… sensible… solutions. Let’s engage with Earth… with Spirit… and with one another… heart to heart… to solve problems and co-create more meaningful life stories. By integrating environmentalism into our professional vocations and passionate avocations, we contribute to building a healthier, more beautiful and sustainable world

www.storywalking.com  and www.wendyfachon.blog
Join Wendy on facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/StoryWalkingRadio

Broadcasts Weekly Monday 9am & 9pmET

Wendy’s Planet Health This Week

Monday 9am/9pmET

Leaving a Greener Legacy: Choices for Natural Burial

Guest Ann Porto, Psy.D.  Volunteer Board Member, Funeral Consumers Alliance

With people becoming more environmentally and economically conscious in their everyday life purchasing decisions, such as food and energy, there is also a growing interest in greener end-of-life decisions, such as home vigils and green burials. By its purest definition, green burial is the interment of the body of a dead person directly in the soil, in a manner that allows the body to be naturally recycled. Green burial is also achieved by avoiding the toxic process of embalming and simply placing the body in a biodegradable coffin or shroud and burying the body in a natural setting. Naturally-landscaped cemeteries are ideal places for walking, spiritual contemplation and the discovery of intriguing stories, which will become evident as this episode goes story walking through Glenwood Cemetery and endeavors to alleviate the fear of Death.

Guest Ann Porto, Psy.D. is a semi-retired clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist with over 35 years of experience in Rhode Island. She is a volunteer board member of the Rhode Island organization that represents the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA). As a member of the FCA she educates as a public speaker on the topic of consumer rights, environmentally sustainable green burials and home vigils. Dr. Porto speaks about the importance of planning ahead for the inevitable, and how the alliance, as a free public resource, can provide recommendations that will save us time, energy and money. She and the other board members monitor the funeral industry’s compliance with government and health standards. They also advocate for consumer rights.

In addition, Dr. Porto is ordained as a lay non-denominational minister in the lineage of Mary Magdalene with the Sisterhood of the Emerald Fire in RI. She is the founder of Sacred Soul Journs and offers herself in service as an experienced meditation practitioner and coach, a medium, and a “qualified” energy medicine practitioner of Therapeutic Touch, Reiki and Laying-on of hands. Furthermore, Dr. Porto is a Hope Hospice volunteer and has taken courses in hospice, palliative, home vigils and assists with final wishes. Dr. Porto is passionate about green burial options and will talk about how loving our earth is rapidly becoming a more integral part of the funeral planning process.

INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES:

Story Walking Photo Blog: Cemetery Story Walk –  https://netwalkri.com/blog/f/cemetery-story-walk

Green Burial Council: www.greenburialcouncil.org

Funeral Consumers Alliance: www.funerals.org

Cremation Association of North America: www.Cremationassociation.org

To Find a death doula/funeral guide in the USA and Canada: www.homefuneralalliance.org

Sacred Soul Journs: www.sacredsouljourns.com

Learn more at storywalking.com, https://netwalkri.com email wendy@netwalkri.com or call 401 529-6830. Connect with Wendy to order copies of Fiddlesticks, The Angel Heart or Storywalker Wild Plant Magic Cards.

Subscribe to Wendy’s blog Writing with Wendy at www.wendyfachon.blog.
Join Wendy on facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/StoryWalkingRadio
https://www.theempowermentfactory.org/

BIO: Story Walking Radio Host, Wendy Nadherny Fachon empowers young people, by showing how to step forward into each new life learning adventure with clarity, confidence and positive energy. Wendy began her youth work training in the school of life by observing and listening to her own daughter and son as they faced the challenges of growing up with bullying, fickle friends, and tough teachers. When her nephews, aged 5 and 7, lost their father on 9/11, she joined the boys and her sister on their bumpy journey along the road to recovery from deep trauma and upheaval.

As Wendy’s children grew into their independence, she entered into youth work and earned her RIPQA certification, Rhode Island’s 21^st Century Community Learning Center program quality training. At the same time, she joined a holistic community, which informed and inspired her Story Walking practice, and in 2011, Wendy created a lyrical Storywalker CD, Fiddlesticks, to introduce the concept of Story Walking to children and parents. Wendy’s stories and associated lessons combine mindful walking, word play, environmental education and spirituality to nurture the personal development of her followers. From there, Wendy began leading programs for in-school and out-of-school-time (OST) enrichment.

One of her first youth work assignments was to form an after-school walking club to help an unusually obese child get more physically active, make friends, and increase self-esteem. At the core of the Story Walking practice is the concept that each individual is the main character in his or her own unique life story, holding the power to weave the fabric of that story through the conscious energetic choices of words, thoughts, intentions and actions, elicited in response to both fortunate and unfortunate situations. Inevitably, each story becomes an important piece of the great storied tapestry of humanity.

In 2014, Wendy published her Storywalker children’s book, The Angel Heart. Dedicated to her late father, this poetic story presents a metaphor for finding the peace, love and joy within ourselves when confronted with sadness, loss and grief.

In 2016, Wendy’s faced the unimaginable, when her 19-year-old son, Neil, was diagnosed with DIPG, an aggressive, rare, inoperable form of the brain stem cancer. Doctors said he would be dead within three months. Neil’s story was an epic battle on multiple fronts, where he rose above overwhelming adversity to outlive his prognosis enough to create a lasting impact on the world, before finally departing from his physical body. His story continues beyond his passing, as his spirit guides Wendy and the rest of his family in finding ways to bring greater hope and joy to children experiencing life threatening illnesses and other challenges. After a year of caregiving and a time of intense grief, Wendy was guided back to her Story Walking practice with a higher sense of purpose and seeks to expand her practice through the Story Walking Radio Hour.

Affiliated with The Empowerment Factory, Wendy is recognized for her creative collaboration with many youth-focused organizations and Title I schools. She is also a regular contributor to Natural Awakenings healthy living magazine, writing articles about children, health, and environmental issues.

Learn more at storywalking.com, email wendy@netwalkri.com or call 401 529-6830. Connect with Wendy to order copies of Fiddlesticks, The Angel Heart or Storywalker Wild Plant Magic Cards.

Subscribe to Wendy’s blog Writing with Wendy at www.wendyfachon.blog.
Join Wendy on facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/StoryWalkingRadio