Hello, I’m Melissa Gonzales de León.
I’m a descendant from a lineage of land stewards, builders, healers and nurturers. Half of my life I’ve earned my living as an entrepreneur dog walker + pet care provider before the profession became a trend. While running my business I was also employed in customer service, administrative and management rolls which lead me to become a free lance operations director and business consultant. I also have a background in event + retreat coordination. All of this I love yet my passion is supporting people in all stages of their lives and respecting our natural environments and eco-systems.

A question I often hear is…how did I become an End-of-Life Doula?
My journey began in 2001 when I worked at Providence Hospice of Seattle as an administrator, assisting nurses, and home health care providers with administrative support and by connecting with patients and patient care givers. Nearly everyday I would receive phone calls from a care giver when patients died and would guide the grieving person or care provider with instruction of after death care of the patient.

I was working in Hospice when my grandfather died suddenly, and I received the best support from my colleagues and the chaplain there. I was also there when 9-11 happened and again was in the best company during a hard transition for many of us. Even before my grandfather passed, I always felt a strong sense of being supportive for those I knew who were with terminal illnesses, or towards the end of their life and helping their loved ones. When loss happened, I wanted to and did what I could to be supportive of those who lost their beloved. Then one tragic Mother’s Day morning, I lost a dear friend to an accident in which I was present as they took their last breath. At that very moment, my world changed and I knew I wanted to be supportive of those experiencing their end of life journey and to be supportive of the bereaved.

When I discovered the words “death doula”, back in the winter of 2016, thanks to listening to an NPR segment, while mourning the death anniversary of my grandmother’s passing, I knew I had to learn more about what a death doula was. In the spring of 2017 I was trained by INELDA as an End-of-Life Doula and continue my studies with INELDA and the Institute for the Study of Birth, Breath, and Death. In the autumn of 2020, witnessing and experiencing so much grief in the world I expanded my knowledge of how to offer peer support for grieving individuals, via a workshop hosted by INELDA, presented by the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition and continued instruction of hosting grief support circles with Healing Circles Global.

In 2020, I was invited to join Stones Circles Collective, a Community, End of Life & Funerary Collaborative.

In 2021, I supported hosting donation based grief circles online, co-hosted Death cafes and online offerings creating community discussions about death preparedness and advocacy. For the past two years Stones Circles Collective offers a retreat weekend of education, ritual, and deep spiritual growth as into the realm of death and grief tending.

My services include offerings as a Reiki master, Yoga teacher, Himalayan singing bowl - sound therapist, Alchemical energy healer, an Intuitive Tarot Guide and a meditation guide in a project with my friend, Kelli Frances Corrado called Astral Well .

My hobbies include growing an edible garden and herbs in a community garden, cooking, reading, films, creating art and witnessing others art forms, dancing, music of all varieties, being in nature, traveling, and researching discoveries on ancient cultures and civilizations, learning about indigenous practices of today, and practicing Permaculture. I cherish countless hours of studying Tarot, Hermetic Qabalah, practicing yoga on and off the mat and being the best daughter, partner, friend and advocate I can be.

Enough about me, I’d like to learn about you and how I may be able to support you or a loved one.❤