MY NAME IS ANJA
I was born in Croatia, grew up in Germany, worked in Bangladesh and Switzerland, and have been on many inner and outer journeys. In 2010, I moved to Poland. My home is in connection. I identify as a member of the human family and part of the web of life on Earth.
In 2020 I founded the Institute of the Good Death, a non-profit social initiative dedicated to raising the level of education about dying, death and grief in Poland. In 2024 we received the PRZEWROTY Award by the Copernicus Science Center as the most innovative educational initiative in Poland.
Letnia Szkoła Projektowania Rytuałów
18-20.7.2025 | Warsaw
Summer School of Ritual Design
Praca z osobą w żałobie: nowe perspektywy
Start: 2.9.2025 | Zoom
Online Course for Professionals
INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS
I offer individual consultations, during which you can share your story with me.
I cannot offer you quick solutions for any problems. Loss and grief are not problems to be solved. They are deeply human experiences that can be carried and embraced. I can support you on your way to meet these experiences with tenderness and acceptance, maybe even with love.
What I can do for you is this: Give you my full attention and listen to you without judgement. As a fellow human being, I am truly and sincerely interested in what you are going through. Only if you want, I will share with you my knowledge, experience and personal point of view.
Public speaking
You can meet me regularly at international events, where I speak about my work and our activities at the Institute of the Good Death.
If you would like me to join your conference, congress or symposium, I will be glad to share my knowledge and experience – and to enter into dialogue with other open-minded people who want to meet mortality in a new way.
Festival Lifting the Lid 2024
Conference Empatia a umieranie i śmierć 2023
A centrepiece of my work are rituals. I design and facilitate personal, non-religious funeral ceremonies, which respect the wishes, aesthetics and personal needs of the deceased and their family and friends.
In many families today, there are people with diverse perspectives on life and its greater meaning. Sometimes traditional and religious contexts are confronted with the need to adapt and create something unique for a particular person. Luckily, it is possible – and beautiful – to build bridges and create community including all our differences. I am always grateful to enter into respectful dialogue and enjoy collaborating with kind people from any spiritual path.
RITUALS & CEREMONIES
ART & RESEARCH
Regularly I am involved in literature, film, theatre and research projects. I love working together with other curious and creative people.
Everything falls into place, when I can combine my work in the field of death and grief education with my academic background in cultural studies and my artistic roots in storytelling and performance.
The Frog
Migrants
RISE Ritual Design Toolkit
Our Death
WORKSHOPS & TRAINING
At the Institute of the Good Death, I facilitate training and workshops on topics related to end-of-life care, grief counselling and ritual design. Regular formats include:
Personal Farewell – training for funeral celebrants
Celebrations of Change – workshop about ritual design
Holistic End-of-Life Care – workshops for doctors and nurses
By Your Side – workshop about end-of-life care
Gentle Goodbye – workshop on wakes and vigils
Grief Work: New Perspectives – online course for professionals
If you would like me to facilitate a workshop for your team or share my expertise in another way, I can prepare content and methods specially chosen to meet the needs of your organisation.
MEDIA
Death and grief connect us all. Bringing these topics into the public debate is part of my work.
VOGUE
Zostawić stare za sobą
24.5.2025
K3 – podcast Dariusza Bugalskiego
Towarzyszenie w umieraniu
23.11.2024
The Guardian
‘People didn’t realise a funeral could be so beautiful’: Poland finds a new way to celebrate life – and death
23.11.2023
WINI rozmawia
Czy istnieje coś takiego jak dobra śmierć?
28.3.2023
W MOIM STYLU Magda Mołek
Jak przeżyć stratę bliskich?
1.11.2022
Dzień Dobry TVN
Towarzyszka w żałobie
12.3.2021
I facilitate Community Circles, in which we open and hold space to acknowledge the joy and sorrow we carry individually and collectively.
We offer each other non-judgmental presence, rather than advice or solutions. We connect with each other to respect, honor and witness each other’s stories and learn from each other’s experiences. We meet as a community to give each other our most precious gifts: attention, acceptance and compassion.
