The Gifts of Conscious Dying with Death Midwife Olivia Bareham

My guest this week is Olivia Bareham. 

Olivia is a death midwife, interfaith minister, master teacher, and founder of Sacred Crossings: the Institute for Conscious Dying and Alternative Funeral Home in Los Angeles. 

For over 30 years, Olivia has been guiding individuals toward a conscious dying experience and empowering families to care for their loved ones after death with a vigil and funeral at home. She has published the Death Care Directive, which is a planning booklet for one’s funeral and final disposition. 

Olivia is now internationally renowned for her transformative death Doula and Death Midwife training programs. 

In this episode Olivia and I discuss topics such as:

- Why one might consider embarking on a Death Midwifery Training

- the larger umbrella of death midwifery, and finding your unique gift as a death worker

- Midwifing death in the culture, so people can embrace the gifts of death

- People typically die in the manner of their living

- Embracing death, so we can embrace our lives

- How being present to our discomfort can help us to die consciously 

- the importance of a presence practice

- conscious living often equals conscious dying

- similarities and differences between the birth and death experiences

- the importance of befriending the unknown

- choosing our thoughts wisely

- the healing power of sitting vigil for three days

- Making sudden or traumatic deaths sacred to through ritual practices that helped to move our grief

- “Bridging Heaven and Earth” (a deep dive retreat for Olivia’s training graduates 

- and so much more!

You can find Olivia at:

https://sacredcrossings.com/