Holding Space at a Deathbed
How to support a dying person as their body and soul separate
Learn to meet death in a conscious, meaningful way
A course on sacred deathcare practices for the last days of life
For dying people, family members, death doulas, and others
Understand the spiritual and emotional journey of active dying
Find ritual tools to honour the grief and soften the fear
Learn to meet the last breath with grace and compassion
A Deathbed is a Sacred Space
At the moment of death, when the body can no longer sustain life, soul and body separate. The soul moves on to begin the next phase of its journey.
A deathbed is a tender and liminal space, a portal between this world and the next. What happens in that space can bring healing for both the dying and the living.
If You’re Dying
It can be hard to know where to start when you think about your last days. Perhaps you’re curious, perhaps you’re anxious, or perhaps you’re a bit of both.
Your medical team can tell you what will happen at a physical level, but you know that this is a spiritual journey, as well. How can you meet your death in a way that recognizes the very real, non-physical experiences of your soul, before, during, and after your last breath?
If You’re Caring for a Dying Loved One
Perhaps you’ve never companioned a dying person before. You want to give your person the best death possible—physically, emotionally and spiritually— but you don’t know what that means, or how to do it
Or maybe you’ve been present at a deathbed in the past, but you’re looking for teachings and tools to help make the experience more meaningful and healing, for everyone involved.
If You’re a Death Doula or Other Practitioner
You may have an intuitive knowing about the energetic and spiritual dynamics of the dying process, but you struggle to find the language to explain it to your clients.
Perhaps you’ve been at deathbeds where the soul aspects of the process were disregarded, because people don’t know how to recognize them. Your heart aches for the unnecessary suffering this causes, and for the lost opportunities for grace and healing.
Most of us have never been taught how to die, or how to help someone we love die.
Death is hard and sad, but it can also be grace-filled and heart-opening.
When you learn what to expect, and how to support the natural wisdom of the soul’s journey, it’s easier to find the healing gifts that can come with death.
• As a dying person, you’ll be able to relax into the journey, with a greater trust in your soul’s own inherent wisdom and the forces supporting you.
• As a family member, you’ll feel relief, knowing that you’re giving your person the soul-support they need.
• As a death doula, you’ll recognize sources of constriction in the family system, and understand the ritual tools to create more ease and flow.
No matter what your role, the more you know about the dying process, the better prepared you’ll be.
With a good map, the healing path is easier to find
If you want to hold space at a deathbed with more grace and confidence, learn the basic structures for supporting both the dying and the living.
1. Create a sacred container that can hold the spiritual and emotional intensity
When you understand the stages of the spiritual journey, you can feel confident holding space for deep loss and transformation.
2. Align with the healing wisdom of the dying process
When you recognize what’s happening at a soul-level, you can amplify the transcendent aspects of the journey.
3. Help both the living and the dying find the strength to let go
When you’re able to soften the tension in the system, it allows both the love and the grief to flow more easily.
ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Sarah Kerr, PhD
I’ve been a death doula and ritual healing practitioner since 2012. I have a doctorate in Transformative Learning and I’ve been a student of spiritual and systemic healing practices for almost three decades.
My clients and students understand that death and loss are important parts of their spiritual journey, but they may not have a spiritual map to guide them through these experiences. I bring a map rooted in energy medicine, systems thinking, sacred sciences and ancient wisdom traditions.
I’m honoured to share what I’ve learned from my teachers, clients, and direct experience. I’m grateful to be part of a larger community of people who are working to do death better and I hope this course is helpful to you, as you deepen your sacred deathcare skills.
Learn to Bring Healing to Death
The course includes 2.5 hours of lecture and Q&A, filled with practical information, stories and examples of lived rituals.
You’ll learn sacred deathcare practices for meeting an upcoming death in a meaningful and conscious way.
All material is available as closed caption videos.
Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion, suitable for submission for CE’s or CEU’s (licensure dependent.)
Financial assistance is available. If the price is a barrier, please get in touch.
Broaden your knowledge
Deepen your skills
Grow your confidence
$169 CAD (~$124 USD)
Wisdom and practical skill-building
Sarah’s class was an amazing experience, containing tremendous depth and breadth of wisdom and practical skill-building. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
Amazing, positive, specific, detailed, practical information
This class, this wealth of information, it felt like a cornucopia, just overflowing with amazing, positive, specific, detailed, practical information. I feel like it answered all the questions I had, and even ones I didn’t have. It just opened up my mind to so many more possibilities. Yes, I have more questions, but that’s a good thing. It was excellent, and Sarah is a wonderful teacher.
Academic and shamanic at the same time
Thank you for being both academic and shamanic at the same time- that is your gift! I really felt you were so articulate and heart-centered, it was amazing to me! Thank you for helping me really relax even deeper and with more clarity in my medicines.
Compared to other end-of-life doula trainings
I have been dabbling in end-of-life doula trainings and you are the most enthusiastic, real person I have yet to encounter. Keep up the good work and I look forward to taking your other courses.
A fundamental teacher for me
Thanks, Sarah. You have been and continue to be a fundamental teacher to me through your work and sharing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I’m leaving with lots more confidence
I’m leaving this class with confidence – a lot more confidence. I’ve been waiting since I was 5 to actually be able to talk to people about death, people who don’t shy away. Usually I can feel their energy moving away from me, and I haven’t had that today. And that’s the first time. Even at funerals, It’s very, very rare. Even with other spiritual practitioners that don’t deal with death; they deal with life and they have a hard time talking about death. The only other group that I’ve ever been able to communicate and to find the pure joy surrounding death is with animals. So I am beyond grateful for this class.
Thank you.
Come on in, let’s explore this together
Sarah is very talented and inspired and brings a very vast body of knowledge into a form that you can dive into, and understand in a an easy way. But she’s not definitive. She’s pulling you in. She’s got lots of expertise, but she’s not the be-all, end-all. She’s saying, “Come on in. Let’s explore this together. I’ll be your leader.” But she’s not saying, ‘I’m all of it. I know everything.” Which is—it’s inspired— because she’s trying to create a collective consciousness around this space and this community.
Sacred and soulful connection to the mysteries of life and death
I recently watched Sarah’s course ‘Awakening the archetype of the Deathwalker’ and there is something magical about the space that Sarah creates. Even though I was unable to make the live call, I most certainly felt connected to the field of containment that she created with the group.
There are few people in the current circles of the death community that bring pause and contemplation to a group field and I am grateful to experience that with Sarah’s course. I am inspired and cracked open to something more soulful and more alive in death. Sarah is authentic in her language and action.
The sacred, soulful and connected ways to the mysteries of life and death through the lens of an ancient newness are present in Sarah’s ways of teaching.