Olivia Bareham
There’s a world of knowledge about death most of us were never taught, and reclaiming it could profoundly transform how you experience life’s most sacred transition.
Reconnect with ancient wisdom while gaining a clearer understanding of today’s end-of-life and death-care options to discover a more conscious, empowered way to navigate dying, death, and what comes after.
Many of us will spend years preparing for retirement, months preparing for a vacation, and almost no time preparing for the one experience every one of us will eventually face.
Death is inevitable, yet in Western culture, it’s largely kept out of sight and entrusted to hospitals and the funeral industry.
We’re left with little understanding of what choices are available to us, what dying actually looks like, what happens to the body after death, and what additional rituals and processes could help us process grief.
That disconnection can leave you frightened of your own mortality and overwhelmed when someone you love is dying — precisely when knowledge and confidence matter most.
End-of-life educator and funeral director Olivia Bareham believes that much of our fear surrounding death comes not from death itself, but from our unfamiliarity with it.
Join Olivia for an illuminating 7-week live journey to develop a more informed, intimate, and empowered relationship with dying, death, and after-death care.
During the course, you’ll explore why Western culture became so death phobic, and discover what our ancestors understood about meeting mortality as a natural part of life.
Through guided meditations, reflection, and experiential practices, you’ll explore your own relationship with letting go, imagine how you’d like to be cared for after death, and consider what a meaningful funeral might look like for you.
Along the way, you’ll gain practical knowledge that can transform uncertainty into agency, including what to expect from hospice, Medical Aid in Dying, and VSED (Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking)...
… what happens when a funeral home takes custody of a body, how home funerals work, and the choices available for burial, cremation, and greener forms of final disposition.
After her mother died 20 years ago, Olivia discovered firsthand how tending to someone after death can become an unexpectedly profound part of grieving and healing.
Today, through her work with dying people and their families, she helps restore the knowledge and hands-on traditions that once made caring for our dying and our dead a natural part of family and community life.
Ultimately, you’ll bring everything together in your own Advance Death Care Directive. By thinking through these choices now — and having conversations that many families postpone until it’s too late — you can offer a compassionate roadmap for the people you’ll leave behind.
When your wishes are known, your family won’t have to make unfamiliar decisions while they’re grieving or wonder whether they’re doing what you would have wanted.
Preparing for death isn’t about giving up on life — it’s about becoming less afraid to fully inhabit the life you have.
Are you ready to turn toward death with curiosity and understanding and discover how doing so can help you meet both life and death with greater presence, confidence, and peace?
During this life-affirming course, you’ll:
- Discover why Western culture became so death phobic — and how reconnecting with the knowledge and practices our ancestors once held can help you approach mortality with less fear
- Go behind the scenes of today’s funeral industry to understand what happens after someone dies, what funeral homes actually do, and which decisions and options are yours to make
- Understand the five ways dying may unfold in today’s world — hospice, hospital-based dying, Medical Aid in Dying, sudden unexpected death, and VSED — so you’ll feel better prepared to navigate the choices that may arise
- Learn how to be more present with someone who’s dying without turning away, trying to fix what’s happening, or worrying that you’ll say the wrong thing
- Discover how caring for and spending time with the body after death can support the grieving process, including viewing, vigils, home funerals, and meaningful rituals that help families say goodbye
- Explore seven options for what can happen to your body after death — traditional burial, mausoleum entombment, fire cremation, green burial, water cremation, terramation, and burial at sea — along with their costs and environmental impacts
- Learn how to create a funeral and after-death experience that reflects the person’s life and your family’s values, rather than automatically following conventional funeral practices
- Create your own Advance Death Care Directive and “death file” so your wishes are known and the people you love won’t have to guess what you wanted while they’re grieving
- And much more…
What You’ll Discover in These 7 Modules
In this 7-week transformational course, Olivia will guide you through the skills and competencies you’ll need to approach dying, death, and after-death care with greater knowledge and confidence as you learn about end-of-life choices, funeral and home-death practices, and meaningful rituals, while advocating for your own wishes.
Join the Livestream — or Stream Later to Watch at Your Convenience
You’ll connect with Olivia and experience her teachings through livestreaming video via any connected device. This connection is easy to use and will enhance the impact of Olivia’s transmissions. Can’t make it live? After each class, you can stream the video and audio recordings to enjoy anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Course Sessions are on 2026-10-07 1:00:00 pm.
This course will feature LIVE teachings, interactive sessions, experiential practices, and Q&A with Olivia. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to understand what choices are available before, during, and after death so you can advocate for what matters, communicate your wishes, and make informed decisions when they matter most.
Reclaim Your Relationship With Death to Move Beyond Death Phobia (2026-10-07 1:00:00 pm)
For thousands of years, sickness, dying, and death were familiar parts of everyday life, tended to by families and communities rather than handed over to strangers. As hospitals and the funeral industry increasingly took over the care of the dying and the dead, many of us lost the knowledge, confidence, and connection to this sacred transition that our ancestors once had.
Olivia will help you explore how this cultural shift contributed to the death phobia so prevalent in the West today and why becoming more acquainted with death and your choices around it can begin to lessen its hold on you.
You'll discover what other cultures and earlier generations can teach us about meeting sickness, loss, and death with greater understanding and resilience. By reclaiming some of what we've given away, you can begin developing a more grounded relationship with mortality and feel less helpless when death enters your life.
In this session, you'll:
- Connect with your ancestors through a guided meditation and reflective writing practice, experiencing yourself as part of a lineage whose wisdom around tending to death and dying can still inform you today
- Explore how your ancestors lived alongside sickness, death, and grief as natural parts of life — and what their familiarity with mortality can teach you about approaching it with less fear
- Discover how other cultures care for their sick and dying, expanding your understanding of what compassionate, connected end-of-life care can look like
- Understand how the rise of hospitals, medical intervention, and the funeral industry changed our relationship with death, shifting care away from families and communities and contributing to feelings of fear and helplessness
- Learn how reclaiming knowledge and familiarity with death can help ease death phobia, so you can feel more capable, connected, and empowered when facing mortality
Understanding Dying in Today's World to Approach Your Choices With Greater Confidence (2026-10-14 1:00:00 pm)
Most of us give very little thought to how dying may actually unfold until we're suddenly confronted with it. Olivia will help you explore five common ways life can end in today's world, from sudden unexpected death and hospital-based dying to hospice, VSED (Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking), and Medical Aid in Dying.
You'll gain a clearer understanding of how each path can affect both the person who's dying and the people who love them, including the emotional challenges that can arise when there's little time to prepare or when death is resisted.
You'll also explore how hospice and other end-of-life choices can create more space for acceptance, meaningful goodbyes, and a gentler transition. By understanding your options before a crisis arises, you can approach death with greater awareness, preparedness, and trust in your ability to meet what comes.
In this session, you'll:
- Experience a guided letting-go meditation that uses the imagery to help you practice surrender — a process you can also draw upon when supporting a loved one who's nearing death
- Discover the five ways dying may unfold in today's world and what each can mean emotionally, medically, and practically for you and your loved ones
- Explore how education and understanding your end-of-life options can reduce death anxiety, helping you feel more prepared before difficult decisions need to be made
- Learn how hospice can support a more peaceful, connected dying process, creating time to receive care, address unfinished matters, and say meaningful goodbyes
- Understand what VSED and Medical Aid in Dying involve, including why someone might consider these choices and what you and your family may expect if either becomes part of an end-of-life plan
Rediscover the Power of Funeral Rites to Honor the Dead & Support the Living (2026-10-21 1:00:00 pm)
Caring for and honoring the dead is one of humanity's oldest traditions, with evidence of ritual burial practices stretching back more than 100,000 years. Across cultures and throughout history, funeral rites have helped people acknowledge the significance of a life, express their sorrow, and come together around a shared loss.
Olivia will help you explore how these practices connect us to the circle of life and why the way a culture cares for its dead can reveal something profound about its relationship with mortality.
You'll trace the evolution of funeral practices from ancient traditions through the rise of the modern funeral industry and discover how distancing ourselves from the dead may have contributed to our culture's death phobia.
By understanding the deeper purpose of funeral rites, you can begin to see how meaningful rituals can honor those who've died while helping the living process grief, strengthen communal bonds, and move forward after loss
In this session, you'll:
- Honor someone you've lost through a reflective writing practice, creating an opportunity to connect with their memory and express what you may not have had the chance to acknowledge when they died
- Explore the funeral rites of our earliest ancestors and discover why caring for the dead has been a meaningful part of human culture for more than 100,000 years
- Trace the evolution of the modern funeral industry, from practices that emerged around the Civil War to the multibillion-dollar industry of today
- Discover how cultures with a more intimate relationship with death care for their dead, revealing what we can learn from traditions that keep death connected to family and community
- Understand how funeral rites can support communal grieving and strengthen the bonds among those left behind, helping you honor a life while processing loss and moving forward
Navigate Today's Funeral Industry to Make Informed End-of-Life Choices (2026-10-28 1:00:00 pm)
When someone you love dies, you may suddenly find yourself navigating unfamiliar systems and making important decisions at one of the most emotionally vulnerable times of your life.
Olivia will take you behind the scenes of today's funeral industry so you can understand what happens to the body after death and the distinct roles of funeral homes, mortuaries, medical examiners, and coroners. You'll explore the services and options you may encounter, from embalming and viewing the body to what happens after an autopsy or organ donation, as well as how and when children can be included.
You'll also discover how handing the care of our dead over to professionals has distanced many of us from death and left us uncertain about what we can ask for, participate in, or choose. With greater knowledge of what happens after a death, you can feel more prepared to advocate for yourself and your loved ones and make choices that reflect what truly matters to you
In this session, you'll:
- Create a simple at-home grief ritual you can offer when someone you care about experiences a death, giving you a meaningful way to acknowledge the loss even when viewing or being with the body isn't possible
- Go behind the scenes of what happens after someone dies, including the roles of the mortuary, funeral home, medical examiner, and coroner so you'll know what to expect
- Understand what funeral homes offer and which choices are actually yours to make, helping you navigate unfamiliar decisions with greater confidence
- Explore embalming, autopsy, organ donation, and viewing the body, including what happens to the body and how these practices can influence your experience of death and grief
- Discover how involving adults and children in age-appropriate ways after a death can make mortality less mysterious, helping families process loss rather than distancing themselves from it
Create a Meaningful Home Funeral to Honor Your Loved One in Your Own Way (2026-11-04 1:00:00 pm)
For generations, families cared for their dead at home, creating the time and space to grieve together and honor the person who had died in deeply personal ways.
Olivia will introduce you to the practice of home funerals, including the legalities, logistics, and practical steps involved in caring for a body at home for a three-day vigil and funeral.
You'll discover how families can participate in bathing, dressing, anointing, shrouding, preserving, and laying the body in honor, as well as rituals such as decorating a cremation box, sitting vigil, and carrying the casket together.
Rather than immediately surrendering your loved one's care to a funeral home, you can have time for family and friends to gather, allow children to participate in meaningful ways, and create rituals that reflect the person you're remembering.
By bringing death back into the intimacy of home and family life, you can demystify what happens after death while creating space for grief, connection, and a deeply personal goodbye
In this session, you'll:
- Envision and design your own home funeral through a reflective writing exercise, imagining the theme, rituals, and personal touches that could create a meaningful "painting" of your life
- Discover the emotional and practical benefits of holding a wake and funeral at home, including having more time to gather, grieve, participate, and say goodbye in your own way
- Understand your legal rights around caring for a loved one's body at home, so you can make informed choices rather than assuming a funeral home must take over
- Learn the practical steps and supplies for bathing, dressing, lifting, shrouding, and preserving the body, including how a three-day home vigil can be safely arranged
- Explore how hands-on rituals such as anointing the body, sitting vigil, decorating a cremation box, and carrying the casket can help process grief, bringing family members of different ages into a more intimate and less fearful relationship with death
Choose Your Final Disposition to Honor Your Values & Ease the Burden on Loved Ones (2026-11-11 1:00:00 pm)
What happens to your body after you die is a deeply personal choice, yet many of us know surprisingly little about the options available to us. Olivia will guide you through seven approaches to final disposition, from conventional burial and fire cremation to green burial, water cremation, Terramation, and full-body burial at sea.
You'll discover what each process actually involves, what it typically costs, and how different choices can affect the environment. You'll also explore how becoming familiar with what happens to the body after death can make these processes less mysterious and help diminish some of the fear surrounding them.
By deciding what feels right for you and communicating your wishes ahead of time, you can make a conscious choice that reflects your values while giving your loved ones greater confidence that they're honoring what you wanted
In this session, you'll:
- Experience a guided meditation to imagine what you'd like to happen to your body after death, helping you connect with the disposition choice that feels most aligned with your wishes and values
- Explore seven options for final disposition and what each process involves, so you can consider possibilities beyond conventional burial and cremation
- Compare the costs and environmental impacts of different disposition choices, helping you make a more informed and conscious decision about what feels right for you
- Discover the five criteria for a green burial and how this approach can return the body to the earth with minimal environmental impact
- Understand how Terramation and water cremation work, expanding your awareness of newer alternatives you may want to consider or discuss with your loved ones
Create Your Death Care Directive to Make Your Wishes Known & Ease Your Family's Burden (2026-11-18 1:00:00 pm)
After exploring dying, funerals, after-death care, and final disposition, you're ready to turn what you've learned into a plan that reflects what matters most to you. Olivia will help you bring your choices together in an Advance Death Care Directive that clearly communicates how you'd like your body cared for, how you'd like to be honored, and what you want to happen after your death.
You'll also explore the pros and cons of funeral insurance and pre-need funeral plans so you can decide whether paying for arrangements in advance makes sense for you. Just as importantly, you'll learn how to begin conversations about death with the people you love and share your wishes before they're needed.
By putting your choices in writing now, you can give yourself greater peace of mind while offering your family a compassionate roadmap that eases decision-making during a time of grief
In this session, you'll:
- Visualize your own funeral and what happens to your body through a guided meditation, helping you connect more deeply with how you'd like to be cared for, remembered, and laid to rest
- Complete your Advance Death Care Directive and begin creating your "death file,", turning what you've learned into clear written instructions your loved ones can follow
- Bring together your options for after-death care, funerals, and final disposition, so your choices reflect your personal values, priorities, and wishes
- Understand the benefits and potential pitfalls of funeral insurance and pre-need plans, helping you decide whether making and paying for arrangements in advance is right for you
- Learn how to talk about your final wishes with loved ones and clients, making difficult conversations easier while giving those you leave behind greater confidence that they're honoring what you wanted
SPECIAL BONUS OFFER
When you register by 2026-09-24 11:59:00 pm , you’ll receive special bonus offerings designed to complement Olivia’s transformative 7-module course — and deepen your understanding and practice even further.
Saying Goodbye at Home: One Family's Experience With a Home Funeral
Video Conversation With Olivia Bareham & Maryanne Berry
In this intimate conversation, death midwife Olivia Bareham speaks with Maryanne Berry about the deeply personal home funeral she created for her husband of 43 years. You'll hear how keeping his body at home for three days gave Maryanne, her children, and even her grandchildren the time and space to begin processing their loss together. Maryanne shares the meaningful ways her family gathered around him, including the activities and rituals they created while he rested in his casket in their living room. You'll discover how a home funeral can transform the days after death from something hurried and unfamiliar into an experience filled with connection, participation, and love. Through Maryanne's story, you'll gain a moving glimpse of what's possible when you give yourself and those you love the freedom to say goodbye in your own way and in your own time.
A Guided Meditation for Peaceful Transition
Audio From Olivia Bareham
In this gentle guided meditation, Olivia supports you in finding greater peace and ease as you approach the end of life. Through soothing breathwork and calming imagery, you'll be guided away from anxiety and toward a place of deep tranquility within yourself. You'll be invited to soften, release tension, and loosen your hold on the fears or concerns that may be keeping you from fully surrendering. Olivia gently encourages you to trust the unfolding process and allow yourself to let go with greater acceptance and peace. You'll be held in the reassuring reminder that you're not alone, and that you can allow Love to guide you home.
Plus... you’ll receive these bonuses too!
How to Write a Great Eulogy + What to Put in Your Death File Checklist
PDFs From Olivia Bareham
Preparing for death, whether your own or someone you love, can be one of the most meaningful acts of care you undertake. In this practical two-part resource, you'll receive a step-by step guide for creating a powerful, heartfelt, personal eulogy, along with an End-of-Life Planning Checklist to help you gather the essential documents, information, and wishes your loved ones may need. You'll learn how to capture the memories and qualities that make a tribute feel authentic while also organizing important records into an accessible "Death File." By taking care of these details ahead of time, you'll help reduce confusion, uncertainty, and difficult decision-making during an already emotional time. You'll come away with practical tools to honor a life with meaning and give those you love the invaluable gifts of guidance, preparation, and peace of mind.
Advance Death Care Directive
PDF From Olivia Bareham
Give your loved ones the gift of knowing exactly what you want when the time comes. This comprehensive digital planning booklet will help you document your wishes for the after-death care of your body, your funeral or ceremony, and your final disposition in a clear, easy-to-follow format. You'll be guided step by step through important choices so your family won't have to make difficult decisions on your behalf while they're grieving. By putting your wishes in writing, you can help reduce uncertainty and ensure the care you receive reflects what matters most to you. Important: Please don't complete your Advance Death Care Directive until after you've finished the course, when you'll have a fuller understanding of the choices and possibilities available to you.
What People Are Saying About Olivia Bareham…
Join the Global Community
Reclaiming the Sacred Art of Death offers some of the most transformational online teachings available, within a thriving global community of learning and practice.
Join fellow students and practitioners to support and inspire each other as you integrate the teachings and practices Olivia Bareham will share in this powerful program.
You’ll join an international community on the leading edge of manifesting a world grounded in the principles of cooperation, harmony, and reverence for all of life.
Here’s What You’ll Receive
Seven 90-Minute Class Sessions With Olivia Bareham
Experience a unique opportunity to be mentored by and learn from death midwife Olivia Bareham, the founder of Sacred Crossings Institute and Funeral Home — from the comfort of your own home. Each class session includes a livestreaming video option, a teaching segment of 60 minutes, a Q&A for 30 minutes, and an optional breakout session for 30 minutes. Course sessions are on 2026-10-07 1:00:00 pm.
Seven Video Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the video will be available for you to stream in a high-quality format. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can watch anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Seven Audio Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the audio will be available for you to stream. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can listen anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Seven Transcripts of Class Sessions
You’ll also receive the entire class transcript after each session is completed. You can then review, print, and highlight the insights and practices you found most impactful.
Interactive Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
Between class sessions, you’ll have the option of completing related exercises, practicing new tools, and answering questions to accelerate your learning and integrate each week’s lesson.
Online Community
Our exclusive online community is the perfect place to continue your discovery process after each class. Here, you can continue the discussion about your course materials and interact with your fellow students to take your exploration to an even deeper level.
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join the Online Course, Reclaiming the Sacred Art of Death
We feel honored that Olivia Bareham has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive LIVE online course. This is a unique opportunity to interact directly with the founder of Sacred Crossings Institute and Funeral Home whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken ourselves and our world.
If you’re serious about transforming fear and uncertainty around death into greater understanding and acceptance so you can meet mortality with confidence rather than turn away from it, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind program.
If you’re ready to take the next step in your own evolution, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
Your Satisfaction Is 100% Guaranteed!
If you don’t absolutely LOVE Reclaiming the Sacred Art of Death — or don’t feel that it meets your needs — please submit your refund request form on or before October 21, 2026 and we’ll happily issue qualifying customers a refund.
More Praise for Olivia Bareham...
About Olivia Bareham
EDIT
Olivia Bareham is a death midwife, interfaith minister, master teacher, and the founder of the Sacred Crossings Institute for Conscious Dying and Sacred Crossings Alternative Funeral Home in the Los Angeles area.
For over 20 years, Olivia has dedicated her life to guiding individuals toward a conscious dying experience, and supporting families as they care for their loved ones after death with a vigil and funeral at home.
Olivia is renowned for her transformative Death Doula and Death Midwifery training programs. Her company, Sacred Crossings, publishes “The Advance Death Care Directive,” an online advance planning booklet for funeral and final disposition.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a virtual course?
Can I still benefit from the course if I miss the live classes?
Can you tell me about the private online community group?
Are there scholarships available for this training?
Please note: Scholarship applications must be submitted before the refund deadline, as we are unable to accept applications after that point.
What’s your refund policy?
If you’re within the refund period, the deadline to receive a full refund is October 21, 2026. To request a refund, please complete this refund request form and submit your request. Qualifying refunds will be processed within five business days, and you’ll receive an email confirming the refund.
We’d also love the opportunity to address and resolve your concerns directly. If there’s anything we can assist with, please get in touch with us at [email protected] — we’re here to help!
Please note: Refund requests are not accepted after the deadline or for courses purchased with scholarship awards.
Do you have a mobile app where I can access content offline?
Yes! The Shift Network’s mobile app, Shift Companion, allows you to access your course sessions and resources directly from your phone or tablet — including the ability to download content for offline listening and viewing.
Whether you’re traveling, spending time in nature, resting away from screens, or simply wanting greater flexibility in your daily learning practice, Shift Companion helps you stay connected to the teachings that nourish and inspire you.
To get started:
- iPhone/iPad users: Download Shift Companion from the Apple App Store
- Android users: Download Shift Companion from the Google Play Store
Once installed, simply sign in using the same email address you use for your Shift Network courses.