Can’t make it live? After each class, video and audio recordings are available to download and watch anytime.

Connect with your ancestors through the rich traditions of the Mexican observance Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) and release yourself from grief, anger, and painful interactions with relatives who have passed, to receive deeper heart-healing and peace — and a new way of celebrating and honoring life, death, and living.

Did you know that your presence is so powerful that it can ripple through your whole lineage?

In Mexican tradition, our ancestors can be our most important guides and positive influences on the subtle planes. When we work consciously and actively with them, we send a healing wave of energy through our whole lineage and life.

The living traditions of the Mexican Day of the Dead bring focus to our relationship with ancestors. They weave remembrance rituals such as face painting, prayers, flowers, music, altars, and processionals into sacred places for this very reason...

... to help you grieve, ease pain, and heal trauma.

The Mexican people who generously share Mexican Day of the Dead, or Día de Muertos, show us how these life-giving rituals guide us to a deeper understanding and acceptance of death — which actually brings greater joy and celebration of our own lives.

In an unprecedented 7-week course with curandera Grace Alvarez Sesma, a leading figure in understanding the spiritual importance and practices of Mexican traditions, you’ll be immersed in Día de Muertos’ rituals, wisdom, and healing power as a path that leads to the sacred within you and your own ancestral roots.

If you’ve been intrigued by Día de Muertos, you’ll learn how its traditions can be reverently explored and celebrated by everyone as they ultimately teach us how to reclaim our own ancestral traditions as a path to healing and wholeness.

In understanding a tradition at its deepest levels, we can craft a relationship with our own ancestors in a way that most honors them and blesses our lineage — giving you peace and freedom from the past, and setting you up for healthier relationships and friendships for your future.

From an early age, Grace was urged to return to the ways of the Ancestors and Indigenous medicine during dreams with a group of Indigenous Grandmothers of various Native nations. The Grandmothers gave her teachings to help usher in a return to feminine leadership, and help restore balance on Mother Earth, including respect and protection of land, water, and holy places.

She currently educates conventional healthcare providers on how to respectfully integrate curanderismo cultural healing traditions with Western medicine in a way that addresses the whole person.

As you journey with Grace into the living traditions of Día de Muertos to understand how this cultural practice can apply to your own lineage, you’ll experience a Soul-Mending Ceremony to help you reclaim the parts of yourself that have become fragmented...

... by letting go of trapped emotional energy that resides within you and dissolving connections with deceased loved ones that may be draining your energy.

In doing so, you’ll heal unhealthy connections to those who have passed and begin to rebuild these relationships in a way that uplifts your life — and that of future generations.

You’ll learn how to reverently celebrate Día de Muertos observances without appropriation, prayerfully experiencing its spiritual dimensions and those of your own ancestry...

... and how to move through life with a deeper understanding of the purpose of death.

You’ll gain a new perspective of the impact of trauma through the Mesoamerican view of the human body, and explore how Indigenous cultural practices can help you shift out of unhealthy mental and emotional patterns.

Grace will also share how Día de Muertos’ cultural icons, La Catrina and El Catrin, can be catalysts for you to live your life with greater connection and authenticity — and how death and your inner wisdom prompts you to align your heart, identity, lifeways, and spirit.

Are you ready to access the rich living traditions of Día de Muertos to receive deeper heart-healing and guidance — and a new way of celebrating and honoring life, death, and living?

— Dr. Shamini Jain, Founder of the Consciousness and Healing Initiative:
“Grace Is a Phenomenal Leader in Helping Us Understand the Impact of Indigenous Wisdom”

What You’ll Discover in These 7 Weeks

In this 7-week transformational intensive, Grace will guide you through the fundamental skills you’ll need to connect with your ancestors through the rich traditions of Día de Muertos to receive deeper heart-healing and guidance — and a new way of celebrating and honoring life, death, and living.

Join the Livestream — or Download Later to Watch at Your Convenience

You’ll connect with Grace and experience her teachings through livestreaming video via any connected device. This connection is easy to use and will enhance the impact of Grace’s transmissions. Can’t make it live? After each class, you can download the video and audio recordings to enjoy later.

Weekly Sessions Tuesdays at 5:00pm Pacific

This course will feature LIVE teachings, interactive training sessions, experiential practices, and Q&A with Grace. 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 connect with your ancestors through the rich traditions of Día de Muertos to receive deeper heart-healing and guidance — and a new way of celebrating and honoring life, death, and living.

The Turn Grief Into Life Bonus Collection

In addition to Grace’s transformative 7-week virtual course, you’ll receive these special bonuses to complement the course and take your understanding and practice to an even deeper level.

What People Are Saying About Grace Alvarez Sesma...

“[Maestra Grace] is a powerful woman who empowers others with her work.”

It’s difficult for me to put into words how much Maestra Grace’s teachings have impacted my life. She is a powerful woman who empowers others with her work. I felt her strong presence in the hallway at the retreat center before I even saw her. She is a beacon of light who shares her practical life experience and has devoted herself to bringing us back to what we already know. While she is adept at spiritual teachings and intuitive insights, she also has her feet firmly planted on the ground; she balances heaven and earth. She is not afraid to tell things as they are and has a rare gift of connecting with spirit and communicating with heart. I went home with a sense of gratitude and appreciation.
— Angela Scala, certified BodyTalk practitioner, Reiki practitioner, and Buddho/Enersense master practitioner, Massachusetts

“I am personally grateful for my own healing work that she has been part of, walking spiritually side by side with me.”

Tlazocamatli (thank you) for generously sharing sacred knowledge with our community. For some, this is teaching how to reclaim what has been taken from us, but that is familiar. I am personally grateful for my own healing work that she has been part of, walking spiritually side by side with me. Her understanding that healing may take time, and her commitment and ability to allow yourself to be a vessel and support for creators’ work is truly an inspiration to me. Her advice and prayers are invaluable to me and my familia. I have so much to learn from Maestra Grace! Blessings to her as she walks her prayer.
— C.D., Denver, Colorado

“Each time I have worked with [Maestra Grace], I have experienced profound changes in my relationships...”

Each time that I have worked with her, I have experienced profound changes in my relationships... to self (body and mind), with others, and within my own sense of the sacred in my life. I consider this to be true healing. Sometimes the changes are unexpected, as when I came to see her for assistance with digestive issues. The session was very helpful in addressing those concerns and, in addition, resulted in healing a deep and long-standing rift between myself and my mother before she passed away. I bring my whole self to the work I experience with her; because she has the capacity to meet me there.
— Jennifer Wolfe, Iowa

“I feel wonderful. I feel happy!”

Maestra, I am eternally, so very grateful to you. My healing is ever-flowing and these loving energies have surpassed all the obstacles from the past. I feel like myself again. I feel wonderful. I feel happy!
— B.G., San Diego, California

Join the Global Community

Turn Your Grief Into an Affirmation of Life 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 Grace Alvarez Sesma will share in this powerful training.

You’ll be part of an international community that’s on the leading edge of a global movement of people manifesting a world grounded in principles of cooperation, harmony, and reverence for all of life.

Here’s What You’ll Receive

An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join the Turn Your Grief Into an Affirmation of Life Online Training

We feel honored that Grace Alvarez Sesma has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive LIVE online training. This is a unique opportunity to interact directly with a curandera whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken ourselves and our world.

If you’re serious about connecting with your ancestors through the rich traditions of Día de Muertos to receive deeper heart-healing and guidance, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind training.

If you’re ready to take the next step in evolving yourself, click the register button below to reserve your space now.

Your Satisfaction Is 100% Guaranteed!

Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed! If you don’t absolutely LOVE Turn Your Grief Into an Affirmation of Life — or don’t feel that it meets your needs — please submit your refund request form on or before September 20, 2022 and we’ll happily issue qualifying customers a refund.

More Praise for Grace Alvarez Sesma...

“It was through Maestra Grace’s teachings and stories that I experienced a rebirth and affirmations to what I was experiencing.”

Curanderismo is a way of viewing and interacting with the natural world and the spiritual energies of people and elemental forces. At the time when I met Maestra Grace, I was trying to make sense of these physical and unseen forces I was beginning to come in contact with after many encounters with death and loss. It was through Maestra Grace's teachings and stories that I experienced a rebirth and affirmation of what I was experiencing. Beyond showing me what traditional healing systems look like and how they’ve functioned for our ancestors, what Maestra teaches is how to deeply revere sacred ways of knowing and the responsibility one takes on when on this journey of healing.
— Mario Ceballos, POC Fungi Community

“She leads by example of what it means to walk with integrity, respect, and love for sacred traditions.”

As a knowledge keeper, teacher, mentor, and practitioner of traditional healing systems and curanderismo, Maestra Grace Alvarez provides beautiful learning experiences, uniquely delivered through storytelling and heartfelt sharing of her years of experience dedicated to cultural perseverance as an act of community resiliency. I have had the honor of learning directly from Maestra Grace about aspects of traditional healing systems, as well as indirectly in community spaces, talking circles, and healing ceremonies. She generously shares teachings that benefit the health of family and community structures with all the strength and love of a wise grandmother matriarch. She leads by example of what it means to walk with integrity, respect and love for sacred traditions.
— Phoebe Velazquez Islas, Traditional Birth Attendant and Student Midwife

“Grace has inspired me through strong mentorship, to challenge myself with heart-centered remembering and honoring my own ancestral path.”

As a descendent of European, Mediterranean, and Eurasian Steppes immigrants, Grace has inspired me through strong mentorship to challenge myself with heart-centered remembering and honoring my own ancestral path. For me, this means recovering myself and the cultural values of my ancestors, and awakening to these times as a good ancestral ambassador who is being responsible for acknowledging I am a guest in this land as a caring human.
— Susan Estep

“She is able to move easily between the spirit and dream realms in our modern-day society and provide leadership, activism, and healing at this time when our world needs it most.”

Maestra Grace is a respected elder in many communities from Southern California to Colorado, all the way to Canada. In the last 10 years, I have been blessed to have participated in her classes and in being of service to Indigenous and healing communities in Southern California. Maestra Grace has selflessly provided healing, teachings, and guidance for many people who are ready to reconnect with their Indigenous roots and reclaim ancestral healing practices. Her teaching style is simultaneously warm and welcoming and also very direct and straightforward. Her approach to sharing and teaching ancestral ways is understanding of how colonization has stolen from us what was once common knowledge. She patiently leads by example, always naming, teaching, and using proper protocols to honor the ancestors and their lineage of teachings. Maestra Grace is a powerful healer whose gifts I have experienced and witnessed many times over. She is able to move easily between the spirit and dream realms in our modern-day society and provide leadership, activism, and healing at this time when our world needs it most. To receive teachings and guidance from Maestra Grace is a blessing in and of itself that is paid forward in service to the people who need it most.
— Celina Jacques, LMFT

About Grace Alvarez Sesma

Grace Alvarez Sesma, a cultural practitioner of Yaqui descent, was born in Mexico. Called to the path of curanderismo (a traditional Mexican healing system) in childhood, she was profoundly influenced by the work of one of her aunts, a curandera, and an uncle who was a well-known huesero, as well as by her mother’s remedies that were part of her family’s daily life. 

Beginning in early childhood, Grace was visited in dreams by Our Lady of Guadalupe and a group of Indigenous Grandmothers dressed in the traditional clothing of different Native tribes of the Americas, who urged her to return to Indigenous healing ways and help bring forth the call from Mother Earth for a return to Indigenous values and the protection of the land, water, and holy places. 

Keeping the words of the ancestors in her heart, in 2013 she successfully launched an online social media campaign that helped stop the trademarking of Día de los Muertos by The Walt Disney Company. 

In addition to her healing practice, Grace is a facilitator for the Academy for Professional Excellence at San Diego State University School of Social Work, and she annually serves as Elder-in-Residence at the First Nations Iskotew and Kumik teaching lodges in Canada. 

Grace is a 1993 Fellow of the National Hispana Leadership Institute, a collaborative project with the Center for Creative Leadership and Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. She is a member of the Kumeyaay-led Kanap Kuahan (Tell the Truth) Coalition, an advisor to House of the Moon (an Indigenous healing and restoration program to address the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women/People crisis), and a board member of the Yaquis of Southern California. 

Grace is an engaging cultural educator who helps organizations understand and be responsive to the historical experiences of Indigenous peoples as well as contemporary issues affecting them. She warmly welcomes into her circle those who are ready to listen with an open heart and are willing to do the work of healing, understanding, and supporting Indigenous culture and traditions. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What’s a virtual course?
A: It’s a great way to engage live and pre-recorded teachings and each other from the comfort of your home! All you need is a computer, mobile device, or telephone. If there’s more than one person in your household taking the course, you’ll each need your own connection. We use Zoom video conferencing to make it just like an in-person event, where you can ask questions and deepen your exploration of the course themes.

There’s no additional charge for connecting to Zoom with your computer or mobile device. Please note that dialing Zoom from your telephone is a toll call; your telephone service provider will charge you according to your existing long-distance calling plan. International access numbers are available.

“I’ve never seen a course so well put together ever...”
I had never participated before in an online course. The packaging, presentation, inclusion, and Facebook postings created a wonderful, safe cocoon within which to participate. I’ve never seen a course so well put together ever — not in all the years of taking college classes — and I had my doubts about doing an online course. The wealth of organization and ease of learning materials and support made this fun as well.
— Claudia F., Medford, Massachusetts

Q: Can I get benefit from the course if I miss the live classes?
A: Absolutely! You can download the recordings and transcripts of all course sessions from our online media archive, so you never need to worry about missing live calls. You can also engage the full community and leaders on our private online community group.

Q: Can you tell me about the private online community group?
A: We’ll have a private online community group for all course participants on Facebook that will support you in making connections with others, sharing insights, engaging in discussions, and completing homework assignments that can supplement your transformational journey. You’ll have the ability to share your experiences, projects, and growth throughout the course.

Q: Are there scholarships available for this training?
A: Yes, we always make a certain percentage of spaces available for partial scholarships, for those who otherwise would not be able to enroll at the regular rate. If you’d like to apply for a scholarship, please review our guidelines, which include a link to our online application form.

Q: What’s your refund policy?
A: Your satisfaction with The Shift Network and this course is our highest priority! We offer a satisfaction guarantee so that you can sample the course risk-free. The deadline to receive a full refund is September 20, 2022. To request a refund, please click on this refund request form and submit your request. Qualifying refunds will be processed within five business days and an email confirming the refund will be sent. However, we’d love to have a chance to address and resolve your concerns first. If there’s something we can assist you with, please email us at support@theshiftnetwork.com and we’ll be happy to help! (No refund requests accepted after the above date or with scholarship awards.)

Q: How can I reach Customer Support?
A: Please visit our Customer Support Center, where you should be able to find the answer to your question or the solution to your problem. And if you can’t, you can submit an online request form and we’ll get right back to you.