Overcome the fear of death and learn to live fully.
Have you ever asked yourself what scares you the most in life? Many would answer death, but why are we so afraid of that final moment of existence?
It is normal to be afraid of the unknown, but in our western culture we have made death a taboo, a reality that we do not talk about and that causes us great suffering.
With this course we want to teach you how to learn to die, to abandon fear and start to really live. Dr. Alexandra Mejia, Palliative Care Doctor, shares with us all her knowledge about death, both from a clinical perspective after 15 years of experience accompanying the sick and elderly in the final process of their lives, and from a spiritual perspective, after more than 25 years linked to Tibetan Buddhism.
In the West we live death as a great taboo, an uncomfortable reality that we do not usually talk about and this generates much suffering and fear. However, Tibetan Buddhism teaches us to accept this process as part of life, delving into the process of death from a very complete perspective about everything that happens on a physical, psychological and spiritual level during this process. The objective of these videos is therefore to help us to transcend the greatest fear that every human being faces and from which all other fears start.
We want to help you to "accept" your own death, as well as to teach you how to properly accompany other people, whether family members, friends, patients... in this last stage of their lives. Because let's not forget that what gives meaning to life is precisely the fact that it is finite, and being aware of this helps us to live in the present and make the most of the time we share with our loved ones.
What is learning to die?
Accepting one's own death implies a process of preparation, a preparation that must begin right now and that implies knowing oneself, starting from the question: What is death for me?
For this, and throughout these sessions we will see what death is and what happens to us human beings in general on a physical, emotional and spiritual level when we are in this final process of life, because as you will see in this course, there are a series of changes and manifestations in each of these levels that are closely related.
During our life we live many transitions. The most obvious ones are childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age; and all of them involve processes and changes, such as: our first day at school, graduation, first job, marriage, divorce, changing jobs, becoming parents for the first time, moving house, city or country... All these transitions involve changes and these usually produce discomfort, some pain, but also joy, hope and decision making...
A great part of the obstacles that we find when we are going to die arise because we have refused to die to the small deaths that are taking place throughout our life, it has to do with all the losses that we suffer, the transformations, changes of place, changes of feelings, of thoughts; because death is not only biological death, our daily life is composed of small deaths and if we are unable to relate to these losses and transitions that we live day by day, how are we going to relate to the most drastic of all, with the death of our body or our loved ones?
Through 11 sessions you can learn how to manage your own end of life or accompany other people in the process.
The main theme of the meetings we are going to have is "Accepting one's own death and accompanying the death of others". One part is related to the other. During these meetings with Alexandra Mejía we will approach important aspects in order to achieve this approach, this understanding of the process of death.
This course on death is composed of the following training blocks:
- Introduction to the course: Tibetan Buddhist perspective on death.
- Living Well, Dying Well: Three parts dealing with the direct relationship of life and death. Parts that cannot be separated
- Integrating one's own death. Two parts where you will learn to be at peace with death even if you rebel against it.
- Palliative Care and Advanced Illness: Two parts in which you will learn how to treat chronically ill or dying people.
- Spiritual dimension at the end of life. Two parts where we will see the value of psychological support and spiritual well-being for a terminally ill person.
- Relationship with the sick person: You will learn how to connect and express feelings with a person on their deathbed.
