Holding Vigil: The Sacred Art of Presence at Life's Threshold

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  • Experienced Instructor Ginny Swenson has over 20 years experience

  • Small Online Cohort 
    Maximum of 12 people meet online on Zoom

  • Expand Understanding
    Bring presence and care to a sacred moment of threshold

June 11 and June 25
5:30 - 7:30 MST

  • Arrive at the bedside prepared, grounded, and confident
  • Understand what the dying person needs — body, mind, and spirit
  • Learn from diverse cultural and religious traditions around death
  • Leave with practical skills and a deepened relationship with mortality
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Conscious and Compassionate
Death Care
In recent years, there is recognition and acknowledgement among different cultures and within different religious traditions for the need and value of providing vigil when someone is in the last days or hours of their life. 

It is a sacred way of tending to and caring for the one dying and addresses the universal fear of not wanting to die alone. It is a means of bearing witness and honoring a life lived as they pass from this world. Holding space during this time is a beautiful gift for both the one passing and for the one holding vigil.

Providing vigil is a means of supporting and providing companionship and presence to the person dying.

Across cultures and throughout human history, accompanying the dying has been considered one of the most intimate and sacred acts of care one person can offer another. Yet many of us arrive at the bedside with little preparation. Holding Vigil is a two-session online workshop that changes that.

Drawing on the history and meaning of the 11th hour, cultural and religious traditions around death and dying, and the emotional and spiritual dimensions of the dying process, this workshop offers both the knowledge and the lived practice needed to show up fully at life's threshold. Participants will learn what the dying process looks like, what to offer through presence, touch, voice, and silence, and how to tend to their own inner landscape as a vigil-holder. The workshop includes a death meditation, real-world scenarios to practice holding vigil, and guided reflection work between sessions.

Who is this course for?

This workshop is designed for anyone working with people who are terminally ill or approaching death: hospice nurses and social workers, physicians and care teams, death doulas, chaplains, pastoral care providers, and hospice volunteers. It is equally valuable for family members and loved ones who want to be meaningfully present at the end of a life. No prior training in end-of-life care is required.

What can I expect in the workshop?

A significant portion of our time together is devoted to the emotional and spiritual dimensions of dying — what the person at threshold may be experiencing inwardly, how to recognize and honor those experiences, and how to tend to your own emotional landscape as a vigil-holder. 

The two Thursdays are separated by two weeks of guided reflection and homework — time to sit with what you've learned, engage with curated readings, and bring your own questions and experiences back into the second session.

Expect to arrive at the bedside more prepared, more grounded, and less afraid. This workshop combines knowledge, contemplative practice, and hands-on scenario work to give you everything you need to hold vigil with compassion, confidence, and grace.

The Art of Presence

Learn to offer the most powerful gift available to the dying: your full, unhurried, compassionate presence.

Wisdom Across Traditions

Draw on the rich tapestry of cultural and religious practices around death to deepen your understanding and sensitivity as a companion at life's end.

Confidence at the Bedside

Leave with practical knowledge of the dying process, clear guidance on what to offer at the 11th hour, and real scenario practice.

Meet your instructor,
Ginny Swenson

Ginny Swenson was an educator for many years, taught elementary school, wrote curriculum and worked as a reading coach for other educators. For the past 20 years she worked as a social worker with hospice providing emotional support to those that were dying and their loved ones. She has led many workshops and given presentations on end-of-life care. She is a licensed social worker and currently has a small private practice providing therapy and support related to grief, loss, transition focused on helping clients cope and work through anxiety and depression. She has also taught for many years a class at Community College of Denver on the Psychology of Death and Dying.
Patrick Jones - Course author

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