This also explains that attachments are the issue. They are the source of the pain of death. Otherwise, there is no pain in dying per se. RishiDeva once mentioned to me that sleep is minor death, and we go through it every night. And, in Mali, where I was born, they say that death is sleep’s little bother. The original post by Michael really provides sufficient help, depending on one’s degree of capacity for isolation from attachment energies/manifestations.

One's attachment to anything can be the issue. Maybe one’s dispassion and stillness could help? One can assess the degree of attachment by introspection and consideration of the content of the subtle form. It is possible to check that by the remembrance of the process of dying, or the ultimate separation to the material form, a tall order indeed.

So the ancient yogis advise going in isolation in the forest, and looking forward and an unceremonious death of the body. That to me says that even remaining in one’s familiar environment or comfort, surrounded by emotionally distraught relatives will be an issue.

It is explained in acting as a Death Doula or a Dying Specialist, and as referred to by Elizabeth Kubler Ross, the original authority of the hospice system, that visitations by departed close ones happen. I see it almost as we greet new souls on this side. It is, it seems universal. They are referred to in the original post as portents (as in portents of death). I have observed it in different cultural contexts. 

The dying process needs to be looked at as a transition in most cases, unlike tragic sudden or accidental situations. Every degree of advancement will be fundamental. So definitely, if windows present for auspicious moments to exit, by identification and knowledge or awareness, then how hard would it be to walk to the top of the mountain and fall freely with reassurance?