Everything You Need to Know About the Ascension of Humanity
The Ascension Protocol
What does it mean for humanity to evolve beyond its current form? Join us as we explore the frontiers of human potential—from technological augmentation and artificial intelligence to consciousness expansion and collective awakening. Each episode examines how breakthrough discoveries in neuroscience, transhumanism, space exploration, and spiritual practice might converge to fundamentally transform what it means to be human.
We speak with different spiritual & scientific entrepreneurs that have learned what it means to become aligned with their path and purpose, discussing a wide range of topics that explain terminology and multidimensional concepts related to both individual and the collective ascension or awakening. There are also bonus episodes weaved in that are real stories, told by real people, sharing their own personal journeys, inspiring hope, sharing resources, and shedding light on how differently personal growth can look for each individual.
This is more than futurism—it's an investigation into humanity's oldest dream: to become more than we are. Join the conversation about the ascension journey and what the heck that really means.
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Everything You Need to Know About the Ascension of Humanity
Time Is On Your Side: A Near-Death Experience, a Rod Stewart Song & the Decision to Thrive | Dr. Andrea Niestas
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What does it take to choose gratitude when you're lying in an ICU on a ventilator, wondering why you survived at all?
In this episode, Heather Zimmerman sits down with Dr. Andrea Niestas — PhD clinical psychologist, former behavioral health hospital director, life coach, and near-death survivor — for one of the most honest conversations about what it actually means to move from surviving to thriving.
Dr. Andrea shares:
- Nearly 20 years directing a behavioral health hospital's intake department — what it meant to be the person helping people in their worst moments, and the emotional weight that came with it
- The illness that nearly killed her in 2024: months of misdiagnosis, walking with a cane, collapsing in a hotel lobby four and a half hours from home, emergency surgery, and a two-week coma
- Almost dying three times — and waking up on a ventilator not knowing if she'd survive
- The week she spent asking "why did I survive for this?" — and the moment she decided to stop
- How she used mindset shifts and gratitude to physically recover faster — and the neuroscience behind why that works
- The Rod Stewart song she kept hearing in her coma that she couldn't identify for almost a year — and what happened when she finally did
- The pivot from crisis intervention to prevention: from helping people after they've broken down to helping them build the skills so they never get there
- Her suicide prevention training work and why it's stayed central to her mission
- What twenty years of watching people at their worst teaches you about what actually makes a life feel meaningful
- Her workshops, one-on-one coaching, and the book she's planning to write
- Her closing piece of advice — the one practice she does consciously every single day
Dr. Andrea Niestas has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and over 25 years of experience in behavioral health. She also spent 15 years in leadership roles, where she mentored others, provided training, and developed various programs. Dr. Niestas is a wellness coach and speaker who supports individuals seeking more meaning, connection, and fulfillment in their lives — those ready to move beyond simply existing and toward fully living. She works both one-on-one and at the community level, offering workshops that encourage shared growth and collective transformation.
Find Dr. Andrea Niestas:
- Website: lifecoachingbyandrea.com
- Social: @LifeCoachingByAndrea on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube
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My signature 14-step awakening program — behavioral psychology meets soul work.
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Welcome to Everything You Need to Know About the Ascension of Humanity, the podcast where ancient wisdom meets modern science and spiritual evolution gets real. I'm Heather, an energy healer, channel, and spiritual coach with Divine Ascension Company. Each week, we're diving deep into the mysteries of human consciousness, spiritual awakening, and the profound transformation happening within us and around us. But here's the thing: we're not doing this with our heads in the clouds. We're bringing neuroscience, psychology, quantum physics, and cutting-edge research to the table alongside meditation, energy work, and timeless spiritual teachings. Because the truth is, the ascension of humanity isn't some far-off cosmic event. It's happening right now in the choices we make, the awareness we cultivate, and the healing we do within ourselves. Whether you're curious about how mindfulness literally rewires your brain, why shadow work is backed by depth psychology, or what coherence between your heart and mind actually means scientifically, you're in the right place. We'll explore practices like breath work, meditation, and devotional alchemy. Not as abstract concepts, but as tangible tools grounded in both spiritual wisdom and scientific understanding. And here's where it gets even better. In our bonus episodes, you'll hear from real people sharing real stories. These are the warriors, the healers, the everyday seekers who've walked through their own darkness and found their light. They'll share their breakthroughs, their struggles, and the resources that actually help them along the way. Because personal growth isn't a solo journey, and you deserve to know you're not alone. So whether you're just beginning to question the nature of reality, or you're deep in your spiritual practice, this podcast is your companion on the path. It's time to expand, to awaken, and to rise together. Let's begin. Today's guest almost died three times.
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SPEAKER_01Andrea has a PhD in clinical psychology and spent nearly 20 years as a director at a behavioral health hospital. The person who decided whether someone in crisis needed to be admitted, who trained her staff to manage the emotional weight of that work, who helped build an entire department around helping people at the very worst moments of their lives. And then she became the patient. In the summer of 2024, she started getting sick. Her doctors didn't catch it. The ER sent her home. Urgent care gave her antibiotics. But she kept getting worse. She was walking with a cane. She couldn't pack her own bag. Her husband had to help her to the car. And still, because she is someone who takes her professional commitments seriously, she tried to show up for a job four and a half hours away from home. And she collapsed in the hotel lobby. What followed was an emergency surgery, two-week coma, a ventilator, feeding tube, a month and a half in the ICU, and three and a half months in the hospital total. Doctors didn't know if she was going to make it. And somewhere in that coma, she kept hearing a Rod Stewart song. She couldn't make out the words, she just knew that it was Rod Stewart. It wasn't until almost exactly a year later, at an event and out of nowhere, that she finally heard the song again, pulled out her phone, Googled it, and found out what it was. Young hearts be free tonight. Time is on your side. In this episode we talk about what it actually takes to choose gratitude when you're lying in a hospital bed on a ventilator, wondering why you survived it all. We talk about the pivot from crisis intervention to prevention, from helping people after they've broken down to helping them build the skills so they don't need to get there. We talk about what 20 years of watching people at their worst teaches you about what actually matters. And we talk about the decision, the conscious daily decision that changed her recovery. This one is about what it means to actually live the days that you have. Let's get into it. Her name is Dr. Andrea Niestis. She has a PhD in clinical psychology. She does coaching. She helps with mental health and suicide prevention, which is very near and dear to my heart. And she's also had a very interesting transformative story about how she got into where she's at right now. And I'm really excited to talk to her today. How are you doing today?
SPEAKER_00Oh, good. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. I'm excited to talk to you as well.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. So why don't you go ahead and get us started and tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.
SPEAKER_00So I have, as you mentioned, my degree is in clinical psychology. And I soon after graduated. I mean, I did a lot of different kinds of internships as we normally do, outpatient therapy. I worked in a residential facility. But once I got my PhD, I ended up staying working at a behavioral hospital that I was at. So I ended up working at a behavioral health or psychiatric hospital, whatever you want to call it. I ended up working there for almost 20 years. So it was a very it was a very good learning experience, but it also helped me. I needed to pause for a second. I forgot to ask you, do you edit?
SPEAKER_01I can.
SPEAKER_00Okay. All right, sorry. So I'll just know for the future. No worries. So by working, there was really able to help individuals who were at the worst times in their life. Because in order to be admitted to a behavioral health hospital, you really have to be at a severe, you know, severe situation. So we really saw people who were at their worst, people who were suicidal, people who were in the middle of a psychotic or manic episode. So it really was fulfilling to be able to work in that environment and to be able to help those individuals. So most of the time that I was there, I was working in the intake department, which was the admissions. So I eventually became director of that department. And so I had clinicians and nurses working with me and they would do assessments to help determine if these individuals needed to be admitted into the hospital or not, depending on what their symptoms in the situation was. So I ended up being there for about 20 years and, you know, learned learned a lot and was able to work with a lot of different people.
SPEAKER_01I mean, being in a in a psychiatric hospital and seeing the people who are essentially suffering and and I mean, knowing what I know now and having my own opinions about mental illness and and the spiritual community and things, how did that affect you being there for so long?
SPEAKER_00It was very heavy. I mean, it was very heavy for the staff. It was very draining emotionally, it was also very draining physically, just because it was a very fast-paced environment. As you can imagine, everybody that was coming in was coming in some sort of crisis. So it was really, we really had to get people admitted quickly. Sometimes it was really, you know, a crisis situation. So it was a very fast-paced job, and there was a lot going on at once sometimes. So it was very difficult for the staff emotionally to be able to do all of that, take all of that in, and to be able to help, you know, because you have to you have to be able to have enough, you know, inner resources to be able to deal with all of that on your own so that you don't end up with all of that emotional baggage, if you will, after you're done with the patient, you know, you need to move on to someone else because now you have someone else to give your attention and your time to. So it was being with the person and really being with them while you were there, but having to move on to the next person so that you could give them the same time and attention. So it was it could be very draining for people.
SPEAKER_01And what did you do to kind of release that energy before you moved on to the next patient?
SPEAKER_00So you know, everyone, everyone was definitely encouraged to take their breaks, to take, to take their time in between. You know, everyone had their own individual way of dealing with things. You know, I did a lot of I did a lot of breathing exercises, you know. I did a lot of hiding, if you will. I would take five or ten minutes, you know, take my five or ten minute break, and I would literally go hide where nobody could find me. And it, you know, it wasn't much time, but it really was just that getting away, just getting yourself out of the situation, you know, telling people when you go on break, you're you're going out of the office. You can't hang out at your desk while you're on break. You need to get out of the situation, you need to get out of the environment, just so that you have, you know, you have that division of like work time versus like this is my this is my own time.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00You know, so making making sure that people did that, that they try to, you know, separate, you know, work from their break time. And, you know, it wasn't just the patients, it was really their families and their loved ones as well, because people were coming in extremely concerned about their loved one. And especially individuals who had never been hospitalized were having kind of a first episode of their entire life, their families were really scared and they didn't know what to do, and they were really panicked. And so having the information to be able to educate them on what they could expect, but then also being able again to like manage their emotions and be able to help the family as much as you could help the the patient was really the goal.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Okay, sorry I interrupted you. Please continue, please continue your your story.
SPEAKER_00Oh no, no, that there was no interruption. So I think you know, it it was really just making sure that everybody knew that they had permission to take care of themselves, to have their downtime and whatever it was that worked for them to make sure that they got that done.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I mean, and that's so important, and that's good because I know some places don't do that. So it you got to take care of your staff too, especially when you're dealing with such heavy, you know, emotions and energy and stuff with people who are are in crisis, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. I mean, it was just it was, you know, it was very difficult. And, you know, sometimes because of a situation being more urgent or imminent, sometimes we didn't get those breaks. Sometimes we had to just jump in and move on to the next person. And so then we would really the other key was just making sure that we worked as a team. You know, if there was something that you could do to help someone while they had to go jump in, you know, with the next person, immediately maybe there's paperwork or something that you could do that you could help help them with so they wouldn't have to deal with that afterwards. So anything that we could do to help each other and work as a team is really what what I encouraged in the department because it was really needed.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So you said you were there for 20 years. What did you what did you do after that?
SPEAKER_00So after that, I I really only left that job because I had ended up moving um to a different city. So after that, I started teaching at a local college. So I started teaching psychology and I taught different classes, but I mostly did general psychology and uh statistics for the behavioral sciences.
SPEAKER_02So I did that first.
SPEAKER_00Well, I don't think too many people thought statistics was fun, but no, it wasn't.
SPEAKER_01I was being facetious. I don't like math, I like science, but I remember taking those classes and thinking, like, I mean, they weren't as bad as like regular math. I will give it that. And and my teachers were great because they were like, okay, here are the different, you know, statistical formulas. You just have to pick the right one to use. Okay, cool. That was helpful. I didn't have to just figure it out completely, but I do remember those classes. I was like, Oh my god, I'm so glad I only have to take two.
SPEAKER_00But science is based on statistics. Um that's how research is done, and that's how that's how studies are information is collected, you know, data is reviewed.
SPEAKER_01So and this is why I don't personally work in a lab, I just rely on everyone else who can do it a little better than me.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah. We all I I always used to have the joke at work hashtag know my limitations. Yes, I know what my limitations are, what I can do, and what I what I shouldn't be doing.
SPEAKER_01Correct.
SPEAKER_00So I did, so I did that for about a year and a half. And right about that time I started, I ended up at the college, started working part-time instead of full-time. So then that's when I had the idea of doing the life coaching because I had wanted to do it for a while and I had been thought thinking about doing it for a while. So I said, well, now that I'm only doing the teaching part-time, then maybe this is a good time to get this get this rolling and see how it works out for me. So I started doing it about a year and a half into the teaching when I had gone to part-time.
SPEAKER_01Gotcha. And what do you specialize in with your life coaching?
SPEAKER_00So the life coaching really is well, it's really kind of interesting because it was the start of my life coaching business before I got sick, and then where it is now after I got sick and survived and recovered. So it really is sort of like you know, part one and part two. So back then when I first started, I was really looking at just sort of general wellness, you know, and as I thought about it more, I realized that what I was looking at for live coaching was really like sort of the opposite of what I had been doing, where people were going in for treatment in a crisis because they needed some kind of help to get better. They were already experiencing symptoms, they already had possibly a diagnosis. And so they really needed that treatment to be able to help them get better and stabilize. Whereas when I started thinking about starting life coaching, I was really looking at it from a preventative perspective. So now I was really interested in helping people gain skills and learn new things so that they could learn how to handle life stresses and not get to that point where they were in a crisis.
SPEAKER_01Right, which is important.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, so I was really looking at helping people learn ways to deal with stress and things that were going on in their life. And I felt that that really was sort of the next step in what I was doing as a manager, anyways, because I had been doing some training at the hospital. I did that's where I started doing my suicide prevention training. So I did that for all the hospital employees. But with my own staff, my own department, I had been doing, you know, just basic training of this is how you do your job. But because I did work with a lot of clinicians who were just sort of newly graduated, and this was maybe their first like professional adult job, I would talk to them and tell them I'm not just teaching you how to be an intake counselor and how to work at a hospital. I'm really was really trying to help them kind of learn how to be a professional, you know, how to develop those professional skills, like the critical thinking and the problem solving and the you know empathy for the clients and the family. So it really sort of went beyond the actual job and really starting to really starting their professional journey. And so I really sort of took that and started wanting to do that, not just in that professional arena, but really in like the life scope, you know, someone's life. You're really kind of going out there in life, realizing that there's things that could help you that you just maybe just don't know how to do, you know, you want to be able to handle stress better, not get as angry or you know, be able to enjoy your job better, but you just don't know how to do it. And so, really, that's kind of where I saw a place that I could help people. And I really enjoyed, I think probably because I had a team that I, you know, that I worked with in my department, because I had a team I was really enjoying like workshops where I could have a group of people. And it really kind of seemed like it seemed like a good fit, like I could help even more people in this group setting, because not only number one, it's just more numbers of people that I can help, but also they can help each other, you know, during group discussions and during give me an example that I can learn from each other as well, and not just from me. So that's why I really enjoyed kind of that group setting and doing something more in a workshop form.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I do team building workshops and I love them. They're so much fun.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, they really do, they really do just feed off of each other, you know, and sometimes as a facilitator, you kind of just step out of the conversation, you know, and let them learn and hear from each other.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's great to witness. And they really learn a lot about each other and themselves too. And I think that's really empowering for people, especially when they have to work together, you know, every day and and build that that relationship and and that trust, I think is really important.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes. And then I I do I I have done workshops for workplaces, and it really is, you know, you can just feel that energy where people are kind of feeling each other and they're sort of on the same page, and you know, you know that they leave maybe just a little bit more connected in, you know, at least whatever it was that you were talking about. And that's always just like the next step in them becoming a more you know cohesive, productive team.
SPEAKER_01Right. Absolutely. So let's talk about your transformation. Let's talk about you said, you know, there was a part one and a part two to your life coaching business, but in between that, you got you were in a coma, you got sick. What tell us a little bit more about that?
SPEAKER_00Oh, so I was probably about three months into you know, trying to build a business, create my workshops and my programs, kind of starting to meet people. And then I started getting sick in summer of 2024. And it's you know, it started off slowly, but I started getting worse. I went to go see my primary doctor, and he was really wanting, I needed to go see a specialist, and I was actually in the process of changing my specialist doctor, my GI doctor. And so I went to go see my doctor once, I went to go see my doctor twice. I wasn't getting better, so he actually sent me to the ER. The ER didn't they just give me medication, sent me home. I eventually tried to go back to my primary doctor because at this point I'm getting worse. So I had gotten so bad to the point where I couldn't even I was so weak. My biggest issues were that I was so weak I couldn't even get up off the couch on my own. My husband had to help lift me to get off the couch. By the time I walked 10 feet, I was out of breath. So I was having trouble breathing. I was sleeping all day because I was just so weak. I was had these terrible body aches. And I would just sit there, I would sit there groaning during the times that I was awake, which was not very much during the day. I really couldn't eat because I was just feeling so sick. So I try to go back to my doctor again to say, look, I'm still not feeling better. And they said, Well, there's nothing else we can do. You have to wait for your specialist appointment. And if anyone has seen a specialist, you know how long that takes to get in. Yeah. So I was waiting for like three months, three, three and a half months from the time I made the appointment. So by this point, it's like mid August, I want to say. And my appointment wasn't till mid September. So my primary doctor wouldn't help me. The ER really didn't do anything. I eventually went to urgent care a few weeks later, and they said, Oh, you have a sinus infection. So I was on my second or third round of antibiotics by that point. So every time I took the antibiotics, it helped a little bit, and I was hopeful that I was going to get better, but I didn't. So eventually, because I was only working at the college part-time, I got another part-time job out of town, and I had to go about four and a half hours away to work one day a week. So well, I accepted the job before I was sick.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Okay.
SPEAKER_00But yes, while I was sick. So the first week that I had to go, I was to the point of using a cane at that point. I don't even know. So I went to class. I had a I walked with a cane. At one point, we took a class break. It took me 15 minutes to walk down the hallway to use the restroom and come back. That's how slow I was moving. The following week, which would have been my second week there, my husband said, You should not be going. And he had drove me. Granted, by this time I wasn't, I hadn't even been driving for like a month and a half already. So he said, You shouldn't go, you're too sick. And I said, I'm known to be very stubborn. I said, No, no, no, I have to go. You know, I signed a contract. I, you know, it's my professional responsibility. Um, I have to go, I have to go. While, meanwhile, I was so weak to the point I I couldn't even pack my own bag. I was sitting there telling him, okay, grab that dress, grab those shoes, put it in that bag. I couldn't even walk to the car on my own. He was helping me walk to the car. He's like, I don't know how you think you're gonna work. And I said, just let's just go. That night, which would have been my the next day would have been my second day at this job, we got to the hotel trying to check in, and I finally collapsed. So they had to call 911. I went to the emergency room, and finally it was where I was meant to collapse because I ended up four and a half hours away from home, unfortunately. But fortunately, I was finally in a hospital where people were actually helping me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So it still took them about a week and a half to figure out what was wrong with me. So that first week and a half was really a lot of medication. I was kind of in and out. And then eventually I had to have emergency surgery because they figured out what was wrong with me. And they had to go in there. And after my emergency surgery is when I ended up in a coma for about two weeks.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00So that was like part two, and part one and part two of being admitted. That first week of just being, I was already so by being there even just a week, I was bend bound and I couldn't even like move my legs by that point. Um and I was in and out. And there was at one point I had this weird experience one point, actually, where I th really thought I was not gonna wake up anymore. I thought that I was going to die that night. I was very anxious being away from home, and I was so confused, I was so drugged up on medications that I was starting to have a panic attack because I just I said I just want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home. And they had to give me um Adavan because I was so upset. And as the Ada van was taking its uh effect, I felt it could have just been the drifting off of the medication, but I really felt like I was like, this is it, you know. It probably, like I said, was just me going into this slumber. But in the moment, I really thought that I was going to go to sleep and not wake up.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And it was just really confusing for me because I was so high on medication, other medications, steroids, and that I was hallucinating at the time as well, and I didn't know it. So I really didn't even understand what was real and what was not real. At one point, I thought the hospital staff was trying to kill me.
SPEAKER_01Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, so I I it was delirium, delusions, dreams. I don't know what it was, but I was just so really confused and didn't really understand. And then that day that I got the Atavan, I really just was like drifting away and thought, like, oh, like this is it. This this is what happens when people die. And I really didn't think I was gonna wake up. And then and then I did, and then a few days later I had emergency surgery, and then that's when I ended up in a two-week coma.
SPEAKER_01Do you remember anything from your coma?
SPEAKER_00Not really, like during those two weeks, I pretty much was out the whole time, but I was just having really weird dreams, and just really, just really kind of weird stuff was happening. And I just remember at one point I would, and it's hard to even say if it was recurrent. Like, I I felt like I had some recurrent dreams, but uh, you know, without the time-space continuum, I really don't even know honestly what was happening. But I had this dream at one point where I was like driving over a bridge and I could hear a jukebox. I knew it was a jukebox, I don't know how it was a jukebox playing this music overhead. And as I was driving across a bridge in a convertible car, which I've never had, there was a song they kept playing, and then I'd turn around and go back over the bridge and just back and forth, back and forth, and I would hear the same song, and I could never hear the words, I never knew exactly what it said, and I couldn't figure it out. I just knew it was Rod Stewart, I knew it was Rod Stewart, and so, anyways, I kept I kept hearing this, and so when I woke up from all of that craziness, I was like, What song is that? Why did I keep hearing the song and I couldn't figure it out? So, anyways, sort of down the line to jump a little bit, probably about a year, it was almost exactly a year from when I even got hospitalized. I was at an event and I heard that song. Oh, and I Googled this Googled the song on my phone, and I finally figured out what the song was, and I was finally able to figure it out, and it was just you know, pulling up the words and pulling up the lyrics and trying to like figure out why I was hearing that, and you know, it just gets you really thinking, like when you know when you're talking about that pure uh spiritual aspect, like like what did it mean? Like, was I getting them a message at that time? And you know, just there was just so much that I was going through and seeing and experiencing that I really was so confused and I just couldn't even understand.
SPEAKER_01What song was it, if I may ask?
SPEAKER_00So it is I actually wrote a blog on it that I put on my website. It's Rod Stewart, uh Young Turks.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Which I don't even know. And this is the other weird thing, though, is when I heard that song at that event and I figured out what it was. Two days later, I heard the song again in a grocery store.
SPEAKER_01Oh interesting.
SPEAKER_00The very next day, my brother heard it at a doctor's office that he was at.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00Two weeks later, I heard the song again, two days in a row while I was out, like random places, not on Spotify, not on my playlist, just in random, random places. The song came on again. Another two, like two days in a row. Okay. So I so I heard the song several times, but when I looked up the lyrics, it was just very strange because the the lyrics that I kept hearing over and over, I would hear the song, but I couldn't hear the lyrics. So when I finally identified the song and looked the lyric looked up the lyrics and see what they were, they were young hearts, be free tonight. Time is on your side. And so yeah, I just kept thinking like, was that a message that I was receiving when I was in this coma? Because I think that's about the time that I was having that particular dream. You know, time is on your side. So was I it just made me think, was I receiving a message saying that I was going to be okay? You know, that because at that point, you know, I did almost die three times. Like we really didn't know if I was gonna live or not.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00But just the fact that I didn't hear that song for a whole year from the point that I got hospitalized. But then when I heard it, I heard it about six times in a month. Because after that first hearing of it, I heard it again the next week, two days in a row, and then my same brother heard it again as well on the same day that I did.
SPEAKER_01Interesting. Well, clearly time was on your side because you're still here. Yes, yes, I know of so how did that experience you know, getting sick and and almost dying, how did that uh change your life?
SPEAKER_00So when I first woke up from the coma, I was still very groggy, and it was probably a week of just kind of really trying to figure out what was going on, you know, not understanding the tubes, and I was on a ventilator, and it really was the ventilator that had me the most worried because I knew if I couldn't get off the ventilator to breathe on my own, then I knew that I wasn't gonna survive.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00So the ventilator was really what scared me the most. So it was about a week of like really kind of waking up before I could really be part of the world, even though I was awake. So after about a week, that's when I started realizing like how bad off I was, and that's when I started really to get dejected and depressed. And I would think, why did I survive for this? Why did I survive to be on a ventilator with a trach and tubes and feeding, feeding tube, and I can't walk, I can't talk. Like, why am I even here? And so I was probably in that state for about a week until it just I just I knew that if I didn't get better emotionally, then I wasn't gonna get better physically, or at least not as quickly.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And because I was having a hard time getting off the ventilator, every time they tried to titrate me off the amount of air that I was getting for the ventilator, I felt like I couldn't breathe and I would start panicking because I was so scared of not getting off of it that then I'm, you know, the self-fulfilling prophecy. Yeah. So then I would have panic attacks. And so I was so afraid not to get off of it. And I said, you know what? I can't get better physically if I don't start changing my thinking process. So I pretty much told myself that it was time to stop feeling sorry for myself, that I did it and I needed it, but it's over. And I just decided, I just made a decision that I am going to, instead of saying, Why am I still here? Now I have another infect, I would get better, and then I would get another infection and put me back on the medication. And I would think, like, why am I not getting better? Why am I still stuck in the hospital? And I decided to change that thinking to I am grateful to be in the hospital because number one, it means that I'm alive, and number two, it means that somebody's actually helping me. And they weren't helping me before.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00Nobody, the doctors weren't helping me where I lived. And I had to go four and a half hours away before I could find a team of doctors who would actually help me. I ended up being in the hospital for three and a half months and just in ICU. I was in ICU in a month for a month and a half. So I just decided that I had to stop thinking that way, and I had to change my mindset and start feeling more grateful for what I actually had and that I had survived. And I used that mentality to get me to help me recover physically faster.
SPEAKER_01It's amazing the power of you know, perspective shifts and and gratitude. It really does make a difference, and there and there's science behind it. There's big words that are that I that I'm not good at.
SPEAKER_00But you know, there's someone did the statistics for you.
SPEAKER_01Yes, exactly. Again, know your limitations. So, but there is research to show, like creating these new neural pathways and finding ways to really change the way you look at stuff. It does affect your mind, your emotions, and and your physical body.
SPEAKER_00It does. And I mean, I and it's not like it was like you know, peachy after that. Like, no, eventually I got I ended up on Zoloft, and eventually they had to double my Zoloft because I was still in the hospital a month later, you know, and so it was just so frustrating, and I really felt like I was jumping out of my skin because I just wanted to leave so bad, right? But at least it was my start because I wouldn't have been able to progress at all if I just decided to be stuck in that hole of like drudgery and darkness, and like, why am I even here? As opposed to I am here definitely for a reason. Like, I only I feel like I was only saved by the grace of God because there's no like they they didn't think I was gonna survive, right? And I try I would tell myself I'm here obviously for some kind of purpose, which you know it's too early to figure out what that is. I just need to get home and keep keep surviving, but there's a reason why I'm here and eventually I'll learn that, but I'm never gonna get to that place if I don't even get out of the hospital.
SPEAKER_01Right. So, how did that change what you do now? You said that affected how you did your life coaching and stuff. So, how did that whole experience not only change how you live your life, but how you decided to help other people?
SPEAKER_00So it just really got me thinking more about you know, being in this spot. Like when I did when I worked at the hospital, as much as I did enjoy helping the people that I worked with, like we talked about, like it was just so it was emotionally heavy and it was hard, and you know, there was a lot of burnout, you know, definitely. And so knowing that I was at that point where it was like, you know, where they say you live for the weekends, you kind of just you just drag yourself through Monday through Friday, you just get up, your same routine, and you're just waiting until Friday afternoon when you're all done with it, and you you feel like you get two days to yourself, you know. And so knowing that experience, I really wanted to, I really felt like the next step for me was to help people get to a point where they didn't feel like that, they didn't feel like they were drudging through life and just surviving, and instead they felt like they were full actually fulfilled and that they were thriving and that they were feeling meaning and value in their life as opposed to just getting through until Friday evening.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00And so that's that's really where I changed kind of the the focus of my coaching has been is really trying to help people know that there is another way to look at it. And I would hope they wouldn't have to go through anything as serious as I have to be able to be able to learn that, to be able to appreciate what you have, to be able to say, like I have to tell myself every day, remember what could have been, yeah, and then I never know when that day's finally gonna come, you know, nobody does, and so there's only one life to live here on earth. And if you just get through by those, you know, what is it, the skin of your teeth for five days just to get through two days. I mean, look at how much you're wasting, right? Look at how much time you're just you know, you're just letting right. Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's exactly what it is, just going through the motions, as opposed to looking at what you can be grateful for and what you can appreciate in every single day, no matter what.
SPEAKER_01Right. Awesome. So if someone wanted to take advantage of your life coaching services or you know, any other projects that you're working on, how would they find you?
SPEAKER_00So my website is lifecoaching byandrea.com, and I am on social media. My handle on all my accounts is the same, life coaching by Andrea. I'm on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Awesome.
SPEAKER_01Have you written a book yet? You should.
SPEAKER_00I have thought about it, and I actually did start writing some notes last year, and I haven't got back to it this year, but it's actually definitely on my bucket list.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you should. You have an amazing story. I just finished my first book and it was very empowering. And the the things that like people who have been through these unique experiences, especially the near-death experiences, like this is why I asked if you remember anything from your coma, because there's so many things, and even the Rod Stewart story is is amazing because there's so much that we have that we've been through that we can share with the world. And I don't know, I think it would be a good idea, but that's just my opinion. It's it's a great it took a lot of work, and I'm glad it's finally done and ready to be published. But but you should, you should. It would I would read it.
SPEAKER_00Oh, thank you. I mean, I I I plan to, yes. I mean the answer, the short answer is yes, I plan to.
unknownOkay. All right.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you so much for being on the show today. It was an absolute pleasure to speak with you. And before we wrap up, I have one question for you that I I ask most of my guests. What's for anyone who's listening, the whole world is your oyster. What's one piece of advice that you would give to everyone right now?
SPEAKER_00The one piece of advice is just adding on to what I said earlier, is to you have to remember every single day. It really has to be every day. You have to remind yourself how precious every single day is because you let one day go, you let another day go, and it's going to be so easy to start taking everything for granted again. So it has to be a conscious effort, and I do that every day now, consciously. I have to make a conscious effort to say, This is what I'm grateful for. I'm actually still alive. And, you know, people say it could be worse, but it could be better. Well, it could always be better. But, you know, the point is to actually appreciate what you have, find the goodness, and that's where you start finding that life fulfillment.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being here today. It was it was awesome to speak with you, and thank you for sharing your story.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_01If you're ready to stop surviving the ascension and start actually moving through it with a map, the self-spirit method was built for exactly where you are. And if you want a little taste of what that might look like, my book, Becoming Divine, is now available. It's the foundation, the framework, and the permission slip all in one place. Find the program and the link to purchase the book at DivineAscensionco.com. You were never meant to figure this out alone. I'm here. Let's do this together.
