#11 - Laura Rose - Knocking on heaven's door: Life, death and inner knowing

Death, grief, intuition, and healing are topics most people avoid until life forces the conversation. I’m joined by Laura Rose, founder of Sacred Soul, an intuitive energy channel, spiritual medium, and end-of-life guide whose work is rooted in a hard-earned transformation through depression, panic attacks, and chronic physical pain. What makes Laura’s perspective land is how practical it is: she speaks plainly about what “stuck energy” feels like in the body, why some of us walk around carrying other people’s emotions, and how energy clearing can create real relief when nothing else seems to work.

We also dig into intuition in a world that prizes the analytical mind. Laura breaks down the clair senses in a way that’s easy to recognize in yourself: clairsentience (feeling), claircognizance (knowing), clairvoyance (seeing), and clairaudience (hearing). If you’ve ever had a split-second gut reaction and talked yourself out of it, you’ll hear a new way to understand that signal, build trust with it, and still use logic to take the next step.

From there, we move into mediumship and end-of-life doula support, including how Laura thinks about the transition of dying, why proof and closure can soften grief, and how caregivers can find peace when a loved one can’t communicate clearly. We end with simple, actionable ideas for honoring someone’s wishes in hospice or a hospital, including the role of advanced directives in reducing fear and confusion for families.

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Transcript

Welcome And Meet Laura Rose

Peter Kolakovic 0:00

Hi everyone, and welcome back to My Best Life, the podcast where we explore the tools and teachers that help us return to our most authentic selves. Today I'm joined by Laura Rose, the founder of Sacred Soul. Laura is an intuitive energy channel, spiritual medium, and end-of-life guide whose work is deeply rooted in her own journey of radical transformation. For years, Laura navigated her own dark night of the soul, battling severe depression, panic attacks, and chronic physical pain. It was her own encounter with energy healing that sparked an instantaneous spiritual awakening, completely altering the course of her life and leading her to found Sacred Soul in 2019. Since then, Laura has dedicated her life to helping others move through the energetic heaviness that keeps them stuck. As a medium, she acts as a compassionate messenger, bringing healing and closure to those in this world by connecting them with loved ones in the spirit realm. Her work is holistic and multifaceted, blending intuitive readings with energetic clearing to help clients release generational patterns and emotional blocks that may be manifesting as physical or mental distress. What makes Laura's presence so unique is her grounded, relatable approach to spirituality. She often shares her own antidotes of relatable life challenges, creating a safe and vulnerable space for her community. This vulnerability has resonated deeply, allowing her to grow a loving community of followers on social platforms like Instagram, where she shares daily inspiration and energetic guidance. In addition to her one-on-one sessions, Laura serves as a spiritual educator, offering workshops on topics ranging from the Earth Star Chakra to past life exploration. She is also the author of the upcoming book, Shift Your Energy, Shift Your Life, which provides practical tools for anyone looking to gently raise their vibration and reconnect with their inner spirit. If you enjoy this episode, please like it, share it with a friend, and please consider subscribing. And now, please enjoy my conversation with Laura Rose. As always, thanks for listening.

A Beautiful Reframe On Death

Peter Kolakovic 2:45

Laura Rose, welcome to My Best Life. It's a pleasure to meet you and to speak with you.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Hello, I am so grateful to be here. Thank you for having me.

Peter Kolakovic 2:54

And I'm grateful to have you as a guest. So I wanted to start with a quote from the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. I don't know if you're familiar with him, but he was a poet and a polymath from the state of Bengal. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. And his core philosophy involved finding the divine and the ordinary, the power of humility, and the liberation of the soul through song and service. And so I I found a quote of his on the subject of death, which I thought would be an interesting way to start this conversation. So the quote is Death is not extinguishing the light. It is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come. And when I see that, yeah, I think it's it's so beautiful, it's so profound. As someone who works as a channel, a spiritual medium, and a and a death duel, I'm I'm wondering how that lands with you.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

In my experience with working with those that have crossed over and those who are in transition, that very much aligns with what that experience is. There it's when we're here on earth, it's really easy to feel like when we lose a loved one that that is it, that it's over, we're never going to be able to connect with them again. And I think that adds so much to our grief. And not just grief, but if we have shame and guilt and any of that, that stuff that's still kind of lingering that maybe didn't get resolved. I think that creates so much heaviness in in our earth experience. But as a medium, and and I just want to say I've not always, I've not always had, I well, I should say I probably did have the abilities as a medium. I just didn't realize it until about seven years ago.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

And so I can, there's part of me that can relate to that feeling of I'll never see this person again or this animal again or my pet again. It's over. And then there's this version of me now that as a medium knows that that's not true. We can connect to that essence, that that spiritual part of that person because our soul is never extinguished. It just doesn't need this physical vessel any longer. And then it transitions over, and we can still have those connections. And my role as a medium is to bring proof of that to the living. And it's one of the to me, one of the most beautiful gifts that mediums can bring is that we bring proof that this isn't the end when we pass over. So that's that's what comes to mind when I hear that quote.

Peter Kolakovic 6:08

Okay, beautiful. Thank you for for

The Moment Her Life Shifted

Peter Kolakovic 6:10

sharing that. You mentioned, you know, discovering that you had this skill about seven years ago. So so my question for you is well, what what changed, what shifted seven years ago? What was the turning point in your life that moved you from, you know, whatever you you were doing previously to the work that you're doing today?

SPEAKER_00 6:33

So previously, I was, I mean, I was living that, you know, the life that we're, I think many of us are guided to. You know, you go to school, you try to get the best grades you can, you go to college, you get married, you have the career, and you just move and hope that you make it to retirement. And there was a tremendous amount of suffering that I was experiencing. So when someone looked at my resume, they would look at it and say, Oh, Laura's got it all together. She's got this corporate career, she's got a master's degree, and you know, she's moved up the ladder, so many promotions and all the things. And true, in truth, I was suffering tremendously. I was so much depression, so much anxiety. I was in pain from head to toe. There were, it was many years that I was constantly seeking medical help for the pain that I was in. I used to have to drag my legs in and out of my car because I was in so much pain. I couldn't hardly stand or walk or bend. And so after decades of that, I had a friend that gave me a business card for someone who did energy clearing. I had absolutely no idea what that was. And if I had, I probably wouldn't have gone. Because I would I would have thought that was completely wack-a-doodle. I absolutely wouldn't have gone. And but the card said that she helped with depression and anxiety. And so I was, let's see, 39, and I had been struggling with depression and anxiety since I was a teenager. I wanted to end my life and had been contemplating it for as long as I can remember. And so I thought, what do I have to lose? So I I saw I scheduled an appointment. And when she came into the room, so this energy clear heal healer came into the room, and she barely had time to introduce herself. She just came in and then she put her hands out to get connected to my energy. And of course, keep in mind, I have no clue what's happening, no idea. And I felt all of this come stuck energy, which of course I just felt heavy. I didn't know what any of this was, just come screaming out of my body. And I looked at her and she looked at me, and we both burst into tears. And I don't think she had said her name yet. We just both burst into tears and she said, Oh, honey, you don't need to feel this bad. And I remember going, I don't understand what's happening, but that is intense. And and so she went on to become a lovely mentor to help me teach me how to do this. And when I left there, I went from I went in there completely closed to any of the spiritual things. I wasn't even sure that I believed in God. And I left there very aware of all the ways the spirit world is trying to communicate with me, all the different things. And that turned into this evolution of my intuition firing on the cleric sentience and the what I was, which is what I use heavily with energy work, all of that fired on. All of a sudden, I'm able to talk to people's spirit guides and their loved ones that have passed over. There was a lot of healing that has taken place over the last seven years. You know, that didn't just fix all my problems. There was a lot of problems.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

Of course.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

But over those classes of seven years and having consistent energy work done, and there was something about understanding that I was not alone. I had felt so alone and understanding that I wasn't alone. There's all these helpers on the other side that are cheering me on and trying their best to help me. It was a game changer. I remember realizing how beautiful colors were and it music sounded different. Everything shifted when I left there. And then I wanted to turn around and start helping others, and that's what led me to starting my business. So there's a quick little synopsis of how I have found myself in this place.

Peter Kolakovic 11:00

Okay. Wow. And all because of like a meeting with someone and literally within the first few seconds, just feeling feeling some kind of emotional release, it sounds like a very profound one. Very profound release.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Yeah. What I know now is that as someone who is a healer and clairsentient, when we talk, there's different ways that our intuition works. Clair sentient people are the people that feel energy, you know, like they walk into a room and they can feel that they don't want to be in there and they walk out. That are that's what clairsentience is. And clair sentient as a clairsentient person and someone who had a lot of compassion and empathy for others. What was going on that I didn't understand is, you know, every time I was hugging someone and and every time I was relating to someone, I was unintentionally gathering their trauma, their energy, plus my own. And I was just storing it in my body. And it was no wonder I had such horrible anxiety, such horrible depression, because I was collecting everyone's and without realizing what I was doing, I didn't know how to let it go. I didn't know how to kind of cut the cords between myself and other people so that their energy went back to them and I could clear myself.

SPEAKER_02 12:27

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

So 39 years of that, it is no wonder I felt absolutely horrendous. I also believe that there are no coincidences. And I feel very strongly that I was met in a way to feel that bad because when clients come to me and they're suffering and they're crying, even though I've had seven years of healing, I still very much remember what depression feels like. I very much remember anxiety. I know what it feels like to want to leave Earth. And I can be that person that they can come to, they can share what they're experiencing, they can verbally release it as they talk. And then I am energetically clearing it from them. And so I, while that was a really hard, those first 39 years were pretty tough. I am so grateful for them. I am so very grateful for them because it has it has created this version of me that can't wait to get in people's energy and help them.

Energy Clearing And Stuck Emotions

Peter Kolakovic 13:30

Suffering can often be one of our greatest teachers, I've found in in my own life. And that's what I'm reminded of or what I was reminded of while you were speaking there. So you mentioned, you know, as you were going to see this healer not really having a sense of even what energy clearing was all about. So perhaps it might be helpful for someone like myself who doesn't have a lot of uh previous exposure to the work that you do to, and and I'm sure that's the case with a lot of listeners as well, but you know, who who may be open and curious to find out more? Perhaps we could, you know, just start with a few basic definitions. So I know I've seen on your website that you advertise your services as being um a spiritual medium, an intuitive channel, and you also provide energy clearing and end-of-life guidance. So what is the difference between a spiritual medium and a channel? And now that you have all this experience, what exactly is energy clearing? How would you describe it in your own words?

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Yeah, there's a lot there. There's a lot of clearing. And and it's interesting because so many times in sessions, they all somehow end up kind of bleeding into one another in a session. I might have someone book an energy clearing, and then during our session, they might share with me that they have a dog that's nearing end of life. And and so then I'll start using some of the channeling and the mediumship stuff to to come together. So a lot of this stuff bleeds over in sessions. And again, I know it's happening the way it is because I feel that the spirit world is bringing people to me because of these specific gifts I have, just like with any other healer, they have their own specific gifts and people are being aligned with them that they can help. So, energy. So we have all these beautiful energetic centers throughout our body. And when we have an experience that stresses us, and it could be a flat-out trauma, or it can be illness, or we just get overstressed at work one day, those energetic centers called chakras can close up or they can gather a lot of energy. And so they're not functioning as well as they should. Ideally, everything is open and flowing. And you can think of us as a channel of energy between spirit and earth. And when we're feeling our best, chances are we've got all that energy nice and flowing. And you can think of ourselves, you know, when you feel really light and really good, chances are all that energy is flowing. There's nothing constricted. And then let's say we have something happen at work that's really unpleasant or rocks us to our core, or we get let go, or something happens and it upsets us in some way or puts a lot of fear into our bodies, we will energetically tighten. And that's a very common response is to tighten. And I always think of the energetic centers like turtles. When something startles or upsets them, they go into the shell and close right up. That's kind of what the energy does. Now, sometimes we we just go for a walk and we calm our mind, body, and spirit down, and that stuff will open back up again and release on its own. Or let's just say we're having a hard time letting something go. And you'll know that you can't let it go because you'll ruminate on it. You'll start thinking about it and you can't let it go. And when we're doing that, that is the body's way of actually trying to find a solution to let this energetically go. But let's just say we can't. That's when someone like me is very helpful because I can come in and help get those nice and open and get everything cleared. So that's the energy clearing piece that I do.

Peter Kolakovic 17:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Through

Intuition Beyond The Logical Mind

SPEAKER_00 17:40

the years, my intuition has improved because of how much time I'm spending in energy and working on myself. So all this intuitive ability has fired on over the last seven years. So I might have a client that's expressing to me what they're navigating or they're crying and very emotional because I've got all this stuck energy. And so we're clearing that energy. Meanwhile, though, I have close by their guides and helpers, I've got their angels, I've got their higher self all nearby. And as I have a client expressing to me what's going on, I have their guides and helpers trying to communicate through me to them to help them better understand what's going on and how it can best serve them. So everything we're doing is in conjunction with love. It's always in this beautiful, loving container. And it's very, very safe and compassionate. And so I will share with them my clients, hey, this is some feedback that's coming in. How does that sit with you? And then it usually helps them open their eyes to a new perspective as to maybe why something has happened or a different perspective around how to heal something. The thing about stuck energy is when we don't clear it. So let's just say, you know, you'll we've met people that walk around with their heart closed, right? So let's just say someone has their heart really, really closed and they keep it closed. The body starts trying to notify us. So the first notifies us by those repetitive thoughts that won't go away, and then we continue to ignore it or we don't know that it's what's really happening behind the scenes is an energy. So the next step is the body will start to have physical sh issues so that it can notify us on a deaf a different level. So that might mean then that we have someone who has chronic heartburn because that energy is contained in that space and it needs some assistance in releasing it. Sometimes people become so comfortable with that energy closed up, they don't even recognize it anymore. And then when it's clear, they can't get over how much lighter they feel at the end of a session. So that's that's some of those pieces of being that intuitive channel because when I'm in someone's energy, I can feel their blocks. I can feel them like they're my own. That's part of that clear sentient gift I have.

Peter Kolakovic 20:21

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

And then as a channel, I can also channel the energy. I can connect to guides and helpers to provide any intuitive guidance that someone needs. And then as a medium, if someone has a loved one in spirit, and these are typically different sessions, but if someone wants to connect with a loved one in spirit, then I can I can do that. Loved ones in spirit and spirit guides, they don't quite come through at on this. It's you can think of it as different radio channels. And so spirit guides kind of come in on one channel, and and people who have passed over come in on a different one. So it's a little bit, it's a little different when I'm connecting with loved ones in spirit. So that's what I do as a medium. And I have many, many times where I have a client that wants to connect with a loved one in spirit, and the client is absolutely hysterical because they're still navigating the grief of a loved one that has passed over years in advance or years before. And that's where I'll use that energy and I'll say, can I help clear your energy before we bring your loved one in? And I'll bring all of those things together to help clients in those mediumship sessions.

Peter Kolakovic 21:37

Okay. Okay. Well, thank you for that. That that's that's very helpful for me to understand the subtle differences between each of those and and also how they are related in in many ways, as you touched upon. You mentioned on several occasions, you know, working with intuition and you know, being an intuitive channel. Well, obviously intuition is an important part of the work that you do. I think it's fair to say that we live in a society that really favors rational analytical thinking and and perhaps does not look upon intuitive knowledge uh with quite the same level of respect. So I guess my well, number one, I'd you know I'd like to have your reaction to that. You know, what you think of the power of intuition, what is intuition exactly, and and is it, you know, something that you're born with, a talent that you're born with, or is it like, you know, any other muscle that can be strengthened through practice?

SPEAKER_00 22:49

I 100% agree that we definitely live in a society that does not encourage intuition. I I mean, I have my master's in, I have a bachelor's in science, you know. That is, you know, my my master's degree is in health education. I have lived my life using that logical analytical part of my brain. And it was a it, I still very much use that. But there's something really magical about being also able to connect to intuition. What I have found is that intuition is like a muscle that can be strengthened over time when we create the space for it. I actually am in the process of finishing up a six-month workshop where we were, it was called Awaken Your Intuition. We actually just had the fifth one. Next month will be the last one. And it has been so fun to watch these participants who started saying, Well, I'm not sure if I'm intuitive. To, you know, we're now at month five and they're communicating with spirit guides. And, you know, we did a little test today where I showed them a picture and I asked them to put in the chat what they were intuitively picking up on. And everybody was coming back with the same things and what they were feeling and experiencing. And it was so great to be able to say, look how much your intuition has grown over the last five months. So it is something that we, I believe we're all born with intuition. It's that intuition is that gut feeling that we get at times that intuition lives in the body, it's not in the mind. And school teaches us to use the mind, which is a beautiful thing, but our intuition very much lives in the body. And what I find is the intuition is the initial reaction. It's a split second, can be really subtle initial reaction to something. And then frequently the mind will try to analyze it and may even sway you in a different direction. But when we learn what the intuition is and how it really works, then we find a lot more power where we can use the analytical mind, but we can use it in partnership with intuition. We can put them both together. Like I create a workshop, and the workshops are spirit, I always say spirit-led. So the spirit world will tell me what people need right now, what the what they're ready for. I have people that have been coming to my workshops for years and and this, we're moving into what they're, they're always around what people are ready for. And so that's very much intuition and spirit led. But when I'm putting together the workshop, when I'm putting together the stuff on my website for it and putting together the handouts, that's very much me using that analytical mind. So it's putting all those pieces together. And honestly, I think that's how we live our best life is by connecting to that intuitive part of us,

The Clair Senses Made Simple

SPEAKER_00 26:00

letting that give us the answers or helping us understand what our next steps are, and then using the analytical side to take the steps forward.

Peter Kolakovic 26:11

Okay. I I'm reminded of this quote, and I forget exactly who said it, but the quote is, and it's about you know the power of the mind, the analytical mind in particular. The mind is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. Which, you know, goes to the issue of you know, the society that we live in being overly reliant on the analytical mind to the to the point where we ignore our intuition and and disregard it. And you know, that can lead people down into some really negative patterns of thinking at times. So uh, you know, I'm curious because you said that I forget exactly how you phrased it, but how intuition was more about a feeling that you get in your body rather than in your mind. So I'm wondering, you know, when you do receive these messages as an intuitive energy channel, what types of sensations are you feeling?

SPEAKER_00 27:16

So because clear sentient, so we have intuition and then you have the different ways it comes through. So I want to clarify this part of it for anyone who because sometimes in my workshops, people I have a tendency to say I feel. And I say that because of my main ability is clairsentient, which is feeling. Not everyone's main ability comes through that way. And so what'll happen is that people will think they're not intuitive, and your apps everyone is intuitive, it just comes through different channels. So clairsentient people will get those gut feelings or that knowing in their body. They can feel other people's energy, they can feel other people's emotions. Someone who's clear cognizant, they might receive intuition where it almost is like a download. It just shows up there. They have no idea really where it came from, it just appears. An example of that is I love hiking. So I might be on a hike and I might think, gosh, I wonder what kind of tree that is. And then the data will just appear in my mind. And it'll just, it's like literally like a download from a computer. It's just there. I didn't hear a voice, I didn't feel anything. It just arrives. People who are clairvoyant, they might get a vision. So clairvoyancy is something that I lean on a lot of times in the mediumship work I do because loved ones will come in. Because again, my job is to provide proof of the other side that they're that they're that we as a soul continue on. And so as a as a clairvoyant, somebody might come in and I can tell my my client, you know, my living client that I have a woman here, she has white hair, she has it piled up in a big hairdo, and she's wearing a dress. And then my client can go, oh gosh, you just described my grandma. It's so I can use that ability to help me help them have the proof they need of who is here for them. And then there's Claire Audience, which is where you may receive the answer or the or the bit of intuitive wisdom or whatever. And it sounds like it actually a lot of times will even sound like your own voice, but it's you have no idea really where this wisdom has come from, but it's like it comes in and it sounds like a thought. So intuition can come in in a lot of different ways, and we're born with it. So until you recognize how it works for you, it can be very tricky because you have always been using it and not realized it many, many times, especially people who are claircognizant. And I'm so sorry, I don't remember what your original question was, but I do know that I wanted to help anyone listening understand how intuition works, because I do have a tendency to say I feel because that's my main ability. But someone who's clear cognizant will say things like I know, because that wisdom just drops in for them, if that makes sense.

Peter Kolakovic 30:22

Right, right. Yeah. I I think you did address the the original question, which was describing the sensation of receiving that message. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:32

Yeah.

Peter Kolakovic 30:33

So yeah, clairvoyance is is definitely a term that I've heard before. Uh clair audience, clairsentient, and what was the third one? Claire There's claircognizance. Claircognizant. Okay, yeah, those are all new terms for me. So thank you for providing very helpful

What Mediumship Looks Like

Peter Kolakovic 30:50

definitions for each of those. Since you, you know, started to get into mediumship, why don't we, you know, uh shift the conversation there? Because I'm also very curious to learn more about that part of your work. So so what does that feel like? You you just described you know being able to see these these uh spirits, uh, spirits of the loved ones of your clients. So is that is that more of a a visual a visual technique, or is it also the you know, a certain feeling, sensation that you get in your body? Like how do those messages come through? Can can you describe the scene?

SPEAKER_00 31:30

Yeah, absolutely. So it anymore, I will use all of those abilities to get a deeper understanding of the person who has passed over. So when someone comes in, you can almost think of it, and this is why it's so tricky, I think. Why so many people don't realize that they are intuitive. With clairvoyancy, it's it's not always super crisp and clear. It might, it might look like your imagination almost. Clairvoyancy is an ability that has to turned on last in me. I clairvoyancy, I'm sorry, clairsentience, claircognizance, and clair audience were all fired on around the same time. Clairvoyancy actually is something that fired on later. And I actually doubted it quite a bit. I didn't really trust that I was seeing that. I thought maybe I was just making it up. My brain wanted to come up with some, you know, something. And so it took me a while to really trust that I was seeing something and it wasn't my imagination. So it can be a little tricky. You have that's the big key about intuition is you receive in whatever way it comes in, and then you have to trust it. And that's how intuition really works. So when someone comes in, for me, they come in on the left side. Spirit guides talk to me on the right side, and loved ones in spirit talk to me on the left, which is very helpful. And all my sessions are virtual, so my clients are literally in front of me on my computer. So it helps me to know who's who and what I'm what I'm speaking to. Frequently they come in and they, it's almost like there's a fog, and then they there's someone who walks out of the fog, and that's how they come in for me. I have guides and helpers that I have asked to be almost, you can consider them like bodyguards. When I'm open, I don't want to be open to everyone and their brother. I only want to be open to who my client wants to either bring in, or if they're very open, open to loved ones for that specific client that's gonna help them with their healing. So I have what I consider, I call them my bodyguards that just ensure that only the right people come through. Most of my life I actually stay closed. If I'm not working, I don't want to stay open. I want to just be a human enjoying life and eating my ice cream and you know, going for a walk. I just want to be a human enjoying my life. I don't want to stay open all the time. So it's when I'm in session that that's how that starts for me. And then the loved one in spirit will provide some sort of proof because my job is to help the client know that this is truly their loved one. So they might give me something about their appearance. So they might show me that hair in a big, a big updo. I have had one time where somebody was showing me her brushing hair, and it turned out she was a hairdresser when she was alive. There's there's different ways that they want to come through so that the client knows exactly who they are.

Peter Kolakovic 34:52

Okay, that's helpful. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

You're welcome.

Skepticism And Scientific Studies

Peter Kolakovic 34:56

So you mentioned, you know, having these abilities kind of develop at different times and even doubting yourself when when you first came across some of these abilities. And and so I wanted to talk a little bit about that doubt, about you know, skepticism, because you know, I find that there are generally two types of people when it comes to this this type of work, people who are all in and and you know fully believe and yeah, just believe that yes, the the type of work that you do is absolutely possible. And you know, there are some people who are blessed with this ability to speak to spirits. But of course, there are there's a significant number of people that are very, very skeptical and think that, you know, well, this is just it's it's nonsense. So, you know, in in preparing for this conversation, I did a bit of research myself just to see, you know, whether there were any peer-reviewed scientific studies on on the type of work that you do. And it was interesting, and I don't I don't know whether you're you're familiar with these studies, but there were a few of them, and I'll I'll just maybe provide a quick summary of two of them. One was a 2015 study conducted by the Winbridge Research Center Quintuple Blinded Study. Quintuple blinded. And the summary says this landmark study utilized a strict quintuple-blinded protocol to investigate the accuracy of information provided by mediums. The researchers eliminated all conventional explanations, such as cold reading or experiment or cueing, by ensuring neither the medium nor the researcher knew the identity of the deceased person. Results across 86 readings showed that mediums consistently provided accurate, specific information at a rate significantly higher than chance. This study is often cited as the gold standard for contemporary mediumship research due to its extreme controls. So that was one study, and I'll just quickly read a summary of the other one. This is the referred to as the afterlife experiments at the University of Arizona. I don't have a date, though. So it says led by Dr. Gary Schwartz, these experiments used a double-blind and triple blind system to test high-profile mediums like John Edward and George Anderson. I don't know if you're familiar with them. The studies aimed to determine if mediums could retrieve highly specific information, such as unusual causes of death or specific family jokes under controlled conditions. Schwartz's team concluded that the results were statistically off the charts, suggesting that a simple guessing explanation was mathematically impossible. Although controversial and criticized by skeptics for potential leaks in protocol, the study was influential in moving mediumship into university level scientific inquiry. What do you think about that? And how do you respond to people that you know are skeptical about what what you do?

SPEAKER_00 38:21

Well, first of all, I understand. I was skeptical, right? Sure, sure. And I and I I truly believe that my life journey unfolded the way it did for a reason. When I was young, I really thought I I remember wanting so badly to have these abilities. And and it's kind of interesting how much I really wanted. And the other thing that was also very interesting to me was when I was a little one, I really wanted to be a nun because I liked the idea of working for God. So I had this, you had this little weird little kid that wanted to be a medium and work for God. And then, you know, you go to school and you do all the things, and then, you know, there I remember not believing I was intuitive. I didn't believe it at all. And just really was very focused on using my logical mind. And I was always striving for advancement and all the things that were definitely guided to do throughout life. And then having this stuff fire on, it's like, how interesting was it that as a little girl, those were the things I wanted, and now I feel like that's what I do. Those studies to me, I love that they they did what they did and they were able, even though they it's hard to understand, it's completely hard to understand how this works. Because in a way, it's so simple. It seems strange that it would be that simple. You know, what do you mean? You close your eyes and someone's loved one comes over and I provide the proof, right? Like that seems so simple. But once you learn how to use that, those muscles, it does get easier and easier. When when people are skeptical, and there are people that are skeptical, and I I really truly understand why they are. That's my goal. And as a medium, my goal is to provide proof that heaven exists. Because a lot of the skepticism is coming from people. You know, I'm in the south, I'm from the Midwest. It's coming from people that go to church every Sunday and they're they're feeling like I maybe doing something I shouldn't be doing. But the truth is, I'm, in my, from my point of view, I am working with God to help people understand that heaven exists, that our souls here are eternal. And to me, I can't think of a better way to help people. Death is the number one fear. So my role is to help ease some of that fear and some of that grief and pain by providing that proof. And I think for me personally, I just love that. I love that I can help people in that way.

Peter Kolakovic 41:13

So, how has your work as a medium changed your perspective then on what happens after we die? Because you had expressed earlier that, you know, you weren't even sure at one point whether you believed in God. So, how has your perspective in that regard shifted?

Birth Back Home After Death

SPEAKER_00 41:30

Oh, I I was absolutely terrified of dying. Absolutely terrified. And I had my I have, you know, I've had pets that have passed over. But I the first time that I sat with someone as they transitioned as a medium was my stepfather. And that was about three, four years ago. And it was the insights I received were so beautiful, and being able to turn to my mom who's grieving and sharing with her, hey, this is what's happening. It has been a game changer for how helping me have more peace with the fact that I won't be here forever. And the the most profound part of it, and I'll I'll share this with everyone, is that I was given this image of when we are, when we are born, right? The we have the child that's coming through the mom, and you have these helpers that are catching the baby as the baby's being born. I was shown that while we don't necessarily go back as a baby, it's a very similar process. There is no death, there's just a birth back to that other place. Maybe I think of the other place as our true home. We're just hanging out at earth to have an experience, and then we go back to our true home. I was shown that when we when we pass over, you can think of it as a birth back. We're we're going back and there's helpers there, just like there are loving helpers here to help the baby acclimate to leaving the womb and being on earth, that there are these helpers on the other side that help us when we transition to acclimate to not being on earth anymore, to acclimate and to integrate those any lessons that needed to, to find peace and anything that was unresolved and help us in that way. That was such a beautiful vision to me to see that it there was no death. There was just a birth here and then a birth back. It was nothing but us finding ourselves back in a new, I shouldn't say new, finding ourselves back. Where we're from. So for me, that was very, very helpful. And that very much changed my perspective. And it wasn't long after that that I took some classes for end-of-life doula work.

Peter Kolakovic 44:17

Okay. Well, that that's a great segue because I think you know that that's another aspect of your work that I really wanted to talk some more about. I I started the conversation with a quote from Rabindranath Tagore. There are a couple of other ones that I found, again, as I was preparing for this conversation. One was from the the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who was generally regarded as one of the founders of Taoism, who wrote many, many years ago, many centuries ago,

End Of Life Doula Work Her Way

Peter Kolakovic 44:50

life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. Which kind of goes to what you were just talking about there. And another one from a more modern source, this is Edgar Allan Poe. The boundaries which divide life from death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends and where the other begins? How do those perspectives feel to you?

SPEAKER_00 45:20

That that very much I you know it's funny, before all this stuff started happening to me, I would have just said, I have no idea what this is about. But from the perspective I have now, I very much can see it that way. It's it's such a beautiful comfort to me to know that this physical body that I'm in is simply the vessel that it needs to have for me to have my earth experience. The core essence of me remains with me and will continue, will continue on. And that's no different from any of our loved ones, any of our pets that have passed over. It's the same for all of us. So for me, that's that's a very beautiful gift and to know that it's just not over when this beautiful vessel is complete.

Peter Kolakovic 46:21

So what was it that first drew you to become an end-of-life doula? And what exactly is an end-of-life doula? Like what does that involve?

SPEAKER_00 46:32

Sure. So after my experience with my stepdad passing, I really wanted to help people as they're passing as they're navigating this final chapter that feels really big and scary to many people. So that is what led me to Inelda, which is an end-of-life doula association and taking one of their classes, which, if anyone's interested, they're wonderful. However, I use end of life doula work differently than most doulas do. Most doulas focus on a lot of the practical aspects of what assistance someone might need with preparing for end of life. And I remember being in the classes and I was getting guidance from my guides, you know, go ahead and take notes, but this isn't how you'll be using it. And I was like, okay, all right, you know, no problem. And so what has happened for me? So this is a little bit different than how a traditional end of life doula works. How this works for me is that I use the mediumship to assist people with finding that peace in a spiritual sense for end of life. And frequently how it is, how it is used through me, because I I view myself as a channel, you know, again, working for God, working for spirit. So the way I am used frequently is people come to me while their loved one is still living. So I have, I might have a client, for example, that is navigating their partner, their husband is maybe nearing end of life, or their dog is nearing end of life. So I'll have a client that is really struggling emotionally and doesn't know what to do to best help their loved one that is in transition. That is where my guides use me, and I lean on some of the end-of-life doula training I've had, but I'm typically used to help them understand what their loved one needs. And the loved ones that I've had, let me let me rephrase that. I'm not very clear here. So I have my client, and maybe my client's husband has advanced dementia and isn't able to express their needs anymore. Or my client has a dog who is nearing end of life and can't express spirit, uses me to help the client understand what it is that their loved one needs. So I might have a client who is has a loved one that has the dementia, who can't express what they need anymore, but they're clearly agitated, they're clearly very stressed out, there's clearly things that are unresolved. Their soul self, or you can also think of it as that person's higher self, can come through and help me relay to my client different things that might bring that person peace as they're in transition. Meanwhile, I might be clearing the client's energy so that they feel more at peace. Does this make sense? It feels I know it sounds really out there because when it first started happening, I couldn't believe it was happening.

Peter Kolakovic 50:13

No, it it makes a lot of sense. It makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_00 50:17

When it first started happening, I said, oh my goodness, because I I had always assumed that those mediumship abilities would only work if someone has passed over.

Peter Kolakovic 50:29

Right.

SPEAKER_00 50:30

When I was working with a client who was so stressed out because her loved one was calling her 50, 60 times a day because of his dementia. And then he comes in. So his higher self, his soul self comes busting into our session. I was at first, I started doubting myself. And then I was like, I'm just gonna relay it. So I'm relaying it, and she knew exactly what I was talking about. So everything he was relaying, she knew what I was speaking to. So I then I'm like, okay, this really is him. And and what I found is when we are in the process of transition, the soul self is moving out of the body. It all of this was so far out to me, but the soul self isn't just hanging out in the vessel while it's in those last stages of suffering. It's already sort of making its way out. It's not hanging out while, you know, we're watching our loved ones suffer. It's it's not necessarily the soul self isn't necessarily in the body. It's tethered to the body still, but it's not necessarily in it. And that beings, whether it's a dog or a human, they can use that soul self and the higher self to communicate with a medium. And then the medium can help the living, the loved one that's struggling with whatever they're going through. The medium can help them with finding peace in the situation, can relay the information that this person in transition needs so that they can be at peace. The, you know, I can relay to the client, you know, your dog is showing me pictures of you feeding them popcorn on the couch, and they're so grateful for their time on earth with you. And the client's like, I was trying to give him popcorn last night, but he would put it on me. You know, and so I so that is how spirit uses me as doing the end-of-life work. So it's a little bit different than a traditional end-of-life doula, but that is how so far this has evolved for me.

Peter Kolakovic 52:42

Okay, that well, that that's fascinating. Thank you for

Why We Avoid Talking About Death

Peter Kolakovic 52:45

sharing that. So and I was going to ask you, you know, the the services that you provide as as an end-of-life doula, are they more geared towards supporting the family of the person that is about to pass, or is it supporting the person that is about to pass, or is it, you know, to some extent both? And then, you know, a kind of related question is all of this assumes having an open and honest conversation about death. And in our society, there seems to be still a great taboo about talking about death. So I'm wondering, you know, how do you start normalizing that conversation with, you know, with people that you work with and and others that you know are going through this as you as you call it transition.

SPEAKER_00 53:42

Mm-hmm. When I work with people, I I can work with either people who are themselves that are in the transition, or I can work with their family members. I can do either or. So far, the spirit world has aligned me with people that are caregivers for those that are passing over, if that makes sense. I've not necessarily had a the, you know, a dog or the person with dementia. So far, it's been clients who are caregivers and they need that support and that reassurance that they're doing everything they can. That so far has been who has found their way to me. If someone themselves were were, let's just say in hospice and they wanted to work with me, I would absolutely be happy to do that. And the impression I receive is that if I had a client that themselves were in transition, a lot of my work would be acting as a channel to help bring them peace and comfort as they navigate the last stages of their life, helping them to energetically resolve anything that's that they regret, anything that they're having struggles with peace around. Those are the ways that I would enter, I would help them is a lot of energy and a lot of channeling. So that to me is how that would work for me as an end-of-life doula. And yes, talking about death and dying really, really, really scares people. My my boyfriend, when I told him I was that I am an end-of-life doula, he's just like that really sad. And then he left the room. That's when we started when we started dating. I, and I even thought I'm like, I don't know that I'm gonna date this guy. But he he really is uncomfortable with it. Lots of people are, and it's what I have found in this work, the greatest gift it has given me is that when I, the more I accept that I will not be here forever, the better my life is because I'm more present. I savor it more, I have more gratitude for for where I'm at in life. I'm more likely to go ahead and take the trip. And I'm more likely to go ahead and just, you know what, I'm gonna have a little ice cream. It's okay because if I died tomorrow, I would really regret that I maybe don't need to eat the whole pint of ice cream, but I could have a little ice cream, you know. So it has shifted my perspective in that I have a greater appreciation for life because I accept that I won't be here forever.

Peter Kolakovic 56:26

I've always found it ironic that, you know, so many people are unwilling to talk openly about death, and yet if you look at the number of people that are attracted to things like horror movies, which present a very morbid idea of death, I wonder if that's part of the reason why horror movies

Dignity In Hospitals And Hospice

Peter Kolakovic 56:50

attract as many viewers as they do. It's because of that, you know, the failure of people to to talk openly about death and and you know, what happens. And I mean, there's so many profound questions associated with it. And and if it's all bottled up inside, I I suppose it has to be expressed in other ways. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 57:11

Yeah, absolutely. I can almost see where people are drawn to like though those movies because they want it almost provides that validation of, you know, that would never happen to me. I would never be so stupid as the the criminal comes in and and you know, it's always it's always a young woman and she runs up the stairs. And how many times have we watched that and said, Oh my gosh, that's so stupid. Why would you run up the stairs? You know, that's the worst idea that you can have when someone's after you. You know, but it what it does is it provides reassurance. This is my perspective. It provides reassurance to us that that can't possibly happen to us. And we it would never, we would, and so it it's almost like it gives us a false sense of peace that we're just gonna be here forever because we would never be so foolish as to get in a car accident or whatever it is.

Peter Kolakovic 58:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:04

Yeah.

Peter Kolakovic 58:05

I apologize. I apologize for that little digression from uh what has been a lovely conversation to the topic of horror movies.

SPEAKER_00 58:14

Hey, whatever. It's all it's all comes together.

Peter Kolakovic 58:18

But I did want to pick up on on one final thing about, you know, just the subject of death, because you had mentioned, you know, someone dying in a hospice, for example. And, you know, I think the unfortunate reality is that many people die in hospitals in in a very clinical setting. Uh well, I think that's unfortunate. Maybe, maybe others have, you know, different perspectives on that. But I'm just wondering, you know, what what is your feeling? How can we honor the dignity of a transition when the medical system, the hospitals that people die in, feels so clinical?

SPEAKER_00 58:56

Right. So there's a variety of ways that we can go about this. I there are people that are just adamant that they must pass away at home. My stepfather was one of those people. And I am so grateful that my mom, my sister, and I were able to provide that for him because that's what he really wanted. But it at the same time, it was very hard. Every couple of hours we had to get up and get him morphine. There, we were around the clock taking care of him until he passed over. There are others that I think don't want to do that to their loved one. They like the idea of, I'm gonna go to someplace where a nurse will take care of that. And my loved one might be at home resting when I pass over. There's a lot of people that choose to pass over when they don't have anyone by their side. And I believe it's because they don't want to put that in their loved one's mind. And if they can die maybe at home, or I'm sorry, at hospice or in a hospital, that provides an opportunity of a final way to truly take care of their loved one. So there are things, however, we can do to make that clinical setting feel more homey. You can go to the hospital and say, you know, for example, if they're in a space that it you're not really able to make it homey, you can always ask, is there another room we can move to where family and friends can gather and we can just witness, sit here with our loved one as they transition. Some hospitals have places like that set up where you can think of it as an end-of-life room where people can come and bring flowers and cards and gather. The other thing is if that's not possible, or even if it is, family can come together, friends can come together. They can bring things that mean something to them, things that feel sacred. So while you may not be able to make a ritual where you burn some candles and sage and all that because you're in a hospital, there's other things that you can do, like bringing flowers, bringing the if someone really loved irises, bringing flowers in, you know, things like that to help the space feel more loving. If someone is in the process of passing over and you know that they love sunlight, maybe opening the blinds so that it feels like there's more sunlight. There are documents called advanced directives, and you can find free versions of them online. And they're very simple, easy to use, where you can write out exactly what you want when you pass over. So if you want to pass over at home and you want all the windows open and you want to hear birds singing and lovely music, and you want friends and family to be able to gather and to eat food and have a and make it a party, you can put that in your advanced directive to be very clear on what it is that you want. One of the things that I think makes death hard is that people don't know what their loved one wants and they may, and their loved one may have slipped into a coma and they can't get that information. And so everyone's anxious and trying to figure out like what is that what you know, grandma would want? I don't know. But an advanced directive takes all of that guesswork away. And it can be very, very helpful for people who are wanting to care for their loved one. For some people, they want the blinds drawn, they want it to be completely quiet. So they might have in their advanced directive, they want people to take their shoes off when they walk in the door. They want it to stay very quiet so that they can transition in a very peaceful, quiet setting. So everyone's really different. And those advanced directives make a huge difference for their loved ones. The thing that we have to remember is that we can do an advanced directive, but if no one knows about it, it doesn't do anyone any good. So you have to share with your loved ones, I have an advanced directive. These are my wishes. And you can put in there, you know, if you want to be resuscitated, if you don't want to be resuscitated, you can put down all these details. And it helps bring peace to your loved ones because they can honor your wishes. So I highly recommend them. There's there's all sorts of free versions online that you can use, and they're a lovely way. You

What Living Your Best Life Means

SPEAKER_00 1:03:35

just, once you fill one out, you just want to make sure you let your loved ones know.

Peter Kolakovic 1:03:39

Okay, wonderful. Well, thank you. Thank you for sharing that very, very helpful advice. Laura, this has been such a wonderfully informative conversation and inspiring and uplifting. Thank you so much for sharing all of these, you know, really, really helpful perspectives. I I learned so much during this conversation. I do have one final question for you. Since the theme of this podcast is Living One's Best Life, I'm curious to get your perspective on how the work that you are doing, how it helps you to live your best life, and what living your best life means to you.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:25

The work I do honestly brings me a lot of joy and fulfillment. It's interesting how my favorite client sessions are always the first client session. And the reason is because they are people frequently wait until they're just a hot mess, like I was before they go to an energy worker. You know, there's always this. I'm gonna go to the doctor, I'm gonna try all these medicines, I'm gonna do X, Y, and Z, read all the self-help books. They do all these things and they help marginally or not at all. And as a last resort is how they come to me. And it is my absolute favorite thing to feel their hot mess energy. I can feel all their blocks, I can feel all their pain. Sometimes I'm crying with them because I can feel all the emotions. I worked on a horse a month ago, and the horse had so much going on that I was just hysterically crying while I was clearing that horse's heart chakra. So I get to feel all of this with my clients. And then at the end of that time together, they can't believe how much better they feel. And then energy work is not just a one and done. It's something we consistently need. And every month or two weeks or three weeks or whatever it is that a client, that same client sees me, I see them start to shift and change and shine. All of a sudden, their intuition starts firing on, and they're telling me about these amazing things that are happening in their life. And maybe they'll have something that happens that isn't amazing, but we clear that up and we get that. Guidance and then they they they get back on track. And being able to see that transformation makes me feel so good because that is exactly what my transformation looked like. And being able to provide, be that channel to provide that gift to help others makes me extremely happy. I absolutely love it. And so it inspires me to live my best life because I walk away and I go sit outside and I spend time communicating with the spirit world and giving gratitude. I spend time looking at nature, and it helps me because I remember those dark days myself and how far I've come over the last seven years. And it it's a game changer.

Peter Kolakovic 1:06:50

Laura, thank you again for joining me on the podcast today. It's been a real pleasure meeting you and speaking with you. Thanks again.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:58

Thank you for having me.