Healing Whispers from Spirit Guides with Helen Gretchen Jones

Discover the transformative role of a death doula as Gretchen Jones, an intuitive channeler, shares her profound journey inspired by her father's passing. You'll gain insights into how death doulas provide holistic support, filling the gaps often left by the healthcare system, and ensuring that no one faces their final moments without comfort and connection. Explore the importance of hospice care and the NODA program, which play crucial roles in delivering peace during life's last chapter.

Gretchen invites us into her world, challenging preconceived notions about the emotional weight of her work. Learn how self-reflection and meditation open up a pathway to a more intentional way of living, and how vulnerability can be a source of healing. As we shed light on the role of death doulas through word of mouth and hospice volunteering, you'll understand the critical need for spreading awareness of this compassionate service.

Explore spiritual experiences that connect us with angelic beings and loved ones beyond physical limitations, emphasizing forgiveness and overcoming fear. Gretchen shares how co-creating symbols can remind us of eternal presence, offering solace and reassurance to those navigating the complexities of death and transition. Join us in embracing life’s mysteries with clarity and compassion - Healing Whispers from Spirit Guides.

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Chapters

• 0:06 Transcending Religious Beliefs as Death Doula
• 9:41 Learning From Death
• 21:09 Exploring Science Club and Spirituality
• 25:24 Exploring Spirituality and Overcoming Fear
• 33:19 Navigating Death and Transition With Clarity
• 41:02 Connecting With Loved Ones Beyond Death

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Welcome to Empowered Within, a soul-quenching, transformational podcast that will set your soul on fire. Through candid and inspiring conversations, leading experts, celebrities, healers and I share our journeys of how we've overcome challenges to living an empowered life from within. I'm your host, jennifer Pilates. Welcome to another episode of Empowered Within. Hi there and welcome to the show. I am honored to have with us today's guest, gretchen Jones. Gretchen is a compassionate death doula, intuitive and channeler who writes about shared death experiences and spiritual consciousness. Her work focuses on fostering connections with oneself and others, trusting personal experiences and teaching from her spirit guides.

Speaker 1: 0:57

The A-team With a dual master's in art history and theology. Helen is certified in sound bowl therapy. Masters in art history and theology. Helen is certified in sound bowl therapy, reiki, hypnosis and past life regressions. She also co-teaches seminars on grounding techniques and interpreting signs from spirit. When not working, she enjoys time on her family ranch with her husband, taylor, and their children, surrounded by a variety of animals. Welcome to the show, gretchen. Hi, thank you for having me. Oh, I'm so excited to chat with you today and I want to start with where did your spiritual journey?

Speaker 2: 1:33

begin. I've always had a connection, for as long as I can remember, to spirit. It goes all the way back to my childhood. I would say, though, that in 2015, the death of my father, sort of, was a catalyst into me starting to serve the dying community.

Speaker 1: 1:50

I'm so sorry that your dad passed. How did you make that step, make that connection that there was this important part in life that you could be helping others with?

Speaker 2: 2:00

So, like you mentioned earlier, I have a spirit team that I connect into and I call them A-team. Whenever I do my meditations, I tap into their wisdom, or you can call it your higher self wisdom whatever works for you. But when I tap into that wisdom, there was a lot of teachings around compassion in my early adulthood, and by the time my father transitioned in 2015, he was only in his 50s and our family took it pretty hard. Actually, a lot of our family did, and it was sort of I didn't want other families to have to go through that, and so I saw that there was the potential to sit with families and dying loved ones to help bring them peace before dying, and since we all have to do it, it would sure be nice if we can all do it in peace. So that's how I got started.

Speaker 1: 2:49

That is so beautiful and amazing. So for those out there who may not understand or have ever heard of a death doula, will you explain what that is and how you serve as families?

Speaker 2: 3:02

Sure, a death doula is someone who helps a patient, who sits with the patient and helps them holistically transition. The role of a death doula is fairly new in our society. Before, if you were in a hospital and you were dying, nurses would be able to sit. But with the shifts and changes in our healthcare system, nurses have a lot more paperwork and a lot more requirements and red tape that they have to now deal with, and the time that they could sit bedside with patients has well, it's gotten less and less. So there's a need for death doulas to come in and sit with those patients as they die and to be with families and let them know they're not alone through this process. So it's sort of filling the space that nurses used to be able to do without administering medication. That is still the job of the nurses. This is just a presence, someone who can facilitate peace.

Speaker 2: 3:57

That's what a death doula does.

Speaker 1: 3:59

And it sounds so beautiful and it is so needed. I've only experienced hospice with hospice coming in, and I don't know and I want you to explain this to me as far as a death doula goes. I was so in awe of the hospice workers and I've gone through this with various family members when they were passing that literally they were able to help our family down to days and minutes to saying this is what's happening. You need to get everybody here now, whoever should be here, or hey, we're calling you now. We think you should come.

Speaker 2: 4:38

Absolutely. I also work with hospice and I also work with a program called NODA, which stands for no One Dies Alone, and it's a hospital-based program. And that would be people who are transitioning without family. Family couldn't make it in. Maybe they never had kids, Maybe they burned all their bridges, it doesn't really matter. They're alone in the hospital.

Speaker 2: 4:57

And same with hospice. So there is a physical breakdown. The body starts to go through certain stages and when you're familiar with those stages, yes, you can really narrow it down down to minutes before a person transitions. But before that happens, it's really kind of up in the air because you're waiting on them to hit certain points, to know okay, now we've moved into this stage and now we've moved into that stage. But the fact that there's someone there in hospice and I would like to tell anyone, hospice is for anyone where the doctor believes they could transition in the next six months it doesn't mean you need to wait till last minute to get on hospice. They are such a valuable resource and they can help the family and the patient navigate this process for as long as needed. They're fantastic and you don't always have to have insurance to work with hospice. So that would be something I would really like for listeners to know is hospice is an amazing resource, and it is not something to be feared or to utilize at the very last minute.

Speaker 1: 5:56

Right, I agree with you and that was a learning experience with my family, through different illnesses that we went through and finally understood that you actually can reach out to them as soon as you'd like and they will help guide you down this path that you're going and are an incredible resource and shoulder and I just call them angels, truly angels to be able to work with and have there by your side.

Speaker 2: 6:23

Absolutely, yes, invaluable, absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 6:28

So will you take us through an experience what it's like to be a death doula and that role and how intimate that that can be for you?

Speaker 2: 6:40

Sure, I have so many, but one of the I think challenges I'll talk about as a death doula is trying to navigate spiritual bedside experiences that are happening to the patient that might contradict their religious beliefs. So as you go in as a doula, you sit with them and you obviously you recognize and honor whatever their religion or culture is and you fully respect it and you work within those bounds that they set by their beliefs. I have had a few patients, though, where they start seeing beings at the end before they start to transition, and it goes against their religion. So one particular patient, mr Arjuna that's a name I've given him, but Mr Arjuna, his belief was in Hinduism and his wife had transitioned 30 years before he did. In his belief, she should have already reincarnated, she should have already been happily somewhere else in a new life, and the fact that she was showing up beside him contradicted his religious belief and that caused him some distress. So, as a death doula, my goal is to initiate peace for the patient and the family. So we sat there and navigated through what this could mean. What were we seeing? And we tried, I tried different scenarios. Well, maybe this isn't, maybe it's a vision of your wife, maybe it's. We tried different things. Whatever would bring him peace, because it doesn't ultimately matter. The fact that he was seeing his wife was distressing in the fact that she should have been somewhere else, but it also brought him comfort, thinking she was going to be there to receive him. So finding that middle ground is sort of a challenge when you're dealing with different religions, but it's one of my favorite parts, because I love to hear who they're seeing before they transition and I love to journal their experiences, and I think that's some of the most beautiful experiences.

Speaker 2: 8:30

I had another patient, actually Sister Bernadette. She was Catholic, obviously, and she was seeing one of her convent sisters, sister Mary Catherine, who had already passed, and Sister Mary Catherine was trying to talk with her and this was distressing because it's against her religion to commune with the dead. So we talked about how she communes with the dead all the time. I told her you talk to Jesus and the saints and she said, no, I don't. I pray to them, but I don't commune with them, and so I had to try a different avenue.

Speaker 2: 9:03

So I said well, remember when Archangel Gabriel came to Mary of Nazareth and said you're going to be having the Son of God. You know she talked with the angel, but the angel was really a vision or was the angel really there? We're not really sure. So maybe Sister Mary Catherine is a vision that you're having, sort of like how Archangel came to Mary and she's like bless you, child. Let me process that for a little bit, but ultimately that worked and then she felt a lot more at ease working with Sister Mary Catherine, using the idea that it was more like a vision and less of her communing with the dead, so understanding someone's religious beliefs and their cultural beliefs and then trying to navigate. That is definitely one of my favorite parts of working with people as they transition.

Speaker 1: 9:46

That is so fascinating and I think you know, isn't it interesting? You're taught how to come into the world. You're taught to go to school, college. You're not taught like what you should do in marriage, which is pretty important. You're not taught about death and dying to understand that process. And if there's one thing that you would want people to know, if that's all that they took away about that process, what would that be If they only took away one thing and if they were to, I guess it would be more than one thing actually.

Speaker 2: 10:19

I would want to suggest that maybe they consider that life is eternal, that there's more happening around us than what we perceive with just our physical eyes, and I would also hope that if that was something they would consider, that maybe they would also set up a practice for themselves of turning inward, doing a little bit of self-reflection, meditation, whatever works for them, because allowing yourself to be open to that inner wisdom or that higher level guidance allows you to be open to shared death experiences. And when you have a shared death experience, it doesn't remove grief, but it certainly softens the edges of grief and it offers closure in a way that helps you move on in a more joyous manner than you would have without it.

Speaker 2: 11:04

So I guess that would be the takeaway.

Speaker 1: 11:06

Yeah, that's beautiful and I think that's important for people to have something to grasp on for those that can't or are struggling to stretch their minds around this. When you look at all the years that you've been doing this and your intuitive work, how has being a death doula impacted and shaped your understanding of life and death?

Speaker 2: 11:30

Okay. It has shaped it a lot and it ripples out from me and touches my family members as well and my friends. Listening to the regrets people have on their deathbed, listening to their need for closure, what they wish they had done differently, listening to the things they're so happy they actually did do I don't know, it shifts your perspective every single day. I think I'm just going to do it. Whatever it is, I'm just going to do it, and if it's a long-term goal that I can't achieve in one day, then I take steps to do it, because life is short and we live every day believing we have tomorrow. Right now, sitting here, I have plans for tomorrow. I believe I'm going to be here tomorrow, but living life that way, we believe we have another year left.

Speaker 2: 12:17

Always, and sometimes we put off doing what we really want to do for another day or for another year, and more and more I'm tackling those things in the moment because I see every single week when someone dies, I'm with them and listening to them talk about what they put off, that they are now physically unable to do. And my husband, he's doing it too. My friends, they're just like you know what. We're just going to do it Like what are we waiting for? And so I think it's that positive kind of living in the moment that is starting to shift and continues to shift as I continue to work with people who are dying.

Speaker 1: 12:55

It's just such amazing compassionate work that you're doing For those people that are out there. I mean, who even thinks to go? I need a death doula? Right, people think I need a doula for birth, but because it isn't so out there just yet, how are you getting the word out so that people can work with you?

Speaker 2: 13:19

Well, I have a website, but mostly it's word of mouth. I started working with a person or two here. They would tell their families, they would tell their friends and it became definitely through word of mouth. But I also volunteer, like I said, through the programs of hospice and NODA, and having such beautiful bedside experiences and getting to know these families and these patients, I learned so much. It keeps me active.

Speaker 2: 13:46

I am always looking for new clients. I'm always looking for ways just to be around people and connect to them. The first 20 years of finding my spiritual path has really been around compassion. That's been something that my team and spirit has really been pushing for me and that's starting to shift this year. We're moving from compassion which I guess they feel like I've got down okay, but into connection as something that they want me to work on. And I think being present with my loved ones, being present with the people who are dying, and connecting into them on a soul level is the next direction I'm going in them on a soul level is the next direction I'm going in.

Speaker 1: 14:27

It's just such amazing work and for those out there right now who must go, I don't get it Like. Would it not be so depressing to be around death and dying all of the time?

Speaker 2: 14:35

What would you say to that Okay, so this is something I get asked a lot Like, isn't this heavy? So at first I had this idea in my head that I needed to be strong for the people I was sitting with and I couldn't let the emotions affect me and I needed to be very professional in front of them. I had this I don't know this pretty big misconception. One day. I couldn't hold it back. I love some of my patients and it and it is, it's sad sometimes, and so I cried and that was a way of releasing what I had pent up in me. And then I recognized that when I cried, the family felt it was safe for them to be vulnerable. When they saw me be vulnerable, they felt safe to be vulnerable. And then they were able to have closure with their dying loved one that they weren't.

Speaker 2: 15:21

Everyone was kind of holding it in, and now I don't hold it in at all. I allow myself to cry and that keeps me from taking on all that heaviness. On an energetic level. It's sort of a release, but also it allows everyone else to be so vulnerable, and when everybody else is vulnerable and open and closure takes place, there's this lightness that happens. So it's no longer this heavy hearted thing that you're doing. And then in the evenings I need to take a bath. That's how I completely like. The water washing over me is like a cleansing. So that's a little bit of self-care that I do, but it is not always heavy. It's heavier when it's your loved one, whenever you are so deeply connected to that person. When you're coming in as a doula and your mission is to bring peace, you rise to that goal, you rise to that occasion and you step in where you're needed and it really is a service.

Speaker 1: 16:12

I love that you just shared that aspect of releasing and showing emotion and showing vulnerability. It really took me back to a time a few years ago my grandfather was passing to see us upset or us crying or you know any of that. In retrospect, that's exactly what he needed to see.

Speaker 2: 16:30

Yeah, because it would. He would have broken down probably, and maybe he needed that release but was afraid to be that kind of vulnerable. You know that's his. That's also his age. That was how he was raised. That was very typical of how men are supposed to behave from that era. Luckily, things are moving and shifting from that mindset, but at least you guys were respecting what he believed was right for him.

Speaker 1: 17:49

Right, right, no, that's also a valid point too. Every generation is different, and so that's a whole nother avenue to be navigating with families and loved ones. Such amazing work. I'm just in awe by it. In knowing it and seeing the work that I've been a part of with hospice, and knowing all that you're doing, it's just so commendable and so amazing. Let's talk about. You wrote a book called Healing Whispers from Spirit's Guides. Will you share a bit about your book and how you came to write it?

Speaker 2: 18:25

Sure, I woke up in June, a couple of years ago, to a voice telling me I was going to write a book.

Speaker 2: 18:32

I have never had an interest in writing a book and I know how crazy that sounds, but I knew that was.

Speaker 2: 18:38

The voice was outside my head, so it was like someone was in my room, which was, you know, objective, but it was still very, very powerful and I didn't know what to write about because I didn't feel that I was qualified to write a book in any way. But what I had been doing for years is journaling the experiences of my patients just for my own, like experiments of trying to better understand death and dying and how people move through grief. So it was only my own personal stuff that I had written down and I thought, well, maybe that was the most transformative stuff that I could share. It was the stuff happening at the bedside of my patients. So I kind of put some of my favorite stories in the book Before. Each story is a lesson that I've learned through working with spirit and through working with those who are dying, and usually I end each chapter with a channeled message from my spirit guides A-team. And so I just kind of compiled it all and put this book out, and I'm actually pretty proud of it.

Speaker 1: 19:39

Yeah, oh my gosh, how amazing. And so when you're channeling with your a team, is that something that you're doing regularly? Are they popping in when you're at work to help guide you through? Talk to me a little bit how you work with your A-team.

Speaker 2: 19:56

So both I make an effort to sit quietly and, you know, chat with them and then I write down everything that they say. But if I'm in the middle of doing something, they would never say anything negative. They would never say anything not to do something, or that I should, or you know, you should not do this or never, would they say that. But they would give me, they would question on things I maybe would consider, should I want to choose to. So that's usually their polite way of saying hey, take a look at what you're saying or doing right now, and how does that reflect on that for a moment?

Speaker 2: 20:31

So they have popped in and, you know, suggested a little bit of self-reflection. But in general I make time to sit with them and I write down what they're saying. And what they're saying usually pertains to my own personal challenges, what I'm going through, or it could be a message just on universal love, or if I'm doing an intuitive reading for someone, it gives me a head start, before that person comes in, on what we're going to be working on. And I'll usually read my channeled message to them before we even get started and it's usually very relevant. So you know, that's, that's kind of how I work with my team in spirit, I will say that I came up with their name and I thought it was kind of lame after my husband told me that A-Team was a TV series of like crime fighters. It was before my time a little bit.

Speaker 1: 21:12

Oh, I know the show well. Yep, I've seen it, mr T, you know.

Speaker 2: 21:15

Kitty the Fool. Okay, totally yeah. So I thought it was kind of lame. After that I was like all right, guys, we're going to change your name. I want something that means you know oneness and you know more singular and something that represents a collective. And I was like the ball's in your court, let's come up with a new name. And I leave after that to go take my cat to the vet and as I'm pulling into the vet, temporary dumpsters being delivered, blocking all the vet's parking spaces. And it was an olive green dumpster and in big, bold white letters on the side it said A-Team and I was like, okay, so we're keeping it. And it was in that moment that I realized that A, you know, means singular, it means one in the English language, and A-team implies that we are a team and I need them as much as they need me. We really work together. So the name stuck after that.

Speaker 1: 22:01

And I love it.

Speaker 2: 22:02

A-angel, it's your angel team, it's my angel team, it's your angel team, and actually in a reading, someone, oh, I was like, can you give me some information on my spirit guides, you know? Because they didn't know, I called them A-Team and they said it was Angelics, ascended Masters, arcturians, ancestors, anyway, they all started with A, so all their word choices started with A and I thought that was kind of sweet. So I don't know who all my big group is, but they're definitely a collective.

Speaker 1: 22:29

Ah, fascinating group that you have there. Oh my gosh, I feel like I can hear cheers coming from them. I love that In your book you talk about a concept, the science club, and how it relates to the exploration of spirituality in the afterlife. Will you dive into that for us, because that's rather fascinating.

Speaker 2: 22:51

Okay, so I almost didn't include it in the book, but my husband is extremely logical and not very like into the spirituality stuff, so that's the part that he wanted me to include, and I've actually had some feedback on it. Some people really love it. Some people are like it's over my head. For me it's over my head, like I have even writing it. I had a hard time following it. I just cannot wrap my head around physics.

Speaker 2: 23:12

However, I was doing a meditation one day, and a gentleman popped into my closet. His name was Paul Dirac. I'd never heard of him. Turns out he's a deceased physicist, and after that he started bringing in other deceased scientists Some I knew, some I didn't, and so I just kind of grouped them all together and called them Science Club, because we would have these like little club meetings in my closet, which, by the way, is the quietest room in my house.

Speaker 2: 23:38

So Science Club comes in and they give me homework, sort of like we need you to familiarize yourself with waves, or we need you to familiarize yourself with field and sound and all sorts of things, and so all of it relates somehow, though, to how we connect to each other, through our thoughts are so much more powerful, like through waveforms, and it isn't just holding someone's hand, it's not all physical, and so Science Club comes in to teach a level of physics that is still over my head, but I document it all about how we are actually connecting on a more I don't know molecular level and a more energetic level and the importance of it to understanding it in order to build in layers, greater and greater understanding on how we actually connect. So I imagine Science Club will be coming in more and more and helping me understand connection on a different level. So we'll just have to see how they come in.

Speaker 1: 24:34

Yeah, on that electromagnetic level, yes, and our fields of how we're all just energetically intertwined and that's why we pick up on things when we walk into the room and go oh or oh, that's good. Yeah, I mean, it's that simple and that complicated for people, right?

Speaker 2: 24:51

Yeah, and that everything is conscious. Everything has a consciousness, even I mean, there are, I guess, different levels of consciousness. I don't even fully understand that, but that's what they're teaching me From you. Know, a rock, this table, the water, air everything has a level of consciousness. So, just based on the atoms that make it up, which have their own level of consciousness. So it's so in-depth that it's hard for me to wrap my mind. I studied art in college and theology, so this is so out there for me. But I listen to what they say, I take notes and then I do a little homework.

Speaker 1: 25:23

Oh, my goodness, I love it. So, when you look at these spiritual experiences that you're having with your A-team, with light beings, with angels and anyone that pops in beings with angels and anyone that pops in because that's all that spiritual work that we do how would you say these encounters have shaped your understanding of spirituality, to deepen that and the nature of existence beyond our 3D world, as some would call it?

Speaker 2: 25:54

Yeah, so it has given me a knowing that we really are limitless but we put ourselves in such a limited role in our physical worlds.

Speaker 2: 26:02

Being able to see spirit, being able to see angelic beings and beings of light, it has been life-changing for me in a way, because it leaves me open to things that I normally want to shut myself off to. My body is like, okay, I don't see it, it must not be real. But because I have had these experiences with these beings, I know that they're here, I can't deny it, and so I am open, just waiting for them to pop in when they want to or if they're going to share some wisdom that can help me or help others around me. So it has changed me on a spiritual level and that I know that I am so much more than my physical self. You know that whole phrase know thyself. Well, we are multidimensional in so many ways, and so are the beings that are surrounding us now. So I suppose, recognizing that this 3D world is a limited, singular, focused perspective that we are choosing to experience and there's so much more, Truly so much more.

Speaker 1: 27:52

Do you have the belief or thought that because someone's out there like did she just say she sees beings, like what the hell is a being? And I have this thought and belief and I'm wondering, if you've had it and maybe you've experienced it as well, that it's not just some really big foreign thing that comes to you. I feel that they come to you in forms or smells or words that are familiar to you, that you're going to be comfortable with in order to receive the message that they're trying to bring. What have your experiences been?

Speaker 2: 28:27

I agree with that. I believe that they tap into or connect into you in a way that you would receive it, because they don't want to be scary that's movie stuff, it's not a scary thing. But the whole point right now is to recognize your authentic self, to recognize there's so much happening around you than just your physical world. And these beings come in with the intention to connect in some way, and if that resonates with you, then everybody cheers. You know they're just like, okay, now, what's next? Now, what can we do? Right? So it started off small, oftentimes too, and that builds the more open you are to it.

Speaker 2: 29:09

So I have seen beings of light. They usually come in as light, usually in blues and whites actually. So I see a lot of blue beings, but in no way are they scary and no way are they always the same. I have one person who I call Lyra, who comes in frequently. Sometimes she presents old, sometimes she presents as if she's young and youthful, but yet I know on an energetic level it's the same person, the same entity or being, but she's always in light, and so my experience with beings is typically in light. I would love to get more smells. I know a lot of people get the smells. I think that would be so cool, but for me it's visual and they're usually beings of light, or even balls of light that then form into a being if I stare at them long enough.

Speaker 1: 29:56

Oh, so cool. I love that. Oh, it's so neat when you hear someone else having experiences like this and the differences you know in the experiences that you have, and I think it's just so profound when you can share them because it really you know, you can't not believe that it's not true when there's so many people that are having these incredible experiences.

Speaker 2: 30:22

And there's no one way to have these experiences. There's no right way or wrong way. It's how you connect, and that seems to be the big message my team is pushing right now is connection, and being a podcaster like you I mean, I know you do other things, but this is one very valuable piece of work because when you share your story and you allow other people to share their stories, you build a community of people who are relating to each other and understanding each other. And then when people say and do things that maybe don't align, you offer them grace because you know their story and if everybody is always just sort of in a moment of understanding and offering grace, you're spreading peace out and that ripples out, and the more peace you spread, we're bringing more and more peace to the world. So sharing stories is so important if you're sharing it from an authentic, kind, heart-centered space.

Speaker 1: 31:12

I agree, and it's so much of what we need in this world right now.

Speaker 2: 31:16

Oh absolutely.

Speaker 1: 31:16

I mean, we just need so much of it and it's, you know, and every person is the ripple. You are the ripple effect to those you would say people, places and things around you. So the more that you can lead with love and with light and with peace and compassion and grace, the more you receive that back. But then the more the next person gives, and the next person and the next person.

Speaker 2: 31:36

Yes, yes. So what you're doing and you're a little part of the world by having people share their stories is lending so much to bringing in more peace in the world.

Speaker 1: 31:46

Thank you. I appreciate that Some days you need to hear that. It's nice to hear you do Right.

Speaker 2: 31:52

It's nice to hear sometimes it is A little validation. Yeah, it goes a long way.

Speaker 1: 31:57

Thank you, it absolutely does. Let's touch more on your book, because your book is fascinating. You talk a lot about forgiveness and fear and there is a lot of that around death and around dying and how life is going to end and where are you going to go and where are you going to end up and all of that kind of stuff. Will you share how these emotions impact the dying process and how individuals can find peace that are scared and still have insecurities and fear around the topic of death and dying and thinking someone's either going to heaven or to hell and maybe there's another spot?

Speaker 2: 32:33

Right and in between. So it's been my experience so far that most of the fear happens in the months and weeks leading up to someone's death. When they start to move into the days and hours and they start to have their foot in sort of both worlds at the same time, some of that fear gets released, thank goodness, because death is a natural part and it really isn't that hard to die. It's apparently harder to be born than it is to die. That's what I'm told. So whenever you start having beings of light, angelics, deceased family members coming in, when you feel like you're in this kind of dream state before you start to transition, does bring peace and it alleviates some of those fears.

Speaker 2: 33:20

The fear is really the buildup to the before those moments actually happen where people don't ever allow themselves to contemplate death, to think about what it means to them.

Speaker 2: 33:31

Are they living their life the way they want to in honor of how they believe will happen after they die? All of this lack of self-reflection around death is what leads to fear. Death is what leads to fear. If we could normalize talking about death and dying and normalize talking about spirituality around death and dying, it alleviates some of those fears and if we can do it before the last minute, even better. You know so then you kind of know what you want when you die, you know what you don't want and you know what you can expect or potentially expect. You could start making requests from your deceased loved ones. Hey, can you guys come on by a little sooner than later? And when you're open to that, well, as you know, you start to perceive that a little easier and a little quicker, and that absolutely brings peace. It alleviates a lot of the fear of the unknown, because the unknown starts to seep into your reality a little quicker.

Speaker 1: 34:22

Fascinating. I love that you shared that this brings me. While you were saying all that, I sort of had this other, I don't know a little bird on my shoulder who said can we talk about the transition? Some people just think it's like the last days, the last hours, the last minutes where some people truly actually begin to transition six, eight, 12 months out, if you're paying attention. What's your experience with that?

Speaker 2: 34:54

So I would even say even further than that, one of the gifts that is happening for me right now, as I'm working with my team in spirit and helping people to transition, is that I get a ballpark of when they're going to die. And they're not giving me like exact day and time, but it's a ballpark, and I have a ballpark on someone where they told me two months ago that I have a ballpark of four years. So when I first started getting these premonitions of people's death, my initial thought was am I supposed to stop it? Am I supposed to interfere somehow? Do I need to let them know? And then I started realizing, no, I believe, really, really believe, that what I'm tuning into is on a higher level. Their soul has made the choice to die. Even though their personality may not have, their soul has and I'm able, once that choice is made able, to read that probability and tune into that wave or packet of information. So someone I know has made the choice to transition in four years from now, a ballpark, and while their personality may not be aware of it, they have done this on a soul level. So when that happens, I start the process, not necessarily of needing to tell them.

Speaker 2: 36:11

That's not the important part. Knowing when you die is not as important as knowing that when you do, you're prepared and ready and you have peace and closure. So when it comes to forgiveness, for example, for someone, forgiveness is a really tough word for a lot of people and you can rephrase that to a letting go or a releasing or an unburdening, and it's really you coming to terms with not being a victim with what has happened to you, because you can't change it at this point. You can acknowledge it and you can choose to not let it affect the quality of what life you have left. So I think that the dying journey when you can be helpful to someone and encourage them to talk about things that they need to seek closure with, talk about their regrets and then end it with some of the best things they're so happy about, without telling them necessarily that they're going to be dying then you help them feel good about who they are and the life that they've lived, and that's a really good start to help someone on that dying process.

Speaker 1: 37:09

Oh, it is, my goodness, sure it's not a podcast yet that I haven't had tears in my eyes More and more now that I feel like we just went into a whole nother podcast. I have so many questions, so I'm. But I'm going to ask this, though, because I feel like numerous people would come up with this, given what you just described, if someone came to you and they were having a reading with you, an intuitive reading, and maybe they brought up a friend, a loved one, regardless of if they're sick or not, but maybe they had a concern of some sort, would that come in? Potentially that you'd be like, hmm, yes, well, okay.

Speaker 2: 37:54

So oftentimes, and so you know, there's nothing set in stone where you know if anyone who's intuitive knows you kind of get.

Speaker 2: 38:02

Nothing is set in stone. But, for example, I see, like I don't know what they are, maybe like threads or strings or something that appear over people's head and shoulders area, and when they're talking about something like, oh, I really want to take this job in New York, and if that thread it looks like gold, if it like lights up really, really bright, then it's like the strongest probability. But they have all possibilities and we have free choice here. So if they're mentioning up another one you know and it doesn't light up as much, or they can mention one that doesn't light up at all. The one that doesn't light up at all doesn't mean it shouldn't happen. It means they haven't put a lot of energy into making it happen yet. So it's not lighting up very bright. We are the person in control of our present moment, our nows. So if someone is having a situation around someone else and it's going to be beneficial for them to know or understand this information, then it would light up and I would be willing to share that.

Speaker 1: 38:59

Okay, so that I think that was great. That was a great way to to understand that for people to understand. You know more. So, on that topic, because that is an important topic and there are a lot of people who are struggling with loved ones right now who are sick, not well topic, and there are a lot of people who are struggling with loved ones right now who are sick, not well, I can't tell you how many times I've had an intuitive reading from someone else, like yourself, where it literally brought me just so much peace and groundedness and clarity, where you can really get caught up in your head space and you can just go down rabbit holes. But to be able to have that groundedness and clarity, you know, connecting with higher self truly has made all the difference for me in a lot of different ways throughout my life.

Speaker 2: 39:42

I'd like to add something to that, if I may.

Speaker 2: 39:46

I like to liken the body to a vehicle, and we, as souls, connect in with this vehicle, and we can take it fast or we can take it slow, we can run it into the ground or we can take it in for regular maintenance. Whatever it is, but when that vehicle starts to putter out, we can step out of it and watch it coast to a stop, so we don't have to be in it until it's completely stopped. So oftentimes, when I'm sitting with a loved one or sitting with a patient and we're looking at them and they're struggling to take that last breath they're struggling to breathe Most of the time, almost every single time they're standing outside of their body, witnessing the natural process of this physical body shutting down that will eventually go back to the earth, but they're not suffering. The body is shutting down, but they're standing right outside, and so I find that so I don't know. It brings me peace whenever I can see them standing there, because I recognize that the body is different it's a vehicle than the person who's standing outside of it.

Speaker 1: 40:52

Absolutely. I think that's an incredible way to explain it and you totally flashed a memory into my head and I think that it goes coincides with what you were just saying. Years ago my try not to cry my grandmother had Alzheimer's disease Years after I had specialized in it and my mom was the one who was predominantly by her side all the time taking care of her. I was at a state and at that time I was beginning a new spiritual journey. I had been on one, but it was sort of like I was in it, but I didn't really know where. I didn't really know too much. But at this point in time, for whatever reason, I was guided to, almost not obsessively, but I was always getting intuitive readings, tarot readings, but really I was learning so much. And what happened this one day is I had a reading and this woman was. She was saying like oh, your grandmother says you were such a light when you showed up. There was singing, there was dancing, she loved being with you. She was describing all of these things and I thought interesting. I only at that time had one grandmother who had passed, so I assumed it was her, although I was told that grandmother never liked me. So I thought, well, wow, she really did like me. This makes. Oh my God, this is amazing.

Speaker 1: 42:07

So I leave the reading, I go home and this was like just when, like the internet was out or something, and I received this email and she said it's very important for you to know that the person who is coming through is your mother's mother. She will not leave until you receive this message. This was my grandmother, who was still living, living in early stage Alzheimer's, and so she was able to exactly what you're describing, describing Gretchen, sort of come in and out of her body, and it's something that I've been told for years through different doctors that I tend to not always be in my body and sometimes that's not a good thing and sometimes it is. But what happened and what was a really for me, beautiful, especially as I look back on it now, even though at the time I didn't really understand it.

Speaker 1: 42:56

I would start to consistently go to get readings and she would come through to the point that my mother, I would be done with the reading. My mother would phone me and say did you get a reading today at X time? And I'd be like, no, why? You know you did because all of a sudden, your grandmother was fine and then she sat and did nothing for that hour. She just sat there and I saw her eyes go off and I went. So it was such a beautiful interaction that now is so. I mean it was. I didn't understand how priceless it was at that point I didn't understand it, and now to think that that's what she was doing for me is beyond priceless.

Speaker 2: 43:35

I had a grandfather with Alzheimer's, and that was the first time he had come through, was when he was still alive, and that's when I learned that was possible as well.

Speaker 1: 43:45

I mean, and I just want people to know it's that beautiful it is, and you just pay attention. It's no different than for those who, and I, expect to have skeptics and I would be shocked if we didn't but every time I find a dime, that's my grandfather, because he wouldn't dare give me a penny Always a dime right. And when you maybe always see the butterfly or the robin and you know that's one of your loved ones, we're basically talking about the same thing. It's just a tomato to a tomato.

Speaker 2: 44:15

It is, but you know we co-create that. So when we put energy towards the dime as a symbol or as a message from your grandfather, we're co-creating that with him, and so that's the beauty of being creators here on this planet in human form. So is the dime your grandfather? No, the dime is a dime. However, you co-created that experience with your grandfather as a representation of his love and of his presence and of his eternal life and of his recognition that he's still here. All of that is created with him and with you together, and so when we choose a symbol or a sign like that and we heart connect into that other deceased loved one using that, then we co-create that with ourselves and with our loved one, and it becomes a very important message and it's absolutely reality. It's real and we're creating it.

Speaker 2: 45:05

I will say too, though, I also had a patient that was quadriplegic and was unable to communicate verbally since the age of two, was quadriplegic and was unable to communicate verbally since the age of two. So this person was when I came and met him, he was out of his body a lot. So when people are caring for loved ones who have been basically almost vegetable state for 30 plus years. They're actually very vivacious souls and I was able to talk a little bit about what he was going through based on him standing right there with the family and sort of bring them some validation and peace that way. So our bodies really are just a vehicle for who we are, and if we are such wise, dynamic souls and we can't function in a body that is not cooperating with us anymore, then, yeah, we're going to step out. We need a little more entertainment than that. We're not trapped ever. So even if we are still connecting with our physical body, we're stepping out when we can, because otherwise it would be incredibly boring.

Speaker 1: 46:12

I love that. That's so true. Thank you for making me feel so much better for all the times that I choose to peace out for a little bit. Oh, my gosh, oh, I could talk to you all day, every day. Gretchen, I so appreciate the work that you're doing and the authenticity and your amazing love and energy that you've brought here today this. You've brought me so much peace, and I know our community so much peace, and I thank you for that.

Speaker 2: 46:40

Well, thank you so much. It was very nice talking with you.

Speaker 1: 46:43

Absolutely. Will you share with our community where they can best get in touch with you and reach out to perhaps book a session with you?

Speaker 2: 46:50

Sure. My website is wwwHelenGretchenJonescom, and my book Healing Whispers from Spirit Guides is available on Amazon.

Speaker 1: 47:01

Fabulous and everyone definitely should go grab that copy. How can you not, after all the fun stories that she has shared today Amazing stories. As we close out the show today, gretchen, will you share a piece of inspiration that you would like to leave with us today, and perhaps the A-team would like to come in and give us a little?

Speaker 2: 47:19

message. Oh, you know I haven't done verbal channeling. I did it for the first time this week, actually for the very first time, and so I'm working with A-team to do verbal channeling. Otherwise I do written work from them. But I suppose a year from now, if I ever come back on this show again, I'm hoping that a year from now I could start doing the verbal channeling more. I've got a beautiful group of women here in Austin who are just graciously working with me to practice the verbal channeling aspect of A-Team. But I suppose the inspiration I would like to leave for anyone who might be listening would encourage people to really think about their own deaths, think about their loved one's deaths, think about if they're living life in a way that, if they don't have tomorrow, if they don't have next year, if they feel really good about where they're at and if not, take steps to shift that. It really is about perspective and if we can shift our perspective and be vulnerable with each other and authentic, I think we can change the world.

Speaker 1: 48:23

That is an incredible, powerful, special message that everyone needs right now. Thank you for that. Thank you, it was beautiful. Well again, gretchen, you just you give me goosebumps. You make me cry. I'm so happy we met and you definitely we will have you back on the show. I would love to support you any way we can, through your book and through your work, of course. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1: 48:47

Of course, all right, you can head over to jenniferplottiescom and all of Gretchen's information will be there all her links, so you can get in touch with her, grab a session, read her book. All of the goodies will be over there at jenniferplatescom. And, as we say, until next time, may you live an empowered life from within. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode. Please remember to rate, review and subscribe to Empowered Within with Jennifer Pilates. Your feedback is important. It helps me to connect with you and gives me insight into who you are and what you're enjoying about the show. For today's show notes and discount codes from today's sponsors, head over to JenniferPilatescom. Until next time, may you live an empowered life from within.