Near-death experience stories have fascinated me for decades, both personally and professionally. As a hypnotherapist, past life regression specialist, and student of consciousness, I have listened to countless accounts of individuals who briefly crossed the threshold between life and death and returned profoundly changed.
What I rarely share is that I have had my own near-death experience.
Until now, only a small circle of trusted friends has heard this story. As near-death experiences become more widely discussed and accepted, it feels like the right time to share what happened and how it changed my understanding of life, death, consciousness, and the soul’s journey.
When you hear my story, you may think it sounds unusual. That’s perfectly fine. One of the gifts of my work is that I have learned there is far more to human experience than most people realize. If we ever work together, know that nothing you tell me about your life is too strange, too mystical, or too extraordinary. I’ve seen and experienced a lot.
What Is a Near-Death Experience?
A near-death experience (NDE) is typically reported by someone who has come close to death or has been temporarily declared clinically dead before returning to life.
The stories are remarkably consistent.
People often describe leaving their bodies, traveling through a tunnel of light, encountering deceased loved ones, communicating with spiritual beings, or experiencing a profound sense of peace and unconditional love.
Many return from a near-death experience with a dramatically altered perspective on life. They often lose their fear of death, develop stronger intuition, and feel a deeper connection to spirituality and purpose.
Whether these experiences are glimpses of an afterlife, altered states of consciousness, or something else entirely remains a matter of debate. What is undeniable is their transformative impact.
Near-Death Experiences in My Family
Long before my own near-death experience, I witnessed similar events within my family.
When my brother was a teenager, he was involved in a serious accident. The doctors later told us that he had been pronounced dead twice during the night.
Yet by morning, he was alive.
When he recovered, he described traveling through a tunnel of light. He encountered several beings, including our grandfather, who informed him that it was not yet his time to die. He was instructed to return to his body.
He lived another sixty years before succumbing to cancer.
Years after that incident, my young son had an experience that deeply affected me.
We were living on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. While the adults were distracted, my three-year-old son wandered near the swimming pool and fell in unnoticed.
When we found him, he was floating face down in the water.
My husband pulled him from the pool and threw him into my arms. After desperately clearing the water from his lungs and performing resuscitation, he suddenly gasped and returned.
As he recovered, I encouraged him to tell me what he remembered.
In his simple three-year-old language, he explained that after struggling in the water, he became calm. Then he found himself floating high above the pool, peacefully observing everything from above.
What struck me most was not what he said.
It was how peaceful he was. I was traumatized. He wasn’t.
His description shared many similarities with classic near-death experience accounts reported by adults.
Scientific Theories and Spiritual Questions
One of the fascinating aspects of a near-death experience is how similar the stories are across cultures, religions, and belief systems.
Researchers have proposed numerous explanations. Some suggest oxygen deprivation, chemical changes in the brain, or neurological responses to extreme stress. Others believe that ordinary consciousness may temporarily expand beyond its normal limitations during a crisis.
As someone who has spent more than four decades exploring consciousness through hypnotherapy and past life regression, I remain open-minded.
I’ve helped clients recover forgotten memories of near-death experiences, recall leaving the body during past life death scenes, and process profound spiritual encounters.
Whatever the ultimate explanation may be, these experiences consistently point toward dimensions of human awareness that deserve deeper exploration.
The Voice That Told Me I Was Going to Die
In the spring of 2003, I was sitting in my office working when I suddenly heard a male voice say: “You’re going to die.”
The message startled me. I looked around the room. No one was there.
Over the following days, I heard the same message several more times. “You’re going to die.”
Needless to say, I was alarmed.
At the time, my life was going beautifully. My hypnotherapy practice was thriving. I was writing my third book. My children were in college. I was in a happy relationship.
I wasn’t ready to leave.
The message became impossible to ignore.
In conversations with my spirit guides, they confirmed that death was indeed approaching. According to their explanation, I had reached the completion of the purpose associated with my current birth chart and would need to move into a new incarnation to continue my soul’s evolution.
I was devastated. Not because I feared death itself. I feared leaving unfinished business.
An Unusual Proposal
As the months passed, I became increasingly determined to find another solution.
In my work with past life regression, I was familiar with the concept of “stepping in” and “stepping out” of a body at a soul level. The idea eventually led to a question: What if I could leave my body and then return to it?
Could I complete the process being described to me without permanently leaving this lifetime? My guides admitted they had never encountered such a situation before. To my surprise, they agreed to investigate. Months passed. I lived with the possibility that I might die at any time. I put my affairs in order.
I prepared myself emotionally.
Eventually, I was told that I was holding on too tightly and would need to let go.
My Near-Death Experience
The evening finally arrived.
A trusted colleague who worked extensively with energy agreed to assist. When the signal came from my guides, I followed him to the back of the room. The energy work began.
I felt a powerful wave of energy moving through my body. Then I noticed something extraordinary. A concentrated ball of energy gathered within me and began moving upward through my chest and throat. Moments later, it exited through my mouth.
Suddenly, my perspective changed. I was no longer looking through my eyes. I was near the ceiling looking down.
I could see the room. I could see the people. I could see my body lying below.
In that moment, I had no doubt that I was outside my physical form.
My first instinct was curiosity. My second was urgency. I wanted to return before it was too late.
I re-entered my body and immediately began shaking uncontrollably, as though every cell in my body were recalibrating. For nearly forty-five minutes I lay there while my system gradually normalized. The experience was complete.
That was my near-death experience.
How the Experience Changed Me
Like many people who report a near-death experience, I returned with a different perspective.
My fear of death diminished. My understanding of consciousness expanded. My confidence in the continuity of the soul deepened.
Most importantly, I gained a greater appreciation for the preciousness of life itself.
When you truly understand that life continues beyond the body, you stop obsessing about the small things. You become more interested in purpose, growth, love, contribution, and the experiences your soul came here to have.
What We Can Learn from a Near-Death Experience
For many people, a near-death experience becomes a profound awakening. It encourages us to examine our priorities and explore our spirituality. It challenges our assumptions about who we are and why we are here.
Whether you interpret these experiences as spiritual events, altered states of consciousness, or something in between, they offer a powerful reminder that reality may be far larger than we imagine.
My own near-death experience gave me first-hand awareness that life is precious, consciousness is mysterious, and the soul’s journey is far more expansive than a single lifetime.
Perhaps that is the greatest gift these experiences offer us.
Not certainty. But wonder.
