As we stepped into 2022, nearly a year ago, I felt we needed a reset — an opportunity to examine how we’re doing and think about what we like to do more of, what we should do less of, what we’d like to do differently to continue to do our work — and live our lives — with intention and joy. Last January, I posed a series of questions that felt intrinsic to that process. With each of our Haven posts this year, we’ve pondered one of those questions with colleagues we admire to gain their wisdom and insights.
Nichola des Lauriers, a dear friend who I first met through this industry, is a beautiful human being, inside and out. Her deep intuition, care for others, and dedication to finding and following her calling inspire me repeatedly. So, to close out this year, we’ve pulled Nichola in to ponder the question: “How do we dive deeply into beauty, its intrinsic benefit to our human experience, and ways it leads us back to our own wellness?””
When we are fully embodied, we feel more beautiful, our choices become more aligned, and we become more alive. It’s a more courageous response to our lives.”
Since she was young, Nichola des Lauriers has had what she says, with a sense of wonder, “mystical experiences with the divine.” Her gift of seeing was a lifeline to her developing understanding that there is more to life than meets the eye. She calls it her “pilot light.” Her journey to her current work as a psychic healer and conduit for healing energy has included a broad spectrum of experiences, including a double major in molecular neurobiology and psychology, work in interior design, and studies abroad to study Reiki healing in Japan and embodiment in Sweden. At each step along the way, she followed her intuition to find her path.
Nicola’s connection to psychic healing started when she was a child, but it was supercharged in 2012 when she experienced a profound meditation on the California coast that led her to plant medicine, a profound shift that would inform the rest of her journey. She let go of her natural resistance to the fact that there is more than meets the eye, and her experiences led her to understanding that her scientific training and her intuition were not at odds, but in fact were intrinsically connected.
A second pivotal moment came during her work in interior design. During a meditation, she had pictured herself cleansing negative energy from the spaces the firm’s clients would occupy, but was hesitant to share her vision. She needed a sign. The next day she received a text from her boss, asking if she knew of anyone who could “take the juju out of homes.” It was the beginning of a practice that has grown organically as her understanding of her abilities and the needs of her clients has continued to develop, and now includes work with both her clients’ exterior environments and their inner selves.
Diving into beauty, inside and out
Whether it is the inner space of our bodies, or the outer space of our homes, we can have a positive impact.”
The more Nichola has come to understand the positive impact her work can have on the lives of her clients, the deeper she dives into the beauty of the positive energy she can help invoke. By understanding the interwoven, permeable nature of our bodies and the spaces they occupy, and the interconnectedness of outer and inner beauty, she leads her clients to a greater sense of wellness.
In freeing her clients from whatever is blocking them from their core truth, whether through touch, energy work, intuition or — most often — a combination of all three, she helps them build a sense of confidence, freedom and liberation that are their own expression of beauty. “As one heals, there is a shift, as one becomes more in harmony with nature, beauty and relationships. It is a process of unleashing beauty,” she says.
Leading to wellness
Nichola targets and helps her clients release internal tension and stress. Freedom from tension, wherever it has been stored in the body, is transformative. As Nichola says, “the body keeps score.” This, in turn, directly impacts her clients’ overall wellbeing. When that connection is made, her clients are more in touch with their own innate intelligence. She is very clear that she does not tell her clients which choices to make or which path they should follow, but rather she connects them to their own core wisdom.
My passion is meeting my clients where they are and seeing their core essence. When I can help them bring that to light, the confidence to follow their true direction transforms what they can do in their lives.”
Connecting inner and outer beauty…product in the making
At the edge of the sea in Half Moon Bay — a place Nichola calls her “spiritual home” — Nichola had yet another magical experience that has led to the development of a skincare oil infused with healing properties. Though she did not yet understand the words that came to her at the time, the Latin plant names would form the basis for the skincare product, still in development. Once again merging scientific training with born intuition, she infuses the serum with a healing life force. Stay tuned for more on her beauty-filled serum. It’s the one product Mead uses religiously.
Now for some fun questions….
What is the one thing you love most about what you do?
“I have the privilege to support and witness profound energetic, vibrational, and physical shifts that change not only the way my clients view themselves, but also how, in turn, the world responds to them. The dramatic transformations that occur and continue beyond our work together is thrilling to me.”
Who — or what — inspires you?
“I’m inspired by those who choose to leave behind the dusty box of ‘shoulds’ and courageously live in alignment with what feels most true…The coastlines of Half Moon Bay and Big Sur hold a special kind of magic for me. I go there often to soften, plug back into Source and simply listen.”
What’s the single best business or creative advice you’ve ever received?
“Breathe, relax, trust…the next step is always revealed.”
If you weren’t doing this, what would you be up to?
“Creating other forms of beauty with my hands… paintings, pottery, poetry, music.”
How do you love spending time outside of work?
“Spending quality time with dear ones and traveling the world top my list.”
What is one thing that most people don’t know about you?
“I have had mystical experiences with angels since I was 6 years old. Also, if you challenge me to a 90’s hip hop battle, prepare to go hard or lose.”
Last book you read?
“Beauty — The Invisible Embrace by John O’Donohue. I return to this book for nourishment again and again. Honey for the spirit.”
Favorite quote?
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware of the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.”
— Martha Graham
