True Story: I’m A Medium

How would you feel if dead people regularly popped into your mind to communicate with their living relatives? Or if someone’s dead father-in-law bumped into you a party? That’s all in a day’s work for my friend Heather!

Tell us a bit about yourself!

My name is Heather Westmoreland. I was born and raised in Minnesota. I’ve lived in Ireland, California and Arizona but I always end up back in the Twin Cities area.

There are so many amazing people here, it’s hard to stay away too long. I’m still in my 30s, for a few more weeks at least. For fun, I love to spend time with my endearing group of friends and family. I’m a fan of travel, yoga, biking, and qoya. I have an insatiable appetite for learning about different cultures/people. I adore finding ways we are alike and understanding the beauty of our differences.

While I’ve been in the healing arts since 1998, I did a stint as a tax accountant for about ten years. I’m mostly focused on my coaching/mediumship practice but I still help out at the tax office occasionally. It’s great to keep both hemispheres of the ‘ol brain engaged.

What is a medium?

A medium is someone that can see into the space where passed over people occupy. Mediums help the living get messages from the dead. The longer I do it the more I believe we are all interacting with spirits, but we don’t know how to sense them.

After a session with me, it’s fairly common for people to develop the ability to sense their crossed over loved ones. They get confirmation that the things they’ve been noticing are, in fact, their loved ones communicating.  

Often mediums practice what is called “evidence based mediumship”. While getting a session with them, they do most of the talking and you sit and listen with an occasional yes or no. This type of mediumship is committed to displaying unequivocal evidence that they are communicating with your loved one.

My work is a little different. It’s more like family coaching where the client and the spirit work through their residual issues. Frequently, my clients say who is there; they can feel them. I’m not concerned with convincing people that it’s “real”.

If you leave thinking that it was just a nice healing session and it was metaphorical, great! If you leave thinking you were literally talking to your loved one, fantastic! Either way it’s healing.

They’re real to me but I have no need to convince anyone of my perspective. I’m just committed to helping people heal, transform and let go. I deeply respect how everyone does this in their own way.

When did you realize you had these abilities?

I’m an empath. That is a psychic ability also called clairsentience. It’s the ability to feel other people’s feelings as if they’re your own.  I thought it was how everyone was. I was that way since birth so it took a long time to realize it wasn’t “normal”.

Then two years ago, I started feeling something different. I was doing energy work on a client and I mentioned that I felt like there were angels around her. I lean towards the practical side of things so this was an unusual declaration for me.

She said she felt angels around her all the time and that one aunt in particular, was one. She kept talking but my mind stayed on her aunt. Something was holding my attention there. I said, “I think your aunt is here.”

Then a massive amount of beautiful energy surged through my body. It was like a cosmic YES! From that point on, they regularly come into my coaching sessions to help my clients create change.  

What does a usual reading look like?

People come to me to heal something. For example, clients come to me to work on self-sabotaging behavior, patterns in their lives they can’t break out of or to address fears they can’t get past.  We talk until we find the core of the issue- it’s often not what they think it is, so in and of itself, that part of the process is fascinating.

Once we’re clear on the structure of what is going on, we begin a healing process. During that time, spirits often come in to assist. They want to acknowledge how they affected you and take responsibility for how they hurt you.

They want to take back the dynamics that you inherited from them. They listen, share and then pass beautiful, loving energy to you. It’s such a gift to witness this miracle.

Do you ever encounter spirits when you’re out and about in daily life?

My encounters with spirits have almost exclusively been in session with high consciousness souls; nothing really creepy or scary.

The one exception was at a party a few months ago. An acquaintance was talking about losing her father-in-law. They had a strained relationship. When she mentioned that, I felt him slam into me. It was almost like he was trying to get into my body to work out their issues. I held him at a distance.

Then she said that she had made her peace with him and was committed to remembering the things she admired most about him. After her statement, I felt him back away and leave.  

That experience made me realize that spirits have been coming into my periphery and influencing me my whole life. Before I knew what was happening, I felt compelled to help people get closure but I didn’t know why. Now I can see what’s going on and put the right boundaries in place.  

What are some of the messages you’ve helped pass along or issues you’ve helped clients get past?

Here’s how I know mediumship is my calling-this question alone makes me thrilled! I can’t believe I get to help people let go of decades of pain or fear and realize that they are loved beyond the boundaries of this life.

One of the most memorable messages was with a client, Jill (information shared here with her consent). Jill came in because she was newly pregnant and her mother decided to move away after hearing about it.

She was feeling fear and a lack of support. We helped her discover that she could learn to feel supported by the dozens of people in her life that love her and are there for her.

Her brother, who passed away 10 years ago, showed up to support her healing. He showed me a tree where they used to hang out together and a drawing of a horse that he’d made for her to show it was him.

Then he sent energy for her to open her heart to all of the people that are sending love her way. He helped release her from needing anything from her mother.   

Is this work emotionally draining for you?

No! I feel amazing after every session. I heal a little with each one.

Has this affected the way you think about life and death?

I am so blessed to have very little fear of death now. It is clear that it’s just the next adventure. It helps me be more present in the here and now because none of my mind space is spent worrying about what is going to happen.

Is this like working with other skill sets, something that can be strengthened and developed?

Yes, although Dean Radin (IoNS Institute) says it’s like basketball; everyone can play but not everyone will go pro. It’s easiest to begin to access it through your imagination.

Try having an imaginary conversation with a loved one that’s passed away. It’s a great way to reach your mind outside of yourself. Eventually, you will hear, feel or see them. It may just be a calming presence or a little thought, but you’ll get it.

What books/apps/websites/support groups/resources have helped you navigate this?

The 20 years of personal growth I did before the awareness of this ability was paramount. It helps me stay clear. I don’t have any agenda for my clients. I don’t think I know better than they do about what they should do or how they do it. That allows me to translate pretty clearly for everyone what the spirits are communicating.

My favorites are Eckhardt Tolle, Byron Katie, and Marshal Rosenberg of Non-Violent Communication.

In the field of Medium work, there’s a great local MN woman named Jody Livon that has a few awesome books about developing intuition and setting boundaries.

What have you learned that ANY of us could apply to our daily lives?

The knowledge that you are more loved than you can ever imagine. That you’re loved for your core self, who you fundamentally are.

You don’t need to hustle to try to earn it because it’s just always there for you. We get trapped thinking we have to get love from one person in one way and that blinds us to the massive about of love coming to us from all directions.

Spirits are trying to show you that they love you and they want to make your life better. Look for their messages. If your grandma always honked her car at you, maybe she’ll have people honk at you accidentally.

If your dad loved cigars, notice when you smell cigar smoke out of nowhere. They may be communicating; we just need to pay attention.

Thank you so much for sharing your story, Heather! Do you guys have any (polite! respectful!) questions for her? 

P.S. True Story interviews with a psychic and a palm reader!

Photos by Federico Beccari and Christopher Campbell on Unsplash