Every shake down leads to a shake UP. 

If life feels tumultuous these days, you are not alone. Unsettling doesn’t come close to describing the current economy and political unrest. For many the shake down is taking place on a very personal level too. Could it be that these quakes are necessary growing pains toward freedom and sovereignty? Afterall, when everything is falling apart, the only thing left to fall back on is ourselves: our inner strength, integrity and intuition. 

When psychic coach and long-time intuitive reader at Gateway Cottage Wellness Center BakeR Gendron and I sat down for a chat she disclosed her own shakeup: a new offering. The session, called Intuitive Empowerment, will be unlike past intuitive readings. Rather than providing answers to questions, BakeR wants to guide clients to the place where all questions and answers already exist: within themselves. Intuitive Empowerment leads people to their own transformation – precisely what our current evolutionary shift in human consciousness is calling for. 

BakeR’s fearless ability to follow her own inner compass and transform herself creates the healing space for her clients to gain clarity and take action in their own lives. As one of her clients put it, there’s “no muckin’ around” with BakeR. In our interview, we covered a broad spiritual bandwidth: from fire walks and ayahuasca ceremonies to spirit guides and their silence. Without any muckin’ around, BakeR got real on the need to stay true to ourselves.

Kirstyn: How did you first become aware that you had intuitive gifts?  

BakeR: When I went to Peru in 2006, I did four ayahuasca ceremonies and that's when Mamacita [a spirit guide] came to me. She was there, coming through me. Then, I came back to Scottsdale and she was still there. I thought I'd lost my mind. I literally thought I was nuts. Then I remembered that as a child I used to talk to this Native American woman spirit. At some point somebody said that's not okay or you're going to get in trouble, and I shut it down. So, I'm sure I always had it but I closed it off. 

Kirstyn: When did you first start doing psychic coaching and intuitive readings in Sedona?

BakeR: In 2008, Mamacita told me to move to Sedona. I was a realtor in Scottsdale, very successful. I had the big house, cars, all the stuff. And it was like… what am I supposed to do in Sedona? That was when real estate was crashing, and my friends said, “Are you out of your mind? You can't sell your house now.” Five months later I was in Sedona. I had sold my business, sold my house, sold everything. I spent about a year meditating and hiking. I prayed and asked, “What do you want me to do? Show me what you want me to do.” I knew I wanted to do women's retreats. I knew I wanted to coach because I had been a spiritual counselor for about 15 years at that point. I had some foundation, but I didn't think I was going to come up here and be a psychic professionally. I didn't think I was going to do that.

Kirstyn: Spirit guided you here and now you have a new offering that also seems very soul-directed. Tell us about this new offering.

BakeR: Yes, Intuitive Empowerment sessions are what I will be offering. What I have come to realize is that I don't like giving people the answers. When people come in for an intuitive reading or a psychic reading, they come in wanting us to tell them the answers. They’ll ask, “When am I going to meet my life partner?” or “When am I going to have my new job?” I haven't felt comfortable for a while telling people their answers because I feel like it’s disempowering for them. What I also know is that energy changes all the time. You could ask me, “When am I going to meet my next partner?” And I might say, “Six months.” You walk out the door and something drastically changes in your life or you decide that you don't want a partner anymore. Anything can change. But if you're very suggestive, and Billy Bob or Susie Q walks into your life tomorrow and they want you – and this has happened by the way – you're going to hook up with that person because I told you that your next partner was coming. So you'll hook up with that person even though it shouldn't be your next person because you aren’t aware of your free will. I want to empower people to make the changes, the transformation, in their lives and to have that sovereignty. I want to guide, coach and empower them.

Kirstyn: This seems in alignment with what's going on in our collective shift – the evolution of human consciousness. We are being asked to step into our sovereignty more and be aware of quantum possibilities. What are the key elements that would make this Intuitive Empowerment session different from an intuitive reading or psychic reading?

BakeR: I'm still tapping into higher consciousness. I'm still using my intuitive abilities, which are still very strong. I'm still connecting with [the clients’] higher self. So that's still there, but I'm not telling them what to do. We're going to work together to help them get those answers and step into their power more. People that book [an intuitive empowerment session] really want to grow and expand. These are going to be people that want to do some deep work. Do you really want to dive deep or do you just want to have somebody tell you what to do?

Kirstyn: Let's say I'm ready to dive deep. How can I prepare myself for this session? What are some things I can bring into the session?

BakeR: The issues that you want to work on. For instance, let's say that you are wanting to find your partner. What do you feel like has blocked you? Is it self-confidence? Is it self-esteem? It could even be as simple as, “I don't think I'm pretty.” There were years that I didn't think I was pretty. I had to work on that, and you know what? I think I'm beautiful now. I really do. But I wasn't pretty in high school. I'll never forget this friend of mine from years ago. We lost touch and then found each other on Facebook. She saw my pictures and said, “Oh my God, you're one of those women that gets older and becomes beautiful.” I knew that was true and it was so cool to have somebody actually say that to me. That was years of me transforming from the inside out. And the thing was, I never really cared about being pretty because I was always more interested in being smart. But I knew women that were so obsessed and when they got to 30, they were freaking out because they were losing their looks. Some women beat themselves up. They’ve got a whole image of what you have to be [to find someone]. I was never that worried about it. 

Kirstyn: This goes back to Intuitive Empowerment because you're talking about the danger of resourcing from outside of ourselves. It’s not about the media determining external beauty standards, we determine our beauty from the inside out. When you tap into that, there's a natural glow that people notice. I feel this is what your Intuitive Empowerment session is about: digging deep into areas where you may be outsourcing power. Can we recognize and return to our power? Because we give it away all the time.

BakeR: Right. Especially as women because since the time we are born, we're constantly told we must be something other or better or different. This is the gift of the Intuitive Empowerment sessions - not to denigrate Intuitive Readings, which are fine if that’s what you desire. However, Intuitive Empowerment is about taking your power back. I not only will answer many of your questions, I’ll also help you come to many of your own answers. Together we co-create an expansion of your abilities and you go away with an ability to use your own intuitive gifts.

Kirstyn: While we’re on the topic of defying expectations, what's the wildest thing you've ever experienced?

BakeR: I think the wildest thing I've ever experienced was walking on fire. The first time that I did it I was at a women’s weekend retreat with 60 others. [The facilitator] told us to ask the question: May I walk across the fire? She said we’d get some kind of response [from the universe]. We’d hear the answer, see a shooting star for confirmation, or whatever. Well, I was so excited. I had no fear. So I just went for it. I remember the facilitator had the strangest look on her face as if to say, “What are you doing?” And I went across [the 15-foot path of hot coals] and all of a sudden I'm like, holy shit, I'm burning my feet. Oh my God. But I had forgotten to ask the question. I could literally feel my feet burning. You're not supposed to feel your feet burning. So I came off and I'm like, oh hell, I'm in trouble.

So I'm walking and I'm praying, “Heal me now. Heal me now.” Then, I could tell the facilitator was about to end. All of a sudden this thought popped in my head: I wonder if I could do it again. I wasn't even seriously asking the question. I heard the loudest voice I've ever heard in my life. It said, “Yes, my child, you may.” I came around to the front of the line again, and this time the facilitator had this huge smile on her face. I walked across and I floated.

Kirstyn: What?!?

BakeR: I swear to you. It was the most extraordinary thing I've ever done in my life. I swear to God. I swear my feet didn't touch anything. I mean, I probably did. But it felt like I floated across. It was crazy. And here's what's really weird. She had told us beforehand that if we felt like we burned our feet, we shouldn’t look at them. Don’t give them any attention. Of course I had to look. But there were no burns on my feet. It was absolutely extraordinary. 

Kirstyn: To be clear, people didn't report you levitating. 

BakeR: No, no. It’s just that the red hot coals were 1800 to 2200 degrees and I didn't feel anything.

Kirstyn: That's incredible. What's the wisdom there? How would you explain that?

BakeR: For me, it's just mind over matter. Somebody - something - told me I could do it. It told me, “Yes, my child, you may.” I asked and I got a very clear yes. I just knew I could do it. [The facilitator] told us that if we didn’t get an answer, we had to swear not to do the fire walk. She said if we got a no and did it, we’d burn our feet. We’re talking second, third degree burns. So if you get a no, and do it anyway, that is now your ego. Your ego wants to do it so badly. When we returned from the fire walk, the facilitator asked if anyone got a no. There were four people who raised their hand, which is very courageous. One of them was my friend that had gone with me. She was a woman who had been in the army. For her to admit she did not walk on the fire was huge because she wanted to do this so badly. The facilitator honored those four people before anyone. To get a no, and to respect that no was almost bigger than anything since we’d all come here, flown in, and spent the weekend. The facilitator said to respect that no, and trust that you weren't supposed to fire walk was everything.

Kirstyn: There are so many things I love about that story. First of all, honoring our sacred no. I struggle with saying no and that's what gets me in trouble most of the time. If I honored my no, I'd be in my own integrity and I really wouldn't be stressed.

BakeR: That's what this new offering is for me. I'm sitting with the same thing. Am I going to lose clients? For seventeen years people have been calling me to talk to Mamacita. I have to say I don't have Mamacita anymore. These are people that love Mamacita.

Kirstyn: The only thing constant is change and we are shifting as a collective. There's a reason why Mamacita is declaring her absence at this time. There’s a huge shift to people's power. So I honor you for honoring your no. This new offering is something that reminds us that we’re in the driver's seat. My life is my creation, a co-creation, between me and God source. I feel all of us as humans are here as helpers, pointing each other back to ourselves.

BakeR: That's a really good reminder too because sometimes in a reading people will ask, “When am I going to die?” Sometimes [the guides] would answer that question, but sometimes they wouldn't. One time I asked Mamacita, “Why don't you answer that question? Why do you answer it for some, but not for others?” She said because some people are suggestive. You tell them they're going to die at 81, they're going to die at 81. Others will get to 81 and say, “No way. I'm not dying.” So it's the same thing if you’re going to meet Billy Bob in six months. Billy Bob could be a wife abuser, but they're going to go take off with Billy Bob, even if they should say no. 

By the way, the fourth night of doing ayahuasca [in Peru], I kept getting no. The ayahuasquero told me the fourth night was like the icing on the cake. I said, “Trust me. I want to drink tonight. But I keep getting no.” He told me I had to honor that. And it turned out to be absolutely perfect. I ended up helping the other shaman with the ceremony. I really wanted to be doing drinking ayahuasca, but it was so clear I wasn't supposed to.

Kirstyn: Speaking of ayahuasca, it is becoming more and more popular. People want to do these ceremonies. What advice would you give for people who are looking to do ayahuasca? How do they get in touch with someone who can hold space for that ceremonial experience? Because I think there are a lot of people out there that are not doing this in integrity.

BakeR: Thank you for that question because it's really important that you find somebody of integrity, and it's tough. First of all, I would really love it if you could go to Peru. I'm happy to give the contact information for where I went because I completely trust these people and they're very safe. There are a few in the United States [that are trustworthy]. But [in general] if you’re doing it in the States, be very, very careful. There are a lot of people who are doing it that are not safe. Anybody that's doing ayahuasca that's mixing it with anything else — not okay. If they're not asking you a lot of intake questions — not okay. They really need to know your mental and physical health. It is not a party at all, and it should never be perceived that way. It's very sacred and very spiritual. It's dangerous if you're going to ceremonies without proper vetting of the person doing it. 

Kirstyn: Do you think that we're all intuitive to some degree? How can we develop our own intuitive abilities more?

BakeR: I think almost everybody is. I do think there are some people that definitely are really closed down, but they can open it up. How do we develop that? Meditation helps. Being out in nature. Prayer work. Anything that helps you get quiet and in tune. People have this thing that you have to sit in a chair and meditate. No, you don't. You can do walking meditations. You can do yoga. You can do Tai Chi or anything like that. Movement can be meditation. One of the things that I love is the Insight Timer. It's a free app you can get on your phone. They have over 200,000 guided meditations. I use it all the time. But yes, to answer your question, I think everyone has the ability and you can open it up.

There’s clairsentient, clairaudient, clairvoyant, claircognizant. Not everybody hears things, not everybody sees things, not everybody feels things.  I've had people in my classes say, “But I don't see anything!” And I'll ask, “Well, what do you get?” “Oh, I hear voices all the time.” Stay in your own lane and let it come to you the way it comes. I'm more clairsentient. I feel. I get energy rushes. 

Kirstyn: What other offerings do you provide? 

BakeR: I really love doing Trauma Relief Reiki. That modality has been really extraordinary in helping people that have had early childhood trauma, or any trauma they want to clear. I'm absolutely blown away with how quickly we can relieve the trauma. It's cleansed. Then we heal that space and reframe the event. We can recreate the whole timeline of childhood if the client wants to. It's absolutely miraculous. I mean, honestly, clients write to me and say it's miraculous. I just want to highlight that because I have seen such extraordinary results. It’s just unbelievable how that’s working for people. 

Kirstyn: A lot of us go through years and years of therapy talking about our traumatic events. It’s like we're stuck in a mental loop without actually getting to the root to heal it. So this is what Trauma Relief Reiki does.

BakeR: Exactly. As a child we don't have the resources to deal with trauma. So what happens is it gets buried in our body and gets stuck. Very often it can feel like a knot or rock or mud or goo. In the session, I guide the client to put the rock or mud into a container and release it. I then guide them to bring light into the space that was cleared to soothe and heal the area. Then we go back and transform the event. I’m making this sound easy, it’s not quite that easy. It can be very emotional, but I assure you, you do not have to relieve the whole event or timeline. It’s transformational. 

Kirstyn: And I think people should realize they don't have to believe in any woo-woo stuff for this transformation to happen.

BakeR: Correct.

Kirstyn: Because when we’re not used to miraculous healings happening all the time, people think, “Oh, if I just picture a light, nothing’s going to happen.” Actually, no, we really are that powerful.

BakeR: Right. It's all in the mind. We have that event that we’ve carried for so long. I'll use myself, for instance. I was sexually abused by my father as a child. I realized that I didn't have to continue to hold on to that. I don't have to walk around remembering that because there was good stuff about my father too. When I told my mother about what my father had done to me, she said, “But your father adored you.” And that's true. He did. In therapy, what I learned was there's actually a split. For him, it was as though his daughter didn’t exist. That's not who he was raping. So he can adore me as his little girl, but then who he's raping is not his little girl. So once I healed that for myself I don't have to go around remembering that. I can now remember him making me homemade ice cream or whatever. In Trauma Relief Reiki, the traumatic part gets extricated and we heal that area with light. Then we reframe that event. 

Kirstyn: That's huge. We go around thinking that we have to live with this darkness forever. We really, really don't. At our essence, we are not that.

BakeR: Correct. I also tell clients that the ego will try to trick you back into the pain. The ego is fear based and pain based. So if the ego tries to bring you back into that, you have to return to your higher self, the healed self. You don't have to go back into that pain. The ego always wants to bring us right back; let's go back here and hate on daddy. It wants to grab us by the ankles again. So, you must remember that it's okay to feel good.

Kirstyn: Yes, and I think this is what we're stepping into as humanity right now. How much love can we let in? How much light can we let in? Because we've been so programmed to be in suffering.

BakeR: That's right. That's absolutely true.

Kirstyn: Speaking of light, we’ll end with a light question. What's your favorite spot in Sedona?

BakeR: Probably my favorite spot in Sedona is West Fork. West Fork is my absolute favorite hike. I love it because you're at the creek, but you're in the red rocks. It's magical there. 

BakeR offers a variety of services at Gateway Cottage Wellness Center. To schedule a session with her, call us at 928-862-4400.

Story by: Kirstyn Lazur 

Kirstyn Lazur is the author of I Was Cursed in Connecticut, a memoir that recounts her unique and supernatural journey after the death of her mother. Her book is available through Amazon and Gateway Cottage Wellness Center’s online store.