November 15, 2024 • 42 mins
When the opportunity to interview Animal Communicator Ellie Laks was presented, I jumped at the opportunity! Who doesn’t want to know what their pet is thinking? Or other animals too! Ellie is a remarkable animal communicator and the visionary founder of The Gentle Barn. In this episode, she opens up about embracing her intuitive gift of animal communication and gives tips about how to understand your own animals.
She shares her extraordinary journey of connecting with animals from a young age, leading her to establish a sanctuary in 1999 that serves as a peaceful haven for creatures in need. Her insights reveal the emotional and ethical challenges faced in animal rescue, providing a heartfelt exploration of the compassion required to care for animals who might otherwise be forgotten.
About Ellie Laks
Ellie Laks founded The Gentle Barn in 1999; it was a dream of hers since she was seven years old. Animals were always very healing and nurturing to her as she faced the challenges of growing up, finding herself, fitting in, feeling understood, etc. She majored in special education and psychology, and with her special love of animals and children, The Gentle Barn was a perfect way of putting all her talents and passions into one. She’s the author of two books about her experiences. Find her books or see more about The Gentle Barn through https://www.gentlebarn.org
Although the animals always spoke to her, she began doing formal animal communication sessions for others in 2021. See more about it and book your session at https://ellielaks.com
About Dr. Liz
Winner of numerous awards including Top 100 Moms in Business, Dr. Liz provides psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and hypnosis to people wanting a fast, easy way to transform all around the world. She has a PhD in Clinical Psychology, is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) and has special certification in Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy. Specialty areas include Anxiety, Insomnia, and Deeper Emotional Healing.
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Listened to in over 140 countries, Hypnotize Me is the podcast about hypnosis, transformation, and healing. Certified hypnotherapist and Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Dr. Liz Bonet, discusses hypnosis and interviews professionals doing transformational work
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Liz (00:03):
Hi everyone.
You're going to love today's interview with
Ellie Laks.
I am telling you, if you love animals,
you're going to love it.
If you admire people who love animals and
wish you could be like that, you're going
to love it.
If you wish you could know what animals are
thinking, you're going to love it.
Okay, which I don't know how you could be a
(00:25):
human and not wonder what animals are
thinking.
Really, she talks all about her journey
from childhood and hearing animals call to
her.
You know all how she grew up.
Some of the dark places she hit, feeling
like she was weird, not normal, becoming a
dog walker and dog sitter and then finally
(00:48):
opening her sanctuary and eventually coming
into her own and really owning her gift as
an animal communicator, slash animal
psychic.
She is personable and genuine and honest.
She has quite the wisdom to share with us
around animals.
Now, before we jump right into it, I do
(01:11):
want to say that an animal communication
session would make a fantastic gift for
whichever holiday you're celebrating.
The holiday season is coming right up.
It's like almost on top of us now by the
time this airs.
So consider that as a gift for the animal
lover in your life or a donation to the
(01:33):
Gentle Barn to help support the animals in
somebody's name that you love and care
about.
Or one of her books.
She has two books that you can buy and put
under the tree or wrap up for Hanukkah for
somebody.
So there's three options there that make
(01:55):
wonderful gifts.
Just throwing ideas out there for you,
trying to make life easier for you, out
there for you, trying to make life easier
for you.
If you're listening to this and it's not
the holiday season, I'm sure there's some
kind of anniversary or birthday of somebody
coming up that you love in your life, that
loves animals.
Or buy them for yourself, maybe great gifts
(02:16):
for yourself.
Now let's jump in.
I hope you're healthy and safe Peace.
I hope you're healthy and safe Peace.
Hi Ellie, welcome to the Hypnotize Me
podcast.
(02:38):
I'm so excited to be here and I'm sure this
is going to be a fantastic conversation.
Thank you for having me.
Yes, I was very excited to see your email
across my desk.
I was like I think this is a sign that I
have to keep podcasting.
Yeah, I just aired like episode 300.
And I was like maybe I should stop.
But I was like no, no, no, not yet I have
(02:59):
to talk to Ellie Lacks about the animals
first talk to Ellie Lacks about the animals
first.
So so glad you're here.
So let me just start at the beginning.
What were you like as a child?
Ellie Laks (03:15):
I was obsessed with animals as a child.
My mom likes to talk about how, the minute
I could walk, I was literally running down
the sidewalk after somebody's dog or cat.
And then I got a little older, I started
venturing out into the woods to play with
the wild bunnies.
And then, even a little older, around six,
(03:35):
I would go down to the lake and into the
woods finding salamanders and turtles and
ducks and watching tadpoles turn into frogs.
And when I found animals that were injured
or lost, I would bring them home.
So my poor parents, like I, literally had a
goose that wintered with us because the
(03:56):
lake was frozen.
I brought in a bunch of fledglings to be
able to raise them so they could fly away.
Obviously, dogs and cats, a turtle with a
broken shell, a bunny rabbit that was
injured my house was always full of animals.
Dr. Liz (04:12):
Oh, that sounds like my girls are always
bringing in some kind of little injured
animal and luckily we have a wildlife
sanctuary in the area and so I would call
up the wildlife sanctuary.
Sanctuary in the area.
And so I would call up the wildlife
sanctuary like can we bring this over, you
know, and sometimes we'd have to keep it,
(04:33):
you know, overnight or something, until
they were open.
But yeah, so you always had a kind place in
your heart for for the injured animals.
Ellie Laks (04:40):
Yeah, I mean, for me nature was this
magical kingdom and animals were these
mythical creatures.
I couldn't even believe.
I got to watch them and know them.
And you know there was three of us kids and
my mom had her hands full because we're all
two years apart.
So I mean that's a lot of babies at one
(05:00):
time and you know, I think it was a lot of
work just us, let alone the animals I kept
bringing home.
And she just kept telling me Ellie, when
you grow up you can have as many animals as
you want.
So I really took that one to the bank.
Dr. Liz (05:17):
I love it.
Great, great.
So you made your way through high school.
Did you start working on a farm at any
point, or some kind of wildlife sanctuary,
or what did you do after you know?
Like just basic high school is done.
Ellie Laks (05:37):
Yeah.
So after high school I went on to college
and to support myself.
During college I was a dog walker, dog
trainer, dog groomer and dog boarder.
So people drop off their dogs.
They would live in my house, we would go on
long hikes and they would feel like they
were in a regular family instead of having
to go to the kennel.
Dr. Liz (05:56):
And what did you study in college?
Psychology and special ed.
Ah, okay, so not really.
I mean, psychology can be animal related,
for sure, but nothing like animal sciences
or veterinarian, nothing like that.
Ellie Laks (06:13):
No, you know, I made the decision early on
to not be a veterinarian because I thought,
you know, clients are going to or patients
are going to come and their dogs are going
to need a surgery and the people are going
to say they don't have money to just
euthanize the dog.
You know all of these sob stories of people
not being kind to their animals or treating
them right.
(06:33):
They want to give them the cheap food
instead of the good food, and I just knew
I'm going to see problems that I'm not
going to be able to fix and it's going to
destroy me.
Also, you know, I'm not a scientifically
inclined person.
I'm much more like an emotional, spiritual
healer, and so I wanted to work on the
emotional side of animals, to be able to
breathe the life back into them and show
(06:55):
them love and teach them to trust.
Like that's the stuff that really makes me
happy.
Yeah, got it.
Dr. Liz (07:00):
Okay, so you had the dog walking.
Makes me happy.
Yeah, got it.
Okay, so you had the dog walking, dog
boarding in your home dog sitting business.
Ellie Laks (07:14):
And then what happened?
Well, and I started rescuing dogs from very
high kill shelters around me and at first
it was like you know I had all these
clients that were paying their way and then,
like one at a time I would take like a dog
that was going to be euthanized from a high
kill shelter.
But the more animals I took in, the more I
realized how many animals needed me, and so
I started taking more and more rescue
animals in until it flipped and I had a
(07:36):
house full of rescue animals and just one
or two paying clients.
Financially that was not a good move, but
obviously I was living my bliss and
rescuing these animals, um, and I actually
dropped out of school because rescuing
these animals from high kill shelters,
(07:56):
leash training them, um, teaching them how
to be real dogs and cats that no one else
would take in because they were so mentally
and physically challenged, and then being
able to see them through to homes of their
own, it was just such a rewarding
experience that I started doing that more
and more and less of my actual paid work
and it kind of took over.
(08:17):
So I started doing dog and cat rescue full
time as a young adult, you full time as a
young adult and I absolutely loved it.
Dr. Liz (08:25):
How did you fund this endeavor?
Because I volunteered at cat shelter for
the last three years.
Like every Sunday my daughter and I go and
well, now she's at college, but before that,
and it saved her life, by the way, like
literally, I think it saved her life and,
um, but I often think about it.
(08:46):
But I think how, how would I fund that?
Like I'd have to be a good grant writer or
something Like.
How did you fund this?
Ellie Laks (08:54):
Yeah, so I mean, um, my, my parents at the
time I was a very young adult.
My parents at the time were very generous
to me and they helped pay my way, so I had
support from them.
Um, and I would take the animals and I
would go to adoption days and weekends at
pet stores and people would donate.
Um, and there was not that it covered the
costs of the animals, but you know there
(09:15):
was adoption fee that people paid, went
into the care of the animals and, um, yeah,
I, I made it work.
Dr. Liz (09:22):
And I was still walking dogs.
Okay, got it.
Ellie Laks (09:26):
In the beginning at least, yeah, yeah, and
this is what kind of helped me transition
from rescuing and rehabilitating and
rehoming dogs and cats to founding the
Gentle Barn.
I was very specifically intent on rescuing
(09:46):
the animals that nobody else would take at
the shelters.
So you know, the shelters were full of
beautiful, young, healthy, adoptable
animals and there were lots of other
rescues that were taking those, but nobody
would give a chance to an older animal that
was incontinent or had arthritis or the
animals that were so scared they couldn't
(10:07):
be touched and those were being euthanized.
And so when I started going to the high
kill shelters, I would very specifically
take the ones that were on the euthanasia
list that no one else would give a chance
to Got it, that no one else would give a
chance to Got it.
But then, when I took those animals in, I
(10:29):
had to invest so much in resuscitating them
that I felt like I was re-injuring them
when I would rehome them.
They finally trusted me.
They finally blossomed and were happy yeah.
And then I sent them to another place and
it became so incredibly painful for me.
I felt like I was doing them a disservice
and I just didn't have the heart for it.
I think rescuers that are strong enough to
(10:50):
rehome animals.
It takes a certain amount of discipline and
it takes a certain amount of knowing that
in the big picture that's what's right for
these animals and I just didn't have it.
Dr. Liz (10:59):
Oh, I'm so glad to hear you talk about this.
It is hard because people ask me how do you?
I'm luckily at a no-kill, volunteering at a
no-kill shelter, so they do take the.
You know several cats missing a leg and one
missing an eye and one was blind and
incontinent.
They take the sick animals, they do and
(11:21):
they keep them and some of them obviously
are healthier as well.
And sometimes it's like so hard when, like
one of my favorites gets adopted and I know
it's best for that animal.
But people ask me, like how do you not end
up with a million cats?
And I'm like, well, it it does take
discipline, it really does.
(11:41):
And I have an older cat at home who you
know doesn't want another cat around, so
that helps.
But it's like, yeah, I'm super sad
sometimes when I see one of them leave,
like sad and happy for them at the same
time.
But yeah, I get it oh, it's really hard
work it is very difficult.
Ellie Laks (12:01):
yeah, I get it.
Oh, it's really hard work.
It is very difficult, yeah, and I mean God
bless you and so many other people that
have the discipline and have their eye on
the overall picture to know, no, this is
our shining moment.
That animal is going to their forever home.
This is something good.
I did it.
I mean, I placed over 500 dogs just on my
own wow, um, so many.
(12:23):
But what was happening was really old ones
that were just not adoptable, or the really
scared ones that it took two years for them
to trust me.
Yeah, I was holding on to them and what
ended up?
Dr. Liz (12:36):
oh, yeah, well sometimes those come back
right and the shelter owner, who I love,
she's like well, they just love living here.
That's what she says.
They're like they love living here.
This is where they need to be.
You know, it's like she has sort of this,
you know philosophy around it, but it's
like that's what you're describing is
(12:57):
they're probably traumatized in the new
home and they want to be back in the place
that they trust.
Ellie Laks (13:04):
Yeah, so what ended up happening is I just
I got and and dog and cat rescuers I mean,
we all experienced this where there there
becomes like this core group of, like
lifers you know, or animals that you
rescued.
They're just not adoptable.
And yes, but what was happening was I ended
up with like I think it was, 12 dogs and 30
(13:25):
cats and I, I just had like this moment one
day where I said to myself you're becoming
a hoarder.
Um, you know, it's not like I had a
facility or a shelter or yeah, oh, yeah,
yes, and I had, you know, like pregnant
(13:46):
dogs or pregnant cats and all the bathrooms
and, you know, all the rooms were full.
And I just one day was like you're becoming
a hoarder.
You need to either bring in animals that
you're willing to adopt out or you need to
stop bringing more animals into your home.
But you can't have more than 12 dogs and 30
cats.
Like this is not okay.
(14:06):
This is it, this is the line.
And they were very happy and living
wonderful lives.
But I just, for some reason, I just saw
that line and I was like don't step over
that line line.
And I was like don't step over that line.
You know it was a conflict for me because I
really wanted to take the animals that no
one else would give a chance to, but every
(14:27):
animal like that that I brought in, chances
are I might not adopt them out.
Dr. Liz (14:32):
Yeah.
Ellie Laks (14:34):
And so I ended up like just pausing the dog
rescue for a minute and just really caring
for it and loving the 12 dogs and the 30
cats that I had.
And then there was like a transition phase
where I had always had this dream, since I
was seven, to have the gentle barn and be
(14:54):
able to save animals that had nowhere else
to go.
And I thought you know why don't I give
birth to that?
Because I can still be attracted to the
animals that have nowhere else to go and
who will otherwise be euthanized and are
not adoptable.
But they can come in and they can stay with
us at the gentle barn, yeah, yeah.
It was a couple of years later that the
gentle barn was founded in 1999.
(15:15):
It was a couple of years later that the
Gentle Barn was founded in 1999.
Dr. Liz (15:19):
Okay, so about how old are you then I?
Ellie Laks (15:23):
was 30 when I started.
Dr. Liz (15:25):
Okay, so you'd been, you'd done some
college, some dog walking, some this, some
rescuing.
So about 10 years of that or so when you
finally decided, okay, let me open this,
the gentle barn, and transform into a
sanctuary, really.
Ellie Laks (15:43):
Yeah, and the gentle barn also happened
kind of in a slow way.
I was having this pause where I was just
taking care of the 12 dogs and 30 cats that
I had.
I had given birth to my son, so he, I had a
little baby.
So taking care of my son and all those
animals, that was full-time work, yes.
And then we discovered a petting zoo I'd
(16:03):
never seen before and went in, make a
really long story short, started bringing
injured and dying animals from that petting
zoo home to resuscitate them in my backyard.
And one day and that went on for months-
yeah.
And then one day I realized, oh my God, I
just I just started my dream since I was
seven.
And so I started the gentle barn and then
(16:24):
eventually opened it to the public and
started doing programs for people.
And this is where my psych and special ed
background come in, because, yes, I've
always loved animals and been very, very
good at healing them, but I've also been
drawn to hurting humans.
(16:45):
And the Gentle Barn allows me to do both.
I get to save and resuscitate animals and
then partner with them to heal humans from
the same stories of trauma, and so it kind
of incorporated both loves of my life.
Dr. Liz (16:53):
Yes, beautiful, beautiful, and so it is
still running beautiful and so it is still
running.
Ellie Laks (17:04):
Yes, yes, the gentle barn is now a 25 year
old national organization with locations in
los angeles, california, nashville,
tennessee and st louis, missouri.
We currently, across the three locations,
have 200 rescued animals, and we've taken
animals that have nowhere else to go, dogs
included, but, but also horses, donkeys,
cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys,
peacocks, llamas, alpacas.
(17:26):
We have an emu and a parrot, and if we can
find a home of their own, we do.
We do still have an adoption program but,
if they have ongoing needs for the rest of
their lives.
We get to keep them and love them and then
partner with them to help people.
So it kind of is more aligned with who I am.
Dr. Liz (17:48):
Wonderful, wonderful one that you contract
with that comes in and helps you care for
the animals when they need, like medical
attention or or the special, expensive food
or whatever it is that they require.
Ellie Laks (18:07):
So it is on the top of my wishlist to have
an onsite vet, and one day we will get to
that point.
Right now we don't.
Right now, we partner with like eight to 10
different vets.
We have our mobile vets that come out to us.
We have our brick and mortar vets that we
bring animals to for surgeries or illnesses.
We have our bird experts, our horse experts,
(18:30):
um, and then our farm animals, true, true
It'd be.
Dr. Liz (18:34):
That'd be like a unique vet to know about
all those different animals anyway.
Wouldn't I think that through a little bit.
A little bit, because they all have their
specialties these days.
Ellie Laks (18:45):
Yeah, and avian and equine veterinary care
is is a specialty.
So to have those specialized departments
and then have the farm animal vets that
either come out to us or we go to them, and
we also have acupuncturists, massage
therapists, chiropractors, holistic vets,
energy healers, and then I do animal
(19:05):
communication on all the animals.
Dr. Liz (19:07):
Awesome, Awesome.
So let's talk some about that.
The animal communication when did you gain
awareness Like, oh, this is a unique talent,
because I'm picturing like this little girl
running around, you know, like loving all
the animals, very clear, what they need.
And I will say like I see a huge difference
(19:28):
between, like myself and my, my youngest
daughter, who's like super tuned in to
animals and I mean I don't know 99.9% of
the time I think she's right, like she
intuitively knows what they need, how to,
how to.
(19:48):
She can touch animals that nobody else can
touch.
Like you know, they have a little like
feral cat sign on them like careful, and
she will eventually make friends with them
and be able to handle them and do stuff
like that.
And so it's like to me it's like all right,
that's another level, right?
Then me who's like sort of bumbling around,
(20:10):
like cleaning the litter boxes, being
careful, you know.
But when did you gain awareness Like, oh,
this is really a unique skill, that I have
A gift.
I would call it a gift actually.
Ellie Laks (20:25):
Yeah Well, the funny thing is, only
recently did I realize it's a special gift.
So here's my animal communication.
I was very much like your daughter.
Everywhere I went I could feel the feelings
of animals in my body.
I could hear them speak to me.
I could hear their cries of distress.
I knew what they wanted and needed.
(20:45):
I became a professional dog trainer at the
age of 11 because it was so obvious to me
what the animals were saying and needing
and wanting, so I was able to help them
with their owners, with the owners I love
it owners.
Dr. Liz (21:02):
I did.
I did dog training for about two years for
for a shelter that I volunteered for and
they, you know, taught me how to train dogs.
And then, you know, did that and I didn't
continue doing it because I was like these
owners, like'm a dog owner.
Okay, like these owners.
No, I don't want to deal with the owners.
(21:23):
I love the dogs, you know, but it's so
funny how you put that.
Ellie Laks (21:28):
Yeah okay, and you know my earliest
memories.
I mean I literally remember being six years
old, seven years old, playing with my dolls
in my room and all of a sudden it was like
the phone rang and I heard in my mind help
me.
(21:48):
And I was like, oh, I'm coming.
And I put my dolls away and I ran through
the house and out the door down the street,
took a left at the lake, right at the shore,
there was this huge tree and there was this
little fledgling bird that fell out of her
nest at the bottom of the tree and I picked
her up and I was like, thank you so much
for calling me, let's see if we can put you
back at the nest.
(22:09):
But the tree was way high.
So I was like, don't worry, I'm going to
take you home with me, brought her home,
made a little nest out of mud and grasses
and fed her till she flew away.
And I thought that that was normal.
I wasn't thinking, ooh, I have a special
gift.
I was thinking, oh, everyone's like this,
(22:32):
yes, yeah, when I got to elementary and
then, of course, high school and people
were not like that and they started teasing
me for being the way that I am.
I didn't think of it as a gift.
I thought of it as something that makes me
crazy and weird and ostracized from regular
people, and when you're a teenager, you
just want to be quote unquote normal, yeah.
So I didn't want my gift, I wanted to be
(22:53):
like everybody else, yeah, and I wasn't
like everybody else.
And that led me down a very, very dark road
of me trying to deny who I am and try to
fit in.
The minute you do that.
It's just a long, slow suicide, yes, and it
literally got me to the point where I
wanted off this planet.
(23:14):
And in thinking about it like how I would,
how I would do it, where I would do it, how
is it going to affect my loved ones, my
family?
Much to my shock, I realized that I wanted
to stay and I literally said to myself then,
if you're going to stay, then you need to
embrace who you are.
Dr. Liz (23:33):
Oh, beautiful yes.
Ellie Laks (23:35):
So I started climbing out of that hole that
I had dug for myself and I started talking
to animals, but I still had a shame and an
embarrassment about it.
I was talking to them, I was rescuing them,
I was embracing who I am.
I wasn't talking about it to other people
because I feared ridicule.
(23:56):
Got it Okay and then I founded the gentle
barn and I'm talking to all the animals
that come into the gentle barn.
Dr. Liz (24:04):
Yeah.
Ellie Laks (24:04):
And every once in a while someone caught
wind of my gift and they would ask me for
help and I would very gladly help them, but
I still was keeping it on the down low.
And then during the pandemic, and it was
funny because I would hear about people who
called themselves animal communicators, and
I would never call myself that okay even
(24:26):
though I could hear animals.
And I was right.
Yeah, I would never call myself an animal
communicator.
Dr. Liz (24:33):
Just funny, just because like it just never
occurred to you.
Or you're like yeah, eh, no, poo-pooed it.
Or you're still like deep down, scared of
that.
Ellie Laks (24:45):
They'll think I'm crazy or weird or
whatever that is it's like I had two things
going on On the one hand, I didn't want to
tell regular people about my gift because I
didn't want to be teased, and on the other
hand, I didn't want to call myself an
animal communicator because I didn't want
to be teased, and on the other hand, I
didn't want to call myself an animal
communicator because I didn't think that I
was as valid or educated or proven or
worthy as the people that were calling
(25:07):
themselves animal communicators.
So I was kind of stuck in the middle, yeah
yeah.
And then my friend, joan Rankwit, who has a
school, a virtual school, for animal
communication and energy healing and she
teaches people all over the world.
Her place is called all animal
communications with all sorry
(25:27):
communications, with all life university.
Okay, and her name is Joan Rankwit and
she's amazing and she's my friend and we
hiked our dogs together and the pandemic
broke out and she, you know we would have
long talks and she knew that I felt really
embarrassed about my gift and one day she
said to me look, I know that you're
struggling with your confidence and feeling
(25:50):
worthy in your gift.
Why don't you join my school?
and you can get your confidence back.
And I and I took her up on it and I joined
her two year program and all of a sudden, I
was in classes with people exactly like me,
(26:11):
and and and and, and it helped me feel
normal.
All of a sudden, I'm not the only one
surrounded by people that don't get it.
It's in class with dozens of people that
are exactly like me and it helped me feel
normal.
And, talking to animals through the two
years, during the classes, I would get
validated and I got to see, oh my God, like,
(26:31):
oh, this really is a gift.
I'm, I'm really good, I'm right on.
Oh, it helped me not feel ashamed.
Yeah, I graduated after two years.
Um, my husband built a website for me and
now I'm doing animal communication for
clients all over the world and I have fully
stepped into who I am and who I've always
(26:55):
met, been meant to be.
I very proud to call myself an animal
communicator.
Um, I am and who I've always been meant to
be.
I'm very proud to call myself an animal
communicator.
I am not embarrassed about it at all and I
thrive on helping people really see their
animals better.
It is the greatest thing in the world, oh,
I love it, I love it.
Dr. Liz (27:13):
Wow, oh yeah, I see it as like such a gift,
like, oh my gosh.
You know, that's always been um well, I
don't know if I want to call it a childhood
dream.
It's always a dream like if we could just
know what our animals are thinking.
You know, it's like how could any pet owner
not have that dream, right, the?
(27:34):
Um?
I don't know, this may be a related story,
maybe not, but my older daughter, she
really loves mice.
We had pet mice when she was little and she
really loved them, and so when she
graduated college she got some pet mice and
now she's thinking about getting a pet rat
and she told me, and I said, but you can't
talk to them.
(27:55):
That was my first thought, and then I
started laughing and she started laughing.
She's like mom, you can't talk to dogs
either, you know, and I'm like, well, sort
of, yeah, you can, like you can know what
the dog's thinking really like they tell
you with their bodies and their tails and
you know, oh, so do rats, though.
I know she said that she's like no, mom,
(28:16):
rats are as like smart as dogs.
I'm like okay, I believe you, like I get it,
like you would learn them.
And we both started laughing because it was
like oh yeah, you got to talk to your
animal somehow.
You know I love it, but that's just like
like I don't know pet owner level versus
like what are they really thinking?
(28:37):
They really are thinking feed me.
Ellie Laks (28:42):
Yeah.
The first is I really want to commend you
and see you for your ability to see your
daughter and to really like take on her
abilities and her intuition and how
connected she is with animals and support
her.
I mean, that's just so, so beautiful, yes.
But the other thing that I wanted to say is
(29:03):
look, we are all intuitive.
Every single living being on this planet
operates with intuition.
That's our first language.
Our sounds and our words are just things
that we built on top of that.
That's true, but we live in a very
westernized world where it's high tech and
fast paced and we sit in classrooms where
(29:24):
they tell us to be quiet and sit down and
wait for permission and listen for someone
else to tell us what to do.
And so you know our organized religions,
our schools, our family of origin.
There's so much in our society that is
stripping us away from our own intuition
and making us not believe in it and not see
it and not take stock in it.
(29:45):
And it's crazy because we have people that
get in real trouble because they trust
people that their instincts are saying
don't trust them, but they don't listen to
their instincts and they get in trouble.
They get hurt, they get taken advantage of,
they get kidnapped.
I mean, people are putting themselves in
horrible situations because we are not
(30:06):
taught to listen to our instincts.
And when we do listen to our instincts, it
will always protect us and guide us and
provide for us.
Yes, so we do have the ability to listen to
our animals.
Yeah, you have that kind of tightening of
the gut when we know something's wrong, but
we're not sure we do have those senses.
(30:31):
The problem is that we've been trained to
listen to people outside of ourselves and
we've been trained to listen to quote
unquote experts instead of ourselves.
Dr. Liz (30:40):
Yeah, I totally agree with you there and
definitely there's like different levels of
that.
I mean, I do believe some people are just
naturally more tuned in to that, absolutely
Like hands down, and others that struggle
more.
But it's often this feeling of even people
who struggle more.
It's like, oh, I wish I could get in touch
(31:02):
with that intuition.
Or sometimes it's like, oh, my intuition is
saying do this, but I don't want to listen
to it.
And that happens with animals too.
Ellie Laks (31:12):
Yeah, and I mean listen.
There have been a lot of times during my
journey that I have not listened to
instincts, and it's always bitten me in the
butt.
Yeah, and I think that I've learned that
lesson so many times that I have just said
to myself I am committing to listen to my
instincts, no matter what, no matter what
(31:32):
anyone else says, no matter if it's
ridiculous, no matter if I can't prove it.
I am now going to listen to my instincts
and since I've made that promise to myself,
it's really, really improved my life and my
work.
Dr. Liz (31:45):
I bet Beautiful.
Well, we are coming to the end of our time
here, but this has been like an absolutely
delightful conversation.
I've absolutely loved interviewing you and
hearing how you work.
Ellie, I know you have a book that's coming
out or it's already out.
Ellie Laks (32:06):
So I have two books already Two books.
Okay, my first book is called my Gentle
Barn Creating a Sanctuary when Animals Heal
and Children Learn to Hope.
And that is the origin story of the gentle
barn.
That actually starts in my childhood and
explains why animals mean so much to me.
Dr. Liz (32:21):
Okay, does it also walk someone through,
like how to start a sanctuary?
Ellie Laks (32:27):
It'll teach you everything not to do.
Dr. Liz (32:30):
Not to do.
Okay, that's good to know.
It's good to know what not to do.
Ellie Laks (32:33):
Yeah, I learned lessons the hard way what
not to do.
Yeah, I learned lessons the hard way.
Actually, me and Jay my, my husband and
co-founder of the gentle barn, we actually
teach a course to help people all over the
world start their own sanctuaries.
Dr. Liz (32:47):
Ooh, wow.
Ellie Laks (32:49):
Yeah, so people can find that at ellilaxcom.
But my second book just came out recently
and it's called cow hug therapy how the
general barn animals taught me about life,
death and everything in between, and it's
about my journey with animal communication
and self-acceptance.
It's about self-care and how the animals
taught me to do that better.
(33:09):
It's about grieving loss and how the
animals taught me how to walk someone home
with dignity, when and how to grieve, and
then how to find my way from grief to
gratitude.
Oh, fascinating.
Yeah, it's about compassion, fatigue and
really how the gentle barn animals taught
me how to be a better version of myself.
Dr. Liz (33:31):
Wow, I have been having discussions
actually with my best friend.
We both have old dogs.
For some reason, I've been reading these
books written by vets, like in the 70s,
1970s.
I don't know how I find them or something,
but I found that they talk much more about
(33:51):
dignity in the animal than, let's say, a
current book that I've read, and I don't
know why or how that shift happened, but I
would love to hear a little bit more about
that, like how, how do we give these
animals dignity?
What did they teach you about dignity?
Ellie Laks (34:12):
Oh, my God, they, they teach me so much.
And you know, I hope that you can read the
book.
Um, yes, therapy, but you know, there's a
story in the book that I talk about where I
have, I have, I had a cow named buttercup
and she gave.
We rescued her pregnant.
She was very malnourished and underweight
and scared and just really indiplorable.
(34:35):
Um, and to our horror, because she needed
the energy for herself, she gave birth
three months later to a very depleted and
kind of underdeveloped calf and he ended up
living seven months, which was wonderful,
(34:55):
but then passing away seven months later.
And I was sitting there trying to find
veterinarians, try to do energy healing,
trying to tell the calf you're going to
live, you're going to live, doing
everything I could to resist what I
intuitively knew was going to happen and
try to get this calf to live.
(35:15):
And while I was like panicking and doing
everything I could think of, buttercup was
very quietly, very meditatively, she was
very Zen, she was very grounded and
centered and she just very simply walked up
to him, licked him, whispered in his ear
that it was okay to go, and walked him home.
(35:36):
Oh, wow, wow.
And she taught me one of the biggest
lessons of my life that at the at the end
of a journey of an animal, it is not about
us.
It's not about our fear, our sadness, our
panic.
It is entirely about them.
And Buttercup showed such a beautiful
(35:57):
example of that.
She put herself aside.
She was strong and reassuring and brave and
loving for her son so that he could pass in
the most beautiful way possible.
Once he was laid to rest, she had all the
feelings that you would imagine any mom
would do while they're grieving she
screamed, she cried, she paced, she mourned,
(36:21):
she did her process.
And then what she did next, once she kind
of got it out of her system over the next
few months, is we brought in some orphaned
calves that had lost their mothers and
instead of being broken for the rest of her
life, Buttercup adopted those orphans, her
(36:41):
cave, them her milk and took the love she
had inside of her for her son and paid it
forward to those calves that needed her.
Dr. Liz (36:52):
Wow.
Ellie Laks (36:55):
And that was one of the greatest lessons of
my life.
When our loved ones pass away, we need to
make it about them and focus on them.
Then we get to grieve and then we get to
take those gifts inside of ourselves and
pay it forward to someone else that needs
it.
I mean, that's what life is all about.
That's what we're here for.
Dr. Liz (37:15):
Yeah, yeah.
So to watch that process and in Buttercup,
like really just highlighted it for you,
like we're animals, us, we're mammals, so
we have a similar process, even though we
we have our intellect that gets in the way.
Like we were saying before, our intellect
(37:36):
often gets in the way yeah, but talk about
dignity.
Ellie Laks (37:39):
I mean, she was, yes, she was the
exemplification of dignity, her life
wonderful, that is so sweet, thank you.
Dr. Liz (37:50):
So that's in.
That's a story in the second book and you
can find the book pretty much anywhere
amazon or Barnes, noble, your website, I'm
assuming all kinds of places.
Ellie Laks (38:03):
Both my books, my Gentle Barn and Cowhug
Therapy can be found to read or listen to
on Amazon, anywhere books are sold, and
people can get a signed copy of either book
at gentlebarnorg.
Dr. Liz (38:16):
Okay, wonderful, thank you.
Tell people how they can find you, because
I know well two things.
One, they could donate to the Gentle Barn
and support you that way or come visit.
So I want you to talk about some ways to be
involved that way, and also ways to be
involved if they do want some animal
(38:39):
communication sessions with you.
Ellie Laks (38:42):
Like I said, we have three locations from
the Gentle Barn so people can go to
gentlebarnorg.
Find a Gentle Barn near you.
Come and hug a cow, cuddle a turkey, meet
these amazing animals Definitely.
Please donate, because with more donations
we get to say yes to hurting animals more
often who have nowhere else to go.
(39:05):
People can follow the Gentle Barn on all
social media platforms, including YouTube.
Just look for the Gentle Barn and people
can find me and find out more about the
energy healing I do and the animal
communications I do at ellielakscom,
e-l-l-i-e-l-a-k-scom.
Dr. Liz (39:24):
Wonderful, wonderful, and it will also be
in the show notes and on the website, in
case you're more like visually oriented.
It'll always be there for you.
So thank you so much again, ellie, for
being here, and I hope, like with all my
heart, all the best to all the animals that
(39:45):
you've helped and will help in the future.
Ellie Laks (39:47):
Thank you so much and thank you for
continuing doing your podcast.
I've really enjoyed being here with you.
Hi everyone.
You're going to love today's interview with
Ellie Laks.
I am telling you, if you love animals,
you're going to love it.
If you admire people who love animals and
wish you could be like that, you're going
to love it.
If you wish you could know what animals are
thinking, you're going to love it.
Okay, which I don't know how you could be a
(00:25):
human and not wonder what animals are
thinking.
Really, she talks all about her journey
from childhood and hearing animals call to
her.
You know all how she grew up.
Some of the dark places she hit, feeling
like she was weird, not normal, becoming a
dog walker and dog sitter and then finally
(00:48):
opening her sanctuary and eventually coming
into her own and really owning her gift as
an animal communicator, slash animal
psychic.
She is personable and genuine and honest.
She has quite the wisdom to share with us
around animals.
Now, before we jump right into it, I do
(01:11):
want to say that an animal communication
session would make a fantastic gift for
whichever holiday you're celebrating.
The holiday season is coming right up.
It's like almost on top of us now by the
time this airs.
So consider that as a gift for the animal
lover in your life or a donation to the
(01:33):
Gentle Barn to help support the animals in
somebody's name that you love and care
about.
Or one of her books.
She has two books that you can buy and put
under the tree or wrap up for Hanukkah for
somebody.
So there's three options there that make
(01:55):
wonderful gifts.
Just throwing ideas out there for you,
trying to make life easier for you, out
there for you, trying to make life easier
for you.
If you're listening to this and it's not
the holiday season, I'm sure there's some
kind of anniversary or birthday of somebody
coming up that you love in your life, that
loves animals.
Or buy them for yourself, maybe great gifts
(02:16):
for yourself.
Now let's jump in.
I hope you're healthy and safe Peace.
I hope you're healthy and safe Peace.
Hi Ellie, welcome to the Hypnotize Me
podcast.
(02:38):
I'm so excited to be here and I'm sure this
is going to be a fantastic conversation.
Thank you for having me.
Yes, I was very excited to see your email
across my desk.
I was like I think this is a sign that I
have to keep podcasting.
Yeah, I just aired like episode 300.
And I was like maybe I should stop.
But I was like no, no, no, not yet I have
(02:59):
to talk to Ellie Lacks about the animals
first talk to Ellie Lacks about the animals
first.
So so glad you're here.
So let me just start at the beginning.
What were you like as a child?
Ellie Laks (03:15):
I was obsessed with animals as a child.
My mom likes to talk about how, the minute
I could walk, I was literally running down
the sidewalk after somebody's dog or cat.
And then I got a little older, I started
venturing out into the woods to play with
the wild bunnies.
And then, even a little older, around six,
(03:35):
I would go down to the lake and into the
woods finding salamanders and turtles and
ducks and watching tadpoles turn into frogs.
And when I found animals that were injured
or lost, I would bring them home.
So my poor parents, like I, literally had a
goose that wintered with us because the
(03:56):
lake was frozen.
I brought in a bunch of fledglings to be
able to raise them so they could fly away.
Obviously, dogs and cats, a turtle with a
broken shell, a bunny rabbit that was
injured my house was always full of animals.
Dr. Liz (04:12):
Oh, that sounds like my girls are always
bringing in some kind of little injured
animal and luckily we have a wildlife
sanctuary in the area and so I would call
up the wildlife sanctuary.
Sanctuary in the area.
And so I would call up the wildlife
sanctuary like can we bring this over, you
know, and sometimes we'd have to keep it,
(04:33):
you know, overnight or something, until
they were open.
But yeah, so you always had a kind place in
your heart for for the injured animals.
Ellie Laks (04:40):
Yeah, I mean, for me nature was this
magical kingdom and animals were these
mythical creatures.
I couldn't even believe.
I got to watch them and know them.
And you know there was three of us kids and
my mom had her hands full because we're all
two years apart.
So I mean that's a lot of babies at one
(05:00):
time and you know, I think it was a lot of
work just us, let alone the animals I kept
bringing home.
And she just kept telling me Ellie, when
you grow up you can have as many animals as
you want.
So I really took that one to the bank.
Dr. Liz (05:17):
I love it.
Great, great.
So you made your way through high school.
Did you start working on a farm at any
point, or some kind of wildlife sanctuary,
or what did you do after you know?
Like just basic high school is done.
Ellie Laks (05:37):
Yeah.
So after high school I went on to college
and to support myself.
During college I was a dog walker, dog
trainer, dog groomer and dog boarder.
So people drop off their dogs.
They would live in my house, we would go on
long hikes and they would feel like they
were in a regular family instead of having
to go to the kennel.
Dr. Liz (05:56):
And what did you study in college?
Psychology and special ed.
Ah, okay, so not really.
I mean, psychology can be animal related,
for sure, but nothing like animal sciences
or veterinarian, nothing like that.
Ellie Laks (06:13):
No, you know, I made the decision early on
to not be a veterinarian because I thought,
you know, clients are going to or patients
are going to come and their dogs are going
to need a surgery and the people are going
to say they don't have money to just
euthanize the dog.
You know all of these sob stories of people
not being kind to their animals or treating
them right.
(06:33):
They want to give them the cheap food
instead of the good food, and I just knew
I'm going to see problems that I'm not
going to be able to fix and it's going to
destroy me.
Also, you know, I'm not a scientifically
inclined person.
I'm much more like an emotional, spiritual
healer, and so I wanted to work on the
emotional side of animals, to be able to
breathe the life back into them and show
(06:55):
them love and teach them to trust.
Like that's the stuff that really makes me
happy.
Yeah, got it.
Dr. Liz (07:00):
Okay, so you had the dog walking.
Makes me happy.
Yeah, got it.
Okay, so you had the dog walking, dog
boarding in your home dog sitting business.
Ellie Laks (07:14):
And then what happened?
Well, and I started rescuing dogs from very
high kill shelters around me and at first
it was like you know I had all these
clients that were paying their way and then,
like one at a time I would take like a dog
that was going to be euthanized from a high
kill shelter.
But the more animals I took in, the more I
realized how many animals needed me, and so
I started taking more and more rescue
animals in until it flipped and I had a
(07:36):
house full of rescue animals and just one
or two paying clients.
Financially that was not a good move, but
obviously I was living my bliss and
rescuing these animals, um, and I actually
dropped out of school because rescuing
these animals from high kill shelters,
(07:56):
leash training them, um, teaching them how
to be real dogs and cats that no one else
would take in because they were so mentally
and physically challenged, and then being
able to see them through to homes of their
own, it was just such a rewarding
experience that I started doing that more
and more and less of my actual paid work
and it kind of took over.
(08:17):
So I started doing dog and cat rescue full
time as a young adult, you full time as a
young adult and I absolutely loved it.
Dr. Liz (08:25):
How did you fund this endeavor?
Because I volunteered at cat shelter for
the last three years.
Like every Sunday my daughter and I go and
well, now she's at college, but before that,
and it saved her life, by the way, like
literally, I think it saved her life and,
um, but I often think about it.
(08:46):
But I think how, how would I fund that?
Like I'd have to be a good grant writer or
something Like.
How did you fund this?
Ellie Laks (08:54):
Yeah, so I mean, um, my, my parents at the
time I was a very young adult.
My parents at the time were very generous
to me and they helped pay my way, so I had
support from them.
Um, and I would take the animals and I
would go to adoption days and weekends at
pet stores and people would donate.
Um, and there was not that it covered the
costs of the animals, but you know there
(09:15):
was adoption fee that people paid, went
into the care of the animals and, um, yeah,
I, I made it work.
Dr. Liz (09:22):
And I was still walking dogs.
Okay, got it.
Ellie Laks (09:26):
In the beginning at least, yeah, yeah, and
this is what kind of helped me transition
from rescuing and rehabilitating and
rehoming dogs and cats to founding the
Gentle Barn.
I was very specifically intent on rescuing
(09:46):
the animals that nobody else would take at
the shelters.
So you know, the shelters were full of
beautiful, young, healthy, adoptable
animals and there were lots of other
rescues that were taking those, but nobody
would give a chance to an older animal that
was incontinent or had arthritis or the
animals that were so scared they couldn't
(10:07):
be touched and those were being euthanized.
And so when I started going to the high
kill shelters, I would very specifically
take the ones that were on the euthanasia
list that no one else would give a chance
to Got it, that no one else would give a
chance to Got it.
But then, when I took those animals in, I
(10:29):
had to invest so much in resuscitating them
that I felt like I was re-injuring them
when I would rehome them.
They finally trusted me.
They finally blossomed and were happy yeah.
And then I sent them to another place and
it became so incredibly painful for me.
I felt like I was doing them a disservice
and I just didn't have the heart for it.
I think rescuers that are strong enough to
(10:50):
rehome animals.
It takes a certain amount of discipline and
it takes a certain amount of knowing that
in the big picture that's what's right for
these animals and I just didn't have it.
Dr. Liz (10:59):
Oh, I'm so glad to hear you talk about this.
It is hard because people ask me how do you?
I'm luckily at a no-kill, volunteering at a
no-kill shelter, so they do take the.
You know several cats missing a leg and one
missing an eye and one was blind and
incontinent.
They take the sick animals, they do and
(11:21):
they keep them and some of them obviously
are healthier as well.
And sometimes it's like so hard when, like
one of my favorites gets adopted and I know
it's best for that animal.
But people ask me, like how do you not end
up with a million cats?
And I'm like, well, it it does take
discipline, it really does.
(11:41):
And I have an older cat at home who you
know doesn't want another cat around, so
that helps.
But it's like, yeah, I'm super sad
sometimes when I see one of them leave,
like sad and happy for them at the same
time.
But yeah, I get it oh, it's really hard
work it is very difficult.
Ellie Laks (12:01):
yeah, I get it.
Oh, it's really hard work.
It is very difficult, yeah, and I mean God
bless you and so many other people that
have the discipline and have their eye on
the overall picture to know, no, this is
our shining moment.
That animal is going to their forever home.
This is something good.
I did it.
I mean, I placed over 500 dogs just on my
own wow, um, so many.
(12:23):
But what was happening was really old ones
that were just not adoptable, or the really
scared ones that it took two years for them
to trust me.
Yeah, I was holding on to them and what
ended up?
Dr. Liz (12:36):
oh, yeah, well sometimes those come back
right and the shelter owner, who I love,
she's like well, they just love living here.
That's what she says.
They're like they love living here.
This is where they need to be.
You know, it's like she has sort of this,
you know philosophy around it, but it's
like that's what you're describing is
(12:57):
they're probably traumatized in the new
home and they want to be back in the place
that they trust.
Ellie Laks (13:04):
Yeah, so what ended up happening is I just
I got and and dog and cat rescuers I mean,
we all experienced this where there there
becomes like this core group of, like
lifers you know, or animals that you
rescued.
They're just not adoptable.
And yes, but what was happening was I ended
up with like I think it was, 12 dogs and 30
(13:25):
cats and I, I just had like this moment one
day where I said to myself you're becoming
a hoarder.
Um, you know, it's not like I had a
facility or a shelter or yeah, oh, yeah,
yes, and I had, you know, like pregnant
(13:46):
dogs or pregnant cats and all the bathrooms
and, you know, all the rooms were full.
And I just one day was like you're becoming
a hoarder.
You need to either bring in animals that
you're willing to adopt out or you need to
stop bringing more animals into your home.
But you can't have more than 12 dogs and 30
cats.
Like this is not okay.
(14:06):
This is it, this is the line.
And they were very happy and living
wonderful lives.
But I just, for some reason, I just saw
that line and I was like don't step over
that line line.
And I was like don't step over that line.
You know it was a conflict for me because I
really wanted to take the animals that no
one else would give a chance to, but every
(14:27):
animal like that that I brought in, chances
are I might not adopt them out.
Dr. Liz (14:32):
Yeah.
Ellie Laks (14:34):
And so I ended up like just pausing the dog
rescue for a minute and just really caring
for it and loving the 12 dogs and the 30
cats that I had.
And then there was like a transition phase
where I had always had this dream, since I
was seven, to have the gentle barn and be
(14:54):
able to save animals that had nowhere else
to go.
And I thought you know why don't I give
birth to that?
Because I can still be attracted to the
animals that have nowhere else to go and
who will otherwise be euthanized and are
not adoptable.
But they can come in and they can stay with
us at the gentle barn, yeah, yeah.
It was a couple of years later that the
gentle barn was founded in 1999.
(15:15):
It was a couple of years later that the
Gentle Barn was founded in 1999.
Dr. Liz (15:19):
Okay, so about how old are you then I?
Ellie Laks (15:23):
was 30 when I started.
Dr. Liz (15:25):
Okay, so you'd been, you'd done some
college, some dog walking, some this, some
rescuing.
So about 10 years of that or so when you
finally decided, okay, let me open this,
the gentle barn, and transform into a
sanctuary, really.
Ellie Laks (15:43):
Yeah, and the gentle barn also happened
kind of in a slow way.
I was having this pause where I was just
taking care of the 12 dogs and 30 cats that
I had.
I had given birth to my son, so he, I had a
little baby.
So taking care of my son and all those
animals, that was full-time work, yes.
And then we discovered a petting zoo I'd
(16:03):
never seen before and went in, make a
really long story short, started bringing
injured and dying animals from that petting
zoo home to resuscitate them in my backyard.
And one day and that went on for months-
yeah.
And then one day I realized, oh my God, I
just I just started my dream since I was
seven.
And so I started the gentle barn and then
(16:24):
eventually opened it to the public and
started doing programs for people.
And this is where my psych and special ed
background come in, because, yes, I've
always loved animals and been very, very
good at healing them, but I've also been
drawn to hurting humans.
(16:45):
And the Gentle Barn allows me to do both.
I get to save and resuscitate animals and
then partner with them to heal humans from
the same stories of trauma, and so it kind
of incorporated both loves of my life.
Dr. Liz (16:53):
Yes, beautiful, beautiful, and so it is
still running beautiful and so it is still
running.
Ellie Laks (17:04):
Yes, yes, the gentle barn is now a 25 year
old national organization with locations in
los angeles, california, nashville,
tennessee and st louis, missouri.
We currently, across the three locations,
have 200 rescued animals, and we've taken
animals that have nowhere else to go, dogs
included, but, but also horses, donkeys,
cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys,
peacocks, llamas, alpacas.
(17:26):
We have an emu and a parrot, and if we can
find a home of their own, we do.
We do still have an adoption program but,
if they have ongoing needs for the rest of
their lives.
We get to keep them and love them and then
partner with them to help people.
So it kind of is more aligned with who I am.
Dr. Liz (17:48):
Wonderful, wonderful one that you contract
with that comes in and helps you care for
the animals when they need, like medical
attention or or the special, expensive food
or whatever it is that they require.
Ellie Laks (18:07):
So it is on the top of my wishlist to have
an onsite vet, and one day we will get to
that point.
Right now we don't.
Right now, we partner with like eight to 10
different vets.
We have our mobile vets that come out to us.
We have our brick and mortar vets that we
bring animals to for surgeries or illnesses.
We have our bird experts, our horse experts,
(18:30):
um, and then our farm animals, true, true
It'd be.
Dr. Liz (18:34):
That'd be like a unique vet to know about
all those different animals anyway.
Wouldn't I think that through a little bit.
A little bit, because they all have their
specialties these days.
Ellie Laks (18:45):
Yeah, and avian and equine veterinary care
is is a specialty.
So to have those specialized departments
and then have the farm animal vets that
either come out to us or we go to them, and
we also have acupuncturists, massage
therapists, chiropractors, holistic vets,
energy healers, and then I do animal
(19:05):
communication on all the animals.
Dr. Liz (19:07):
Awesome, Awesome.
So let's talk some about that.
The animal communication when did you gain
awareness Like, oh, this is a unique talent,
because I'm picturing like this little girl
running around, you know, like loving all
the animals, very clear, what they need.
And I will say like I see a huge difference
(19:28):
between, like myself and my, my youngest
daughter, who's like super tuned in to
animals and I mean I don't know 99.9% of
the time I think she's right, like she
intuitively knows what they need, how to,
how to.
(19:48):
She can touch animals that nobody else can
touch.
Like you know, they have a little like
feral cat sign on them like careful, and
she will eventually make friends with them
and be able to handle them and do stuff
like that.
And so it's like to me it's like all right,
that's another level, right?
Then me who's like sort of bumbling around,
(20:10):
like cleaning the litter boxes, being
careful, you know.
But when did you gain awareness Like, oh,
this is really a unique skill, that I have
A gift.
I would call it a gift actually.
Ellie Laks (20:25):
Yeah Well, the funny thing is, only
recently did I realize it's a special gift.
So here's my animal communication.
I was very much like your daughter.
Everywhere I went I could feel the feelings
of animals in my body.
I could hear them speak to me.
I could hear their cries of distress.
I knew what they wanted and needed.
(20:45):
I became a professional dog trainer at the
age of 11 because it was so obvious to me
what the animals were saying and needing
and wanting, so I was able to help them
with their owners, with the owners I love
it owners.
Dr. Liz (21:02):
I did.
I did dog training for about two years for
for a shelter that I volunteered for and
they, you know, taught me how to train dogs.
And then, you know, did that and I didn't
continue doing it because I was like these
owners, like'm a dog owner.
Okay, like these owners.
No, I don't want to deal with the owners.
(21:23):
I love the dogs, you know, but it's so
funny how you put that.
Ellie Laks (21:28):
Yeah okay, and you know my earliest
memories.
I mean I literally remember being six years
old, seven years old, playing with my dolls
in my room and all of a sudden it was like
the phone rang and I heard in my mind help
me.
(21:48):
And I was like, oh, I'm coming.
And I put my dolls away and I ran through
the house and out the door down the street,
took a left at the lake, right at the shore,
there was this huge tree and there was this
little fledgling bird that fell out of her
nest at the bottom of the tree and I picked
her up and I was like, thank you so much
for calling me, let's see if we can put you
back at the nest.
(22:09):
But the tree was way high.
So I was like, don't worry, I'm going to
take you home with me, brought her home,
made a little nest out of mud and grasses
and fed her till she flew away.
And I thought that that was normal.
I wasn't thinking, ooh, I have a special
gift.
I was thinking, oh, everyone's like this,
(22:32):
yes, yeah, when I got to elementary and
then, of course, high school and people
were not like that and they started teasing
me for being the way that I am.
I didn't think of it as a gift.
I thought of it as something that makes me
crazy and weird and ostracized from regular
people, and when you're a teenager, you
just want to be quote unquote normal, yeah.
So I didn't want my gift, I wanted to be
(22:53):
like everybody else, yeah, and I wasn't
like everybody else.
And that led me down a very, very dark road
of me trying to deny who I am and try to
fit in.
The minute you do that.
It's just a long, slow suicide, yes, and it
literally got me to the point where I
wanted off this planet.
(23:14):
And in thinking about it like how I would,
how I would do it, where I would do it, how
is it going to affect my loved ones, my
family?
Much to my shock, I realized that I wanted
to stay and I literally said to myself then,
if you're going to stay, then you need to
embrace who you are.
Dr. Liz (23:33):
Oh, beautiful yes.
Ellie Laks (23:35):
So I started climbing out of that hole that
I had dug for myself and I started talking
to animals, but I still had a shame and an
embarrassment about it.
I was talking to them, I was rescuing them,
I was embracing who I am.
I wasn't talking about it to other people
because I feared ridicule.
(23:56):
Got it Okay and then I founded the gentle
barn and I'm talking to all the animals
that come into the gentle barn.
Dr. Liz (24:04):
Yeah.
Ellie Laks (24:04):
And every once in a while someone caught
wind of my gift and they would ask me for
help and I would very gladly help them, but
I still was keeping it on the down low.
And then during the pandemic, and it was
funny because I would hear about people who
called themselves animal communicators, and
I would never call myself that okay even
(24:26):
though I could hear animals.
And I was right.
Yeah, I would never call myself an animal
communicator.
Dr. Liz (24:33):
Just funny, just because like it just never
occurred to you.
Or you're like yeah, eh, no, poo-pooed it.
Or you're still like deep down, scared of
that.
Ellie Laks (24:45):
They'll think I'm crazy or weird or
whatever that is it's like I had two things
going on On the one hand, I didn't want to
tell regular people about my gift because I
didn't want to be teased, and on the other
hand, I didn't want to call myself an
animal communicator because I didn't want
to be teased, and on the other hand, I
didn't want to call myself an animal
communicator because I didn't think that I
was as valid or educated or proven or
worthy as the people that were calling
(25:07):
themselves animal communicators.
So I was kind of stuck in the middle, yeah
yeah.
And then my friend, joan Rankwit, who has a
school, a virtual school, for animal
communication and energy healing and she
teaches people all over the world.
Her place is called all animal
communications with all sorry
(25:27):
communications, with all life university.
Okay, and her name is Joan Rankwit and
she's amazing and she's my friend and we
hiked our dogs together and the pandemic
broke out and she, you know we would have
long talks and she knew that I felt really
embarrassed about my gift and one day she
said to me look, I know that you're
struggling with your confidence and feeling
(25:50):
worthy in your gift.
Why don't you join my school?
and you can get your confidence back.
And I and I took her up on it and I joined
her two year program and all of a sudden, I
was in classes with people exactly like me,
(26:11):
and and and and, and it helped me feel
normal.
All of a sudden, I'm not the only one
surrounded by people that don't get it.
It's in class with dozens of people that
are exactly like me and it helped me feel
normal.
And, talking to animals through the two
years, during the classes, I would get
validated and I got to see, oh my God, like,
(26:31):
oh, this really is a gift.
I'm, I'm really good, I'm right on.
Oh, it helped me not feel ashamed.
Yeah, I graduated after two years.
Um, my husband built a website for me and
now I'm doing animal communication for
clients all over the world and I have fully
stepped into who I am and who I've always
(26:55):
met, been meant to be.
I very proud to call myself an animal
communicator.
Um, I am and who I've always been meant to
be.
I'm very proud to call myself an animal
communicator.
I am not embarrassed about it at all and I
thrive on helping people really see their
animals better.
It is the greatest thing in the world, oh,
I love it, I love it.
Dr. Liz (27:13):
Wow, oh yeah, I see it as like such a gift,
like, oh my gosh.
You know, that's always been um well, I
don't know if I want to call it a childhood
dream.
It's always a dream like if we could just
know what our animals are thinking.
You know, it's like how could any pet owner
not have that dream, right, the?
(27:34):
Um?
I don't know, this may be a related story,
maybe not, but my older daughter, she
really loves mice.
We had pet mice when she was little and she
really loved them, and so when she
graduated college she got some pet mice and
now she's thinking about getting a pet rat
and she told me, and I said, but you can't
talk to them.
(27:55):
That was my first thought, and then I
started laughing and she started laughing.
She's like mom, you can't talk to dogs
either, you know, and I'm like, well, sort
of, yeah, you can, like you can know what
the dog's thinking really like they tell
you with their bodies and their tails and
you know, oh, so do rats, though.
I know she said that she's like no, mom,
(28:16):
rats are as like smart as dogs.
I'm like okay, I believe you, like I get it,
like you would learn them.
And we both started laughing because it was
like oh yeah, you got to talk to your
animal somehow.
You know I love it, but that's just like
like I don't know pet owner level versus
like what are they really thinking?
(28:37):
They really are thinking feed me.
Ellie Laks (28:42):
Yeah.
The first is I really want to commend you
and see you for your ability to see your
daughter and to really like take on her
abilities and her intuition and how
connected she is with animals and support
her.
I mean, that's just so, so beautiful, yes.
But the other thing that I wanted to say is
(29:03):
look, we are all intuitive.
Every single living being on this planet
operates with intuition.
That's our first language.
Our sounds and our words are just things
that we built on top of that.
That's true, but we live in a very
westernized world where it's high tech and
fast paced and we sit in classrooms where
(29:24):
they tell us to be quiet and sit down and
wait for permission and listen for someone
else to tell us what to do.
And so you know our organized religions,
our schools, our family of origin.
There's so much in our society that is
stripping us away from our own intuition
and making us not believe in it and not see
it and not take stock in it.
(29:45):
And it's crazy because we have people that
get in real trouble because they trust
people that their instincts are saying
don't trust them, but they don't listen to
their instincts and they get in trouble.
They get hurt, they get taken advantage of,
they get kidnapped.
I mean, people are putting themselves in
horrible situations because we are not
(30:06):
taught to listen to our instincts.
And when we do listen to our instincts, it
will always protect us and guide us and
provide for us.
Yes, so we do have the ability to listen to
our animals.
Yeah, you have that kind of tightening of
the gut when we know something's wrong, but
we're not sure we do have those senses.
(30:31):
The problem is that we've been trained to
listen to people outside of ourselves and
we've been trained to listen to quote
unquote experts instead of ourselves.
Dr. Liz (30:40):
Yeah, I totally agree with you there and
definitely there's like different levels of
that.
I mean, I do believe some people are just
naturally more tuned in to that, absolutely
Like hands down, and others that struggle
more.
But it's often this feeling of even people
who struggle more.
It's like, oh, I wish I could get in touch
(31:02):
with that intuition.
Or sometimes it's like, oh, my intuition is
saying do this, but I don't want to listen
to it.
And that happens with animals too.
Ellie Laks (31:12):
Yeah, and I mean listen.
There have been a lot of times during my
journey that I have not listened to
instincts, and it's always bitten me in the
butt.
Yeah, and I think that I've learned that
lesson so many times that I have just said
to myself I am committing to listen to my
instincts, no matter what, no matter what
(31:32):
anyone else says, no matter if it's
ridiculous, no matter if I can't prove it.
I am now going to listen to my instincts
and since I've made that promise to myself,
it's really, really improved my life and my
work.
Dr. Liz (31:45):
I bet Beautiful.
Well, we are coming to the end of our time
here, but this has been like an absolutely
delightful conversation.
I've absolutely loved interviewing you and
hearing how you work.
Ellie, I know you have a book that's coming
out or it's already out.
Ellie Laks (32:06):
So I have two books already Two books.
Okay, my first book is called my Gentle
Barn Creating a Sanctuary when Animals Heal
and Children Learn to Hope.
And that is the origin story of the gentle
barn.
That actually starts in my childhood and
explains why animals mean so much to me.
Dr. Liz (32:21):
Okay, does it also walk someone through,
like how to start a sanctuary?
Ellie Laks (32:27):
It'll teach you everything not to do.
Dr. Liz (32:30):
Not to do.
Okay, that's good to know.
It's good to know what not to do.
Ellie Laks (32:33):
Yeah, I learned lessons the hard way what
not to do.
Yeah, I learned lessons the hard way.
Actually, me and Jay my, my husband and
co-founder of the gentle barn, we actually
teach a course to help people all over the
world start their own sanctuaries.
Dr. Liz (32:47):
Ooh, wow.
Ellie Laks (32:49):
Yeah, so people can find that at ellilaxcom.
But my second book just came out recently
and it's called cow hug therapy how the
general barn animals taught me about life,
death and everything in between, and it's
about my journey with animal communication
and self-acceptance.
It's about self-care and how the animals
taught me to do that better.
(33:09):
It's about grieving loss and how the
animals taught me how to walk someone home
with dignity, when and how to grieve, and
then how to find my way from grief to
gratitude.
Oh, fascinating.
Yeah, it's about compassion, fatigue and
really how the gentle barn animals taught
me how to be a better version of myself.
Dr. Liz (33:31):
Wow, I have been having discussions
actually with my best friend.
We both have old dogs.
For some reason, I've been reading these
books written by vets, like in the 70s,
1970s.
I don't know how I find them or something,
but I found that they talk much more about
(33:51):
dignity in the animal than, let's say, a
current book that I've read, and I don't
know why or how that shift happened, but I
would love to hear a little bit more about
that, like how, how do we give these
animals dignity?
What did they teach you about dignity?
Ellie Laks (34:12):
Oh, my God, they, they teach me so much.
And you know, I hope that you can read the
book.
Um, yes, therapy, but you know, there's a
story in the book that I talk about where I
have, I have, I had a cow named buttercup
and she gave.
We rescued her pregnant.
She was very malnourished and underweight
and scared and just really indiplorable.
(34:35):
Um, and to our horror, because she needed
the energy for herself, she gave birth
three months later to a very depleted and
kind of underdeveloped calf and he ended up
living seven months, which was wonderful,
(34:55):
but then passing away seven months later.
And I was sitting there trying to find
veterinarians, try to do energy healing,
trying to tell the calf you're going to
live, you're going to live, doing
everything I could to resist what I
intuitively knew was going to happen and
try to get this calf to live.
(35:15):
And while I was like panicking and doing
everything I could think of, buttercup was
very quietly, very meditatively, she was
very Zen, she was very grounded and
centered and she just very simply walked up
to him, licked him, whispered in his ear
that it was okay to go, and walked him home.
(35:36):
Oh, wow, wow.
And she taught me one of the biggest
lessons of my life that at the at the end
of a journey of an animal, it is not about
us.
It's not about our fear, our sadness, our
panic.
It is entirely about them.
And Buttercup showed such a beautiful
(35:57):
example of that.
She put herself aside.
She was strong and reassuring and brave and
loving for her son so that he could pass in
the most beautiful way possible.
Once he was laid to rest, she had all the
feelings that you would imagine any mom
would do while they're grieving she
screamed, she cried, she paced, she mourned,
(36:21):
she did her process.
And then what she did next, once she kind
of got it out of her system over the next
few months, is we brought in some orphaned
calves that had lost their mothers and
instead of being broken for the rest of her
life, Buttercup adopted those orphans, her
(36:41):
cave, them her milk and took the love she
had inside of her for her son and paid it
forward to those calves that needed her.
Dr. Liz (36:52):
Wow.
Ellie Laks (36:55):
And that was one of the greatest lessons of
my life.
When our loved ones pass away, we need to
make it about them and focus on them.
Then we get to grieve and then we get to
take those gifts inside of ourselves and
pay it forward to someone else that needs
it.
I mean, that's what life is all about.
That's what we're here for.
Dr. Liz (37:15):
Yeah, yeah.
So to watch that process and in Buttercup,
like really just highlighted it for you,
like we're animals, us, we're mammals, so
we have a similar process, even though we
we have our intellect that gets in the way.
Like we were saying before, our intellect
(37:36):
often gets in the way yeah, but talk about
dignity.
Ellie Laks (37:39):
I mean, she was, yes, she was the
exemplification of dignity, her life
wonderful, that is so sweet, thank you.
Dr. Liz (37:50):
So that's in.
That's a story in the second book and you
can find the book pretty much anywhere
amazon or Barnes, noble, your website, I'm
assuming all kinds of places.
Ellie Laks (38:03):
Both my books, my Gentle Barn and Cowhug
Therapy can be found to read or listen to
on Amazon, anywhere books are sold, and
people can get a signed copy of either book
at gentlebarnorg.
Dr. Liz (38:16):
Okay, wonderful, thank you.
Tell people how they can find you, because
I know well two things.
One, they could donate to the Gentle Barn
and support you that way or come visit.
So I want you to talk about some ways to be
involved that way, and also ways to be
involved if they do want some animal
(38:39):
communication sessions with you.
Ellie Laks (38:42):
Like I said, we have three locations from
the Gentle Barn so people can go to
gentlebarnorg.
Find a Gentle Barn near you.
Come and hug a cow, cuddle a turkey, meet
these amazing animals Definitely.
Please donate, because with more donations
we get to say yes to hurting animals more
often who have nowhere else to go.
(39:05):
People can follow the Gentle Barn on all
social media platforms, including YouTube.
Just look for the Gentle Barn and people
can find me and find out more about the
energy healing I do and the animal
communications I do at ellielakscom,
e-l-l-i-e-l-a-k-scom.
Dr. Liz (39:24):
Wonderful, wonderful, and it will also be
in the show notes and on the website, in
case you're more like visually oriented.
It'll always be there for you.
So thank you so much again, ellie, for
being here, and I hope, like with all my
heart, all the best to all the animals that
(39:45):
you've helped and will help in the future.
Ellie Laks (39:47):
Thank you so much and thank you for
continuing doing your podcast.
I've really enjoyed being here with you.
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