Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Smith Biswas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Laura Smith, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear stories from your time in school/training/etc.
My journey to this work has been a mix of combining ancient and modern techniques. It seems to have been my path to be the person that bridges two entirely different worlds. I went to Yale to business school and worked in Fortune 500 companies but I was deeply invested in learning many non-traditional approaches to healing. I completed three years formally studying shamanic healing with plant medicine and graduated with a MA in Spiritual Psychology. In today’s world, the science is catching up and these approaches are being validated through clinical studies and increasingly accepted, but I knew long before that they were effective as I used them for my own healing.
I remember the first time I did a plant medicine ceremony years ago, I left so grateful to have been able to receive the gifts it offered. I had gone into a weekend of ceremony as I was facing a divorce and my heart was in turmoil. As I journeyed with peyote in my system with an experienced guide from the Native American community, I felt this gradual spread of the medicine moving through my body. I worked with my wounds and my intention to know how to move forward, and the answer surprised me. I am not sure exactly what I expected, but I was given a vision of how this change in my life was not about moving from one relationship to another, but about shifting my entire life to a basis of love. It was about BEING LOVE as I interact with every human being I came in contact with. Little did I know it, but this later became the platform of what I teach others – how to become the center of love in their lives, and live from that as a foundation in all relationships.
Laura Smith, we love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
As a relationship coach with spiritual psychology training, my work with clients is really to help them craft a life that is built on a foundation of love. This means helping them experience more love themselves, and bring greater love and connection to their relationships. It opens the door to discovering a sacred love within as the generative source rather than searching repeatedly for it outside.
While this concept might seem elusive, it is a truly practical skill set. I lead them through understanding their needs and recognizing their innate precious nature. This allows them to make choices that really support them and help their relationships thrive. We so often miss the mark in seeing ourselves accurately or valuing ourselves. This leaves us making limited choices instead of feeling confident to ask for what we need and negotiate gracefully with others. When our inner connection is strengthened, our boundaries and communication become more clear, and relationship needs are met more effectively. This opens the door for relationships to have a strong, healthy grounding and intimacy naturally flourishes.
My work has a spiritual or holistic perspective and includes meditation, ritual, intuitive messages and a variety of tools to help clients access their most expanded wisdom and live from it. I believe all beings have an innate sacred nature that we can connect to and be resourced from. In reconnecting to this part of ourselves, life is enriched and our day-to-day experience can shift profoundly. I believe we are all searching for love in our own way, and my joy in life is to help others find their unique pathway to deeper love and intimacy in their partnerships.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
There is no substitute in coaching that could be more helpful than to be a perpetual student in your field. Doing the inner work that sustains your capacity to hold a safe container of growth for others is essential. I think it is very common for coaches and healing arts professionals to be working in the area where they received help for their own wounds. This naturally makes them an insider at what their clients are navigating. However, while it is not essential to expect that you’ve resolved every one of your own issues in that area, it is of great value to continue to do your own work. This keeps your eyes open to where your own biases or wounding could affect your work.
For me, I had significant sexual trauma as a child. This is an area of work that has been a focus for my healing for two decades and I find that while I have been freed from so much of its impact, there are often subtle new places to heal and grow. The capacity for human potential is so untapped, it would be silly to think we have mastered some corner of it and stop learning. Not only do we change over time, but our world is going through a significant shift energetically that is opening all of us up to new experiences and possibilities.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
We’ve all faced very difficult periods of our lives and for me facing death and grief was one. My father died at age 44, when I was just coming out of my teen years. He had a brain tumor that affected his logic and eventually speech which made it was a difficult process to watch. This was a big challenge for our family as my mother was widowed with 8 children. This seemed to be enough, but over the next phase of my life, two of my brothers who were only 21 and 23 died suddenly as well. Upon autopsy, it was clear that they both inherited a serious heart problem that had gone undetected.
I was close to all of them and my youngest brother, Drew was living with me when he went out for a run and died without warning. It gave me tremendous familiarity with the grief process and what it takes to find your footing again after loss.
One outcome of these deaths is that they each taught me something critical that I’ve carried with me long term. What I understood after Drew died, was that life was too short to live for anyone but me. I saw how crucial it was to make sure that I was never just appeasing others or simply making peace in my family at my own expense. This helped me take a very authentic path to my relationships and even my work. I had a history of people pleasing and I knew it was costing me too much. It asked me to dive deeply into clearing my fears and patterns that contributed to it, so that I could increase the amount of time in my life that I could live without regret.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thelovemandala.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_love_mandala/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laura.biswas?mibextid=uzlsIk
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/laurabiswas
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thelovemandala4486
Image Credits
Emily Elizabeth Photography