Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson - TYLER HENRY — on his early premonitions and talking to Alan Thicke on the other side

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

Celebrity medium Tyler Henry joins the show. Over salads, Tyler tells me about when he discovered his ability to speak to the departed, his first celebrity client (psst, it’s Sarah Paulson), and his new live Netflix show.  This episode was recorded at Terra at Eataly in Century City, CA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hi, it's Jesse. Today on the show, he's a medium, and you know him from his shows like Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, Life After Death with Tyler Henry, Life After Death with Tyler Henry, and his new Netflix series, Live From The Other Side with Tyler Henry. It's I know you're never going to see this coming, it's Tyler Henry. And then I randomly got a call one day from a lady and she said, I'm Sarah, I'd like

a reading. And then when we looked, she had revealed herself as Sarah Paulson. And I about pooped my pants. I was like, okay, well, yeah, we'll get you on the schedule. What are you doing at 5 o'clock? This is Dinners on Me, and I'm your host, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. One of the crazy perks I never saw coming when I was doing Modern Family were the invitations to participate in crazy experiences

I would never have had the opportunity to do before. I was on an episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls where we hiked a knife ridge in the Italian Alps and slept in an igloo we built ourselves. I've gotten to be a celebrity contestant on iconic game shows like Wheel of Fortune and Password. I got to explore my family bloodline and follow the footsteps of my great grandfather in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? One of the most exciting opportunities came when I was asked if I wanted to have a reading

by the Hollywood medium himself, Tyler Henry. Of course, I immediately said yes. I knew that Tyler had a wait list of hopeful clients over a half a million people long, so to have the chance to sit down with him for an hour and experience his gift of intuition was an opportunity I was not going to pass up. Now I guess I should preface this episode by saying that when it comes to the subject of spiritual metaphysics, I know there are a lot of skeptics. I understand.

I will say that even though I'm not a massively spiritual person, I am very open to the possibility of being able to connect with people we have lost. Listen, I've had my tarot cards read. I have spoken to psychics. I have practiced meditation. For me, all information is good information. So it was an absolute joy to reconnect with the charming and so handsome Tyler Henry. Now I had my reading with Tyler when he was 21 years old, so it was wonderful to reconnect now that he was a sage young man at the ripe age of 28. I brought Tyler Henry to Terra, a rooftop restaurant on the third floor of Italy with amazing views

of the Hollywood Hills. Italy is an Italian market. There are locations in New York, LA, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, Dallas, even Silicon Valley. It's an incredible Italian market, curated with the best food Italy has to offer. Now, Terra, the restaurant we're at, is named after the word Earth in Italian. And all of its food is centered on its wood-fired grill, where chefs serve up the best in season, all cooked

over an open flame. I already cannot wait to come back and try their charred countryside vegetables or their grilled whole-brand zino. Tyler apparently has a soft spot for Italian food, so I thought, what better place to bring them? Okay, let's get to the conversation. Wait, let's try to figure this out. How long was it that you gave me a reading? Because that was during your E! show. That's right.

And this would have been pre-pandemic, so that had to have been at least perhaps 2018-2019. Okay. Might have been 2018. I remember when you, because you know, they told me before you came, like Tyler never knows who he's coming to meet, and like he also is not terribly up on pop culture, so don't be offended if like he's like not, he has no idea who you are. Yeah. And I remember opening up, I had like a little tiny door inside my door, like a little peek-a-doo door, whatever, latch door, and I opened it up

and you immediately lit up and you're like, oh my God, you actually knew who I was, so I did feel very special. Absolutely, with a face like that, it's recognizable. I know, I know. Absolutely. I know your show, your new show, live, wait, I love that you've had three shows and they all like, there's a title and then it says, with Tyler Henry.

It's so hard to remember too. Live from the other side with Tyler Henry, not to be confused with Life After Death with Tyler Henry. That's right. And also Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry. Lots of life after deaths and deaths and lives and a lot going on, thank you. But that just, so this is your first live show. It is, and it's the first time we've ever really

had the technology to be able to do something like this on a large scale. Right, right, yeah. This is pretty incredible. It's really cool, I watched the first episode on, they drop on Thursday, is that it? Tuesdays at 3pm. Tuesdays at 3pm.

Yeah. Yeah, so I watched it on Tuesday, and so yeah, how did it go for you? What was it like to do a live reading? Sure, you know, it was nerve wracking as all get out. I mean, it's one thing to do a reading in an environment where there are certain safeguards in place, right? Like editing and aspects of not feeling like

millions of people are watching live. So this was kind of a unique environment in the sense that there were really no safety nets. And I wanted to do that I wanted to do a show where there wasn't to be able to demonstrate the authenticity of the process And so I think it was you know kind of got into the nitty-gritty it definitely You know flowed and we were able to kind of make connections But I think in seeing the process people can appreciate the readings more on some level right right but

Specifically around doing a live show, because I know when we had our reading, there was a few things that came up that you even said, like, we probably won't use this, but just there's some stuff going on with my, I had certain family members that you wanted me to pass along messages to, which I did, and they were incredibly accurate and very helpful.

Specifically with some family members and health stuff, but you said, you know, we won't use this. Do you feel like in a live show, do you navigate what you can say and what you should say? Because once you say it, it's out there. It's out there. It's definitely kind of a mental taking note of what to say and what's received and then how to deliver it. In the setting that's going to make the person feel comfortable and get something of value out of the experience.

Right, right. It's one of those things where on some level by the fact that it's not edited, it's a little nerve wracking, in the sense that anything can occur, but it's nerve wracking for the person being read on a whole other level because I could say anything about them

and it's not going to get edited out. So there's kind of a mutual vulnerability in this new show that I think kind think contributes to its magic on some level. It's very raw and you can feel that chemistry. Right. Also something that's interesting about this show, as opposed to your show that you had on E, you have multiple people around you and you're receiving multiple messages. What was interesting about the first episode with Krishel was sort of the lead guest and then she had a

group of friends with her. There was this one of her friends on the very end, I think she kept thinking that, oh no, this one's mine, this one's mine. And then someone's like, oh no, it's actually, this is someone that is talking to me. And she kind of didn't get anyone coming through for her. And you said at the end, like, I hope to have some private time with you later.

But you were just sort of channeling whatever came through. And certain people were getting more than others. So. It's true. The analogy I use is that I can't dial direct. There's so many people I would love to call up on the other side and talk to.

But when I do a session with a group, I just kind of have to go where the strongest pull is. And very often that's not what we're expecting. And people will come hoping to hear from their mother and then we end up getting information around their mother-in-law. And I just kind of have to relay that in a sensitive way, but do the message justice. Do you have a favorite? Do you eat here often?

I've only eaten here twice and I don't remember what I got. Encelada verde. That looks like a good salad. I'm what I got. Encelada Verde. That looks like a good salad. Ooh, I'm gonna get this Encelada Estiva. That can't be how you pronounce it. That sounds like a depression medication. It sounds like a depression medication or like a sugar.

Like a sugar substitute. Estivia. That's right. Truvada. Hi, I'm so glad you're here because we're badgering the pronunciation of this menu. First of all, what about some drinks, guys? Oh, this cucumber mint thing sounds delicious. For people that don't want a drink, I always recommend the cucumber mint. It's not as refreshing, it's not too sweet, it's very very good.

I'll have that. Let's have the insalata verde. It's a very simple mixed green salad with a white balsamic vinaigrette. Amazing. Thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, listen to how I pronounce this and then you tell me what I've done wrong. Get ready.

Insulata Estiva. Estiva. Estiva! Estiva! Almost perfect. Okay. 95%. Yeah, thank you, thank you, you're very generous and kind.

I'm gonna do that, but I'm gonna add some salmon to it. Yeah, salmon, like in the dish. Perfect. In any allergy that the kitchen should be aware of? Oh, good. No, we're good. Any bread and butter or focaccia? Would you eat bread and butter? Oh, you know, I we're good. Any bread and butter or coca-cola? Would you eat bread and butter?

Oh, you know, I just had a bunch of bread and butter, funny enough, right? A little before I was like, ugh. I'll have a little, you can bring a little bit for me. Yeah, we'll have some. Thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you. Are you living in Los Angeles full-time now?

I am, yeah, so I'm near, I'm in Topango, just about eight minutes away from the ocean. Yeah, yeah, yeah, very nice, very nice. I know you grew up in central California. I did. I think near Fresno, right? ocean. So, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very nice, very nice. I know you grew up in central California. I did. I think near Fresno, right? That's correct, yeah. What did your parents do?

My parents owned a tile setting business. So my mom worked as my dad's secretary and my dad worked as kind of the head manager and would do track homes and things like that and malls and various things. But, you know, very salt of the earth folks, very not into spirituality, which was in stark contrast to obviously what I do for a living.

So growing up, I was raised Presbyterian, but I actually at a certain point was more religious than my parents. I would love to go and church hop and go to different congregations and make friends because in small towns, there's only so many ways to- You would need church hop? Like different... Well, you know, I would cheat on churches.

I'd be going to the Presbyterian, I'd go to the Baptists, and I'd just kind of, you know, sit there and have different friend groups. That's so interesting that you said that, because I grew up Catholic. I went to Catholic high school and grade school. Wow. And I remember going to church with a friend of mine

who was Baptist, and it was a show. Yeah. It was performing great music. Just campy. Camp, it was camp, totally. But it was a show. It was performing great music. Just campy. Camp, it was camp, totally. But it was entertaining and I was enjoying the sermons. So I ended up, when the basket came around, I put my, there was a recruiter card,

and I signed up to just learn more about the Baptist Church. I thought they would just send me a magazine or something. Tyler, they showed up at my house and like my mom was like, what are these, what's happening here? Just joining the seminary. They're coming in the night to grab you and make you the pope.

Right, yeah, so I definitely relate to that. That's amazing. Like church hopping a bit. Yeah, yeah, it definitely is fascinating to see the different ways people congregate and find a sense of community through something that was kind of faith based, something intangible.

Do you still feel like you're a religious person? I'm very much a spiritual person by nature of just my understanding of life. But religion certainly has its value. And I kind of think of it as more of like a cultural language that we have with a higher power or that some of us do. And it's often heavily dependent on where we live and the influences of our guardians and things like that

that contribute to what beliefs we learned from an early age. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know in your book, this is the story you've told so much, but you first became in tune with this ability that you have when you had a premonition about your grandmother's death. Yes. And that was at age 10.

10, yes. Do you remember how that manifested in yourself? Yeah, I was deep, deep asleep. I got into bed a little early that night and I woke up shortly before midnight and I just woke up with this knowingness as if I had seen something that was occurring but hadn't happened yet.

It was extremely confusing. And I, thank you so much, just woke up and was very confused when I went into the room to try to explain this to my mom and felt like we had to say goodbye, but I didn't know if there was enough time. And I was just rambling like a crazy person, all for my mom's phone to ring and my dad be on the other end.

And he actually shared that he had watched my grandmother die in front of him. And that's why he was calling to give us the news. So it was very chaotic. It all happened so fast, but that was my first introduction into something different. Do you remember what your conversation with your mom was like when you were trying to articulate? Yeah.

How did you? I literally was like, I think we have to say goodbye. I feel like she's going to die. We need to go. And my mom was like, okay. Just kind of taken off guard by this. I was crying, it was very evident that there was something going on

that was deeply emotional, being 10 years old. So I think she was confused, but then when she got the phone call and then I saw her face, she didn't even have to tell me what was being said, she just burst into tears. And that really changed my grief process moving forward. I was 10 years old, I was still a child, I had no sense of identity and no context

to place this premonition, but it altered my grief and my relationship with my grief after. I felt more connected to my grandmother. Yeah, I can imagine, yeah. Have you had any other interactions with your grandmother from the other side? There have been a couple times where she's came through, but she does not come through to the extent

that people would expect. It's been years. And the last time I actually felt her, I was in New York City. Oh really? Thank you so much. Oh my gosh, that's amazing. I was at the stock exchange and I was there that day

to ring the bell, the closing bell for Wall Street. And so my mom and I got up there and the music's playing and I felt my grandmother. And I was like, I don't know why. She wasn't bell for Wall Street. And so my mom and I got up there and the music's playing and I felt my grandmother and I was like, I don't know why, you know, she wasn't particularly into Wall Street, but I think it was just such a big moment for us. Probably because she's like, I jumpstarted his career. Exactly.

I'm here for this like monumental moment. Yeah, it was really special. And I haven't felt her in years, but I find that to be a peaceful thing. I'm glad that wherever she is, you know, she's passed all this. Is it something? Cause I guess like for me, I would have been scared of it in a way. And part of that's because I, you know, like I saw The Sixth Sense and I

see these movies about people who see dead people. Like, you know, I, I, I kind of know the Hollywood version of it. But like, it seems to me that you had a very peaceful experience with that. I did. I did. And that was kind of the interesting thing. We talk about like the movie The Exorcist and how that scared the heck out of everybody, particularly Catholics. And you know, in so many ways media has done a disservice to I think what is expected of intuitive experiences. And for myself, you know, I wasn't afraid of it until I was told to be afraid of it. And I think that's true for a lot of children

who might find that they're different in one way or another. What's natural is natural. What you feel is what you feel. It's only when other people start saying, oh, that's not how it's supposed to be, that one starts questioning what they bring to the table. Well, so this is interesting because you also grew up closeted,

as did I. Yes. And you were sort of closeted in more than one way because after this moment that you had with your mom, where your dad had called saying, I've read grandma passed away, you kept a secret with your mother for quite some time. I did.

Why did you feel like that was something you had to keep a secret from your dad? Well, my dad was very conservative and very much see it to believe it. And yeah, just a very different kind of approach to life than I had. So I didn't want to create any problems for him. I didn't. I wanted to be who I was and my mom wanted me to be who I was. But we didn't feel the need to tell him until I started telling students and teachers. And being in our small town, my mom said, you know, word is gonna get around

You have to tell your dad about these things you're telling people because if you don't somebody else will and we don't want that to happen So after you had that moment with your mom, I mean did it feel like It was a needle drop at that moment with you like oh were there are were you recognizing other? Circumstances where you were having messages from the other side. How did you navigate those first years after you discovered this was a gift that you had? Sure, it was more something that happened to me

than something I recognized as an ability. And then when I started realizing that this was something that could be facilitated through scribbling, through certain practices, through certain means of creating altered states of consciousness. Then I realized there was something there, something powerful that when applied in the right way and in the right circumstances could actually help

change a person's life. So it became this kind of random, ethereal thing that would sometimes happen at school or when I'd be walking with the kids on the PE track to something that in theory could be done or at least attempted to be done in a more controlled way. Right, so were you just at this point, like, telling your friends things that you felt about them

or was it happening with strangers? It was, I mean, it happened with everyone from kids at school to a shoe shiner in my town to a number of different things. But, you know, I would just sometimes be with them and I'd know these things and sometimes it was about their family, sometimes it was about stuff that was going on

with living people at home. But it would always inevitably get back to their parents. Right, right, right. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Tyler tells me about the path to becoming a medium to Hollywood's biggest names and one of the celebrity clients who still speaks to him from the other side.

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Conditions apply. Talk to your broker. Conditions apply. And we're back with more Dinners on Me. I'm so interested in this period of your life because it's a lot to put on a kid. It is. When you're talking about those ages between, you know, it's just teenage years in general. I mean, to take on other people's stuff has got to be a very unique circumstance. Very, very unique.

How did you protect yourself during that time? Yeah, you know, I, in hindsight, wish I would have let my frontal lobe develop a little bit more before I did so many readings. Because I really truly, in hindsight, did not have the maturity, I think, to match the maturity of the conversations that I was put into. Exactly.

And that is something that I think only life experience can give, and I didn't have that yet. So I did my best, and I think in many respects, I've learned as time goes on, that I know that there's a lot I don't know. But, you know, it was surreal. I was talking to elderly women as a 16-year-old about their love lives, and couples would come to me,

and I was a sort of Helper around their marriage and and you know they'd go to marriage counselors And it wouldn't work and then they'd come and see a 16 year old boy who claimed to have visions and somehow That would work for them, and there were a couple marriages I think we're saved actually as a result and those husbands had to be pretty darn open-minded to be sitting and not well Just laughing in my face as a kid. Very, very heavy subjects. Very heavy.

Yeah. When you did tell your dad, did you sort of come out as gay and a medium at the same time? Was it a two for one? He ended up finding out. So I never actually came out to him. He discovered it and had a hard time with it.

And so it took some years of kind of us going back and forth. And I think he came around more to my ability first, as I would just demonstrate it time and time again. And so he could kind of understand that a little bit more than the whole liking men thing. And so eventually my dad evolved from a very conservative man to someone who was very open-minded.

He felt like what I was able to teach him through my firsthand experiences in the medium world showed him that there was so much more than he had been taught. That love is truly what matters. That when you know better, you do better. Right. Right. Did you ever do a reading for your dad? I did. I did. He actually put me through several tests. And there was an instance where he brought out a yearbook and had me look at his old yearbook and I correctly identified three photographs

of classmates he had gone to school with who had all died tragically. And as I pointed this, I remember the look on his face, he looked closer and he did not know what to make of it. He just closed the book and he didn't really say anything. But in that moment, he knew it couldn't have been guessed. There's no way it could have known. And though he didn't understand me, he loved me.

And that was one of the greatest gifts. But you know, there's a lot of people who, because they don't understand their child, they cut them off from love. And my dad chose not to do that. And I'm really thankful for that. Yeah. That was a choice.

What was the bridge from you living in Central California and, you know, doing this for friends and family and to you coming to Hollywood and having your own show on E. It was a very, very quick transition. I graduated high school at 16 to try to become a hospice nurse. I heard this, yes.

So I thought like, hey, kinda two birds, one stone situation, deliver a message, help be there. But it could still be a private thing. And through a series of events, I didn't advertise word of mouth spread very quickly. I had people coming to my front door, leaving notes. People would tell, for every person I would read, they would tell three people usually. And so if you maximize that, it built pretty quickly. And then I randomly got a call one day from a lady

and she said, hi, I'm Sarah, I'd like a reading. And then when we looked, she had revealed herself as Sarah Paulson. And I about pooped my pants. I was like, okay, well, yeah, we'll get you on the schedule. What are you doing at five o'clock? So that was my first ever reading. Sarah's a good friend of mine.

She's actually been on this podcast. So I called her last night. I was like, do you remember how you came across Tyler? She's like, I actually don't. Do you remember how she found you? It was the weirdest thing, it was through Larry, who was my manager, worked at Extra, and I believe Sarah was on Extra,

and he gave her my contact info. That's so interesting. And it would have been years ago, and I actually was able from that initial reading to connect with Sarah's sister as well. Incredible. We kept in the family. Thank you so much. Well, she says hello.

Oh, that's so sweet. So kind. She was precious. Thank you so much. This looks delicious. I guess that was at how he found out about you. I basically, after Sarah just started doing more and more readings.

And so every weekend, my mom would drive me to LA and there was just a natural synergy. I met my future manager at a Christmas party and read him and he was a total skeptic and blew his mind and one thing led to another. So it really was a series of also reading countless executives, countless executives' families and friends being tested.

They wanted to make sure that their investment was real. Right. And so they put me through the ringer. It was like an audition. It truly was over and over and being tested. They wanted to make sure that their investment was real. Right. And so they put me through the ringer. It was like an audition. It truly was, over and over and over again. It was like a first date every time. Yeah. And I was like just waiting for it to go south.

Yeah, cause you're just providing them with information that's coming in. You have no idea if it's. But there's no way to know. Right, interesting. We found this to happen also with the celebrity readings. You know, we did over 200 celebrities on Hollywood medium. But what we found in the case of like reading Tori's spelling,

I sat down with her. She wanted to connect with her father. She brought this massive typewriter. I'm holding onto it, holding onto it. Nothing comes through from her dad. Nothing. What was coming through was for a guy watching the reading in the back who had a young man who had died tragically.

He was coming through with the message to tell him that he was like the love of his life. So Tori starts bawling and says, oh, my friend's back there watching this reading. He lost his partner. Oh my God. And he died suddenly. And we got all into that. And then the reading ended. Tori did not hear from her dad.

But she was so thankful to be able to be there for her friend. Right. So I think these messages find where they're meant to go. And very often it's actually not for the celebrity, as much as the celebrity's just a catalyst for whatever's there. Sure, yeah, yeah. What are some of your other memorable readings from that time on E?

Yeah, you know, Snooki was a really surprising one for me, because I was like, oh my God, it's Snooki. I was 18. I love that you knew who Snooki was. Of course, right. Yes, that little pickle. She's so cute. She is cute. But that was a really interesting one, because I loved being able to take kind of often people

who maybe media assumed one thing about and show a deeper layer. And I think it was humanizing and showing that everybody deals with grief in their own way. And then we need to have more conversations around that subject just in society generally. Yeah, yeah. You've talked to Nazim about the Alan Thicke one,

but I do think it's interesting. It's one of those times where you gave some advice about someone's health and Alan was going in as a skeptic. And I think it seemed to me as a viewer somewhat impressed but sort of in a sort of, he was entertained by it. Yes, and hesitant. And hesitant, yeah. Yeah, I got that too.

You sort of were begging him to check in on his heart. Sure. And we all know that three months after that, he passed away. I hope that you know, even though he didn't wanna follow up on that, what a gift that was to give him the opportunity to check in on something so important. I mean.

I appreciate that, it means a lot. And I felt so privileged to be able to connect with his widow, Tanya, after, and was able to read her. And it was the first time ever where we had a living client on the show and then we also had them follow up just from the other side. It was really surreal. Have you had conversations with Alan since he's?

He has came through. Really? He has came through, yes... He has came through. Really? He has came through, yes. I've heard Tyler. Really? Oh my gosh. What did I do? Family ties indeed.

That was a show, right? Family ties? I'm pretty sure it was family ties. Growing pains. Growing pains. Oh God. That's what he said. That's what he meant.

Growing pains. I love being able to connect to the celebrity components of people that the public has grieved as well, because I think that can be helpful. But when it's reinforced by personal connections that only the client being read would know with maybe family members that were not public, that I think substantiates the information that could be known, information about public figures.

So I try to do both. So I just started watching that, the second show you did with your mother, Life After Death with Tyler Henry, which I try to do both. Yeah. So I just started watching that, the second show you did with your mother, Life After Death with Tyler Henry, which I didn't see it initially, and I was interested in it

because it was nominated for an Emmy Award as well. And I am, I really wish I had finished it before sitting down with you because I'm absolutely hooked and I'm binging it now. It's a fantastic show. And what makes it so interesting is you couple, you know, doing these readings for people with helping your mom, thank you,

everything's delicious, with helping your mom discover information about her past. Would you explain a little bit about when all went to your mom? Absolutely, you know, my mom in her 50s had this shocking revelation, a realization that her biological parents were not her biological parents. And in fact, she had been taken as a baby by a woman against my mom's biological family's

will. And this woman went on to commit two murders and spent over 30 years in prison as a result. So my mom had a very difficult, very abusive upbringing. And only in her 50s, basically received a phone call from her biological family saying, we've been looking for you your whole life. Your mother has been looking for you her whole life. She died looking for you.

And my biological grandmother had Alzheimer's and still wouldn't forget the little girl that she could never find, and that was my mom. So they never were able to meet, you know? But it was really a journey of identity and family, understanding. Yeah, have you ever had any interactions with your biological grandmother, do you think? As far as biological grandma goes, she passed in 2001

and I've never felt her come through or much of anything. And of course, I'd never met her before. And then ironically, the woman who did these murders, who my mom thought was her mother, is now almost 100 years old and she is still alive. Wow. She's still alive. Isn't it crazy, some kinds of people who do such horrible things.

The mean ones. They hang on forever. They hang on. I think because they're scared to let go, they know the earth's gonna open up underneath them and take them. And they're like, no! Yeah, for sure.

My God. Yes. Wow. Yeah. Do you, well, that opens up a question I have. What do you feel happens when people die? Yeah, a lot. Yeah.

You know, at the very least, I believe in a continuation of life, a continuation of some, a continuation of some form of consciousness. There's so much that is impossible to glean. But what I have found is that when they come through, they seem to refer to a state that is experiential. There's something about introspection that is a very powerful tool in life and seems

to continue on on the other side. So when we talk about the other side, I just really view it as a continuation of existence. And as a result, knowledge continues to be obtained. Growth is just a natural byproduct of that. And so people see what they could have done differently, what perhaps affected others, what they did and didn't do. And they kind of get a more big picture understanding as they seem to evolve into other states.

Right, right. But I mean as far as logistics, specifics, even my belief in God, there's so much there that I don't know. Right. Yeah. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Tyler tells me about how others can nurture their own intuitive abilities and about his response to skepticism.

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Wealthsimple, built for possibilities. Visit wealthsimple.com slash possibilities. And we're back with more Dinners on Me. One thing that Amanda Kluetz was saying in that first episode, I mean, she basically said, what can we do to put ourselves in a better position to receive messages from the other side?

Sure. And you answered it really beautifully. Would you mind sort of summing up how you feel about that? Yeah, you know, I think in some ways, people think of spiritual contact as this airy, fairy thing that is so foreign to us. But I think if you look people think of spiritual contact as this airy-fairy thing that is so foreign to us.

But I think if you look at most people's lives, we all have moments of intuition. They can be as simple as when we shake someone's hand and we get a first impression, or when your dog looks at you and gives you a funny look and you're like, okay, is that the I got to go pee-pee look or is that a I need food look? We use intuition all the time and don't often recognize it in its entirety for what it is. But I think to be able to get into a state where it comes through more, we have to really find ways to focus on the eternal present. So much of us is focused on either trauma from the past, fear of the future, and it's

hard for everybody, myself included, to sometimes just be in the present and therefore hyper aware of things that perhaps we would otherwise miss because we're so cognitively kind of focused on these other things. So that's the essence of mindfulness, the essence of meditation, and it's kind of a cliche answer, but it's more of a lifestyle,

living in a more connected way to yourself, into the living, and as a result, the departed will come with that. And I assume you meditate. I do, yeah. Do you meditate like, pretty strictly or? I don't live it as a practice as much as, again, kind of like a lifestyle.

There's something to be said about children and their ability to just naturally live as spiritual beings. What I love about kids is like, they'll be walking around and they'll be like, mommy, look at the cloud. Look how pretty that cloud is. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then we look up and we're like, wow. When was the last time I looked up at a cloud and was like, that really is a pretty cloud. Look how pretty that cloud is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then we look up and we're like, wow. When was the last time I looked up at a cloud and was like, that really is a pretty cloud. Yeah. So children are great reminders for the mindfulness that I think we can do on a small scale. It doesn't require a lot of diligence or practice. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I've got gratefulness and I think compassion has a very powerful ripple effect. As woo-woo as that might sound, I think it can really have a long-lasting impact. Right, right, right. I had, I don't know why it's made me think of this, but my friend, I have a very good friend who got married, and she's just celebrating her 12th anniversary,

but her mom had passed away when she was in her teens. She had cancer, and she said, you know, whenever you see a rainbow, that's me thinking of you. And my friend was like, that is the cheesiest, like of all things, like a fucking rainbow. A rainbow. Oh my God, you gotta be kidding me. And so she always kind of just like laughed at it.

Yeah. And I was at her wedding. Yeah. And it was a beautiful day. It was in, I think they got married in Connecticut. And all of a sudden, like rain clouds came in and it poured, poured during the ceremony. We had to actually move the ceremony

from this outdoor area to this porch of this bed and breakfast that we were staying at. And when we were finished with the wedding, this incredible, like the brightest rainbow I had ever seen in my entire life was there. And everyone was just floored just by the beauty of the rainbow itself. And not everyone knew about this thing

that my friend had with her mother. And then her brother got married, same thing, a rainbow on that day. And when my friend was nominated for a Tony award, there was a rainbow that day. And like, still he's like, oh, it absolutely is my mother. Like, it's absolutely 100% is my mother coming from the other side.

But I do think it is, she had to be open to seeing that and accepting that as well. Even though she thought it was so cheesy when she first heard it. Sure, as we often do. And then we realize, oh, there's something more to this. The know, the belief there is that our loved ones

aren't in control of meteorological events, right? Grandma doesn't care whether it rains or there's a hurricane. But what I think it speaks to is the power of timing. The power of timing. The fact that that rainbow appeared at that time in her life at one of the most important days of her life in such an unequivocal way. That allowed for that coincidence to be meaningful.

And that allowed for it to be what's called a synchronicity. And synchronicities are the number one way, I find, that we get connections, whether you want to call that from your loved ones, from the universe. It's why I love reading autobiographies and biographies, because when you look at people's life stories, you see often that they self-recognize those moments of destiny, where this was the pivotal moment where when I did this, everything kind of

got set in motion. And very often, people's intuition is kind of what cues them to see that or sometimes to see it in hindsight. Right, right, right. In the show, look at me going back down. No, of course. Life After Death with Tyler Henry. You also have an interaction with,

you work with law enforcement, you work with the FBI, or private investigator rather. Private investigator, yes. She took you to a crime scene. But that's pretty heavy, and especially if you are in a place where you feel like you have the ability to connect with things that had happened there. Sure. And what struck me when you were there is like you really had a very physical reaction

almost like I mean what you described as a panic attack. Yes, it very much felt that way. How do you manage those sort of severe swings? You know, just a lot of deep breathing. To be completely honest, it's one of those things where being a medium doesn't come with a school. And so there are so many times where my physical body, my mental health, you know, does seem to kind of receive impressions. And those impressions, I have to be able to discern

between are they mine or are they somebody else's? And that was one of the biggest challenges of being a teenager, being able to, or having really to make that discernment. Right. And have a sense of separation from other people and an identity of my own, beyond also what I could just do for other people.

Right. You know, I'm sure there's a lot of people who are skeptics. Yeah. You know, probably people listening to this are skeptics. Sure. I probably should have started this off saying, like, I am very much not a skeptic,

so I'm gonna have this conversation as if I'm, you know, with that in mind. But what do you feel about skeptics who? I don't really feel strongly about skepticism. I think it has its place, I think it's valuable, I think asking questions is how we get answers, and I think the heart of skepticism should be that. It should be about genuine inquiry

to get to the understanding of skepticism should be that. It should be about genuine inquiry to get to the understanding of things. The issue becomes, when we talk about cynicism, to a hammer, everything is a nail. And so to a cynic, every medium is a fraud. And so that becomes a difficult hurdle to overcome because you have people who are defaming your morality on a very fundamental level, telling you that you need to prove yourself to them

or else you're a horrible person. And so it's like a lose-lose, right? Either way. And that can be difficult. But I think I came to terms with that long ago. I don't view my claim as even a scientific claim. I view it more as a subjective one. We think of what's quantitative as being

kind of more the pursuit of math and science. Things can get broken down into smaller pieces. But we think of the fields of like art, mediumship, love. These are all very subjective things. Things that are very hard to pin down or have a universal definition for. And so it really is more feeling, more meaning-based than anything that's really objective.

So last not to mention that, it's like it's more qualitative than quantitative. Got it, yeah. Did that ever, you said at one point that you felt like your ability to, I guess I don't want to call it your power, but like your ability was stronger when you were younger? In some ways, yes.

Describe what's it just easier to access? I think as a kid I had a lot less to think about. There was a lot less other beliefs to take into consideration, a lot less skepticism to take into consideration, a lot less barriers that had to kind of be overcame. As a child I found that my ability was a little bit more visually intense,

so I would often see things a lot more than I do like today. Who knows as to why that is, but those experiences were very intense, not necessarily scary until people told me to be scared. Right. There were maybe a couple of handful of ones that were a little frightening. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Can you describe what one of those visions looks like to you? Well, let me go back in the repertoire. There's been so many. I remember when I was walking the PE track one time in middle school with this kid, for some reason I found that subconscious states

and psychic abilities seemed to relate. So sleep states, subconscious, there's some relationship. But also like daydreaming somehow taps into that psychic faculty. And I would always daydream when I would walk the PE track with the other boys. I'd be walking a 30 minute mile, somehow taps into that psychic faculty. And I would always daydream when I would walk the P.E. track with the other boys. I'd be walking a 30 minute mile,

they'd be running laps around me, picking dandelions. And- We were the same kid in high school. Exactly, we would've gotten along. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I told this kid one day, I'm like, did you and your grandpa share peanut butter sandwiches?

And he was like, yeah. I was like, did he put a pickle on one of those sandwiches? And the kid looked at me and he just kind of blinked and he was like, yeah. I was like, did he put a pickle on one of those sandwiches? And the kid looked at me and he just kind of blinked and he was like, yeah, how did you know that? They said, I don't know how funny. And then we just kind of shrugged it off and moved on. You were just in it like what happened is you were just thinking about a peanut butter sandwich.

Sandwich and then saw pickle and had the gut, the nerve, the gumption to tell him and said it. And it was true. And so, you know, some people would kind of shake it off and go, okay, that's weird. Other people were scared. Other people found it immensely comforting. Some didn't react at all.

I mean, just like adults too, probably. Yes. It's like a Rorschach test we find. It's really fascinating. You give, I mean, personally, you give me a lot of comfort. I have a friend who's not doing well right now. He's stage four cancer, way too young. And just sort of as I was doing my research for you, I mean I already know so much about you,

but and I was digesting some of the stuff that I didn't know about you. I was taking a lot of lessons from what you said and I just need you to know how much, even if you're not speaking to me directly, in those episodes, like I'm gleaning information that's really been helpful. And if it's happening for me,

it's happening for so many people. Thank you. I really have learned through this that we can appreciate something without having to fully understand it. And that's been one of the greatest gifts. I really do not claim to have even a portion of the answers in the grand scheme.

I just have been so thankful to have these shared experiences with people. It's given my life a whole other degree of value and meaning and I'm so thankful. Thank you for doing this with me. I really, it's so good to reunite with you. Oh my gosh, if you ever need anything, I'm always here. It's just fun to get to talk to.

I mean, thanks for doing this, buddy. I love it. Don't worry, dinner's on me. No, you are so kind. Thank you for this. Hi, it's Jesse. I'm just popping on here again to, I guess, tie up a loose end about one of the conversations

I was having with Tyler at the end of this episode. That friend that I was talking about with him who was battling cancer, some of you may have put this together, is my dear friend Gavin Creel, who lost his battle to cancer a few days after the taping of this episode. He is going to be so missed. I think about him every day.

And I just wanna tell all of you to love each day that you're on this earth and to tell the people closest to you that you love, that you love on this earth, and to tell the people closest to you that you love, that you love them every day. Okay. Thanks for listening. This episode of Dinners on Me was recorded at Tara in Italy in Century City, California.

Next week on Dinners on Me, you know her from her CW series, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and her comedy special out this month on Netflix, Death, Let Me Do My Special. It's Rachel Bloom. We talk about grief, status dysmorphia, and why parenting is so weird. And if you don't wanna wait until next week to listen,

you can download that episode right now by subscribing to Dinners on Me Plus. As a subscriber, not only do you get access to new episodes one week early, you'll also be able to listen completely ad-free. Just click Try Free at the top of the Dinners on Me show page on Apple Podcasts to search your free trial today. on Apple Podcasts to search your free trial today.

Dinner is on Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our show runner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Angela Vang. Sam Baer engineered this episode. Hans-Dyl She composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison.

Special thanks to Tamika Balanz-Kalasny and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week.