The Journey On Podcast with Warwick Schiller

Guest: Lauren Wingate
Date: February 13, 2026
Episode Theme:

Navigating Intuition, Animal Communication, and the Transformation Triangle

Episode Overview

In this captivating episode, Warwick Schiller sits down with Lauren Wingate, a seasoned animal communicator and intuitive mentor with over 25 years of experience. The conversation delves into Lauren’s journey of self-discovery and the development of her intuitive gifts, exploring how trauma can shape sensitivity, how animals—especially horses—respond to our deepest energies, and how heart-centered living transforms both animal and human connections. Lauren shares profound stories of animal communication and outlines her approach to guiding people toward heart-centered relationships with their horses and themselves.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lauren Wingate: Background and Arrival in Tryon, North Carolina

• Lauren currently lives in Tryon, NC, a vibrant equestrian hub (02:14).
• Originally from California, she moved to the East Coast to support a family member with cancer and subsequently made it her home (03:56).
• Diverse professional background: marketing, communications, real estate, commercial interior design—and ultimately, intuition and animal communication.
• Began combining intuitive mentorship and animal communication into a transformative “Transformation Triangle” program in June 2025 (05:02).

2. Discovering and Nurturing Her Gift

• Lauren recounts first conscious animal communication experience at a horse show in Portola Valley:

  “It was kind of like a radio dial tuned in and the horse just started talking to me... he’s telling me that he hasn’t been warmed up enough and that his left shoulder is sore.”
  (05:27)

• Describes growing up highly sensitive in a violent home, learning early to hide her abilities (20:26).
• First major vision at 13, seeing a puma and a jaguar in her backyard, later interpreted by a shaman as a message representing the unity of North and South America (24:09).
• Turning point in her late 20s when a spiritual chiropractor identified energy flowing through her hands, prompting Lauren to embrace her abilities (27:09).

3. The Science & Art of Energy

• Lauren frames all beings as “walking energy fields” with influence and overlap like a Venn diagram (22:58).
• Emphasizes the need for energetic boundaries, especially for empaths, for health and personal clarity (23:04).

4. Communication Beyond the 3D: The Energy Room

• Lauren’s process involves “meeting animals beyond the three-dimensional space… in the energy room”—a heart-centered, high-vibrational setting that horses (and other animals) readily enter (07:57).
• Horses crave “truth” from humans, instantly resonating with authentic heart energy and withdrawing from incongruence (11:51).

Notable Story:

• An Arabian mare, on first meeting Lauren, places her head on Lauren’s shoulder to bask in the heart energy, stunning the owner (09:31).

“She wanted to be in that energy. She wanted to be a part of this... I’ve never seen my horse do this.”
—Lauren Wingate (10:37)

5. Trauma as the Gateway to Sensitivity

• Discussion on how childhood trauma or environments in which one has to stay hypervigilant often triggers enhanced perception—a common thread among shamans and intuitives (20:49).

“A lot of times your trauma is your gift. You may not have found your gift if you weren't on high alert all the time.”
—Warwick Schiller (21:53)

6. Embracing and Professionalizing Her Abilities

• After shamanic and meditative experiences—including intense visions in Sedona—Lauren transitioned into professional animal communication (34:35).
• Initial apprehension and fear of judgment, especially 25 years ago when “nobody talked about energy” (64:57).
• Now recognizes her gift as a catalyst for helping people and animals transform, especially by giving animals a “free voice” (64:57, 80:06).

7. Powerful Client and Animal Stories

• In Carmel Valley: Helped a “prisoner” alpha mare finally lie down and relax by holding a heart-centered space; horse placed her head on Lauren’s thigh afterwards (41:34).
• Energy Residue: Helped a Friesian too scared to walk to the end of his paddock, sensing where another horse had died (41:34).
• Animal Spirits: Saw the spirits of two deceased cats merge to support their grieving owner (70:34).
• Transformation Triangle: Client on the verge of selling her horse because of their difficulties fell back in love with the horse after heart-based work (72:30).

8. The Transformation Triangle

A methodology combining intuitive mentorship and animal communication:

• Person, horse, and the apex: their relationship (13:45, 53:15).
• Empowers people to “shift their lens” and operate from their hearts—not their heads—when interacting with horses, resulting in rapid, profound change (13:48, 53:15).
• Teaches clients to ground themselves and connect before approaching their horses, ensuring they bring heart-centered energy (13:48, 77:49).

9. Intuition: From Woo to Precision

“Intuition isn’t woo. Intuition is precision. It’s that simple, because when it’s at a high level…it’s very surgical. You just go in and pull exactly…what do you want to do with this?”
—Lauren Wingate (84:24)

10. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On intuition and anxiety:

  “Your intuition will speak to you in statements and your anxiety will speak to you in questions.”
  —Warwick Schiller (17:32)

• On horses and truth:

  “If you’re not going to show up in your truth, they’re not really interested.”
  —Lauren Wingate (52:43)

• On her mare’s love:

  “She turned and looked at me and shot me full of a love that I have never experienced in my life. The vibration was so high, I could not take it all in.”
  (75:39)

11. Leadership and Followership—A Partnership

• Leadership is grounded in self-confidence, clear energy, and “inner knowing”; followership is knowing when to trust and let go—like letting the horse or partner lead:

  “Leadership is the confidence, but it’s also the knowing when it’s time to be the follower and letting go of any ego around that.”
  —Lauren Wingate (98:34)

• Warwick reinforces the idea:

  “A good leader has to know how to lead, but he also has to be able to follow the follow.”
  (100:50)

Key Timestamps

• Lauren's Background & Moving to Tryon: 02:14
• Discovery of Animal Communication Gift: 05:27
• Energy Boundaries & Walking Energy Fields: 22:58
• Childhood Trauma and Intuitive Gift: 20:49
• Shamanic Vision at Age 13: 24:09
• Sedona & Embracing Spiritual Gifts: 34:35
• First Public Appearance & Fear of Judgment: 66:48
• Carmel Valley Mare Story: 41:34
• Intuition as Precision: 84:24
• Leadership/Followership Philosophy: 98:34
• Profound Connection with Her Mare: 75:39
• How to Connect With Lauren: 102:20

Episode Takeaways

• Horses—and all animals—are highly attuned to energy, responding far more to the “truth” and state of our hearts than our words or actions.
• Deep personal transformation is possible when we learn to live from the heart, not the head.
• Empaths and sensitive people must learn to set energetic boundaries for health and wellbeing.
• Intuition, often dismissed as “woo,” is a powerful, precise, and natural sense available to all but especially strong in some.
• True partnership with horses and humans alike requires the humility and awareness to both lead and follow as context demands.

How to Find Lauren Wingate

• Website: thewingateway.com/the-transformation-triangle
• Instagram: @animalcommunicatorlauren
• Facebook: Animal Communicator Lauren Wingate

Host:
Warwick Schiller — Online Training Library, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram

“The journey is the destination.”—Warwick Schiller