Divine Encounters Episode 077 | Near-Death Experience Story
Tyler Deal was a young mountain biker who found his sanctuary among the redwoods, and who says he was also carrying a pain he did not want to look at. In this Divine Encounters episode he tells Alex Ferrari what he says happened after a crash on a forest trail: floating above the trees, a question about going further or going back, and a return that came with fairies, a humming symphony and a lifelong sense that nature is family.
Key Takeaways
- Tyler says he grew up deeply connected to nature, then carried suppressed emotional pain into his college years.
- He says he felt “there’s something wrong with me” so strongly that he asked God to take him, and he now shares that honestly.
- After a mountain bike crash, he describes floating above the redwood trees, feeling the wind, hearing distant birds and the ocean.
- He says he was asked, “do you want to go further, or do you want to go back?” and answered that he did not want to die.
- He describes forest fairies and a humming symphony from the trees that he believes was healing him as he came back.
- Tyler says he held the experience sacred and private for years, and that nature, not a human figure, was the presence he met.
- His closing thought: “Find ways to enjoy your life, no matter what you’re going through right now.”
| Guest | Tyler Deal |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 077 |
| Age at the time | About 20, in his second year of college |
| What Tyler says happened | He crashed on the last jump of a mountain bike trail and lost consciousness |
| Where he says he went | Above the redwood forest in northern California |
| Who he met | No beings or angels; he says the presence was nature itself |
| The message | A question: go further or go back |
| What changed | He says he came to see nature and the trees as his family, and later worked in quantum healing and body work |
Who Is Tyler Deal?
As a child, Tyler says, he was happy and felt very connected to nature. He had a sensitivity that seemed perfectly natural to him. Then his family moved to another state, and as he grew older he began to feel a lot of emotional pain that he did not want to look at. So he suppressed it.
He went back to California for college, and he says all the old sadness resurfaced. His way of coping was mountain biking and going into the forest. “The trees became my friends.” “The forest became my sanctuary.” It helped. But the pressure of not looking at himself did not go away.
“Something Wrong With Me”
Tyler describes an inner dialog that kept repeating: “there’s something wrong with me.” It got so bad, he says, that he began a conversation with God, with the divine, and told it he did not want to be here anymore. Please take me. It was too rough.
He was near the end of his second year of college and looking for a job. He felt disconnected from people and felt that nobody liked him. Looking back, he says, that was a reflection of how he felt inside. When you are in that kind of pain, he says, you feel like the only one on the planet going through it, though someone is always suffering more somewhere in the world.
If you are struggling, you are not alone. In the US you can call or text 988 any time. Tyler is open about this part of his story because he wants others to know they are not the only ones.
A Misty Morning in the Redwoods
About four days after one of those conversations, Tyler went into the forest to ride, as he always had. It was another day of being depressed, he says, and also a day of trying to find some peace among the trees. It was morning. The mist was clearing. He rode for a couple of hours.
Then he started back toward town on a trail alongside a road, hitting the jumps as he always did. The community forest was close to his college and he knew every trail. He never wore a helmet. He did not think it was cool. He was a 20 year old extreme mountain biker.
The very last jump had been built up since he last rode it. He says by the time he saw it, it was too late. In the air, he had a quick knowing: this was the moment. Then he came down on his front tire, and his body slapped onto the earth. He says he was out.
Floating Above the Redwoods
The next thing Tyler remembers is floating above the redwood trees. He is careful to say it was not an astral projection. It was his consciousness, his beingness. Everything became quiet, yet he was very sensitive to the elements around him. “I could feel the wind blowing through me.”
He heard birds. He heard dogs miles away as if they were right beside his ears. He could see the crystals on the redwood needles. “I could hear the ocean, which was several miles away.” Along with it all came an incredible amount of peace.
There was a familiarity, too. He says he knew who he was in that place, in a way he never did in the body of a young man who was so depressed. Time did not seem real at all. When he looked down, he saw his body curled on the ground in the redwood forest and thought, that is not really who I am. For a moment he simply enjoyed the peace.
The Question: Go Further or Go Back?
Tyler says a question bubbled up inside him. He did not hear a voice, exactly. He never saw beings or angels. “It was more of the presence of nature, more than anything.” The question was direct: “do you want to go further, or do you want to go back?”
He answered, “I don’t want to die.” The moment he said it, he says, he was slammed back into his body.
Pain, Fairies and a Humming Symphony
He came back breathing hard and feeling a tremendous amount of pain, an electrical, stabbing pain through his body. He says he was not exactly thinking. He was just asking why on earth he had come back.
As he was feeling that, he began to open his eyes, which were blurry. That is when he says he saw little fairies coming down from the trees. They were diving at him and giggling. They were like little angels, he says. He believes they were bringing lightness and love, or welcoming him back into earthly life. If you are curious about these beings, see our glossary entries on fairies and nature spirits.
At the same time, he heard an amazing humming sound. “It was more like a symphony.” He compares it to a Tibetan singing bowl. He knew it was coming from the trees and felt the vibration enter his body. He believes the trees were healing him and sending that energy down.
Then he brought his attention back to his breath, felt the pain again, and went out once more.
Waking in the Hospital
The next thing he remembers is waking in a hospital to a doctor asking him questions. The first thing he heard was that he was very lucky. He says he did not know his name, or where he was, or what town he was in. Then the doctor asked if he knew any phone number. Tyler blurted out the number of a family friend in town.
He was released that evening and stayed with the family friend for about a week, still in a lot of pain, resting on the doctor’s advice. Then his mother flew down and he went back to Washington State. He says he had a really bad concussion, so his memory returned slowly. First came his name, then his parents and sibling, and then the experience itself.
Keeping It Sacred
Tyler says he was not comfortable with it right away. In time it became sacred to him, and he did not want it polluted by other people’s opinions. That is part of why he held onto it for so long. He did no research. He did not even know people had near-death experiences. When he first watched videos of others, he says, the ones that resonated felt true to him.
He kept going into the woods, in Washington too, where he skied and spent time in the county forest behind his home. It was a kind of therapy, he says, though more than that. “That nature and the trees are my family.” He suggests that in a near-death experience, we meet what makes sense for us: if you believe in God, you might speak to God. For him, it made sense that nature was there, supporting him. Read more about the idea in our complete guide to near-death experiences.
He also describes an earlier moment, in a woman’s apartment, when his heart was open and his inner vision turned on. With his eyes closed, he says, he saw the same kind of fairies floating around, with little sparkles in his vision.
Serving Others
Tyler says he believes we are being challenged, even now, to be of greater help to others who have been through similar experiences, and to learn to serve and be authentic and real. He does not know the mechanism behind any of it, and does not think he has to. “We’re all doing the best we can.”
He says he learned quantum healing back in 2000 and had his own practice in Los Angeles, Florida and other places. People told him they felt amazing, and he thought he was just doing body work. Over time he blended the two, and he now works with people remotely. He does not like to put a label on it. He says it is not him doing it. People show up when they are ready, he says, and if there is a lesson still to be learned, the release will not happen. For a plain-language overview, see our entry on energy healing.
God, Love and the Good Life
Tyler’s definition of a good life is simple. He says living in Hawaii taught him about gratitude, and about “being able to serve without expectation.” For him, “God is love. God is everywhere.” He says his experience of God is a conversation, and seeing that God is in everything while staying curious.
His advice at the end is simple too. Take care of yourself and the ones you love. You are already doing the best you can. “You might as well have fun along the way.”
Tyler’s Story Beside Other Near-Death Accounts
Many people report leaving the body, a sense of deep peace, a question about staying or going, and a return that is not welcome at first. Tyler’s account is notable for what is missing and what is present. He says there were no beings of light or angels. There was the forest itself, with its sounds and vibration. We share his words as his experience, and we make no medical claims.
A Grounding Step
Tyler found a sanctuary in the trees long before the crash. If you can, spend ten minutes outside this week with nothing to fix. Listen for the farthest sound you can hear. Let it be enough.
Questions to Sit With
- Tyler says nature was his sanctuary. Where do you go to feel like yourself?
- He kept his experience private because it felt sacred. Is there something you are protecting right now, and is it time to share it?
- If someone asked you the question, go further or go back, what do you think your answer would say about what you love?
Take a short walk outside, with your phone away, and notice three sounds you usually miss.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Tyler says peace was there before he knew who he was.
- He says nature can be a presence, not only a place.
- He says that when you feel alone in your pain, someone else is often carrying more, and you are not alone.
- He says a good life is serving without expectation.
- He says we are all doing the best we can, so we can be kind to ourselves.
Please enjoy my conversation with Tyler Deal.
Guest Links: Connect With Tyler Deal
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Tyler Deal?
Tyler Deal is a near-death experiencer, mountain biker and bodyworker. He tells his story on Divine Encounters with host Alex Ferrari.
What happened to Tyler Deal?
Tyler says he crashed on the last jump of a mountain bike trail in northern California and lost consciousness. He says he floated above the redwood trees before returning to his body.
What did Tyler experience above the forest?
He describes deep silence and peace, and says he could feel the wind through him, hear distant birds and dogs, and hear the ocean several miles away.
Did Tyler meet any beings or angels?
He says no. He says the presence he met was nature itself, and that a question came to him rather than a spoken voice.
What question was Tyler asked?
He says he was asked whether he wanted to go further or go back. He answered that he did not want to die, and he says he was immediately returned to his body.
What were the fairies Tyler describes?
Tyler says little forest fairies came down from the trees, diving and giggling around him. He believes they were bringing lightness and love, or welcoming him back.
What was the humming sound?
He says it was like a symphony, similar to a Tibetan singing bowl, and that it came from the trees. He believes the vibration was healing him.
How long did Tyler keep his experience private?
He says he held on to it for a long time because it felt sacred and he did not want it affected by other people’s opinions. He did not research near-death experiences for years.
What does Tyler do now?
He says he learned quantum healing in 2000, had a practice in Los Angeles and Florida, and now works with people remotely from Hawaii. He says he does not like labels and that the work is not him.
What does Tyler say about God?
He says God is love and God is everywhere. He describes his experience of God as a conversation, and says he stays curious.
Is a near-death experience medical evidence?
Next Level Soul shares near-death experiences as lived experiences in the person’s own words. Researchers continue to study and debate what they mean. Nothing here is medical advice or a medical claim.
Keep Exploring
- The complete guide to near-death experiences
- What nature spirits are
- What a near-death experience is
- Jose Hernandez on overcoming fear and finding peace
- Betty Guadagno on an angry addict meeting heaven
- Hal Elrod on surviving death, cancer and depression
- Rob Gentile on the quantum side of the divine
- Dr. Anoop Kumar on heaven and healing the body
- Browse more free masterclasses and the Divine Encounters podcast.
Follow Along with the Transcript
Alex Ferrari 0:00
Tell me what your life was like before you died.
Tyler Deal 0:08
Well, I was fairly depressed person, I would say, as a kid in the younger years, I was happy. I felt like I was very connected to nature, and I had a sensitivity that was I looked at as just natural as a kid, and then as I got older, our family had moved to another state. And then as I got older, I began to experience a lot of emotional pain that I didn't want to look at. And so I had suppressed that pain. And through my teenage years, I went back to California for college, and it seemed like all of that suppressed sadness was resurfaced, and so at that time, I didn't want to look at it, but I had my own way of coping, which was to go into do mountain biking and to go into the forest, and the forest became the trees became my friends, and the forest became my sanctuary. So that's how I coped. However, there was still that pressure that was still that imminent pressure of not being able to look at myself, and I felt like there was something wrong with me, and that became kind of an internal dialog, basically, there's something wrong with me, there's something wrong with me, and it got so bad that I started to have a conversation with God, with the divine, saying, I don't want to be here anymore. Please take me. It's too rough. Please take me. It was the end of my second year of college, and I was looking for a job. I felt very disconnected from people. I felt like nobody liked me. Of course, it was a reflection of how I was feeling inside. You know, I felt when you're feeling this pain, you feel like you're the only one on the planet that's experiencing and that, little did I know at the time that there's always somebody that's suffering more than you or going through a harder time than you, wherever that may be in the world? I didn't know that. Then I just felt like, this is my world. This is my pain. And it was reflected, I guess you could say psychologically or from the egoic mind. And so it was a culmination of the two, but it still was. It's still one in the same if you look, if you look at it, I was biking around town, little town in northern California, and I was at that point, it was like, take me, take me, God. And so about four days later, I went to the forest, mountain biking like I had always done. And you know, it was just another day being depressed, but also at the same time finding, trying to find that piece and being with the trees. So I went to the forest. It was morning time. It was, you know, kind of that June Gloom in California. There was that mist that was coming by. It was in May, and then it was clearing. It was starting to clear. And I was probably there for a couple hours, and then I started to head back down towards town, because there's the community forest. Was very close to the little town into the college where I was attending, so I was familiar with all the trails, and I took a trail that was parallel to one of the roads and started to hit the jumps. I never wore a helmet. I didn't think it was a cool thing to do, really. I mean, because I was an extreme mountain biker, you know, you're, you're 20 year old kid, I take the jumps like I always had. And then the very last jump that I took, I noticed that it had been built up incredibly. I mean, I was familiar with it on past days, but somebody had built it up. But by that time, it was too late for me. I took that jump, and I knew, once I was in the air, that this was the moment, basically, that God had given me. It was like a quick knowing, Oh, I'm dead. So I came down on my front tire, bam, handlebars, head, neck, and my body slapped onto the earth, and I was completely out at that time. I mean, there might have been a moment where I felt just a little bit of pain, but it was like I wasn't going there. I was out. So the next moment of what I had remembered as I was floating above the redwood trees, I can't say it was like a an astro body projection. So I was just it was just like my consciousness, my beingness. It was a moment where everything became quiet. There was a silence, and yet I was very sensitized to the elements around me. And I could feel the wind blowing through me. I could hear birds and I could hear dogs miles away, although it sounded like they were right there in my ears, barking or chirping. I could see like the crystals on the redwood needles of the trees. I could hear the ocean, which was several miles away. And again, there was this incredible amount of peace. And it was like, Okay, here I am. But there was a familiarity in this space. It was like, This is who I am. I knew who I was at this place, and I didn't know who I was. I really didn't know who I was at all in that body, who was so depressed. So when I tell the story, it's interesting, because it's like there's all these moments in time, but it's not like time was real at all. And so I looked down and I saw my body, and I saw me all curled up on the ground there in the Redwood Forest, and was like, okay, that's not really who I am. And I began to kind of enjoy the space of this piece, incredible amount of peace where I was. And at that moment, or at some moment, there was a question that bubbled up inside me. It was like, wasn't like hearing a voice? I never saw any beings or angels during this experience. It was more of the presence of nature, more than anything. But there was this direct question that came, do you want to go further, or do you want to go back? And I said, I don't want to die. And as soon as I said, I don't want to die, I was slammed back into my body, and there was an incredible amount, like there was a heavy breathing, because I know that I must have lost my breath at that time. As I was breathing, I began to feel the pain, and it was a tremendous amount. It was a horrific amount of pain, electrical pain. It was, it was like a numbing, stabbing pain coursing throughout my body. And I'm thinking, I'm not even really thinking. I'm just like, Why the hell did I come back? Really? Basically, as I was experiencing this pain simultaneously, it began to open my eyes the best that I knew how everything was a little bit blurry at that time. And that's when I began to have this experience with fairies, little fairies, like Forest fairies coming down from the trees. They were dive bombing me. They were giggling. They were moving around me. So they were like, basically like my little angels. And I believe that they were bringing lightness, that they were bringing love to my situation, or they were welcoming me back here into this earthly experience. So that was that simultaneously I began to hear this amazing humming sound. It was like more than a humming it was more like a symphony. I explain it as the best way I know how to explain it is like a Tibetan singing bowl, where it's bringing this piece. And I knew it was from the trees, and I could feel this vibration coming into my body. And I believe that the trees, at that time were healing me. They were sending that energy down and healing me. I'm just kind of like, what's going on? And then I kind of brought my attention back with my breath, and that's when I felt the pain again. And as soon as I started to feel that tremendous amount of pain, it's like I didn't something happened where I didn't want to go there, and I completely I was out again. I was my consciousness went out. So the next thing I remember, I was woken up in the hospital by the doctor who was asking me a series of questions. First thing I heard was, you're very lucky. You're very lucky. You're very lucky. You didn't die, you didn't break any bones. You're very lucky. And then he began to ask me questions, you know, what's your name? I didn't know my name. You know, what town are you? Where are you? I didn't know any of these things at all, and he finally, he asked me one question. He says, Do you know any phone number? And I blurted out a phone number that from a family friend in town. It just came out. And so I was released that day, actually, that evening, from the hospital. I was given some pain medication. I went to my family friends. However, I was still experiencing a tremendous amount of pain, even though I was taking these meds. And so I stayed there for about a week because the doctor wanted me to rest. And so I stayed there for about a week before my mom flew down and picked me up and I went back up to Washington State. I was very comfortable with what happened, not right away. It took some time to get comfortable with it, but then it became an experience that was very sacred to me, and so I didn't want to have it polluted by other people's thoughts and polluted by what other, you know, other people's opinions. So that's part of the reason why I had held on to it for so long. I didn't do research. I didn't even really know that people had near death experiences, and I think, can't remember what the first one I heard it was way out there, and then the first one that I had seen, I started to watch videos, and there was more people that came out. And so I just kind of, I listened to those, more of those people that I felt it just felt it resonated with me. I guess you could say that truth resonated with me. Even when I was in Washington, I would love to go in the mountains and ski, or we had a county forest behind us where we had lived, and I was always in the woods. So it always was a in a way, you could call it therapy, but, but it was more than that. For me. It felt like it still does to this day, that nature and the trees are my family, and I think it's reflective of that. And it's, you know, if you believe in Hell, they might go there. If you believe in God, you might speak to God. So that makes the most sense to me that it would be nature that was there supporting there was an experience I had prior. I was seeing a woman. I was in love with this person, and my heart was very open. And I had an experience at one point when I was in her apartment. This was still in the same area where I had my eyes closed and I had my I guess you could call it like your third eye vision turned on, or your inner vision turned on. And I did see them in clarity. I saw that I saw those fairies floating around. They weren't making any noises, but I could see like little sparkles within my vision at that time. So that was, like my only experience I had about them. I mean, I had read about them prior to that, when I was a teenager, but I never really explored it, or I never really did any research about it. I didn't so much question what I saw, and I think that more so the processing took a while. It wasn't immediate. I mean, I was so focused on my body pain and getting well that I wasn't what the hell happened? I. Did have a really bad concussion, so my memory wasn't all there completely. So it took a while, as I started to get some therapies, it took a while for that memory to start showing me what was, you know, not, you know, first thing was my name, remembering my parents and my sibling, and then remember, beginning to remember the actual experience that happened. I really believe that we're being challenged, like even today, to be of greater help to others and to help serve others that have gone through similar experiences. And it doesn't have to be the exact same experience, but it can be a similar experience, and being able to serve, to learn how to serve, and to learn to be authentic and to be real and to be there for people. So why does that happen? I don't know what the mechanism is. I don't have the answers, but I don't think I have to be because really, I mean, we're all learning here. We're all learning what it is to be, you know, a human in these bodies on Earth. We're all doing the best we can. So we have to give ourselves a break and just be curious, because life always gets better, and it's always somebody always experiencing something worse than you are. Back in 2000 I had learned, learned quantum healing from one of the first people that actually did that. And so it had developed over the years. I had my own practice in LA and Florida, other places, people began to say, Oh, I feel amazing. You know, what are you doing? I'm just like, I'm just doing body work. You know, I'm not doing anything special. So then I began to kind of blend the two, you could say, of quantum healing and body work as I was touching people. And it had, it has evolved to where I don't actually physically touch people, but I work with people remotely. Now you could call it quantum healing, but I don't like to put a label on it. It's basically looking at where people need to work. And it's not, it's not me doing it. I can say, I could say that it's basically, yeah, it's them because they're, they're ready to make a change, and it's that greater power that wants to help. So I don't necessarily like to take credit for it, but people do show up when they're ready to make a shift in their lives. Maybe, you know, they're a spiritual seeker, and they still have stuff going on from their past. So I can see what's going on inside the body, and I can see what's going on around the body, and the energy is very respectful. I could say it's source, and it's kind of attuned to this person specifically, and if they're ready to have a release in that area, whatever that area resistance is, then they will. If they're not, but there's still a lesson there, then it won't happen. Most often, people are ready to have some kind of release, I could, you could say, or they're ready to move to another level, spiritually. And there's a space for that to happen when people come to me, my definition of living a good life is very simple. It's loving acts of deeds. I think living in Hawaii has really taught me that, because the people here are so incredible, being grateful for everything, no matter what comes into my life, and seeing the gift, but basically just being able to serve without expectation, being able to help people without any expectation, and just doing it from my heart, that I believe is the good life. God is love. God is everywhere. And I know that's that can be kind of mental for people, but honestly, my experience with God is just having a conversation with God and being able to see that God is in everything, and being also curious and not knowing that I don't know I have all the answers, and that maybe someday God will reveal him, her itself, to everyone in some way. And I hope that happens for everybody. Find ways to enjoy your life, no matter what you're going through right now. And I don't know what that is for anybody, and I don't claim to be some some know it all, but take care of yourself and take care of the ones you love, and you're already doing the best you can, so You might as well have fun along the way.
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