An extended illness at age 12 led to her unwavering vision of becoming a nurse. A long marriage to a prolific artist led her to explore creativity—who has it, how can it be tapped, and why this is important in daily living. The death of her young sister-in-law brought early awareness of the denial of death that our culture fosters as well as the knowledge that death can occur at any moment. Her mother’s obsession with the fear of a long drawn out dying process illuminated the opposite side of sudden death.

In the mid-seventies, Laura attended numerous conferences and talks on the burgeoning Holistic Health Movement. She found this expanded view of health and wellness allowed participation in a variety of healing modalities, as well as involving the spirit and emotions in the healing process. This began to fill in the gaps of her western medical education at UCLA. Along with Gale Gerhardt, Diane Sanson, and Eileen Sheff, Laura hosted daylong workshops for women and healing over a period of several years.

In the early eighties, Laura began exploring the relationship between creativity and health through the publication of 16 editions of the Blue Sky Journal. The Journal invited people who did not consider themselves to be artists or writers to submit poetry, stories, art, or articles about creative people. The purpose was to stimulate creativity in each of us as well as bringing community to this process.

This venture was amplified by a yearly event of performances, called the Festival of Epidauros. This title came from a tiny article in the Sunday paper describing the ancient Greek healing site where massage, dreamwork, athletics, poetry, drama, dance and music were used to enhance the healing process. Again, Laura encouraged those who would not normally choose to expose their feelings or talents in front of others to take that step and see where it would lead.

In the interest of promoting health and well being in her community Laura began and continues teaching dance excercise classes and practicing Swedish massage therapy under the name Blue Sky Bodyworks.

A book falling out of a bookstore shelf on creating personal Mission Statements led to workshops taking charge of one’s purpose and goals.

By the nineties, the parents of many of Laura’s friends were beginning the dying process as well as peers succumbing to cancer. These stories, each in their own way, brought light to the changes in our medical system in this century, the disconnection between spirit and the body, and how and when purpose in life can be related to living it well or letting it go.

Attending Toastmasters International weekly meetings began crystallizing all of these thoughts into speeches, which then became chapters of a book and a daylong seminar, both with the title, ‘Facing the Final Mystery’.

Laura Larsen invites you to Face the Final Mystery by examining your feelings and beginning the conversations about life and death that are encouraged in both the book and the seminar.

Education:

UCLA School of Nursing 1966 BS RN

Santa Monica School of Massage 1985 RMT

Continuing Education Units for RN License 1980 - Present

Work Experience

- UCLA Medical Center as an RN 1966-67

- Dr. Tom Hodges in Malibu as an RN 1967-73

- Blue Sky Bodyworks Dance Exercise Classes

Owner/Teacher 1983 - Present

- Massage Therapist 1985 - Present

- Teacher at Massage School of Santa Monica 1994 – Present

- Teacher of Massage and Yoga at UCLA Circle of Caring

Retreat for Healthcare Professionals 1996 - Present

Special Projects:

- Blue Sky Women’s Health Retreats 1976 - 1982

- Blue Sky Journal 1984 – 1992

- Epidauros Festival 1985 – 1998

- Couples Massage Workshops 1988 – 1997

- Facing the Final Mystery Seminars 1998 - Present

- Author of "Facing the Final Mystery" Published June 2002

- Co-host Town Meetings in Malibu in connection with

Bill Moyers' Dying: On Our Own Terms

September 7, 2000 and November 8, 2000 at Pepperdine University

- Panel member Palisades AARP on End-of-Life Issues

September 13, 2000

- Presenter UCLA Ethics of Caring conference

March 8, 2002

- Member Ethics Commitee Santa Monica/UCLA Hospital

2002 to Present

- Presenter "Facing theFinal Mystery" workshop at Esalen Institute

January 3-5, 2003

- Participant in Nursing Home Interview Project

Begining January 21, 2003

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