In this conversation, Ben tells us the story of realizing that at some point his heart had snuck out the back door. In that moment he heard these powerful words: “if you don’t have your heart you have nothing.” He tells us about how this experience launched him into a mythic quest to find his heart again, a journey he shares in his book The Way Home.   We talk about his experiences with synchronicities, vision quests, and the power of images to guide us on our mythic journeys. We explore practices that help us find our heart and Ben encourages us to find practices that “we feel charm around” as we court our hearts back to the center of our lives.   Ben Katt is a meditation teacher, hospice chaplain, and coach. He is the author of THE WAY HOME: Discovering the Hero’s Journey to Wholeness at Midlife. Ben teaches meditation in prisons and facilitates wellbeing experiences for companies and organizations. He is a certified advanced meditation teacher, holds a Master of Divinity degree, and is a former ordained minister. He lives in Milwaukee, WI with his wife and three children.   website: www.benjaminkatt.com book link: thewayhomebook.com IG: @akabenkatt   Here is the episode with Cherie that I mentioned: Sexuality, Spirituality, and Self-Belonging with Cherie Katt I would love to connect with you! Website: www.drvanyaleilani.com Check out my new book: The Flesh and the Fruit Download my free eBook: A Guide for Leaving the Obedient Life Offerings in The School of Wild Knowing Find me on Instagram @drvanyaleilani

In this conversation, I am joined by the wonderful Molly Remer, MSW, D.Min. We discuss the dance between effort and ease that our days bring. We explore what she calls, “the revolution of lying down” and the importance of recognizing when we are on the edge of too-muchness. We talk about honoring our limitations and finding places of restoration. Molly also shares her beautiful insights on cultivating the sacred experience in everyday life and on the magic of power spots.  To connect more with Molly and her work: Etsy shop for books and goddesses: http://brigidsgrove.etsy/com Daily practice and everyday magic: http://30daysofgoddess.com Power Spots kit: https://www.30daysofgoddess.com/power-spots-resource-kit Permission slips for allowing: https://brigidsgrove.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Permission-Slips.pdf Also Find our more about my book, The Flesh and the Fruit Find out more about The School of Wild Knowing enrolling now!

In this conversation, Erin and I explore what it means to follow the ways of water. She shares the significance of her lifelong relationship with water, and we talk about how water remembers where we come from and where we belong. We also talk about desire as a key to our belonging and the power to create and re-create worlds by following what we want.     As we follow the ways of water, Erin helps us re-member ourselves as part of Nature and invites us into re-membering our belonging here in these bodies and on this Earth. She shares suggestions for ways of practicing embodiment and staying close to the lived experiences of our bodies.     Erin Chalfant, MA, MFA is Program Director and Core Faculty at Alliance Avalonia a Published Author, Holistic Coach, mother, adventurer and mystic. She is the founder of Wild Sage Path, where she supports women in reconnecting with themselves through Earth-Based Spirituality Practices in the Indigenous Celtic Traditions. She facilitates deep and powerful work in ceremonial spaces with plant medicines and supports the integration process for a variety of profound journeys. She is completing a Doctorate in Depth Psychology and is rooted in Indigenous Earth-Based Wisdom Practices, Western Herbalism, Hatha Yoga, Hakomi (Mindfulness-based Somatic Psychotherapy), and Buddhist Meditation.  She offers 1-1 integrative counseling sessions both in person and remotely in California, and also teaches online class immersions that open seasonally, including The Song of the Dragon ~ a collaboration with her teacher and dear friend Holly Hamilton at Alliance Avalonia.   To connect with Erin: Visit her at WildSagePath.com IG @Erin.of.the.wild To connect with Vanya: Visit www.drvanyaleilani.com IG @drvanyaleilani

In this episode, I tell the story of Bluebeard and explore this archetypal figure. Bluebeard exposes the nuances of a kind of archetypal experience where we may be charmed into believing that what keeps us too small is beautiful, and that what offers us favor is also keeping us safe when in fact, it is plotting our disappearance. Bluebeard forbids knowing and demands unquestioned obedience. In this story we find a powerful example of how disobedience can propel us out of harm and falseness and into safety and freedom. Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes wrote that learning to recognize Bluebeard is an initiation into becoming someone who know how to see beyond the overt. Learning to recognize Bluebeard in our lives is crucial as we transgress out of obedience into more freedom, sovereignty, and belonging. www.drvanyaleilani.com @drvanyaleilani Download Ebook for free: A Guide to Leaving the Obedient Life

In this episode, Lucy H. Pearce shares her thoughts, experiences, and deep wisdom with us as we explore creativity and the creative life. We talk about the threshold where the urgent creative force meets daily life, and the treasures and tensions we might meet there. Our conversation includes questions and reflections on the nature of creativity, recognizing its call, and the importance of knowing when things are just too much. We talk about the importance of claiming our own time and of being meaning-makers rather than only consumers. As we circle around creativity and the creative life, we recognize creativity as magical and sacred act as we engage with the unknown and bring it into form. In this beautiful conversation, Lucy offers us her vulnerability and truths as she tells us about both the freedom and the sacrifices that come along with living a life devoted to creativity. More about Lucy ~ Crow Moon: reclaiming the wisdom of the dark woods, the latest book by Lucy H. Pearce is available worldwide wherever you get your books. For signed copies visit https://womancraftpublishing.com/product/crow-moon/ AND Join Lucy H. Pearce for a Live Masterclass on Tuesday 28th May, 7-8.30pm UK time (BST) WORD + image LIVE MASTERCLASS: Becoming Visible Join Lucy as she shares one of the key images – the cloak – from her most recent book, Crow Moon in this live Zoom class. This class is for you if you are wanting to step into greater visibility in your life – be that public speaking, sharing your art or writing, starting or building a public social media presence, wanting to unmask and be more authentically yourself with family and friends, taking on a larger role at work, sharing more openly about your spiritual path, starting a blog or podcast, starting or leading a group… Find out more and sign up - https://womancraftpublishing.com/product/becoming-visible/ lucyhpearce.com You can also find Womancraft and Lucy on instagram: @lucyhpearce @womancraft_publishing

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Safron Rossi about the Kore Goddess, an archetypal pattern that is deeply linked with sovereignty, self-belonging, and psychological integrity. The Kore has to do with our ability to know where we stand, to be grounded in our deep essential nature, and to be in vital relationship with our own emotional reality and vision. The Kore sanctifies the inner life. Focusing on Persephone as a primary example of a Kore goddess, Dr. Rossi explores the complexity of this pattern and the ways in which we can return to the Kore even as we live out the many roles involved in the human drama. We discuss the mythic and archetypal significance of virginity as an inviolable “unto-one-selfness” and the power of the Kore to guide us into a state of being where we are one-in-ourselves. Find more of Dr. Safron Rossi's work: www.thearchetypaleye.com www.winterpresspublishers.com IG @archetypaleye

As we begin the next season of the podcast, I explore five significant aspects of archetypal belonging: the complexity of belonging, false belonging, sacred un-belonging, self-belonging, and wild belonging. These are five faces of belonging that we will encounter as we dance with this archetypal experience. I hope you enjoy this episode! ***To learn more about this community visit my website here. ***Join us for Monday Morning Circle every Monday at 7:30 am PST ~ we meet virtually and it's free. Get the link here! ***Download my free Ebook: A Guide for Leaving the Obedient Life here! ***Learn more about my book, The Flesh & The Fruit: Remembering Eve & the Power of Creative Transgression! It will be released on October 11th! If you are on Instagram, connect with me there! www.drvanyaleilani.com

In this episode, Kaitlyn Wildare returns to the podcast for a conversation about Winter Solstice and the Holidays. We explore the meaning of Winter Solstice, especially in the midst of all the holiday festivities. We ask the question: Does the Winter Solstice offer us another way to move through this time of the year? The Winter Solstice invites us into quiet, slowness, and inwardness. It reminds us of the necessity of the dark and the value of dormant seasons. We discuss ways that we can stay rooted in our nature, even while playing with the culture. In all of this, we are invited to befriend more aspects of our nature and experiences and deepen into our sense of belonging within these rhythms. As always, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to send me a message! www.drvanyaleilani.com

Dr. Vaughan Wilkins, an ecopsychologist dedicated to understanding how modern life impacts our mental health, delves into the concept of 'enculturated captivity.' He discusses how the pressures of contemporary living lead to isolation and trauma. The conversation emphasizes our innate longing for connection to nature, urging a return to traditional ecological practices for healing. Dr. Wilkins also critiques contemporary wellness culture and encourages embracing a regenerative way of life that fosters deeper well-being and ecological balance.

In this episode, I am joined by Cherie Katt, a licensed mental health counselor and a certified sex therapist. We discuss the connection and kinship between our spiritual selves and our sexual selves. Exploring the personal and collective stories that serve to sever our sense of connection between our sexuality and spirituality, we also explore topics like silence and shame, claiming our pain and our desire, and the importance of play and of learning to be at home in ourselves. During this episode, we return again and again to the heartbeat of this conversation: the call to belong to ourselves and to a life of enjoyment and pleasure. Contact info for Cherie: email: counseling@cheriekatt.com website: www.cheriekatt.com As always, I would love to hear from you! You can send me a message here.