

Deconstruction
Rachael Spyker
Deconstructing the narratives that define our lives to find the common humanity in all of us. Deconstruction explores psychology, spirituality, and society to navigate the world with depth, clarity, and liberation. Hosted by Rachael, a psychedelic psychotherapist, this podcast offers:
Interviews – Conversations with visionaries shaping new ways of being.
Anam Cara – A series with Alice as a container of belonging and relational depth.
Experientials – Guided meditations, bodyful practices, and immersive experiences.
Join us as we reclaim wholeness and belonging.
www.alchemycounselling.ca
Interviews – Conversations with visionaries shaping new ways of being.
Anam Cara – A series with Alice as a container of belonging and relational depth.
Experientials – Guided meditations, bodyful practices, and immersive experiences.
Join us as we reclaim wholeness and belonging.
www.alchemycounselling.ca
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 22, 2025 • 46min
6. Treehouse Project | BONUS episode: A Guided Encounter with Earth & Body
A guided somatic journey into your body and into the body of the Earth.In this bonus episode from the Treehouse Project, Rachael shares a short, potent commentary on the origins of this guided meditation—created during a time of deep personal and political upheaval. Originally made to regulate her own nervous system while navigating a wave of collective reactivity, the meditation was recorded in real time from a jungle treehouse.This episode almost didn’t get released. It emerged from a charged moment inside the psychedelic therapy world, entangled with systems Rachael cares deeply about. And after returning home, a painful moment of creative misattunement nearly kept it buried.But this piece is being shared now—not because it needs to be heard, but because it no longer needs to be understood.The guided meditation begins at 10:45.Offered in devotion to the Earth, to the trees, and to the body as belonging.May it hold you as you return. On this Earth Day, may your body remember it belongs to something vast, rooted, and alive.For the best experience, I recommend listening with headphones, in a quiet, comfortable space with soft or low lighting. Let this be a moment just for you.Find the Complete Treehouse Project hereLearn More: Alchemy & Rachael

Apr 12, 2025 • 1h 23min
The Commodification of the Sacred: Psychedelics, Activism, & the Feminine Reclamation (Marisa Radha Weppner)
What happens when spiritual awakening meets a collapsing world?In this pivotal episode, Rachael sits down with psychedelic therapist and spiritual activist Marisa Radha Weppner for a soul-deep conversation on truth, discernment, and sacred responsibility. Together, they name what many are afraid to: the commodification of psychedelics, the seductive trap of spiritual bypass, and the crisis of conscience in wellness spaces gone silent.This is a conversation about what it really means to integrate—not just your journey, but your place in the world. Radha speaks from the frontlines of embodied activism, weaving decades of experience with grief for the Earth, anger at injustice, and love for what’s still possible.They explore:Spiritual disillusionment and the myth of psychedelic salvation.Why discernment—not transcendence—is the medicine we need.Environmental grief and the psychic cost of extractive culture. Activism as a nervous system responseHow to return to the sacred in a time of collapseThis episode is a mirror for those ready to reckon with complexity and reclaim clarity. It’s for the ones who can’t look away—and won’t.Find more about their work here:Radha's WebsiteLove Service Wisdom PodcastGuidance meditation Instagram East Forest's Music Episode Commentary: Architecture of ProgrammingLearn more: Alchemy & Rachael

Apr 2, 2025 • 44min
Myth as Medicine: Animism, Psychedelics, & Cultural Repair (Simon Yugler)
In this episode of Deconstruction, I’m joined by Simon Yugler—depth psychotherapist, psychedelic guide, and author of Psychedelics and the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology, and Cultural Repair. Together, we spiral into the terrain of mythopoetics as a lens for meaning-making in times of upheaval and unknowing.We explore how story becomes a map—for navigating life, altered states, for integration, for grief. We speak of animism, the de-souled world, and what it means to come back into right relationship with the Earth—and with soul. Simon offers reflections on ontological addiction, facilitator integrity, and the cost of chasing peak experiences without myth or community.This conversation is a living invitation:to heal through story,to reweave our world with meaning,to remember that transformation—like myth—moves in spirals.Find more about Simon Here:SubstackWebsiteInstagramBookLearn More: Alchemy & Rachael

Mar 30, 2025 • 35min
5. Treehouse Project | Finale: Guided Inner Child Meditation
This final meditation in the Treehouse Project is a tender homecoming!Created as a sanctuary for the moments when big emotions rise—when you recognize the feeling isn’t just about now, but something from long ago. This is a guided journey into the safe forest within you, where your inner child awaits your presence. Here, you’re invited to tend gently to whatever is present with care, curiosity, and love.🌲 PreparationTo receive this meditation fully, I recommend:• Finding a quiet, private space where you won’t be interrupted• Using headphones for an immersive experience• Bringing a blanket, pillow, or comfort item• Lighting a candle or dimming the lights to create a soft atmosphere• Placing a few meaningful objects nearby—stones, totems, photos, or anything that feels comforting or grounding• Giving yourself time afterwards to journal, rest, or simply beThis is a space to slow down and listen. A moment to return to yourself.This offering is a love letter to the child within, and to the living Earth who reminds us how to root, how to be, how to belong.Thank you for being part of the Treehouse Project—a living, breathing exhibit devoted to presence and protection.To support forest conservation efforts, visit: Jaguar Rescue CentreLearn More: Alchemy & Rachael

Mar 18, 2025 • 21min
4. Treehouse Project | Fear Becoming Courage: Sitting with Sensations Meditation
The Fourth episode of the Treehouse Project, this guided meditation invites you into the depths of your own body, where sensations hold stories and fear is simply courage waiting to unfold.Born from a deeply attuned therapeutic relationship, this meditation was originally created for someone who had spent years building resilience, learning to meet their panic with compassion. Through accompaniment and somatic presence, they discovered the power of moving toward rather than away from the energy locked in their nervous system. With time and care, they found their own ability to hold what once felt unbearable.Now, this meditation exists as a bridge, for them and for you. A resource to accompany you as you turn toward the sensations within, knowing you are not alone.With gentle guidance, we will:• Locate the places inside holding tension or emotion• Meet them with presence instead of avoidance• Offer them care, breath, and attunement• Move with what arises, trusting your body’s wisdomThis is a space of deep listening—to your body, to your inner child, and to the wisdom that unfolds when we allow ourselves to stay.For the best experience, I recommend listening with headphones, in a quiet, comfortable space with soft or low lighting. Let this be a moment just for you.Integration and Self-CareAfter this meditation, you will find guidance on how to care for yourself after deep inner work, along with practical integration support. Drink water, journal, move, rest, or seek connection. However you choose to tend to yourself, know that you are worthy of it.*Trying to capture a deeply attuned dyadic intervention in a meditation was something I had never done before. There are things I would tweak next time, but this is the original offering for the Treehouse Project exhibition. It was meaningful to create, and I look forward to developing this skill further*In celebration of this release, donations have been made to the Irish Wildlife Trust, an offering back to the land that holds us. And in honour of the one and only Hozier, whose artistry reminds us that music, activism, and reverence for nature are deeply intertwined.Take your time. You are held.Alchemy & Rachael

Mar 15, 2025 • 31min
3. Treehouse Project | The First Meditation
This meditation was the first one I recorded for the Treehouse Project! Though I almost did not release it. I avoided listening to it. But when I finally sat down to listen, I saw something I had not expected. I saw nervousness.I saw nervousness, but I also saw courage. I was stepping into something unknown, offering something deeply personal. And that kind of expression does not come without weight.Relating to it as art softened that.This meditation is an invitation into process. Into the state we so often enter before we begin. A state of hesitation, contraction, and the choice to move through.For the best experience, I recommend listening with headphones, in a quiet, comfortable space with soft or low lighting. Let this be a moment just for you.This episode includes: • Commentary on my initial resistance, perfectionism, and the unexpected layers of nervousness I encountered in the recording process. I share how this meditation became a mirror for my own growth and how I learned to soften control and surrender to the process of art. • Body Scan Meditation (begins at 9:06), raw, untouched. A practice of slowing down, meeting yourself where you are, and arriving fully in and through the noise of life.The Treehouse Project is not about perfection. It is about presence. | A Living Exhibition of Consciousness, The Treehouse project is a series of six guided meditations designed to root people into their bodies, to restore the relationship between Self and Body, Us and Land. I recorded these meditations in a treehouse surrounded by the living, breathing Jungle. This is about activating relationship through an immersive experience of the living world moving through human consciousness. They are meant as medicine.To bring you back into your own House of Belonging.This meditation was the first one I recorded and the third to be released. It carries something essential. As always, this offering is in service to the Trees. With this release, I donated to the Jane Goodall Canada Institute.

Mar 7, 2025 • 38min
2. Treehouse Project | A Guided Meditation & Story for Sleep *
This is the second episode of the Treehouse Project, a series of six guided meditations designed to root people into their bodies, to restore the relationship between Self and Body, Us and Land.This project unfolds as an interactive multimedia art exhibit. It moves between meditation, storytelling, and direct action,This guided meditation was designed to help you transition out of the day and into deep rest*. Through breath, body awareness, and gentle surrender, you will be guided into a state of relaxation, allowing your nervous system to settle and your mind to quiet. As you soften into sleep, a nighttime story told by the great Myth teller, Alice, will accompany you into the dream world, inviting your imagination to drift into restful wonder. *For the best experience, I recommend listening with headphones, in a quiet, comfortable space with soft or low lighting. Let this be a moment just for you.Each meditation in this series is part of a fundraiser for the forests. With this episode, I am donating to the Ancient Forest Alliance, an organization working to protect British Columbia’s endangered old-growth forests and ensure sustainable forestry practices for future generations.Listen now and join me in protecting the forests.* Artist Commentary:I love the content and intention of this meditation. But the sound quality is Horrendous. The cicadas are like metallic jolts in my eardrums. There was also a real Trickster moment with the music at the end that, for artist integrity, I could not change. As a piece of art, come bear witness. But as an actual mental health resource... I’ll record a new one soon! Alchemy & Rachael

Feb 24, 2025 • 28min
1. Treehouse Project | What to Remember When Waking: A Guided Morning Meditation
This is the first episode of the The Treehouse Project | A Living Exhibition of Consciousness! The Treehouse project is a series of six guided meditations designed to root people into their bodies, to restore the relationship between Self and Body, Us and Land. I recorded these meditations in a treehouse surrounded by the living, breathing Jungle. This is about activating relationship through an immersive experience of the living world moving through human consciousness. They are meant as medicine.To bring you back into your own House of Belonging.This morning meditation is designed to gently awaken your awareness, ground you in your body, and invite clarity for the day ahead. Whether you are stepping into a full schedule or moving slowly through your morning, this meditation serves as an anchor into presence, breath, and embodied aliveness.For the best experience, I recommend listening with headphones, in a quiet, comfortable space with soft or low lighting. Let this be a moment just for you.Each meditation in this series is part of a fundraiser for the forests. With this first episode, I am donating to Rainforest Concern’s Bosque de las Madres Biological Corridor, a reforestation and conservation project protecting the sacred ecosystems that jaguars and countless other beings call home.Listen now and join me in protecting the Forests.Alchemy & Rachael

Feb 21, 2025 • 29min
Why We Prayed to the Wi-Fi: A Heretical Act of Reverence
What if the experiences you have shape not only who you are but how you experience reality? In this episode of Deconstruction, Rachael and Alice explore how tuning into your body can help you break free from unconscious programming, expand your awareness, and rebuild practices that feel true to you.Beginning with a spontaneous prayer to the Wi-Fi—both playful and intentional—their conversation unfolds into a deeper look at how beliefs live in the body and shape our sense of connection, meaning, and identity. Through personal stories, including Rachael’s process of confronting the word prayer and discovering what resonates beyond its past associations, they explore how becoming more conscious of these patterns creates space for individuation, freedom, and expansion.This episode invites you to slow down, notice what arises as you listen, and discover how deconstructing the beliefs beneath your experiences can reshape the way you move through the world.Learn More: Alchemy & Rachael

Feb 13, 2025 • 13min
Meeting Yourself Here: A Meditation to Connect with What Is Alive Within
This meditation is an invitation to be in active relationship with your body—to notice what is present, turn toward it with care, and allow space for energy to move.Rather than forcing change, this practice supports you in creating internal safety, attuning to your body’s wisdom, and witnessing yourself with love. With each breath, you are met exactly where you are, accompanied in the courageous act of being with what is alive inside you.You do not have to do this alone.Stay as long as it feels right, pause when needed, return whenever you choose. This is your space.This is for you.For the best experience, I recommend listening with headphones, in a quiet, comfortable space with soft or low lighting. Let this be a moment just for you.More information: Alchemy& Rachael