Becoming Your Warrior
Hosted by Emma Ritchie, ex-TV producer turned Mindset Coach, hypnotherapist and Founder of The Mindset Redesign, Becoming Your Warrior is a deep, soulful, and empowering podcast designed to help you step into the next chapter of your life with confidence, clarity, and self-love.
Through powerful mindset shifts, guided reflections, and honest conversations, Emma helps you break free from self-doubt, reconnect with your inner strength, and create a life that feels truly aligned. Whether navigating change, healing old wounds, or stepping into your fullest potential, this podcast is your safe space to explore, grow, and rise.
Each episode is filled with insightful wisdom, practical tools, and heart-led guidance to help you become the warrior of your own life—one who stands tall in self-worth, embraces change fearlessly and leads with love.
This is your invitation to step into your power. Your journey starts now. 💫
You can find out more about Emma at www.Emma-ritchie.com
Becoming Your Warrior
Nature's Healing Touch: Dr. Sarah Brikke's Journey from Africa to Healing with Nature
🌿 How can nature help us heal, transform, and rediscover our inner warrior?
In this deeply personal and inspiring conversation, I sit down with my soul sister, Dr. Sarah Brikké, an environmental psychologist, nature therapy guide, and founder of Healing with Nature. Sarah’s journey—from growing up in Kenya, surrounded by elephants and Maasai warriors, to becoming a single mother and leader in nature therapy—is a testament to resilience, self-discovery, and the magic of slowing down.
🔥 In this episode, we explore:
✔️ The power of nature as a healer and teacher
✔️ How Sarah’s childhood in Africa shaped her deep connection to the Earth
✔️ The profound lessons of motherhood and raising an emotionally intelligent son
✔️ Overcoming burnout and heartbreak and learning to trust your inner voice
✔️ The importance of play, presence, and embracing the wild within
If you've ever felt the need to slow down, reconnect with yourself, or remember the wisdom of the Earth, this episode is for you.
🌿 Find Dr. Sarah Brikké & Healing with Nature:
www.healingwithnature.com.au
IG: @healing_with_nature
✨ Subscribe for more conversations on Becoming Your Warrior. #HealingWithNature #SelfDiscovery #BecomingYourWarrior
You can follow Emma at:
https://www.instagram.com/emmaritchiewellness/
https://www.facebook.com/emmaritchiewellness/
https://www.youtube.com/@emmaritchiebecomingyourwarrior
Welcome to the Becoming your Warrior podcast. This is the place where you get to feel inspired and empowered to step into your very best life. Hello and welcome. In today's episode I'm going to make a little guarantee, and that is, by the time that you have finished this episode, you are going to want to get yourself into nature, and that is exactly what me and my guest did. As soon as we recorded this, we ran straight down to the ocean and jumped in, and that's the effect that my guest, dr Sarah Brieke, will have on you.
Speaker 1:Sarah grew up in Africa. She grew up as a young girl walking around barefoot, chasing snakes and spiders and elephants and just being in the thick of nature, and that inspired her to follow her passion, to follow her dream of being in nature, working in nature and educating people about nature. So that's led her to Australia where she is a ranger, where she has her own business healing with nature, where she works with kids and parents and gets people out in nature, gets them connecting and gets them regulating their nervous system. In today's episode we talk about her journey through motherhood. We talk about the impact of her beautiful son and how he inspires her and how much of a little nature boy he is as well. We talk about social media, we talk about phones, we talk about how to connect with your children, but most importantly, we talk about the positive impact that nature can have on your life. So I'm so excited to share Sarah with you, and I will see you in the episode.
Speaker 2:Sarah, welcome to the podcast. Thank you, emma, I'm really excited.
Speaker 1:Me too. Me too. This has been a long time coming. We've been on many adventures together, and so I just want to start by asking you what do you feel has been the biggest event or the most transformative time in your life that has led you to expand and to change and to transform?
Speaker 2:I feel there's been so many. But, as a woman, I feel that being a mother and giving birth to life, to a beautiful child, has been such a tremendously transformational and spiritual experience for me, um, for me. So there's definitely a before and after, sarah, after this, such a huge rite of passage in a woman's life, yeah, and and can we talk about Noah because he's 10 now? Is he 10? Oh, he's turning. No, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Much learning through him, so much growth and and upgrading every day, um, and and learning on the way and really trusting my, my intuition, my, my inner wisdom, um, all the women that has come through and really tapping into that regularly. Like, how, how do women in the world deal with this? Like, surely I'm not the only one struggling with this right? How, like, really tapping into that web of deep knowledge and inner knowing that we all have and and and all the sisterhood that I can feel around me happening, but also seeking some responses in. You know, in the animal kingdom, how do animals cohabitate, how do they relate to each other?
Speaker 2:And that was specifically when Noah was a child, child, like, how, you know, I was co-sleeping with him and and breastfeeding and very much there all the time like a little tribe, and I didn't read many books, so it's just looking at the animal kingdom and tapping into the, you know, ancient civilization, like really coming back to simplicity. I guess that's what I want to say. He's bringing me a lot of consciousness in how to simplify my life, how to be more playful, how not to be doing my to-do list. And being in utter presence and I think that's his love language as well is quality time, and how can I tap into that on a daily basis? What does it even mean? And that's why I think he's such a great master, because he's teaching me, he's forcing me to do what I actually need myself an amazing mirror.
Speaker 1:He's such. He's such a life force as well. I I really love, like just over the last few years, just watching him grow. And also I love one of the things that I love that you do with him is bringing him in when we are in circle or when it's all women, because obviously so many of our friends and sisters are around us, but you bring him into that space, into that energy, with like 12 women and he's just owning it. Huh, I love it.
Speaker 2:He's holding the masculine, holding the torch, and I think that Emma's been a big thing for me becoming a mother. Of course, my life has changed for family, but also it was so important for me to still be Sarah and not lose myself into that role, or it was really like how can we work together as a team? And I really want him to hang out and I think being part of of my tribe, being part of everything that I do. So, yes, since he's tiny, I just brought him with me everywhere. Um, and he's just part of conversations like I'm amazed about, you know, at dinner parties said so, um, what do you think about this or like, and and that created so much assertiveness and self-confidence and being able to hold his his self so strongly. Although he's a child, he has such a, such a presence, right and also so important for me to to raise a child, a boy, who's emotionally intelligent, who's very at ease being amongst women, at ease speaking about women's business and also just because often I was one of the first ones to have a child in my women's circle. So he's kind of like the oldest of them all and it's like okay, noah, you have to show the example. You're the elder here, right? How can you hold space? How can you be kind?
Speaker 2:And also, I've brought him not only in my social environment but also at work, which has been absolutely amazing, being an outdoor educator and arranger. Just come on, let's go in the buggy, let's go in the bush and just with me all the time. And now he's actually creating programs with me, he's helping me with you. Know what do we need for that program? What theme should we choose? And also, on the day, facilitating some activities. So it's just so beautiful to see him thrive next to me doing that right and seeing him in his little leadership as Ranger Noah and you know, doing face painting with charcoal with like 15 kids around him, and it's just really powerful to see that and powerful to see how everything that he has learned the past nearly nine years just shows up when he can flourish with other kids. So, yeah, really special to see that yeah, it's beautiful and I remember when we first started hanging out.
Speaker 1:I think one of the first nights that, um, I hung out with you guys was, um, noah just educating me around wombats and the fact that they have square poos, can you remember? And I was like what? I was like what are you talking about? And then I like looked at it and I was like, oh, actually, he's spot on, yeah, he's five. And he, yeah, he knows like what shape wombats poo is, like, what like so, yeah, I mean just incredible. So I mean, I guess obviously Noah has this incredible love of wildlife and nature and and I know that comes from you, um, so can you, can you sort of tell me a little bit, because your background in your childhood was fascinating as well. Can you tell me a bit about growing up and where you grew up and what your life was like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and my childhood definitely influenced, I guess, the life choices that I did and my studies and the work that I do today and just my whole being my studies and the work that I do today and just my whole being so. I grew up in Africa, when I was born in France and when I was two my family moved to Kenya and we stayed there for six years and we lived on a coffee plantation for a couple of years on the outskirts of Nairobi. So, yeah, and we had a camper van, these old 70s combi van with the engine at the back that would just go on fire a lot and we would just go like every holidays and most of the weekends in the national parks in Kenya and camp at the the base of the Kilimanjaro and go to sleep with the, the lions roaring and the hyenas screaming. And I remember one morning waking up or sleeping on top of the driver and passenger seats like in a little hammock bed, and I was maybe five and I was sleeping and I opened my eyes looking at the window and I see this huge eye looking at me with big eyelashes. I thought, whoa, what is that? But it was a big, big elephant that was looking at me sleeping so little things like that.
Speaker 2:And we used to go to see a place called the Daphne Sheldrick's Orphanage. She's an English woman who who's passed away now, unfortunately, but she dedicated her life to um to hold space and and heal baby elephants and rhinos that were um orphans due to illegal poaching of ivory, and she bought this huge piece of land and welcomed all these orphan animals and had some carers there. So we would often go and give milk bottles to the baby elephants and play football with them with their trunk and tuck them away with little blankets in their beds with little blankets in their beds. So amazing, amazing childhood memories hanging out with the Maasai warriors very often and just being amongst nature all the time, being barefoot all the time, and I think that really hit me hard and that's just at the core of my essence since very, very young.
Speaker 2:And now I actually use that analogy when I speak to conferences or keynote speeches where I ask people to close their eyes first thing and think about what was a very special place in your childhood in nature, where you would love to go, like bring yourself back to that place and then you know what was the feeling. Was it joy, was it peace? Was it excitement? Um, was there any special smell of that place? Um, and then, knowing that that place, you can always, always come back to it in moments of stress, of overwhelm, of sadness or when you're a bit lost. Just coming back to that space of of peace, of joy, whatever it is in nature. And it's a really simple yet really profound exercise to do because it's coming back to our roots, coming back to our early moments, early memories in nature. Right, and that's a nice segue to bring me back to the love and importance I think of the job that I do and the offering that I have is how to bring people back to nature, how to create this sense of awe and wonder and love for nature, because once it's there, it's like a tattoo, it's there always.
Speaker 2:So how to create that with kids? That's why I love to work with kids. Since 25 years I've been working with kids all around the world doing nature, play and free play and art to create that sense of awe, wonder, curiosity and love.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what kind of transformations like when you are, say, working with a group of kids or adults or you know um, you know really getting people out in nature, what, what do you, what do you see or what do you feel transforms in people when they're in nature?
Speaker 2:so much um. And the beauty is that it's available to all, no matter your age, no matter your ethnicity, your race, your gender, your religion, your physical abilities. It's there for everyone and I really love that, that it's so inclusive and open and available to all, and I've seen the most little changes or really profound things that would happen. That still gives me goosebumps is I did a nature therapy session with a group where people had limited mobility and this person was in a wheelchair since many, many years and we did a session together and at the end we had a closing circle and saying how do you feel different from the beginning and end of the session? And this person said I forgot I was in a wheelchair. Wow.
Speaker 2:Oh, I just got full goosebumps and I still have tears in my eyes, like everyone was bawling their eyes and it's. It's so simple, emma. It's just coming back to being connected to our breath, connected to ourselves, our body, our senses, expanding our senses, which is such a gift that we have. Connecting to nature, disconnecting from all the noise and the worry, um, and our ancestors used to do this so much more and we've forgotten that. And it's it's so much more deep than just being in nature.
Speaker 2:It's actually connecting to source, connecting to our ancestors connecting to the medicine that we are, the medicine that we are the medicine that the environment is. So that was really profound. But also with children and their families, for example, there's so much joy, like, oh, I can be naughty and play in the mud and, you know, climb trees and do stuff with nothing, using what we have. Just right here, let's make a shelter with sticks that we can find and create magic together and enhancing our imagination, teamwork, taking risks right. And I feel that working with children is also not only educating them or facilitating them or opening up the path for them, but also educating the parents, like saying to them why are you saying be be careful, like, or saying no like. Is there another way we can say you know, oh, do you think that that's a good choice? To put your feet there? Right, it's like it's not only being with the child, but also it's the whole family.
Speaker 2:Like it has such a ripple effect, especially nowadays, I feel, with children, with um, there's so much screen time, indoor time, children are so much more stressed and obese and anxious and completely addicted to screens. Like it is our role as parents, as aunties and grandpas and uncles and grandmas, to be leaders and role models. Let's go out. Let's go out and play. Let's go to the beach. Let's go to the bush. Let's go in the park and not be. I call it lazy parenting, where you just put them in front of a screen and it's actually so much easier. It takes effort to go outside and to actually be present and play, so I'm really seeing that happening a lot.
Speaker 1:What's your kind of concern with that? If you do have concern, know, obviously a lot of things have changed. Like you said, screen time's up and it's an easier option. I mean, where do you see that leading to if? If parents aren't making that choice to be with their kids in in nature?
Speaker 2:well, there's this author called uh Loof. He's quite famous. He wrote the book Nature Deficit Disorder and it's actually a book that influenced my and inspired me to do a PhD in environmental education. I looked at the benefits of nature and children and I looked deeply at why is it important for children to be in nature and what are they missing out when they're not in nature? And my concern, from the experience that I've had as an outdoor educator and doing extensive doctoral research on that topic is that children will not have social skills anymore. They will not know how to be brave and make new friends, how to initiate conversations, how to hold their space and deal with maybe confronting feedback or deal with their emotions. So that's one of the concerns.
Speaker 2:My other concern is children get bored really easily now because there's this with screens. It's this constant feedback loop, right, excitement and addiction, and my concern is that children would lose this sense of awe and wonder and peace and curiosity of just sitting down, you know, even lying down in a hammock and looking at the clouds. I used to do that all the time. Just chill out, just hang out, relax and also taking care of their nervous system, right, quiet time and not being like feeling unease or uncomfortable, being quiet, without any sound, without any stimulation. That's a big gift now for our children.
Speaker 2:My other concern is, on a physical level, that I know my child has so much energy and if my child stays indoors, you know it's just like cabin fever. It's just not positive for anyone. Fever, it's just not, it's not positive for anyone. And and just the importance of children to be active and move and and be creative and you know, just expanding their energy and canalizing their energy and something positive, right, team teamwork when they play as a, as a team. You know playing soccer or or you know if it's tennis, knowing how to control their own strength. And, yeah, and also another thing that I'm concerned about is this whole wonder and imagination world that children have and they're so connected to the divine, especially in the first septennial, like how to still tap into that such spiritual, awakened, open space in which they are and not polluting it with screens and outdoor stimulation.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm yeah, so it's, it's. It's a tricky one, um, because it requires a lot of um consciousness and boundaries, and presence as a parent and role modeling like there's no time for bullshit. It's like it's all in. Like, if I'm telling him to stop watching screens, I should be watching my phone either. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and this is the thing. When you see all of these experiments that they do now and they, you know, they show you when, like, a parent is playing with their kid, they are just so engaged that the child is just so happy. And then they show the same child who is looking sorry, the same adult who is looking at their phone, and the first thing the kid wants to do is come around and like, look over their shoulder and look at it because they're like, well, I just want to do what you're doing, I just want to be with you. I'm going to mimic you. So this is the thing. It's like.
Speaker 1:I think, yeah, and you know, hats off to parents. It's a, it's a, it's a hard, it's a big job, right. It's like I think, yeah, and you know, hats off to parents. It's a, it's a, it's a hard, it's a big job, Right. But it's like I think we all need to be paying attention. We can't be telling 15 year olds to get off their phone while we're coming in from work and like the first thing we're doing is looking at our phones as well. It's, it's's, we're models for that generation, and and kids are going to look to their parents, you know, for guidance of what to do. Yeah, yeah, it's wild. Well, I mean, what? What advice, I guess, would you have, as somebody who obviously is in this area, who works with families so much, works with kids, so much in this space, like, what advice do you have for parents moving forward, you know, to help them create these imaginative, beautiful imaginations and let them run wild?
Speaker 2:Well, I guess you know I could be organizing a weekend away. You can go camping or just stretching out of our comfort zone. As I said, the children are our masters and and often it can be uncomfortable to do things that we're not used to be doing, and that's totally okay. Um, it could be joining, you know, if you have young children joining a, a nature play group, nature schools there are so many around. You know, looking for some ideas on how to do nature play, nature art, and it can be.
Speaker 2:The thing is that it's so simple. It can just be, you know, going in the park and kicking the ball with them. It can be going on a bushwalk or going for a swim and then there's a rock pool. Just looking at all the magic that's happening in those little pools and I guess our role as parents is really tapping into our inner child as well, and playfulness and curiosity as well. It's like when a child shows you a butterfly or something they found, it's like, oh, wow, did you see that? Look at the colors, look, look at how many legs it has, and really coming from a inquiry place, right?
Speaker 2:um, so being, I guess, being curious ourselves as well yeah, yeah I have just this mirror mirroring back and, as I said, it's not complicated. You can find things to do. These things are right there. Often, as parents, we think, oh, they need this tour, you, they need to be enrolled in this class and pay heaps of money. They have agendas and schedules like a president, every week, like no, they need downtime. They need no, they need downtime. They need time in nature. They need to relax. Bring a book, bring a hammock Back to simplicity.
Speaker 1:Always, I have to admit, like not having children of my own, but whenever I spend time with kids, there is something really grounding that I experience with them, like I feel really present with kids. It's almost like they kind of they pull me out of my head and it's just like just be here and just be with me and just play with me and like let's have fun. They are, they're just so conscious, aren't they? And I think that's what it feels, like that is what is being lost with, you know, these incredible technologies that we have, and very grateful for them all, but it's like it's it. It feels like it's go tipping over into that like danger zone where it's like that consciousness, that presence, that beautiful grounding energy that kids have and that playful energy is being kind of pulled out. It's leaky energy, almost, yeah, and also, you know it can be.
Speaker 2:I really love to work with senses as well and using natural elements for that it can be. You know there's so much benefits. Even you know, before going to bed, why not going for a little stroll on the beach or having a little swim in the ocean and being barefoot on the ground? It can be really that simple. Yeah, absolutely. How can we teach them, by role modeling, some tools to be grounded? Yeah, without even telling them it's just all right, don't need your shoes, let's take our shoes off. Can you feel the grass? Can you feel the mud? Or oh, how nice is the ocean. And let's ask the ocean to clear all our worries of the day and so that we can sleep well.
Speaker 2:And, you know, using all these elements, all these tools, bit by bit that we have as adults, and embodying that into them in a very gentle way, that into them in a very gentle way, yeah, and also I feel it's really important to see them as, um, intelligent beings, like conscious beings. They're not, they're children, but they're, they're wise. And I've, I've really tried to, to, to come from that place as much as I can Like when I talk to them, like you know, kneeling down and being at the same level as them and talking to them as somebody wise and not top down. I know everything and you don't know anything. It's more like let's work together, let's be silly together right, yeah, yeah, and you definitely do that.
Speaker 1:I think every time I'm with you that we just giggle a lot. You're very plate. You've got very playful, like you know. You're so grounded. I find you so grounded, but you also have this like mega mischievous side, which I love, because I can be a bit serious sometimes. So it's really I always have a very playful like when I think about you. I think about giggling, like that's what I think of with you. I'm always like, oh, there's just, there's always. I'm always like what you know, so you definitely embody, yeah, I think, this grounded, wise wisdom, but you also have this really beautiful playfulness to you, which I adore as well. One question I haven't really asked, because we've been talking, obviously, so much about nature and we've been talking about the benefits and everything. But like, how would you describe what you actually do, because you've come from this incredible childhood in Africa in nature? You know you study PhDs. I know you're a doctor now there's, you know, but can you describe to me what do you? What do you do? What do you facilitate?
Speaker 2:Sure, so I do have many hats. I used to be an outdoor educator for many years, teaching children outdoors biology science, geography, biology science, geography excursions in the bush and next to the ocean for many years, and I also created my business called Healing with Nature, where I facilitate nature therapy session, or shinrin yoku forest bathing, where I bring people in nature. So there are nature immersions to help people disconnect, to reconnect to themselves, to nature and their community. So I do that around Sydney, which is such a beautiful offering for adults, mainly um teenage adults, um, and I'm also ndis registered provider, um and an ecotourism business, um. Another thing that I do with healing with nature is also nature play with children during the school holidays um nature birthday parties as well. That's really fun. Another work that I do as well I work at the government New South Wales government and I'm a learning leader and I lead a portfolio of many different community programs in a beautiful garden where we create programs like for well-being. How can we talk about our living collection and science as well?
Speaker 2:So yeah every day in nature, every day. So yeah, every day in nature every day.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, we were talking about this before we started recording as well, because we were talking about your business healing with nature, but also reflecting on. Really that is who you are.
Speaker 2:That's been really such a beautiful insight that I had this year and this morning as well, having a chat with a friend. I think when we are deeply into our offering, having a business, when it's really authentic, what we do goes beyond when we work. It's who we are, it's the life that we lead, it's what we eat, it's what we see, what we choose not to hear, not to look at, it's the choices that we make every day and our life is a reflection of who we are and our values and the offering that we have to have in the world. And it doesn't have to be, you know, smack up in your face, the shiny, bright thing. It's just this consistent presence and authenticity that you can feel. You can feel it when you see someone, when you're in the presence of someone, you can feel when it's authentic or not right, when they breathe and live what they preach and live what they preach, and I feel that looking life in this way is so much more simply like simpler sorry, instead of seeing myself with all these different responsibilities and roles that I have. It's still there, but the essence is just so grounded and there Like I'm not someone different at work or in my relationship or as a parent.
Speaker 2:I am Sarah. I am, you know. The offering that I bring is who I am and what I do in all these areas and that creates so much peace, so much freedom and ability and capacity to expand and be true to myself, to be honest with myself and I don't know, it's just a way of being. It just makes so much sense and everything flows so much easier. There's no pressure, there's no forcing. I feel that when I'm in that space, whatever I would be doing, whatever choice I'm doing, are in harmony with all the rest that is happening. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's as if you know when you decorate your home or when you I don't know put a beautiful artwork together or a puzzle. If your choices are deeply authentic and aligned with who you are are deeply authentic and aligned with who you are, although there's differences. It will all make such a beautiful art piece.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm thinking even about clothes, the clothes that you choose. If they're in your essence, whatever you put on is going to go together. Yeah, because the essence is there, because that's an easy example to keep in mind. Yeah, and it creates so much peace, Like visually it's like ah yeah, of course it matches. Of course, because it comes from source, it comes from me and it feels good. That's the important thing.
Speaker 1:If it it feels good, it doesn't matter what if the other, what they think, what they don't like, it doesn't matter, it feels good for me yeah that is a beautiful place to be like, just to embody all of that and radiate it out in every area and just to be that person for, you know, your partner, for your son, for your business, for your work, for your friends. You know what has it taken for you to get to this place.
Speaker 2:It's not easy. It's not an easy work. I will not lie. I will not lie, it's not easy at all. Difficult relationship, super complicated breakups, moments of deep darkness, deep sadness, of feeling completely broken and overwhelmed and stressed and lost. But there's this inner voice and this deep knowing that. There's this inner voice and this deep knowing that, oh, you know, I should have trusted my intuition and my light that's big, because you know when you know. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:You know it. Yeah, now you know what you already knew. Now you know what you already knew, yeah, and I think that life brings us to difficult situations because we are capable to deal with them.
Speaker 1:Doesn't feel like it at the time, my God.
Speaker 2:It doesn't feel like it, but it's like, wow, like looking back, like I often and still now I'm doing. Still it's this ongoing healing work. I'm still, you know, looking back at some situations and I I just hugged the sarah from back then that needed that hug no saying I'm I'm so sorry to have made that decision, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that, but I forgive you because that was the best that you could in that moment. That was where you were in that moment. So I forgive you and I thank you and I love you so much and that, I think, has been one of the most profound ways for me to deal with many difficult situations. It's like, how can I love myself better and more, how can I forgive myself, how can I be grateful and how can I say I'm sorry and really being honest with me, right, and also not being afraid of going into you know, dark places and looking at my shit and being honest, we're not perfect.
Speaker 2:How did I contribute to this relationship? That was toxic. What was my role in there? And just letting my ego down and not, you know, projecting everything on the other person is how am I responsible for that? And I feel with time there's been more maturity to deal with conflict resolution, there's been more ownership of my shit, but also being quite you know this, this is my boundary like this is where up till where it goes, and then it's too much and then it's like, no, this is not happening, and being very clear about that. And sometimes there are decisions that are really hard, with a lot of consequences on multiple levels, and that's okay. That's okay to take those decisions, because it's just a point where it's like, no, no, this is not happening.
Speaker 2:Um, and I guess, throughout the years, it's like really using the tools that I have gained, how can I use that for myself? And how can I bring all the times I gave my power to someone to situation to place? How can I bring all the times I gave my power to someone to situation to place? How can I bring that back to me? How can I come back home to my heart? How can I hold my hand? How can I be my best friend, right and knowing that?
Speaker 2:I always, always have my back that my well-being, my mental health, my joy and happiness doesn't depend on anything exterior than me or anyone. That I am my medicine like. Stop looking at words. I am my medicine. I am supported deeply, always supported by the universe, deeply supported by source, by nature. And how can I use that, like my body, as a portal, as a channel, whatever you want to call it? How can I use that to alchemize and transform what needs to be transformed and really deeply feeling that I'm supporting on all levels, all the time? And a big thing for me was to learn how to relax and not be into this masculine energy like bulldozer, to-do list and constantly doing something, overworking, overachiever, which I have been for so many years. How, how to step out of that a little bit. How did you, how did you get to be a warrior?
Speaker 2:yes get out of situations and and and have a better life and future. But now, how can I be a peaceful warrior and stepping into my feminine and stepping into receiving and more softness and trust? Because I saw that when I am in that space of rest, that when I am in that space of rest, of being at peace, of not having to do anything, I receive even more Absolutely.
Speaker 1:I absolutely love that. But I also know there could be people listening who have found themselves in a situation you know, kind of like like you went through right as a single mom. It's like all of a sudden you're kind of, you know, you're paying the bills, you've got to go to work, you're paying the rent, you've got to take care of Noah, you're getting him to school. Like when you look back at yourself, like then you know in those early days and that kind of I and correct me if I'm wrong more of a survival mindset and being in that masculine energy, like how, what advice would you have for somebody who maybe is in that situation right now where they're like, well, I can't stop, like if I stop, it all falls to pieces. You know it all falls, I'll lose the house, my kids won't have food. You know what advice, from where you are now, can you give to people in that situation?
Speaker 2:and look. I still feel I'm in that space, but I think it's also a mindset like life still continues, right, still have to pay the bills, still have to bring the kids to school and pack up the lunchbox and deal with tantrums and everything. Life continues. But I feel it's my mindset and the way I deal with stress has changed and I feel that being more organized has helped me tremendously.
Speaker 2:Meal planning, like I'm going to do my little menu for the week, which I used to never, ever do I find it the most boring thing in the world to do, but it's actually helping me so much.
Speaker 2:I feel that being more organized has helped me tremendously not to stress myself or my child and have a more flow during the week. But also now I make it a priority to have time for me, whether it's 10 minutes in the ferry listening to my meditation, whether it's before going to bed, thinking about the day that I had and being grateful for three things, and I feel that just by doing that, my capacity to deal with all the things that I have to do doesn't feel overwhelming anymore, and I also use even making the dishes as seeing like a meditative practice. How can I be present in everything that I do and see it like something sacred and that was one of my I don't know if you remember, emma, but for my 40th birthday that was my prayer like bringing sacredness every day, and it makes life so much easier and beautiful. Although I have to work full time, I have a kid blah, blah, blah everything that I have to do doesn't change.
Speaker 2:It's there, but it's my way of living my life on that daily basis yeah how can I create those little moments of beauty, of connection smelling a beautiful flower, looking at the sunset, feeling the wind? You know my skin, using my senses dropping in and during the day, you know, one tip can be throughout the day a couple of seconds I close my eyes, I connect to my heart, to my womb. How do I feel right now and what does my body need reset?
Speaker 1:okay, let's go to that meeting yeah, because I think one of the what I feel actually over, I'd probably say with you, like over the last like 12 or 14 months, a massive thing that I've seen shift in you is just a lot of presence, like I feel like you've been really present, like you've been really grounded and maybe that has been bringing in that sacredness each day. I feel like you're really, yeah, you just feel really grounded, really calm, and I know it's not always like that, but I think that obviously that intention for your 40th birthday, you know that's bringing sacredness in slowing down and your deep connection to nature, I do feel there's just been a big shift with with you, like in a really, you know, still mischievous and naughty and funny, but it's been really nice just to see you be like more present and I think that that for me that is something that I'm still working towards. My mind's still a little bit like and I'm maybe not in the practice so much, so that's a really good reminder for me. Thank you, lovely.
Speaker 2:And I think it's you know. To be in that space and also being, you know, spiritual beings that we all are doesn't mean, you know, you have to meditate and be dressed in white all the time. It's not about that. It's about really the work of every day, like how do I take care of myself on an everyday basis? How do I take care of my nervous system? What can I do? I know we've been on that path, you know, going on a Ayurveda lifestyle, and how to embody that, how to use the plants for my self-healing, how to feed myself.
Speaker 2:Better Sleep they're like basic. I sleep much more now. I go to bed earlier. The quality of the sleep, quality of food, quality of you know what I put in my ears when I listen to something Like. It's just such a broad hygiene of life and it's a dedication, it's consciousness in whatever I do. There are choices that I make, make events that I go to, invitation that I receive. Which ones do I want to go to? How does it feel to go and see that person? Or do I want to watch the news? Because that creates a yucky feeling in me which, when I wear something, how does it feel on my body? Like it's. It's once you open that, that world, that inner world of well-being and feeling good, it's just so expansive and you can start small and it's beautiful, and then like, oh, why don't I try that? And the beautiful thing that I found is that I know that when I'm not grounded, when I'm stressed and overwhelmed, I can see a straight consequence on my environment.
Speaker 2:My child is more stressed, my child is more edgy, and when I am grounded, when I am calm, when I had time for myself, even just 10 minutes, it has such a ripple effect on everything. It's actually a gift for ourselves ourselves, but also for everyone else around us and for the world. So if you see it like that, it should be a daily priority. Yeah, I'm actually gonna put it now in my calendar calendar from this time to that time. This is a date with myself and it's not negotiable. It's, it's there and it's not before. I used to you know like oh, I'm gonna slot it in when I have a little bit of time, like when my child is at sleep and I'm finished the dishes and prepped everything for the next day and then I'm exhausted. No, no, no, it's in the prime time of the day. This is me. I'm the priority and I feel that as women, as mothers, as business owners, as women in general, we do not put ourselves as a priority. We do not put ourselves as a priority.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say that that is probably one of the biggest things that I see with the women that I work with is that it's like there's just no time for them. They just don't know how to prioritize themselves and, myself included, I've been on that journey and I'm still going through it. You know where you just I think, as women, we just have this capacity for so much and to give so much, but we really have to remember to give to ourselves first. Just like you said, when I'm grounded, when I'm centered, when I've had that 10 minutes for me, the ripple into your life like with Noah, with your you know, other things like that is something that we all have to remember. I think every day is like oh, I get to show up, I get to be the best, I get to create this ripple of consciousness and groundedness and presence and love and fun, because I'm actually nurturing and healing myself.
Speaker 2:And not feeling guilty about it, because I know I've been in the trap where, oh, I should be doing the washing, I should be cooking, I should be doing this and actually not being able to relax at all. Be doing this and actually not being able to relax at all because it's actually a practice like being at peace. Being at peace it's like I'm being. Like how can I be my own project? How can I preach, how can I embody my values so that's not just talking, it's. How can I embody my values so that it's not just talking. It's.
Speaker 2:How can I embody the medicine that I'm preaching or that I'm facilitating to myself? How can I be really true to myself? How can I be my own project and medicine, how can I see myself as a sacred being worthy of peace, worthy of rest, worthy of love? And that's such a huge journey and I'm still on it, but it's nourishing coming back home. It's so incredibly profound, like I used to escape times of being alone with myself. I admit it always busy doing this, going there, social life, and it was escaping something I didn't want to look at, and now I cannot wait to be in my presence.
Speaker 2:Such a profound feeling yeah to be able and it doesn't come from a space of ego and loving yourself in that space. It's like welcome back, you know I love you so much. Like being in awe of our body and I feel that there's a lot of work there around sensuality, around what does it mean for me to be a woman? You know what? Like being in awe of, of the body that I am, that I carry like thank you feet for having danced so much, thank you for walking these, these amazing countries and paths. Thank you to my room for having created life and all these projects. I feel coming from that space of awe and love and wonder and curiosity, not only for nature, but for just this amazing mystery and gift that we are. There's no room to make choices that are not good for you anymore. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I love, like what you were saying as well, just about because, about, because, like coming home to yourself and having that awe and wonder. I do think that comes from being present, that comes from you. I, I, I would love to know anyone who has awe and wonder when they're in anxiety, right, or when they're like when the nervous system is jacked and they're racing around and you know so that awe and wonder comes from being present. I believe so. In terms of how nature and healing with nature, how do you think that nature helps you to get to that place? To get to that place, to get into presence.
Speaker 2:There's so many research that has been done Scientifically. It has been proven that being amongst trees and breathing in and out the essential oils of the trees actually reduces our cortisol levels, which are stress levels. We sleep better, our immune system is boosted Just general well-being Our nervous system is stable. There's so many research that has been done, especially in Japan and that's where Shinrin Yoku was born and expanded to show this to the world. Right, like I. Mean, who feels good after being in nature, hands up, right, it's a no-brainer. It's a no-brainer, it's so good. But human beings, in our modern society, they need data and research to prove things, but let's just tap into our bodies. How do I feel when I see a sunrise on the beach?
Speaker 1:magic magic.
Speaker 2:How do I feel when I dive into the ocean? And it's really simple and it's very sensorial. It's I feel when I do my sessions. Emma, I work a lot on the senses. How can we expand our capacity to hear the senses? How can we expand our capacity to hear? How can we expand our capacity to smell, to taste, to see, to touch? We do that by slowing down. Actually, it's not about you know, nowadays we'll have our like smart watches and we can our many steps and calories that we've burned. It's all about competition and data and being better than the other one, and actually we don't need that. We're taking it together. Let's slow down. By slowing down, we notice more. By slowing down, we can see more things and we can be in awe.
Speaker 2:Right, and there's so many research now being done on grounding, like walking with your bare feet on the ground. I just bought a grounding sheet and a grounding little thing to put in my office. I sleep so much better, like insane I. Even in the office, I feel less, my eyes are less strained, I'm super concentrated. Like it is a thing. It is a thing. Like it is a thing, it is a thing. Um, I had, for example, during covid we did a a few walks and one of the ladies that came was head of nurse in one of the hospitals and she had been working 24 7 for many days and and she came. And you know how some people do not know how to relax or how to wind down.
Speaker 2:And I could sense that that like buzzing, and oh, I feel a bit weird, you know, like talking to a tree and what. What is that?
Speaker 2:And it's like an invitation to come out of your comfort zone yeah to be brave, to test something new, but also to tap into the magic that we have right here. Um, and this woman just just completely melted on this rock and, you know, had a rest for maybe 10 minutes and deeply, deeply connected and dropped in so deeply like we had to wake her up. And she woke up and she said I had never been able to relax as much and drop in as much as today. Yeah. People need that, to learn how to do that again.
Speaker 1:It's kind of unlearning, right. It's almost like unlearning the pattern that stress and high performance and go, go, go, go go is normal. And it's like even that woman that you just described her wiring was so jacked that for her to even lay down for like 10 minutes, I mean she must have just been exhausted for her to fall asleep.
Speaker 2:Yes, I've got a beautiful um made by a friend of us, um, so it's healing with naturecomau.
Speaker 2:I've got an instagram page healing underscore with nature, so, yeah, feel free to reach out. Um, I do a couple of events around here um groups and also one-on-one so, yeah, I would love to to connect with you if that's your call. Amazing. Thank you so much, emma, for the opportunity to to share this with you, and you've been such a incredible pillar, like really beautiful sister, and has been really amazing to see our journey since about five years together and seeing how much we've gone through quite difficult times and epiphanies and so much healing times and and epiphanies and so much healing, and it's always such an honor to be able to to be amongst women that are badass, that do the work, and I just am so proud of all my sisters who who are willing to do the work and willing to be vulnerable and authentic and go deep and look at their shit and and move through it and rise from that and and then not only helping themselves but helping others too and showing up and not being afraid of having the difficult conversations.
Speaker 2:So deep honoring to you, emma as well, and thank you so much for all the work that you've been doing for your community, for being such a pillar and solid rock for us all as well. So, yeah, deep honor of your journey as a woman, with all the ebbs and flows of life that you've gone through, and, um, yeah, I'm so glad that we have, you know, been, you know, on this journey together and and being authentic and vulnerable and crying and and laughing so much. And, yeah, it's really amazing to see where you are now and I'm so proud of you. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm so proud of you too. I just love you so much and I'm so grateful for you. And, yeah, the gifts that you bring just for being you, and you know the gifts that you bring just for being you, and you know the gifts that you share. And um, yeah, I'm just really grateful to have witnessed your expansion and the wild crazy ride that we've been on for five years. It's, yeah, it's just been so beautiful just to, yeah, just to see the ebbs and flows of all of us, really right. But, um, yeah, I'm super grateful for you. I'm really happy for where you are right now in your life and you know it really speaks. Your energy is just radiating where you are right now.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, I hope lots of people find your work. And, um, I just wish you I I'll see you over the weekend, but you know, in life, I just wish the absolute best for you. I really do. Yeah, I love you so much. I love you. Thank you, sister. See you soon. You're welcome, see you very soon. Thanks for listening today and if this episode helped or inspired you, just remember to share it to friends or family who could also use some inspiration. Today, we are all about sharing the love you.
