The Becoming Podcast

Hello beautiful ones! I'm really thrilled to share this interview with my friend and colleague Kate Robson with you today. Kate and I got the opportunity to meet this Spring at a workshop I facilitated in her home city of Toronto – but, as it turns out, we have a web of connections both personal and professional that go way back!  It has been really cool to get to know Kate and her work this year, and I'm so thrilled to be able to uplift and support her excellent new book, Something to Hold Onto. First, though, let me tell you a little bit more about Kate: Kate Robson is a registered psychotherapist in Toronto, Ontario. Inspired by her own experiences with her children in a neonatal intensive care unit, she worked with babies, parents, and families for more than twelve years as a NICU family support specialist. She's travelled all over the world educating parents and clinicians about family-centred care and trauma informed care practices. Her workshops focus on cultivating attachment in relationships and creating emotion-friendly homes and workplaces. In her private practice she supports individuals and couples experiencing infertility, high risk pregnancies, NICU hospitalizations, major life transitions, and bereavement. She has degrees from McGill University and OISE/UT, completed her psychotherapy training at the Toronto Institute for Relational Psychotherapy, and has also studied modalities such as ACT, the Internal Family Systems Model, EMDR, PACT, and Somatic Embodiment. Her first book, Something to Hold Onto, is a collection of the most inspiring images and experiences from her time in the NICU and in private practice.   Here's some of what we talk about in this episode: ✔️ How a mother's matrescence experience is impacted by a NICU stay, including the challenges of holding both joy and fear at the same time, and how it can take time to recalibrate and find your own path upon returning home. ✔️ How Kate's new book, Something to Hold Onto, uses metaphor and imagery to help us with some of our most common human struggles – and in a way that doesn't require mental gymnastics, memorizing affirmations, or changing everything about our lives ✔️ Two of the metaphors in Kate's book that I think will resonate with you, dear listener, most deeply:  the ladder and the scaffolding.  Tune in to find out how these metaphors can support you, especially when you're experiencing a transition that's happening to you, or if you're overwhelmed right now with everything that is changing. ✔️ The metaphor that Kate is working with right now.  This was such a great example of how powerful this practice of working with metaphor and imagery can provide really tangible support – in other words, something to hold on to.   Show Notes Kate's Website Kate's Instagram Kate's new book, Something to Hold On To Mothermorphosis Retreat at Kripalu

Hey friends!  I'm so delighted to be back with another episode of the podcast, this time with a very longtime friend of mine:  Dr. Jenn Salib Huber. Dr. Jenn is a Canadian Registered Dietitian, Naturopathic Doctor and Intuitive Eating Counselor on a mission to help women manage menopause without diets and food rules. She supports women through the physical and emotional shifts of perimenopause and menopause using a Health at Every Size approach, intuitive eating, and practical nutrition. Jenn hosts The Midlife Feast podcast and community, and is the author of the upcoming book Eat to Thrive During Menopause, out October 21, 2025. I first met Jenn over a decade ago, when she supported me and my family with some really scary food allergies that my kiddos were having.  Our paths crossed again as I began writing Project Body Love, exploring my relationship with my body and, specifically, intuitive eating and the concept of health at every size.  In more recent years, Jenn has supported me as I've been transitioning through perimenopause.  I couldn't be happier to be sharing Jenn's wisdom with you today! Here's some of what we talk about: > We both share our somewhat hilarious stories of how we each realized we were in perimenopause – and then of course what happened for each of us afterward. > Why we know so little about the complex process of peri/menopause, why so many of us are surprised by our symptoms, and how Gen X and Millenial women are doing things differently, redefining the experience and demanding more information and better care. > The symptoms of perimenopause that no one expects, and that seemingly have nothing to do with perimenopause at all!  Jenn explains the "hormone soup" that exists in our body during this time, and how it has far-reaching impacts well beyond hot flashes and crime scene periods. > How our relationships with our bodies change during this transformational time in our lives – how many of us are confronted with the body and health changes associated with aging and the reality that we can't always control what happens to our health. > The potential that peri/menopause has to catalyze us to break up with Diet Culture for good and find joy and pleasure in food and movement.  We talk about the power and possibility that can reveal itself to us when we see this time as a rite of passage in our lives.  Jenn leaves us with the question:  how can midlife be a feast? I hope you love this interview as much as I did! Show Notes Jenn's book, Eat to Thrive During Menopause, comes out October 21st Pre-order the book and get some sweet bonus recipes! Jenn's website The Midlife Feast community - highly recommend! Jenn's amazing instagram page – seriously, it's such a wealth of tangible, shareable knowledge here! The Midlife Feast podcast The episode of the Midlife Feast that Jenn and I did together, on when the rite of passage into motherhood overlaps with the rite of passage into perimenopause The Project Body Love book  

Welcome back to another episode of The Becoming Podcast, all! I'm delighted to bring you my conversation with writer Cindy DiTiberio today.  I've been following Cindy's work on her Substack, The Mother Lode, for quite a while now, and I know you're going to love our conversation.  So many of my clients and the women I connect with are experiencing – or thinking about – the end of their intimate partnerships, and I think Cindy's wisdom will really resonate with you.  This episode is especially for you if it's your transition into motherhood that has instigated a reckoning in your relationship.   Here's some of what we talked about in our conversation: > How MDMA therapy helped Cindy know that she needed to leave her marriage. > What so often happens to relationships when a couple has a baby.  We talk about everything from sex to paternity leave to caregiving and the mental load. > The feeling of being trapped by oppressive systems of capitalism and patriarchy and how heterosexual couples often end up in traditional, gendered roles without ever intending to.  We talk about the role of internalized patriarchy, the devaluing of women's time, and how both Cindy and I (and so many other mothers we know) ended up squeezing our full time work into part time hours so we could also be primary caregivers. > How personal growth journeys – whether that's into deeper spiritual paths or into a feminist awakening – can cause couples to drift apart. > How the pandemic awakened our culture to the many ways modern hetero partnership has failed women and mothers.   I think you're going to love my conversation with Cindy.  I think it's so relatable for so many of us who are mothering and perhaps grappling with how to navigate our relationships, whether they're ending or evolving.  

Welcome all! I'm really excited to introduce you to Enfys J. Book on the Becoming podcast today.  I came across Enfys' new book Queer Rites:  A Magickal Grimoire to Honor Your Milestones with Pride in a random search for other folks who were just as nerdy about rites of passage as I am.  I really loved getting to know them and the conversation we had was just so rich.   In this episode, Enfys and I touch on: > The lack of rites of passage for queer folk, and how deeply gendered so many of our "traditional" rites of passage are > How rites of passage are like "anchors to the self."  I love the way Enfys described this > The name change ritual that inspired Enfys to write Queer Rites > The pros and cons of labeling our identities, and how we can get more comfortable with the ways in which our identities evolve and change as we do > What makes a ritual "work" and be effective > How queer rites of passage are an act of resistance  

Hello beautiful ones, and welcome back to The Becoming Podcast. Today on the show I am thrilled to introduce you to Ruth Allen.  I have been following (and loving) Ruth's work for a number of years, and I've absolutely loved her two books, Grounded and Weathering.  Her work and her writing has deeply shaped the way I think about the natural world and the way I move my body through it. Let me formally introduce Ruth: Ruth is a writer, embodied psychotherapist and facilitator working primarily outdoors in landscape, and online. Combining her background in geology, with innovative body-based and creative techniques drawing on a multitude of teachings and influences, she offers therapy, mentoring, workshops, classes and adventure retreats - all practical, slow magic - designed to help others connect with their bodies and the rest of nature through depth-full enquiry and practices that deepen our capacity to listen, for the greater whole-health of planet and people.   Some of the things Ruth and I talk about on the show are: > The resourcing we can access through witnessing the natural cycles and seasons of the natural world – and also how that is being impacted by climate change. > How to be in relationship with the earth as both a benevolent and even maternal entity – as well as one with the potential for destruction.  We talk about the parallels between the concepts of the "ever-giving mother" and the "ever-giving planet," and how both ideologies seem to make those who nurture us vulnerable to exploitation. > What we can learn from rocks as allies in times of change in our lives and in the collective.  Ruth talks about the concept of weathering and erosion as being inevitable parts of the process of growth and rising, both for ourselves and our rock kin. > The challenge of extending our ideas about animacy to the seemingly inanimate:  rocks.  Ruth beautifully hypothesizes that if we can see rock as kin and choose to be in a caring relationship with them, then we can see anyone as kin and care for them just the same. > How Ruth engages in reciprocity with the natural world. And truly, truly so much more!  If you're curious about how you might be in deeper connection with the living world and perhaps how that connection might support you through times of weathering in your life, this episode is for you.  

Hello beautiful ones! The Becoming Podcast is returning after a somewhat unplanned hiatus, brought to you by Getting Pneumonia A Week After Launching My Book! But here we are again, and I couldn't be more delighted to be welcoming Carmen Spagnola as my first guest of 2025.  Carmen has been a friend, colleague and teacher of mine for many years now, and she has just released her latest book, Spells for the Apocalypse:  Practical Magic for Turbulent Times, and, given the events of the past few weeks in our world, the timing of this important work couldn't be more auspicious. Before I dive in, let me tell you a little bit about Carmen: Carmen teaches about animism, folk magic, witchcraft, ritual and ancestral knowledge related to land and seasons.  She cross-pollinates somatics, attachment, collapse awareness, intersectional feminism, and kinship with the More Than Human in her work as a trauma resolution practitioner.  Carmen is the author of The Spirited Kitchen:  Recipes and Rituals for the Wheel of the Year, which teaches folklore and spellcraft for the solstices, equinoxes, and half-way points between, based on her training in culinary arts at Le Cordon Bleu Paris.  Carmen's professional study includes extensive training in hypnotherapy, interpersonal neurobiology, somatic psychology, mood and personality disorder support, and client-centred assistance for neurodivergent adults, youth, and their caregivers.  She is constantly researching current promising practices to provide psychoemotional care and nervous system reconditioning support for people with chronic or episodic disability, with special attention to autoimmunity, dysautonomia, and long COVID.  She holds provider certifications for Dynamic Attachment Re-Patterning, The Safe and Sound Protocol, Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercise, The Resilience Toolkit, and Clinical Hypnotherapy.  Her spiritual healing repertoire includes numerous certificates spanning a twenty-five year exploration of trance work, regression therapy, energy work, shamanistic practices, systemic constellations, divination, herbalism, kitchen witchery, cultural conservation and ancestral veneration practices, and wilderness quest. Here's some of what we talk about in this episode: What is collapse – both personal and collective.  Carmen beautifully names the thing that we all know, now, in our bones, to be true. The power of ritual to soothe, mobilize and transform us when there's nothing else you can *do* in the face of predicament and chaos How Carmen's new book, Spells for the Apocalypse, supports us to feel more skillful, resourced and resilient in times of personal and collective collapse The "gift and the task" of Carmen's personal Quest experience – aka, the promise it would kill her to break How Carmen is coping with grief and rage these days.  This is the question Carmen asks everyone on her podcast, the Numinous Podcast, and I was really keen to turn her own question back to her.  As she always does, even in the deeply challenging times she's experiencing right now, Carmen models how we might work with grief and rage in meaningful and supportive ways. Carmen and I talk about so, so much more, including our shared experiences of going on Quest, the rituals I did during my own personal time of collapse, what happens when an animist moves to a different ecosystem, and more. I hope you love listening to this episode with Carmen as much as I loved recording it with her!

Hello beautiful ones! I've somehow taken a bit of an unexpected hiatus from the podcast lately, but I'm really, really delighted to share a new episode with you today.  It's a super fun and beautiful conversation between three friends – myself, Mara Glatzel and Becca Piastrelli.  In this episode, we're turning the tables and Mara and Becca are interviewing ME about the launch of my upcoming book, Mothershift:  Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage. If you aren't familiar with Mara and Becca, let me tell you a little bit about them first! Mara Glatzel is a coach, podcast host and author of the book Needy:  How to advocate for your needs and claim your sovereignty and Becca Piastrelli is a community gatherer and women's circle facilitator, podcast host and author of the book Root and Ritual:  Timeless ways to connect with land, lineage, community and the self.  These two are friends with each other and they've been my friends for quite a number of years now, and they have been *tireless* champions for Mothershift and my work.  Becca is also an alumni of my MotherSHIFT program.  They both played a key role in my ability to get a book deal for Mothershift, and for that I will be endlessly grateful. In this episode, Mara and Becca and I talk about: > Why I wrote Mothershift and why this book is so important right now.  You'll hear me talk about how I feel like I'm this book's doula, and how easy it's been to share the messages that it holds. > Why "the mothers aren't all right," including my perspective on the US Surgeon General's advisory on the mental health of parents.  We talk about the modern conditions that are particularly challenging for mothers as well as parts of the rite of passage into motherhood that have been difficult – but also filled with potential – since time immemorial. > Our relationship with social media, about how it has become a surrogate for the witnessing we need as we step into motherhood, and whether or not we're actually ever seeing the *real* truth about anyone's experience of mothering. > Is postpartum forever?  We speculate how many years it takes to feel fully embodied in your experience of motherhood. > The role of ritual in supporting and uplifting our matrescence experiences. I do hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we loved recording it, and that it gives you a special sneak peek into the writing of Mothershift.  

My friends!  I'm really excited to share this interview with the amazing Asha Frost.  We had such a beautiful conversation, and Asha has so much wisdom to share, and does so eloquently.   Here's some of what Asha and I talk about in this episode: > How Asha's Lupus diagnosis was a threshold moment in her life that made it impossible to keep up with the demands of our modern, capitalist, patriarchal, white supremacist culture – and how she continues to practice slowing down. > The relationship between worthiness and productivity, and the paradox that creativity and "success" often flourish after periods of meaningful rest.  As Asha so beautifully phrases, "miracles are born from rest." > Asha shares some of her experiences of her matrescence – her rite of passage into motherhood. > The potential that transformative times in our lives offer to invite us to divest from and disrupt dominant culture. > Elderhood and the elder medicine that lives in all of us, including our non-human kin.  Asha and I share our love of herons as elders, and gush over the beauty of her new Animal Elder deck. > Cultural appropriation in the rites of passage space – and how, while it's unacceptable, it comes from our collective desire for meaningful ritual and ceremony to mark these transformative times in our lives.

I'm thrilled to bring you this conversation with Sarah Wildeman on the Becoming Podcast this month.  This was such a rich and far-reaching dialogue about all things community-building, which is such an important locus of support – and also struggle – as we traverse times of deep change in our lives. Here's some of what Sarah and I talk about in this episode: > The life-and-death threshold where Sarah learned what it was like to be doing life with people – and where she found the inspiration for a lot of her work now > What it was like living in an intentional community with her family, and how she experienced "the village" firsthand > How "the loss of the village" is not a universal experience, and is actually one that often walks hand-in-hand with the hyper-individualism that comes alongside many cultural privileges > Practical and philosophical wisdom about how to build community, including how asking for help is actually an act of great generosity, how to make your needs known (and identify them in the first place), how to create capacity and room in your life to make community a priority, and how to powerfully invite folks into relationships and gatherings > How hard it is to build community in a season of need in your life > Attachment styles and introversion / extroversion and how they relate to re-villaging > The idea of "tolerating" community and committing to relationship tending even when it's hard, or even when it's not what you'd prefer to be doing I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did, and that you're able to find some real wisdom and practical support that will help you expand and deepen your community connections.  Enjoy!

Hello, friend!  I'm really excited to share my conversation with Danielle Cohen with you.  If you're a mother, an entrepreneur, a multi-passionate human, or have ever been on either side of a camera, this episode is a must-listen. First, let me tell you a little bit about Danielle. Danielle Cohen is a visibility coach & professional photographer with a unique talent for helping others step into and offer their greatest work. Spanning two decades, her career includes work as a doula, healer, teacher, business consultant, publisher, art director, mentor, and photographer. Known for her keen insights, potent intuition, truth-telling, and her powerful approach to visibility & visuals, Danielle has photographed famous faces and the emerging stars who are forces for good in our world. Her photographs have been featured in magazines, on book covers, as well as on prominent websites, marketing campaigns, and online courses.   Here's some of what Danielle and I talk about in this episode: > Being a multi-passionate human and entrepreneur.  Honestly, if you've got a bio that reads a bit like Danielle's or if you're a coach / doula / author / wilderness quest guide like me, this conversation is going to make you feel so much less alone, and so well-supported. > How photography helped Danielle heal some of the cultural messaging she received as a young mother > How photography can play an important role in a rite of passage, especially because traversing a rite of passage well usually includes being witnessed in the transformation you're navigating. > How to ritualize photo shoots to allow them to offer the fullest visibility medicine they have the potential to offer > Authenticity and performance in the context of photography and being visible – and how they're not necessarily mutually exclusive > The somatics of visibility and what happened to my body in my latest photoshoot > And then, honestly?  Danielle offers an amazing mini-mastermind for any entrepreneur who's visible in the world, especially through photographs.   This is SUCH a rich and wide-ranging conversation:  there literally is something in this episode for everyone.  I hope you enjoy getting to know Danielle and hearing her wisdom as much as I did!

Hello, friend!  I'm delighted to share this month's Becoming Podcast episode with you.  In it, I interview artist and fellow wilderness quester Glenda Goodrich.  Glenda is an artist, art doula, SoulCollage® facilitator, writer, and convener of ceremony.  She brings together earth-based rituals, community gatherings, and creative expression in a search for new ways to show love for the Earth.  Here's some of what Glenda and I talk about in this episode: > How creativity can support us during rites of passage and times of transition in our lives > How Glenda embraced her own creativity in midlife after a powerful wilderness Quest experience, and how stepping into creativity can be a rite of passage unto itself > The call that the midlife transition offers us to live more authentically  > Glenda and I each share some powerful wilderness Quest stories, as well as some of the challenges entangled in embarking on the ritual of Quest > What it is to become your own spiritual authority, and how that can be a journey that is both grief-filled and beautiful  > What it means to create authentic, deeply meaningful ritual 

I'm really excited to share with you my interview with Megan Sheldon.   Megan and I connected through the magic of Instagram a few years ago, and we've recently enjoyed a couple of conversations sharing lots of professional and personal commonalities. Megan holds a tremendous amount of wisdom around grief work, ritual and ceremony, and I'm delighted to have her on the show.     Here's some of what Megan and I talk about in this episode: > How engaging with ritual called Megan early on in her life, as well as the origin story of the Be Ceremonial app. > Ritual and spirituality:  can you have one without the other?   > Many beautiful stories of rituals and ceremonies Megan has facilitated, including funerals, miscarriage and abortion rituals, rituals during illness, and many inspiring and touching others. > The permission we give ourselves – or don't – to grieve and ritualize seemingly invisible moments and turning points in our lives. > Thinking outside the box when it comes to ritual (and breaking a few rules along the way!). > The tender awkwardness of creating ritual for yourself, your family and your community, even when you're new to the practice yourself 

I'm delighted to share with you that The Becoming Podcast is back for its 6th season (wow!) and that I've got a full and rich lineup of guests to share with you this year!   The first is my dear friend Annie Bray. There were a lot of different titles I could have given this podcast and "Deep Conversation Between Two Brilliant Midlife Friends About The Complexity of Life" was right up there.   After we finished this interview, Annie and I chuckled that listening in would be a lot like being welcomed as an eavesdropper in the kind of conversation we might be having anyway, over a cup of tea by a roaring fire, if only we lived in the same city. Our conversation – and our whole friendship – just feels so human.  And so if that sounds like a dose of good medicine for you, I invite you to tune in.   Here's some of what Annie and I talk about in this episode: > The paradox that traversing times of radical transformation in your life is deeply dysregulating, but that  being able to regulate your nervous system is necessary to navigating these times with more ease. > How having a "regulated" nervous system has also been weaponized – particularly against women – and can be conflated with being well behaved or put together. > How our modern perspective of the nervous system is reflective of our culture's individualism, and how we've forgotten the importance of co-regulation with other humans, the more-than-human and the numinous. > How to show up anyway even when you aren't "regulated" or don't have capacity.  Annie and I share a tender moment about how I recently asked for her support, and what it means to hold each other through impossible times that, in the world we're living in, don't look to be getting any easier.

Hello beautiful ones!  I am so excited to share this month's interview with Lucy Jones with you.  I think it might be one of my favourite episodes ever:  our conversation was so rich and so full of the kinds of things I think we *really* need to be talking about when it comes to matrescence and motherhood.   I started following Lucy in the early days of writing her new book, Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood.  I was totally captivated by the ecological lens she applied to the transition to motherhood.  It was so much like my own perpsective and experience that I felt I'd found a kindred spirit. Lucy's book is one of the first on the experience of matrescence, and it is a raw and riveting account of her own metamorphosis as well as a cultural critique about modern motherhood. As we near the close of registration for the 2023 Season of MotherSHIFT and The Village, I'm delighted to be able to share this conversation with the many of you who are also walking this path of matrescence and matrescence-support.   Here's some of what Lucy and I talk about in this episode: > The rarely spoken-of and yet increasingly common ecological awakening that so many new mothers have – and Lucy's personal experience of leaning into her relationship with the living world as she traversed her own matrescence. > The things no one ever fucking told us about motherhood, including the societal expectations of motherhood versus the realities so many of us face.  We talk about ideologies around birth and mothering and how they deny us the opportunity to feel "normal" in these richly complex and usually paradoxical experiences. > The absence of modern-day rite and ritual to support us through matrescence, and how we must engage in the act of culture creation in order to reclaim these. > How liberal feminism lets mothers down, and how motherhood revolutionizes our relationship with work (and capitalism). > The untapped power of matrescence to radicalize us and poise us to advocate for social change (the biggest FUCK YES of this whole episode!).   I loved this interview so much, and I hope you enjoy tuning in!

Hello beautiful ones!  I am so excited to share this month's interview with Heng Ou and Marisa Belger with you. They are the authors of The First Forty Days:  The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother, which was a groundbreaking book for so many new mothers and postpartum professionals.  To say I was delighted to be able to connect with these two amazing women is the understatement of the year!  Especially as we approach the launch of the 2023 Season of MotherSHIFT and The Village, this conversation is so rich and filled with wisdom for mamas and their support people alike.   Here's some of what Heng, Marisa and I talk about in this episode: > What is true now, for both Heng and Marisa, seven years after their bestselling book The First Forty Days was published.  We talk about what has changed and how, in some ways, we're only just beginning. >  What happens when we take the traditions of the first forty days and insert them into a capitalist, patriarchal, white supremacist culture – and how having the "perfect postpartum" is another myth that many mothers can become trapped in. > How we try to tame the wildness and unpredictability of pregnancy, birth and motherhood, and how to sit in the unknowns we face during these times. >  The intuition that new motherhood gives us access to, how "maternal instinct" has been weaponized against mothers, and how listening to your intuition doesn't necessarily mean you'll always get it right. >  What happens to mothers' sense of identity and self-worth when they find themselves dramatically slowing down in the first forty days. > How mothers' relationship with food and their bodies shifts and changes over the course of pregnancy, birth, postpartum and matrescence.   I loved this interview so much, and Heng and Marisa have an incredible wealth of wisdom to share.  I hope you enjoy tuning in!

Hello beautiful ones!  I am so excited to bring you this month's episode of The Becoming Podcast with Mimi Young. Mimi Young is a Taiwanese Canadian animist spirit medium and the founder of Ceremonie, an esoteric brand focused on conversations around greater intuition and creativity, animism, and realigning with our deeper purpose. Mimi works at the intersection of animism and wu shamanism, practical magick, tea kinship, and other Chinese mystic practices to communicate with the Unseen, offering private readings, education and mentorship, and made-to-order skin and aura care. Mimi has held space globally in her Mystery Mentorship program and retreats, as well as collaboratively with brands including Goop, Almost 30, Spirit House Collective, and Tokyo Smoke. She currently holds an online coven space, Homing Coven, open to all who desire to walk closely with the Seen and Unseen.  Here's some of what Mimi and I talk about in this episode: > Failure as a confrontation with death that ultimately makes us more human and divine >  How to suspend your disbelief and follow your intuition in a hyper-rational world >  Animism and working with tea as an ally > How we clutch exogenous sources of intuition like tarot and astrology when we're traversing the unknown, and what to do instead >  How the wisdom of the 5 Chinese Elements can support us to thrive in liminal space >  How motherhood sparked Mimi's intuition – and how this plays out for so many mothers >  The link between creativity and intuition, and the animacy and mystery of Creative Force And so much more.  This was such a rich and wide-reaching conversation, and Mimi is so incredibly well-spoken and wise.  We had fun, too, and laughed a lot!  I hope you enjoy getting to know Mimi as much as I did in this episode.

The Becoming Podcast has been on a short hiatus while I focus on writing my book, but oh what a comeback episode I have for you! This month, I spoke to Toko-pa Turner, who many of you may know as the unofficial patron saint of many of my circles and gatherings because of the sheer number of times I've quoted from the wisdom of her book, Belonging. Toko-pa is a Canadian author, teacher, and dreamworker. Blending the mystical teachings of Sufism in which she was raised with a Jungian approach to dreams, she founded The Dream School in 2001, from which thousands of students have graduated. She is the author of the award-winning book, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home, which explores the themes of exile and belonging through the lens of dreams, mythology, and nature. This book has resonated for readers worldwide, and has been translated into 10 different languages so far. Her work focuses on the relationship between psyche and nature, and how to follow our inner wisdom to meet with the social, psychological, and ecological challenges of our time. Here's some of what Toko-pa and I talk about in this episode: > The dream that changed Toko-pa's life, causing her to question her career and, ultimately, her identity > How we can court our dreams to support us during times of radical transformation – and the reasons so many of us have a hard time remembering and working with what shows up in our dreamscape > Toko-pa's perspective on the message of Belonging after the divisiveness our society has experienced in the years since it was published > What happened for both Toko-pa and I when we fell out of belonging from the ideologies of the "wellness world" > How to build community when you're under-resourced > "The Big Lie" when it comes to belonging, and how we can reclaim a sense of belonging to the greater family of things, as Mary Oliver so famously wrote

Welcome to the third episode of the 2023 season of the Becoming Podcast! On this month's show, I had the great pleasure of having a conversation with Day Schildkret.  I was first introduced to Day's work many years ago when a friend recommended I check out his book, Morning Altars.  Now, Day has written Hello Goodbye, a "recipe book" of rituals, that shares wisdom about how we can more meaningfully honour the hellos, goodbyes and other transitions in our lives.   Here's some of what Day and I talked about in this episode: > Two massive catalyzing moments that Day experienced in one year, and the choice we have to make meaning of the threshold moments in our lives – or not. > The key components that need to be a part of every ritual in order for it to be successful. > The intangible, magical qualities of ritual and how we in our culture are inclined to "assassinate mystery with answers," rather than allowing the mystery of ritual to unfold. > The importance of having our rituals witnessed, and how to choose good witnesses. And those are just the highlights!  I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Welcome to the second episode of the 2023 season of the Becoming Podcast! On today's episode, I welcome Jennifer Garvey Berger, someone whose work I've been following for many years, and who I consider to be a valuable teacher of mine.  I was so excited to nerd out with her about all things adult development psychology, neuroscience and complexity theory.     Before we dive in, let me tell you a bit about Jennifer: The co-founder and CEO of Cultivating Leadership, Jennifer blends deep theoretical knowledge with a driving quest for practical ways to make leaders' lives better. She coaches executives and executive teams, designs and teaches leadership programs. Jennifer has written three highly acclaimed books on leadership and complexity and how to grow the capacities we need for the world in which we live. She hopes her newly-released fourth book, Unleash Your Complexity Genius, will change your life. When she's not working with clients and colleagues, you can find her in the French countryside, where she has bought a house with eleven friends who live in community and try to keep the dog from terrifying the cats.     Here's some of what Jennifer and I talked about in this episode: > Jennifer's move to the south of France to a big house with eleven friends, and how re-defining and reclaiming community has grown her and challenged her. > A model of adult development psychology that I use to guide my work with clients and that Jennifer teaches so eloquently.  It's all about this amazing shift from allowing the opinions of others to define our lives to taking up the pen and authoring our own rules of engagement. > Jennifer's new book, Unleashing your Complexity Genius, all about how we can grow the capacity of our nervous systems to be more resourceful and resilient in the face of change and complexity. > The surprisingly simple ways to increase your short term, medium term and long term capacity during transformational times – and how these things are actually sources of tremendous pleasure and joy.   I hope you enjoy listening to this episode!