Feelings with Strangers

Questioning what we’ve been taught - not out of rebellion, but out of a quiet sense that something deeper is missing- is what Eric Laarakker has spent his life doing.   In this conversation with Eric, a man whose work moves between science, nature, and something less easily defined. What begins as a discussion around water slowly opens into something much wider, a reflection on how life organises itself, how information moves through the body, and what it means to return to a more coherent state of health.   Eric is the founder of Analemma Water, a body of work built on the idea that water is not just a substance, but a carrier of information - something that shapes biological systems in ways we are only beginning to understand.   We explore the tension between conventional understanding and lived experience, between what can be measured and what can be felt. This is a conversation about looking again - at the body, at nature, at the invisible structures that quietly govern how we live.   About  Eric Laarakker is a scientist, veterinarian, teacher, and inventor, known for his pioneering work at the intersection of water, biology, and information-based medicine. He is the founder of Analemma Water, a technology developed to transform water into what he describes as a coherent, structured state-designed to support the health of living systems. Originally trained as a veterinarian, Eric became one of the first in the Netherlands to integrate acupuncture, chiropractic techniques, and holistic therapies into veterinary medicine. Over the past three decades, his work has expanded into a broader exploration of how water, light, and frequency interact within the body and across biological systems. Through his clinical practice and research, Eric has treated thousands of people and animals, while continuing to develop new approaches to healing that centre around the body’s innate capacity to restore itself.   Driven by a vision to return water to its natural, harmonious state, his work with Analemma reflects a wider mission to improve the health of humans, animals, and the environment by addressing what he sees as one of the most fundamental elements of life.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Analemma Water https://www.analemma-water.com Use DISCOUNT CODE  'feelings' at checkout for 10% off.    Information Medicine https://informationmedicine.org

What if ageing is not what we’ve been told? What if longevity is not simply about extending lifespan, but about the quality of presence we bring to life itself? In this solo episode, I explore the deeper architecture of health, ageing, perception, and what actually shapes the body over time. Moving between science, spirituality, direct experience, and cultural critique, I ask whether much of what we call ageing is not a fixed biological destiny, but a story reinforced by fear, conditioning, and collective belief. This conversation moves through presence, stress, belief, sovereignty, water, light foods, biological coherence, and the possibility that the body may respond far more intimately to consciousness than we’ve been taught. The wellness industry’s obsession with external fixes, the cultural fear of growing older, and the idea that true vitality may come less from control and more from alignment.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh  

Could removing limiting beliefs or processing trauma be as simple as noticing where your eyes rest? Dr David Grand, the founder of Brainspotting, has shown that it might be. Brainspotting is a therapeutic approach designed to access and process trauma held deep within the nervous system. David shares the story of how Brainspotting was discovered in 2003 while working with a competitive ice skater who had developed an unexplained performance block. During a session, her eyes fixed on a particular point in space and a deep processing response began to unfold. The following day, she returned to training and successfully landed the jump she'd never been able to perform. In this conversation we explore how trauma is often stored beyond the thinking brain - within the body and nervous system - and why approaches that bypass language can sometimes access deeper layers of healing. David also discusses how Brainspotting is used not only for trauma therapy but also for enhancing performance in athletes, artists and professionals. David also reflects on the broader landscape of healing, including the role of Indigenous knowledge systems, the importance of humility in modern therapeutic practice, and the remarkable intelligence of the human nervous system. This was a fascinating discussion on trauma, performance, and the deeper mechanisms of healing within the body. About David Grand David Grand is the founder and developer of Brainspotting, a therapeutic approach designed to help access and process trauma held deep within the nervous system. A psychotherapist, author and international teacher, he has spent decades working at the intersection of trauma healing, performance and neurophysiology. His work has influenced practitioners around the world and helped expand the conversation around healing beyond traditional talk-based models.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Brainspotting Site https://brainspotting.com/about-brainspotting/david-grand-phd/

  What if the quiet presence of the dog beside you, the horse in the paddock, or the birds outside your window is not the absence of language, but a language we’ve forgotten how to hear? In this episode, we have one of the pioneers of modern animal communication, Penelope Smith — a teacher, author, and trailblazer whose work has helped thousands of people rediscover the intuitive, telepathic connection between humans and animals. In this culture, most still sadly view animals as objects to own. Penelope flips this disconnected way of being on its head. Animals may be our companions, but they are also conscious beings on their own spiritual journeys - beings who can communicate with us directly through feeling, imagery, and awareness when we become quiet enough to listen. Penelope shares how a childhood connection with animals, forged during difficult early years, evolved into a lifelong calling. From her first remarkable experience counselling a traumatised cat who transformed in a single session, to influencing entire fields of animal training and care, her work has helped re-open a door many of us unknowingly closed as we grew older. This conversation moves far beyond technique. It touches on telepathy, consciousness, kindness, and the possibility that communication between species may be part of humanity’s next stage of evolution. We explore: • Why animals may be some of our greatest spiritual teachers • How telepathic communication actually appears - through images, sensations, emotions, and knowing • The role animals play in opening the human heart • What animals understand about death that many humans forget • Why kindness may be the most fundamental structure of consciousness • And how simply being present with animals can begin to restore a deeper connection with life itself. At its core, this episode is an invitation - not to believe anything blindly, but to become curious again. To remember the mystery of the living world, and perhaps rediscover a form of communication that has always been there.   Penelope Smith Penelope Smith is widely regarded as the founder and leading teacher of interspecies telepathic communication, commonly known as animal communication. For over five decades, she has helped people around the world deepen their relationships with animals and understand them as conscious, spiritual beings rather than objects or possessions. Her work began in the early 1970s after a profound experience communicating with a traumatised cat whose behaviour transformed immediately following their interaction. Recognising the potential for deeper understanding between humans and animals, Penelope devoted her life to exploring and teaching this form of communication. She is the author of several influential books, including Animal Talk, which has served as a foundational text for animal communicators worldwide for more than forty years. Through workshops, consultations, and training programmes, she has taught thousands of students how to develop their intuitive and telepathic abilities. Penelope’s work integrates spiritual awareness, telepathy, and deep respect for animals as fellow beings sharing the Earth. Her teachings emphasise presence, compassion, and the understanding that true communication arises not from techniques alone, but from an open heart and a quiet mind.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Penelope Smith Socials https://www.instagram.com/penelopesmithanimaltalk/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqP3uYQ5YGt4QO9kuMC2SDw Site https://animaltalk.net/  

What if you’re not seeing with your eyes at all? In this conversation, with Dr. Jacob Israel Liberman - optometrist, vision scientist, mystic and author - explores light, perception, intuition, healing and the quiet intelligence that breathes us. Jacob’s journey began in conventional science. Trained as an optometrist and researcher, he built his career around the mechanics of vision - lenses, retinas, prescriptions. But in 1976, during meditation, something happened that would change the course of his life forever. With his eyes closed, he experienced crystal-clear vision. When he opened them, his eyesight had permanently improved - without any change to the structure of his eyes. That experience led him beyond the physiology of sight and into a deeper inquiry: What is it that truly sees? Jacob explores: – The difference between thinking and direct experience – Why most of what we perceive is filtered through conditioning – The “observer” behind the mind – Light is the fundamental organising force of biology – Intuition as a built-in guidance system – Why stress is often a product of thought, not circumstance – How awareness changes the body at a cellular level – And what it means to live “choicelessly” guided rather than efforting Jacob speaks about light not only as a physical phenomenon, but as a living intelligence, the energy that regulates circadian rhythms, influences cellular timing, and underpins both perception and consciousness itself. He challenges the idea that we must “fix” ourselves. Instead, he suggests that healing often occurs when the glue of our labels dissolves, when we stop identifying with the mind and return to simple awareness. This is not a conversation about adopting beliefs. In fact, Jacob is clear: don’t believe anything he says. Instead, notice what resonates. Notice what catches your eye.  Dr. Jacob Israel Liberman Former optometrist and vision scientist who has spent over five decades exploring the relationship between light, perception and consciousness. He is the author of several books, including Light: Medicine of the Future and Luminous Life, and has pioneered work in light therapy, colour, effortless learning and intuitive perception. Now based in Maui, he mentors individuals around the world in integrating awareness, biology and direct experience into everyday life.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Dr. Jacob Israel Liberman Site https://www.jacobliberman.org/ Socials https://www.instagram.com/drjacobliberman/

Ellen has spent decades studying what happens when we stop moving through life on autopilot. When we stop treating our assumptions like facts. When we replace certainty with a simple act: noticing. In this episode, we talk about mindfulness without meditation—her version of mindfulness that doesn’t require silence or a retreat. Just attention. Just the willingness to admit: I don’t know. We move through her iconic experiments - like turning back the clock on ageing, or rigging clocks to show how perceived time changes what happens in the body. We talk about why stress isn’t caused by events, but by the meaning we attach to them. And why so much of what we call reality is really just… a story we’re clinging to because it makes us feel safe. That the body doesn’t just respond to biology — it responds to meaning. To perception. To the story we’re living inside. Ellen's work is quietly radical. Her work time and again shows that we have far more influence over our biology than we’ve been taught. Not through force. Not through positive thinking as a performance. But through attention. Through flexibility. Through refusing to collapse life into single answers and embracing the constant change.   Ellen J. Langer Ellen J. Langer is a professor of psychology at Harvard University and a pioneering researcher best known for developing a Western, evidence-based approach to mindfulness without meditation—often described as “the simple act of noticing new things.” She is widely recognised for decades of research on mindlessness, decision-making, ageing, health, and what she calls mind–body unity. Her work has earned major honours, including multiple Distinguished Scientist Awards and the Liberty Science Center “Genius” Award, and she has been repeatedly named one of Harvard’s favourite professors by students. Her recent books include The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health (released in 2023) and Finding Happy, an illustrated book exploring everyday mindfulness and wellbeing. She shares more of her work at her website.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Ellen J. Langer Site https://www.ellenlanger.me/ Books https://www.ellenlanger.me/home#book-s Socials https://www.instagram.com/ellenjlanger/ https://x.com/ellenjl

What happens when the cultural story of “we’re all the same” collides with biology? World-renowned relationship expert John Grey explores what has changed, and what hasn’t, since Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus reshaped the conversation on modern relationships. Together, they move beyond slogans and into the deeper architecture of connection: hormones, polarity, evolutionary biology, childhood imprinting, stress, sexuality, and the subtle misunderstandings that quietly erode intimacy over time. John argues that much of today’s relational suffering isn’t because men and women are broken - but because we’ve lost fluency in our differences. As women have become more independent and men increasingly uncertain of their role, the hormonal and psychological dance between masculine and feminine energy has shifted. Stress rises. Attraction fades. Communication collapses. But beneath the tension, he suggests, there is a blueprint. We discuss  Why misunderstanding differences creates resentment How stress hormones affect empathy and emotional connection Why “talking it out” can sometimes make things worse The role of polarity in sustaining sexual attraction How childhood wounds shape adult relationships Why happiness in one partner affects the other biologically The subtle ways modern culture may be weakening both men and women And what it really means to support - rather than compete with - one another The conversation also moves into deeper territory: forgiveness of the father, repeating ancestral patterns, the biology of bonding, the role of space in love, and even the spiritual dimension of intimacy through Taoist and tantric traditions. This is not a nostalgic call to return to the past. It’s an invitation to move forward with greater awareness of how we’re wired - and how that wiring can either divide us or bring us closer. About John Gray John Gray, Ph.D. is one of the world’s most recognised relationship experts and the author of the international bestseller Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, which has sold over 50 million copies worldwide and been translated into more than 40 languages. For over four decades, he has counselled individuals and couples, integrating insights from psychology, biology, spirituality and Eastern traditions. A former celibate monk and long-time meditator, Gray combines practical relationship tools with a broader understanding of consciousness and hormonal health. His recent work explores how modern cultural shifts have altered male–female dynamics and what couples can do to restore polarity, emotional safety, and lasting attraction. John's new book out now - "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus – For Women Only: Be Happy With or Without a Man"    Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   John Gray Site https://www.marsvenus.com/john-gray Socials https://www.instagram.com/johngraymarsvenus_official/?hl=en YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@JohnGrayMarsVenus  

Lynne McTaggart is an investigative journalist-turned-consciousness researcher whose work lives right on that edge where science, healing, and the mystery of being human start to overlap.   Lynne is best known for The Field, and The Intention Experiment - and for taking a question most feel:  What if thoughts and intention don’t stay inside us? What if they have influence and reach we can only begin to imagine? In this conversation, we get practical and specific. Lynne breaks down what “intention” actually is (and what it isn’t), why language matters, why groups consistently amplify outcomes, and how the Power of Eight approach became a kind of global laboratory - not in theory, but in real experiments, with measurable results.   This conversation is an invitation to consider that the world is more connected than we’ve been trained to believe - and that there is a disciplined, repeatable way to work with that connection to radically change your life.   Lynne McTaggart An award-winning journalist, author, and researcher known internationally for her work on consciousness, healing, and the science of intention. She is the author of The Field, The Intention Experiment, The Bond, and The Power of Eight, and she co-founded What Doctors Don’t Tell You, which began as a newsletter in 1989 and grew into an international health publication. Lynne also teaches the Intention Masterclass, a year-long program focused on her “13 Keys to Intention Mastery” and the Power of Eight® group method. The 2026 lesson plan lists the first live session as Saturday, February 28, 2026.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Lynne McTaggart Website https://lynnemctaggart.com/ Intention   Masterclass https://lynnemctaggart.com/courses/intention-masterclass/   What Doctors Don’t Tell You  https://www.wddty.com/about-us/   Socials https://www.instagram.com/lynnemctaggartofficial/?hl=en YouTube https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@lynnemctaggart4255⁩ 

Today’s conversation is with Hitesh Bhatt - the voice behind Echoes of Existence, a YouTube channel and podcast dedicated to spiritual inquiry, self-realisation, and inner transformation. Hitesh calmly speaks to the things we tend to avoid - death, fear, suffering, and the pressure of trying to “get life right”. He has this rare ability to make the big existential questions feel… workable.  In this episode, we talk about fear - not as something to eliminate, but something to clarify. Hitesh shares how, in his early twenties, he quit the path he was expected to follow and began travelling - not as an escape, but almost as a set of lived experiments: meeting people, sleeping rough at times, and finding out what’s actually real underneath the mind’s worst-case stories. We also go into the difference between ambition and clarity - the kind of ambition that runs on willpower and validation, versus the clarity that doesn’t need force because it comes with its own energy. And later, we touch on manifestation - not as “getting what you want”, but as learning to inhabit a way of being, rooted in presence. Hitesh Bhatt Is a long-time yoga teacher, and through Echoes of Existence, he shares short contemplative reflections on ego, identity, freedom, and the deeper texture of everyday life - often from a place that feels more like a fellow traveller than a teacher. This is a space for quiet exploration - of movement, stillness, and the nature of being.  If you enjoy conversations that don’t rush to conclusions, and that aren’t afraid to sit with paradox, I think you’ll get a lot out of this one.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Hitesh Bhatt YouTube Echoes of Existence https://www.youtube.com/@EOExistence Instagram https://www.instagram.com/yogawithhitesh Linktree https://linktr.ee/echoesofexistence Substack https://substack.com/@echoesofexistence1 Podcast Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/echoes-of-existence/id1837613927 Spotify https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/echoes-of-existence      

Water isn’t a utility, and it’s not just “hydration.” It’s memory, relationship, it's the animator of life. The quiet medium everything living moves through - and in this episode, you’ll hear why the quality of that medium shapes far more than we’ve been taught to notice. My guest is Mario Brainovic, CEO of Analemma - a company exploring what they describe as “coherent” water: water brought into a liquid-crystalline, ordered state using a quartz tool filled with what they call “Mother Water,” alongside ongoing research of its profound effects for humans, plants, and other living systems. We talk about the practical side - what most people miss about water, even when they filter it - and then we move into the edge of the map: coherence, biophotons, brainwave harmony, nature’s timing, and that water is not only alive… but highly sophisticated and intelligent.  If you’ve been searching for conversations that feel less like content… and more like a doorway into higher levels of health, consciousness, and connection, this is it. Mario Brainovic Mario Brainovic is the CEO of Analemma. In Analemma’s published materials and media releases, he’s described as helping lead the company’s research and communication around coherent water and its potential effects on living systems, alongside collaborations and studies referenced on their site. Mario Brainović is an entrepreneur, researcher, and visionary in health and wellness, best known for his work in what’s often called structured or coherent water science and for leading companies focused on health-related innovation. Analemma Analemma is a wellness and research-focused company centred on “coherent water”, — including a quartz wand product filled with “Mother Water,” and a broader mission statement oriented toward restoring water to what they describe as its natural coherent state. Their site also references an advisory board and multiple research tracks (including human, plant/soil, and other studies).   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Mario Socials https://www.instagram.com/mariobrainovic/?hl=en   Analemma Site https://www.analemma-water.com/ Use DISCOUNT CODE  'feelings' at checkout for 10% off.  Socials https://www.instagram.com/analemma_water/

In this episode, I sit down with Bill McKenna and Liz Larson, the co-creators of Cognomovement, to explore one of the most influential - and least examined - forces shaping our lives: the subconscious patterns running quietly in the background. Most of us sense these patterns only when we’re forced to confront them - repeating the same relationship dynamics, sabotaging ourselves around money or health, and reacting in ways we don’t fully understand. We can often see the pattern, but knowing it’s there doesn’t necessarily give us a way out. This conversation moves into that gap. We talk about the subconscious not as something abstract, but as the nervous system itself - a living, biological process that generates emotion, perception, and reaction before thought ever arrives. Bill and Liz describe how these emotional circuits can act like an “electric fence” around our lives, quietly defining what feels possible, safe, or threatening. We do a live, unscripted Cognomovement process around a long-running pattern of mine. What unfolds is not analysis or storytelling, but a direct shift in perception: how something that once felt immediate and charged can suddenly move into the past, creating space for entirely new options to appear. We also explore grief, cravings, confirmation bias, projection in relationships, and the strange way reality seems to reorganise itself when an internal pattern collapses. If you're looking to break a pattern in your life, then this is the episode for you.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Conomovement  Site https://www.cognomovement.com/ Socials  https://www.instagram.com/cognomovement/

Over the last six months, I’ve been keeping a dream journal, not to “decode” anything perfectly, but to listen. And what’s surprised me most is how the dream-state speaks in a language that doesn’t make sense until it does: symbols that feel abstract…and then, weeks later, land with uncanny precision in waking life. My guest today is someone who’s spent decades mapping that invisible terrain, not to make it more mystical, but to make it more usable: as a tool for healing, for creativity, and for self-trust in a world that’s getting louder by the day. In this episode, we explore why modern life is quietly eroding dream recall, how emotion and symbol work together like an inner therapist, why meditation and nature can sharpen the signal, and how dreaming might be less about “escaping reality” and more about remembering what we are beneath it. This is a conversation about intuition, balance, and the quiet intelligence that’s been with you every night of your life. My guest is Theresa Cheung.    Theresa Cheung is a bestselling author and researcher who has spent over twenty-five years writing about spirituality, dreams, and the paranormal. She studied Theology and English at King’s College, Cambridge, and her work bridges mystical experience with ongoing dialogue in psychology and consciousness research. Theresa is the author of numerous international bestsellers, including two Sunday Times Top 10 titles, and her Dream Dictionary from A to Z (HarperCollins) is widely regarded as a modern classic in dream interpretation. Her books have been translated into 40+ languages. She’s a regular dreams and spirituality expert across major media — including ITV’s This Morning, and she hosts her own podcast White Shores as well as the weekly UK Health Radio show The Healing Power of Dreams.   Feelings with Strangers   Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh     Theresa Cheung   Site https://www.theresacheung.com/ Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/white-shores-with-theresa-cheung/id1475553348 Socials https://www.instagram.com/thetheresacheung/

There are conversations that offer answers, and then there are conversations that remove your certainty. This is the latter. In this episode, I’m joined by Stephen Jenkinson—author, cultural activist, former palliative care worker, and relentless truth-teller—whose work refuses comfort in favour of meaning.   Stephen doesn’t speak in soundbites. He speaks in reckonings.   What begins as a conversation about his new book, Matrimony, quickly opens into something far wider: a meditation on beauty, elderhood, ritual, grief, marriage, culture, and the quiet devastation of a world that has forgotten how to belong to itself. We talk about what happens when beauty becomes a rumour. When ritual becomes performance. When marriage becomes an event instead of a binding to community. When homes are built without hearths, and lives without elders.   Stephen asks a question most of us were never taught how to answer: What does it actually cost to be human together?   This is not a conversation about nostalgia or returning to the past. It’s about conjuring something that no longer lives in living memory. About taking responsibility for what has been lost—without blame, without sentimentality, and without pretending the work is easy. Truths that don’t ask for agreement, only attention. This is a conversation about matrimony, yes. But more than that, it’s a conversation about what we owe each other—and whether we’re willing to pay the price.   Stephen Jenkinson, MTS, MSW ~ Culture activist/ farmer/author ~ Stephen teaches internationally and has authored seven books of cultural critique. He is the creator and principal instructor of the Orphan Wisdom School, co-founded with his wife Nathalie Roy in 2010. The School’s new project, The Scriptorium (2025), is creating an archive and library of his life’s work. Apprenticed to a master storyteller as a young man, he worked extensively with dying people and their families. He is former programme director in a major Canadian hospital and former assistant professor in a prominent Canadian medical school. Stephen has Masters’ degrees from Harvard University (Theology) and the University of Toronto (Social Work). In 2023 Stephen received a Distinguished Alumni Honours Award from Harvard University for “helping people navigate grief, exploring the liminal space between life and death, and connecting humanity through ceremony and storytelling.” Stephen’s newest book: Matrimony: Ritual, Culture, and the Heart’s Work.    Site https://orphanwisdom.com/   Events https://orphanwisdom.com/events-list/   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh

It's not often I feel nervous. I worked for many years as a photographer and met people from every stratum of society, from the wealthy and famous to the outcast and downtrodden. One thing I learnt early on is that nerves resulted in bad imagery. So when it came time for this podcast with Stephen Jenkinson, a man whose work I've followed for nearly a decade, I was nervous. It's not that Stephen is difficult to talk to or combative; it's because Stephen is a master of the English language, and each word he uses is carefully chosen based on its etymology. He also doesn't let you get away with anything if he believes you've incorrectly identified something. My nerves quickly abated once I felt Stephen's generosity of spirit.   This is one of the most meaningful conversations I've had. Stephen traverses: - What we have lost in our modern societies, if there is a way back, and if there were, to what we think we are to return to. - Death and our lack of education around the ultimate which every life faces. - What it truly means to cultivate a mindset that sees us creating genuine connections to one another to create communities that will benefit future generations. Most of all, Stephen reminded me that our lives are shaped by the questions we ask rather than the answers we seek—in his own words, "I'm far more in favour of the wonder of the question than the certainty of the answer." As the great poet E.E. Cummings phrased it, "Always the most beautiful answer to he who asks the most beautiful question." It was an honor to speak with Stephen, and I know you'll get something significant from his life-long pursuit of asking the most beautiful questions.  It was an honor to speak with Stephen, and I know you'll get something significant from his life-long pursuit of asking the most beautiful questions.    About Stephen Jenkinson, MTS, MSW ~ Culture activist/ farmer/author ~ Stephen teaches internationally and has authored seven books of cultural critique. He is the creator and principal instructor of the Orphan Wisdom School, co-founded with his wife Nathalie Roy in 2010. The School’s new project, The Scriptorium (2025), is creating an archive and library of his life’s work. Apprenticed to a master storyteller as a young man, he worked extensively with dying people and their families. He is former programme director in a major Canadian hospital and former assistant professor in a prominent Canadian medical school. Stephen has Masters’ degrees from Harvard University (Theology) and the University of Toronto (Social Work). In 2023 Stephen received a Distinguished Alumni Honours Award from Harvard University for “helping people navigate grief, exploring the liminal space between life and death, and connecting humanity through ceremony and storytelling.” In August 2025, Sounds True will release Stephen’s newest book: Matrimony: Ritual, Culture, and the Heart’s Work.  He is also the author of Reckoning (co-written with Kimberly Ann Johnson in 2022), A Generation’s Worth: Spirit Work While the Crisis Reigns (2021), Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble (2018), the award-winning Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul (2015), Homecoming: The Haiku Sessions (a live teaching from 2013), How it All Could Be: A workbook for dying people and those who love them (2009), Angel and Executioner: Grief and the Love of Life (a live teaching from 2009), and Money and The Soul’s Desires: A Meditation (2002). He was a contributing author to Palliative Care – Core Skills and Clinical Competencies (2007). Since co-founding the Nights of Grief and Mystery project with singer/ songwriter Gregory Hoskins in 2015, he has toured this musical/ tent show revival/ storytelling/ ceremony of a show across North America, U.K., Ireland, Israel, Australia and New Zealand. They released their first Nights of Grief & Mystery album in 2017, and at the end of 2020 released two new records: Dark Roads and Rough Gods. A new album release is planned for 2025. Stephen Jenkinson is also the subject of the feature length documentary film Griefwalker (National Film Board of Canada, 2008, dir. Tim Wilson), a portrait of his work with dying people, and Lost Nation Road, a shorter documentary on the crafting of the Nights of Grief and Mystery tours (2019, dir. Ian Mackenzie). He was a stone sculptor turned wood-carver, and learned the arts of traditional birch bark canoe building. His first house won a Governor General’s Award for architecture. He now lives on a small scale organic farm in an off-grid straw bale house. The 120 year old abandoned granary from across the river which appeared in Griefwalker was dismantled last year and re-erected at the Orphan Wisdom farm, where it is again a working barn.   Site https://orphanwisdom.com/   Events https://orphanwisdom.com/events-list/   Feelings with Strangers   Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/   YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@FeelingswithStrangers  

I had the privilege of speaking with someone whose work has profoundly shaped my own understanding of connection: Anna Breytenbach, the world-renowned interspecies communicator, conservationist, and activist. Many of you may know Anna from the viral documentary The Animal Communicator, and from the now-iconic encounter with a black leopard named Diablo — a moment that opened millions of hearts to the possibility that our relationship with the natural world is far deeper and more intelligent than we’ve been taught. This episode goes far beyond the usual conversation about intuition or “animal communication.” Anna takes us back to something far more original and intimate: The innate capacity every human being is born with to perceive truth beyond the five senses. In this conversation, we explore: The real story behind her awakening as a communicator How tracking animals taught her to “see through their eyes” Why intuition is not mystical — but our original evolutionary intelligence How animals perceive death, suffering, presence, fear, and the human world What wildlife teaches us about grace, humility, and eldership Why our culture has become disconnected from the wider web of life How to begin cultivating intuitive connection in your own life The dangers of spiritual ego and the need for genuine emptiness And how returning to nature is ultimately a returning to ourselves This is one of the most beautiful and revealing conversations I’ve had. Anna doesn’t just speak about animals — she speaks from a place of attunement that reconfigures your sense of what being alive even means. If you’ve ever felt, even as a child, that animals carried messages we weren’t taught to listen for… If you’ve ever had a moment where intuition arrived more clearly than thought… If you’ve wondered whether our consciousness is part of something much larger… This episode will feel like coming home.   Anna is an internationally respected telepathic animal communicator with nearly two decades of experience working with wildlife, conservation NGOs, rehabilitation centres, and endangered species programs. She is the founder of AnimalSpirit — a platform dedicated to conscious connection with the more-than-human world — and she offers her conservation consulting work entirely pro bono, driven by a profound devotion to the dignity of all life. Her work bridges Indigenous knowledge systems, quantum science, deep ecology, and an embodied spiritual sensibility that reminds us that communication is not merely something we do — it is something we are.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Learn more about Anna’s work    Site / NGO: https://www.animalspirit.org Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@AnimalSpirit   Socials Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064733016753&ref=embed_page Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna_breytenbach/?hl=en   Donations to support Anna’s wildlife work https://www.animalspirit.org/donations   The Animal Communicator Documentary  https://youtu.be/T2vhV63lx2k?si=P6oR7vNw83EzsniE

What if the real source of suffering in your life isn’t your circumstances, but the quiet, constant stream of judgment you’re swimming in – of yourself, of others, of how life “should” be? In this episode, I’m joined again by Dr. Dain Heer – author, co-creator of Access Consciousness, and someone who has spent decades sitting with people in their most contracted, painful moments and helping them find a way through that oesn’t rely on more fixing or more “work”. We explore a radical but disarmingly simple idea: that freedom begins when everything becomes just an “interesting point of view.” Dain walks us through a live exercise using that phrase – first with something upsetting in my own life, and then in the context of relationships – and you’ll hear, in real time, how quickly the charge, tension and tightness start to dissolve. From there we open up a much bigger territory: How judgment masquerades as love and caring, especially in families and intimate relationships. Why we’re addicted to controlling other people’s choices – and why it never works. The difference between fear and awareness, and why many of us are actually far less “afraid” than we think. How our stories about who we are and what’s possible quietly run our lives – and what it takes to step beyond them. We also go into the body: illness, “mystery” symptoms, and what might be underneath them. Dain shares some of the questions he uses with clients – including “What are you dying to get out of?” and “What are you sick of?” – and how, when we’re willing to be radically honest, those questions can start to unwind years of stuck energy. Underneath all of this is a very different definition of consciousness: a space where everything exists and nothing is judged. From that space, vulnerability stops being weakness and becomes real power. The need to be right softens. The nervous system exhales. And life – health, relationship, creativity, money – can be shaped from choice rather than from old, inherited scripts. If you’ve ever felt trapped in your own reactions, exhausted by your inner critic, or confused about why you keep recreating the same patterns, this conversation is an invitation to try another way. Not as a belief system, but as a set of tools you can test in the trenches of your actual life.   I hope you feel the same thing I did speaking with Dain: a sense that there is far more freedom available, right here, than we’ve been taught to expect.   About Dain: Dr. Dain Heer is a seeker, speaker, and energetic facilitator who has spent the last two decades inviting people to explore what else is possible—beyond judgment, beyond limitation, and beyond the boxes we’ve been told to live in. He is the author of Being You, Changing the World and the founder of International Being You Day, a global celebration of uniqueness, joy, and choice. Through his work, Dain offers practical tools for transformation and a space for people to remember the gift they truly are.   He is also the co-creator of Access Consciousness®️, a global personal development movement practiced in 176 countries. A visionary in conscious leadership, Dain is known for leading with kindness, inclusivity, and the unwavering belief that true leadership is about empowering others to rise. drdainheer.com.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   Discover more about Dain www.drdainheer.com   Socials  https://www.instagram.com/dainheer/ https://www.facebook.com/DrDainHeer   YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/drdainheer

For well over a decade, I’ve been fascinated—friends might say obsessed—with what’s truly possible for human biology, especially when it comes to longevity and ageing. Like many, I began on the mechanistic path: studying hydration, nutrition, and supplementation, endlessly experimenting, convinced that health was a formula I could optimise into perfection. But in time, I realised something deeper.   Beyond hydration, clean foods, and sleep—beyond all the science we can measure—lies the consciousness we bring to the process of ageing itself. The way we speak to our bodies, the patterns we reinforce through thought, emotion, and self-perception—all of it shapes how we grow older, or perhaps, how we don’t. In this episode, I want to explore that intersection: where biology meets awareness. Where the body listens to the stories we tell it. These are the principles and practices I’ve lived with for years—bridging science and spirit—to slow the biological clock and expand what we think is possible for our human form. By the end of this episode, if nothing else, I hope you feel 45 minutes younger.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ Youtube https://youtu.be/kmDja4q83i8?si=xIl7TbBrdeCEk5dh   References Lauren Roxbourg Youtube: https://youtu.be/Uim35PSof9g?si=zLwq0axvZsz5c5WG Website: laurenroxburgh.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loroxburgh/...   Markus Rothkranz Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkusRothkranz   Tat Wale Baba https://amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_21.html#:~:text=Tat%20Wale%20Baba%20was%20born,his%20birth%20at%20about%201890.   Sunlight, Spirit, and Sanity | Audience Q&A with Ziad K. Dahhaj on the Sun & Circadian Biology https://youtu.be/ci_nNENctoY?si=2tmzd6GL2JQWa_6k  

An ice-cream truck rolls past as we hit record—an oddly perfect cue for where this conversation goes: modern life’s noise versus the quiet wisdom of biology. Today, we welcome back Zaid K. Dahhaj to answer viewer questions about the sun. We explore how light, time, and place shape our minds and bodies. In standard Feelings with Strangers fashion, we braid science, lived experience, and spirit—from circadian clocks and biophotonics to the constriction of our natural processes by cities and the sanity that returns when we sync with sun and darkness. Zaid makes a clear, compassionate case for alignment over avoidance: why full-spectrum sunlight (used wisely) behaves differently than isolated UV; when sunglasses can be useful and when they short-circuit the body’s own photoprotection; why most sunscreen narratives miss circadian context; and how melatonin, vitamin D, and peripheral clocks knit together repair, mood, and resilience. We even name the captivity we’ve normalised—what Zaid calls the zoo-mind of indoor life—and map a path back to coherence. In this episode, we cover: - Sunglasses, glare, & melanin: safety use-cases vs. circadian tradeoffs - Sunscreen & photoaging: what changes when you consider full spectrum light, not just UV in isolation - City stress & “zoo-cosis”: why indoor, blue-heavy environments fray our nervous systems - Burns, hormesis, & “progressive overload” with sunlight: building tolerance like training Vitamin D (without pills) Seasonal strategy, cold exposure, and light from within Spiritual through-line: “as above, so below”—how alignment in light/dark supports alignment in life.   Feelings with Strangers Socials https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@FeelingswithStrangers/videos   Zaid Dahhaj Socials https://www.instagram.com/zaidkdahhaj/   Podcast The 2am Podcast https://www.instagram.com/the2ampodcast/   YouTube The 2am Podcast YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@the2ampodcast    Circadian Course https://themetawarrior.mykajabi.com/courses   Substack https://zaidkdahhaj.substack.com/   Work with Zaid https://www.zaidkdahhaj.com/coaching

In this episode, we delve into the vibrational reality of sound as medicine with guest Eileen McKusick. Eileen is the of founder of Biofield Tuning, a researcher, and author of Electric Body, Electric Health. Eileen helps us understand how vibration and resonance can clear stress, release stored tension and trauma, and bring our nervous system back into balance. We explore how tuning forks can “reset” the body’s electrical system, why sound can be more effective than talk when it comes to unresolved emotions, and how harmonising your biofield can create more energy, focus, health and calm. We also touch on the deeper story—that from creation myths to modern physics, sound has always been seen as the foundation of life itself. What happens when we drop the reductionist, materialistic narrative of our times and allow sound to tune us back into coherence? If you’ve ever wondered how sound can shift your health, your mood, and even your sense of who you are, this conversation will open a door.   Eileen Bio Eileen McKusick is the founder of Biofield Tuning, a sound-based therapeutic method that works with the body’s electrical system and magnetic field. She’s the author of Tuning the Human Biofield and Electric Body, Electric Health, and has trained thousands of practitioners worldwide. Her teaching blends research, clinical observation, and accessible practices for cultivating coherence and vitality.   Feelings with Strangers Socials Insta: https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FeelingswithStrangers   Eileen McKusick Website: Biofield Tuning – https://www.biofieldtuning.com Biofield Tuning Shop / digital experiences: https://biofieldtuningstore.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EMcKusick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eileenmckusick/?hl=en   Books: Electric Body, Electric Health – Simon & Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Eileen-Day-McKusick/170001234 Simon & Schuster UK Tuning the Human Biofield – Inner Traditions: https://www.innertraditions.com/books/tuning-the-human-biofield Simon & Schuster UK  

Gary Kiss is a pioneering voice in the field of biophotonics. Biophotonics is the study of the light within life—the subtle radiance that reveals how living beings communicate, heal, and connect with the universe.   This conversation moves far beyond theory. It’s about light as life itself. Gary bridges microbiology, physics, and spirit in a way that makes the invisible visible. From his research into live blood cell microscopy to his breakthrough healing technology, he shows how light influences not only our cells but our moods, our immune systems, and even the subtle fields that surround our bodies.   If you’ve ever wondered why we feel alive in sunlight, why stress and EMFs seem to drain us, or how ancient wisdom about light and energy might intersect with cutting-edge science, this is a conversation you’ll want to hear.   About Gary Kiss is an innovator, researcher, and entrepreneur who has spent years at the frontier of biophotonics — the study of how light interacts with living systems. His work bridges stem-cell research, live blood cell microscopy, and quantum biology, exploring how light influences health at the cellular and energetic levels. Gary is the founder of several groundbreaking ventures dedicated to bringing bio-photon technology to everyday life: BioHealing Stream – a platform that streams pure biophotonic light to any device, helping users rapidly reduce stress, improve sleep, and raise their vibrational frequency. Eluumis – creators of the striking hand-built biophotonic orbs that harness and emit light from the atmosphere to recharge the body and its surrounding space. Together, these initiatives reflect Gary’s larger mission: to merge science and spirit by helping people (and the planet) recover their natural light.   Feelings with Strangers Socials Insta: https://www.instagram.com/feelings.with.strangers/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FeelingswithStrangers   Gary Kiss Bio Healing Stream: https://biohealing.stream/ Eluumis: https://www.eluumis.com/