all that we are with amisha tala oak (fka the future is beautiful)

Bringing diverse voices for peace, this episode is a special gem exploring the question ‘How can collective prayer create ripples that transform the world?’   In this final, heartfelt episode of the year, Ripples Collective shares their voices in a truly unique and tender way. Together they weave a moment of beauty and reflection gently infused with music, care and love. Ripples Collective is a group of Palestinian and Israeli non-violent activists, artists, and heart-led humans working together in connection, strength and love to embody another possibility.   Together we explore: :: How music and ritual hold the power to transform our lives and communities :: What personal journeys have shaped the voices of Ripples Collective :: How activism and spirituality come together to forge a new path forward :: What stories emerge from Gaza and the West Bank and how they reveal an alternative reality :: What the significance of song and collective prayer is in creating unity and hope :: How we can navigate divisiveness to find common ground :: How the power of collective dreams can envision a better future :: How to honour the old while imagining and creating the new :: How the notion of home is rooted in a sense of belonging  We hope that this piece called ‘Embodying Another Possibility‘ brings forth a feeling hope of and a collective prayer for Freedom, Dignity, Equality, Safety, Justice, Compassion, Solidarity and Peace rippling out far and beyond.   Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org

'How to Reconnect in a Disconnected World?' we ask ourselves in this new timeless episode.   Our guest is Johann Hari, the author of the New York Times bestseller: Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention, executive producer and Tedtalk speaker. His books have been translated into 40 languages, and been praised by a broad range of people including Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein.   ​I ​don't ​think ​it's ​a ​coincidence ​that ​grief ​and ​depression ​have ​the ​same ​symptoms. I ​think ​what ​depression ​is, ​in ​part ​is ​grief ​for ​your ​own ​needs ​not ​being ​met. - Johann Hari   Hari invites us to reconsider what it truly means to find ourselves, not as isolated beings, but as interconnected individuals whose happiness and healing emerge from shared experiences and mutual support.   This week’s timeless is from our archives, part of a beautiful and powerful conversation we had in episode 47 – Johann Hari on Depression, Addiction and Connection entitled Lost Connections: Finding Others Instead of Ourselves. You are so welcome to go and find this episode in the archives and listen in full. We hope that this timeless offers you a new way of looking at your life and how you spend your time.      Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org

How can understanding astrology support us in riding these times?    This episode brings forth a powerful way of hearing, feeling and seeing the art that astrology is. A deeply misunderstood sacred practice that Amanda is enormously passionate about. As a consulting astrologer, acutonics practitioner and artist, currently studying an MA in Art and Ecology at Goldsmiths University, Amanda anandita Simon brings the poetics of this practice out of the astrological arena into spaces where it can offer and be recognised for its contribution to join other acts of resistance. “To re-member a living relation with an ensouled cosmos, to restore and restore our dreaming heart and cultivate sensibility to subtlety - the intricacy and specificity present in each thread of our lived life.” Amanda shares.  Together we explore:     :: How to cultivate a bodily awareness that allows us to deeply touch and be touched by the world around us   :: What it means to return to the city after countryside life and how to prevent being overwhelmed by its intensity   :: What Pluto's recent transition from the Earth-based Capricorn to the Air-focused Aquarius signifies for us   :: How to understand astrology as an art and sacred practice      We hope that you enjoy this episode and that something here really lands for you.    Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org

What is the true cost of our numbness, and how can we alchemize it into deep, loving intimacy?     This conversation with Dr. Jaiya John is a balm, for tender times, tender hearts - a remembrance of how to touch tenderly, inwardly and outwardly. Dr. Jaiya John, born as an orphan on the sacred lands of the Ancient Puebloans in New Mexico's high desert, walks the world as a freedom worker, poet, author, teacher, and speaker, revered across continents. In this tender episode, Amisha and Dr. Jaiya weave a story of human connection—layered with vulnerability, healing, and the soft light of hope. Together, they lean into our collective longing for liberation from oppression, the raw courage needed to meet grief and emotional pain, and a soul-deep inquiry into how technology shapes intimacy in a world that often feels so far apart. We hope this episode invites you into deeper layers of tenderness and presence.   Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org

In this TIMELESS episode we hear from Sophie Strand and Bayo Akomolafe. Together, we explore how the sacred is less about certainty and mastery and more about dwelling in the unknown, the disruptive, and the in-between. As we open ourselves to this journey, we consider how unlearning and openness might guide us toward a deeper, more grounded sense of the sacred—one that emerges in moments of humility, fragility, and genuine encounter.   “And  I  was  thinking  that,  at  least  in  my  own  situated  experience, my  approach  to  the  sacred  would  be  to  flip  the  paradigm  and  to  ask,  what  if  the  sacred  researches  you?” Sophie Strand   As a writer, Sophie focuses on the intersection of spirituality, storytelling, and ecology. She believes strongly that all thinking happens interstitially between beings, ideas, differences, and mythical gradients. Bayo is a poet, philosopher, psychologist, professor, and chief-curator of the Emergence Network. He curates this earth-wide project for the re-calibration of our ability to respond to civilisational crisis. We hope this TIMELESS episode invites you to pause and reflect on the sacred in new and unexpected ways.   Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org  

How do we emerge into a new future from here?   In this week’s conversation with award-winning novelist, smallholder, contemporary shamanic trainer and host of the international chart-topping Accidental Gods podcast Manda Scott, we explore the edges of shaping the future of our wildest dreams.   ‘The ​not ​knowing ​is ​what ​allows ​the ​space ​for ​the ​web ​of ​life ​to ​send ​the ​knowing ​in.’ and it is this not knowing that gives us room to dream, rise and change this system. ‘It's ​not ​predictable. ​If ​we ​can ​predict ​it, ​then ​it's ​not ​the ​new ​system, ​​but ​we ​can ​take ​ourselves ​​to ​the ​emergent ​edge ​of ​inter ​becoming, ​from ​which ​​emergence ​into ​that ​new ​system ​is ​hopefully ​more ​likely ​than ​the ​chaos ​and ​extinction.’   We explore: :: Why the emergence into a new system can feel unpredictable but wonderful :: How to move from a trauma culture to an initiation culture :: How to dream without constraints :: What ​it ​looks ​like ​when ​8.5 ​billion ​people feel belonging, ​connection, agency ​and live ​a ​life ​filled ​with ​meaning :: How we as humans have the power to change and shape a new future :: Why visions come at unexpected times :: What ​happens ​when continually ​asking ​of ​the ​web ​of ​life, ​what ​do ​you ​want ​of ​me? :: How to move away from the head mind and settle into the heart mind :: How temporary shamanic practices help connect to the wonder and glory of the world :: How habits done consciously become rituals :: What the transformative journey of writing a book looks like :: How the process of death can be a potential window into a ​new ​system ​ :: How ​to make ​governance ​​into ​something ​that ​is ​generative ​and ​collaborative again   We hope this episode encourages you to explore deeper what invitations the web of life is making to you.   Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org        

In this week’s TIMELESS episode, Patrisse Cullors highlights the urgent call for a softer, more connected world where care is the base of everything we do. As an Artist and Abolitionist, born and raised in Los Angeles and being on the frontline of abolitionist organising for 22 years, Patrisse offers us a powerful vision for how we can cultivate healing through active, compassionate engagement in our communities and how we can move beyond propaganda and embrace true transformation. “Our work is to show up and reshape this place.” Patrisse Cullors   This is from our archives, part of a beautiful and powerful conversation we had in episode 201 with Patrisse Cullors on Abolition, Art Activism and Courageous Resourcing // Cultures Of Care.   We hope that this little piece called ‘How to Move Beyond Propaganda and Embrace True Transformation’ will give you what you need in these important times in our evolution as humanity.   Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org

This episode is a very special one. A pure and raw sharing by the fire behind ‘All that we are’, Amisha Tala Oak. A sacred ritual, a ceremony where she lets her heart speak and where words come from a very deep place inside of her. This episode called ‘Tending to the hearth in a world ablaze // the language of ritual, ceremony and intuition’ takes us on a journey. It’s a remembrance to listen to our heart and inner fire while not losing courage and hope amidst the chaos. "We ​must ​create ​beauty ​in ​the ​mess." Amisha Tala Oak   Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org

What if we are mushrooms having a human experience?   In this conversation called ‘Mushrooms and Mycelium: Nature's Network’, Amisha Tala Oak meets Darren le Baron, an educator specialising in mycology and psychedelic research based in the UK and the Caribbean. Known around the world for his Shroomshop Master classes and mushroom educational programs, he is a keen cultivator and teacher who is passionate about sharing his research and findings on ethnomycology, ancient African plant medicines and their various applications.   Together we explore: :: How understanding yourself can help you build deeper, more meaningful connections. :: The challenges young people face in finding their purpose—and how to guide them. :: What mushrooms and mycelium can teach you about connection and renewal. :: How you are a mushroom having a human experience.  :: How you, as a gardener or nature-lover, play a vital role in our planet's future.  :: How money really does grow on trees.  :: Why plant wisdom is essential for your survival and living in harmony with the Earth. (Please note despite much research and clinical trials of the benefits, one of the mushrooms we discuss in this conversation are illegal in some countries) Links from this episode and more at https://allthatweare.org

Welcome to our new fortnightly offering - TIMELESS.  Drawing on her wellspring of experiences as a writer, activist, and Black feminist, adrienne maree brown shares some timeless wisdom that teaches us about rituals of grief and spiritual healing that can bring us closer to our free and pleasurable futures. She sparks ideas around the construct of linear and layered time, opening up possibilities for spiritual shifts and healing across timeless. “Grief ​is ​a ​way ​that ​we ​ritualise ​and ​honour ​what ​we ​love ​and ​stay ​in ​a ​relationship ​with ​it.” adrienne maree brown This is from our archives, part of a beautiful and powerful conversation we had in episode 146 with adrienne maree brown on Future Visioning, Layered Time and Grief // entitled Microcosms of Liberation, Justice and Pleasure.  We hope that hearing just this small part of timeless wisdom will give you space to contemplate, integrate and embody what you hear. Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org    

Is intuition the key to flourishing a better culture? In this special episode Amisha Tala Oak and Annegret Affolderbach celebrate the end of a chapter of co-creation of this podcast as Annegret is leaving to pursue new creative paths and 'all that we are' takes fresh directions. They share how they have witnessed each others creative growth for the past 15 years and how they have shaped lives, nurtured new cultures and communities guided by their visions and intuition. We explore :: creative and artistic practices attuned with visions, intuition and generosity :: transformative cultural change :: daydreaming :: podcasting  :: the positive power of technology :: tending to our nervous system :: all that we are’s new pathways including the re-imagining of Presence Collective Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org

How can we become catalysts for change? In this special episode entitled ‘The Butterfly Effect’ Amisha gathers with Ebyän Zanini, Jimena Paratcha, Darren Le Baron and Nathaniel Dunn during Noisily Festival to share insights and ideas around the theme ‘We Are Change’. We explore :: duality as a form of balance for change :: interconnectedness and unity with each other and the more-than-human-world :: rites of passages :: plant allies and the power of psychedelics  :: forming intentions for change Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org    

How do we honour diverse ways of life and all that we are? In this episode entitled ‘Mysterious Riddles', Amisha Ghadiali talks with Dr Andy Letcher, Senior Lecturer at both Schumacher College, Devon UK, where he is Programme Lead for the MA Engaged Ecology, and at the University of Exeter, where he teaches on the PGCert Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine and Culture. He is the author of “Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom”, and numerous papers on psychedelics, ecology, animism and paganism. Andy researches the contemporary use of psychedelics with a particular focus on the role psychedelics might play in our cultivating an ecological self. He is currently researching ritual and animistic usage of psychedelics by contemporary British Druids, and the contemporary use of the Fly Agaric mushroom. A folk musician, he plays English bagpipes, low whistle, and Dark Age lyre.  We explore :: folk music and birdsong :: deep listening and living in seasonal interconnectedness with nature  :: psychedelics and plant ceremonies :: Animism and Druidry :: pilgrimages and Rights of Passages Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org    

How do we create planetary scale transformation on a local level? In this live episode entitled ‘Future Visions’ Amisha gathered with Helena Norberg-Hodge, Anthea Lawson and Jae Spencer-Keyse to explore how we can create a collective vision that is aligned with what the majority of humanity is yearning for and that can forge transformation from a local level to a global level. We explore :: our relationship with the more than human world :: diversity :: economic literacy :: localised food economies :: parenting :: radical and meaningful education :: sacred and big picture activism Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org    

How do we reclaim our intuition and make better decisions for ourselves and the collective? In this special episode entitled 'The Path Of Beauty' Jasmine Louella Paprika talks with Amisha Ghadiali, our podcast host. Amisha reveals her journey of creating this podcast, her book “Intuition” and her new offering 'Reclaim Your Intuition’, a live online journey that emerged from it. This journey brings us into a powerful relationship with our intuition through an immersion of weekly calls, games, rituals and more. They explore :: podcasting off the mainstream :: Reclaim Your Intuition course :: experiential and somatic learning :: networks of belonging :: astral journeys :: interbeingness Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org  

How do we remember and cultivate our shared humanity? In this special episode entitled 'Collective Care' we gather in a circle with Sally Zlotowitz, Vanessa Englert and Chris to explore remembering our shared humanity. This circle was hosted by Amisha during our Remembering Retreat in the Forest Of Dean; an invitation for us to come together in community to unveil collective wisdom. We explore :: collective care :: community building :: diverse ways of how we can build a better world :: activism and burn out :: kindness vs cancel culture Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org

How do we tend our personal and collective grief? In this episode entitled 'Networks Of Care' Amisha talks with Camille Sapara Barton, a writer, artist and somatic practitioner, dedicated to creating networks of care and livable futures. Rooted in Black Feminism, ecology and harm reduction, Camille uses creativity, alongside embodied practices, to create culture change in fields ranging from psychedelic assisted therapy to arts education. Their debut book Tending Grief: Embodied Rituals for Holding Our Sorrow and Growing Cultures of Care in Community was published in April 2024 by North Atlantic Books. We explore :: conflict resolution :: numbing and regaining sensuousness :: somatic and grief practices and spaces :: processing collective grief in peer support groups and gatherings :: trusting our innate skills and qualities to support ourselves and each other :: resilience and grief tool kits Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org

How do we reclaim health for our food systems? In this special episode entitled ‘Earthly Delights’ Amisha talks with Vandana Shiva on her infamous farm in India. Vandana is a world-renowned environmental thinker, activist, feminist, philosopher of science, writer and science policy advocate. She is the founder of Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (India) and President of Navdanya International. In 1982 she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (RFSTE), an independent research institute that addresses the most significant problems of ecology of our times, and two years later, Navdanya (‘nine seeds’) the movement in defense of biodiversity and small farmers. Vandana is recipient of many awards, including in 1993 the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’, and named among the top five “Most Important People in Asia” by AsiaWeek in 2001, she is is a prolific writer and author of numerous books and serves on the board of the International Forum on Globalisation, and member of the executive committee of the World Future Council.  We hear from Chander Shaker who is one of the core team at the farm, as well as a multitude of participants of the Earth Democracy seminars with Vandana.  We explore :: bio and culturally diverse food systems and farming :: seed libraries :: universal laws :: soil health and its impacts on our health Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org    

How do we live in intimacy with ourselves, each other and nature? In this episode entitled 'Wellsprings Of Dreams' Amisha talks with Zoë Tryon, an activist, speaker and artist known for her work with indigenous communities. She is the founder of “One of the Tribe Journeys”, a travel company offering immersive experiences with indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon and Andes. Zoë has acted as a cultural liaison between indigenous and Western leaders since 2006 whilst living and working with the Achuar, Shuar, Kichwa, Sapara and Waorani peoples across Ecuador. She has supported education, health and economic capacity building projects, advocated for environmental and constitutional rights in the Ecuadorian constitution. She is a Cultural Ambassador for the Stop Ecocide campaign and ambassador for the Sacred Headwaters Initiative. We explore :: environmental activism and reconnecting to ancestral land and practices :: indigenous led conservation, cultural preservation and wisdom in the Amazon rainforest :: indigenous practices of dreaming, healing and living in community and in harmony with Earth :: Amazonian spirituality, dreams, and plant medicine :: addictions and intimacy in the Western world :: motherhood Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org  

How do we tantalise our spiritual paths to flourish a creative, equitable and harmonious future? In this episode entitled ‘ The Art of Life’ Amisha talks with Ben Vereen, an American actor, dancer and singer. Vereen gained prominence for his performances in the original Broadway productions of the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar, for which he received a Tony Award nomination, and Pippin, for which he won the 1973 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Ben takes us on a sermon of insights into how our creative expression and spirituality can forge life paths. We explore :: destructive impacts of technology distractions to human connection :: the role of spirituality on our collective growth :: the power and interconnectedness of art and life :: Humans as expressions of God :: the importance of stillness :: the true meaning of abundance Links from this episode and more at allthatweare.org