S3 E10. The Story of Human: Inner Work for Outer Healing with Remi Olajoyegbe

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[00:00:59] There are movements for so many things in the world, right? There are movements for the climate crisis, there are movements for me too.

[00:01:07] This is a movement for humans,

[00:01:10] for humans to come into connection with themselves,

[00:01:14] with community, with the planet,

[00:01:15] and really understand their gifts, their magic,

[00:01:19] their medicine, which will therefore inform their contribution.

[00:01:23] So that movement for humans is where it's at, it's in real life,

[00:01:28] it's happening every year in real life and then beyond in the virtual digital world.

[00:01:32] But come and join us.

[00:01:34] Yes, I love that movement for humans. That is what we need.

[00:01:51] Welcome to season three of the story of woman. I'm your host, Anna Stecklein.

[00:01:54] From the intricacies of the economy and healthcare to the nuances of workplace bias and gender

[00:01:59] roles, each episode of this season features interviews with thought leaders who provide

[00:02:04] fresh perspectives on critical global issues,

[00:02:06] all through the female gaze.

[00:02:09] But this podcast isn't just about women's stories.

[00:02:12] It's about rewriting our collective story to be more inclusive, equitable, and effective in driving change.

[00:02:19] It's about changing the current story of mankind to the much more complete story of humankind.

[00:02:39] Hello and welcome back to what is technically the final episode of this season.

[00:02:46] But today's episode is a little bit different, so before we get into it,

[00:02:50] I wanted to give you a quick background. Over the past year, year and a half,

[00:02:55] I've been thinking a lot about what humanity and the world most need at this very critical moment in our existence.

[00:03:05] And while we undoubtedly need feminism, the Black Lives Matter movement, movements for

[00:03:11] disability rights, LGBTQIA, and all the other movements we have, I've come to believe that

[00:03:18] those movements are kind of first line defenders dealing with the symptoms of the problems, which are the broken structures

[00:03:27] and biases and inequitable systems and all of the things that we look at on the Story

[00:03:33] of Woman podcast. But as I've been thinking about all of this, I've been wondering, what

[00:03:39] about the root cause? What about what led to these broken systems being created and upheld in the first

[00:03:47] place? Because at the end of the day, systems are run by people. So to change our systems,

[00:03:55] people need to change. Systems are essentially people in action. So all of the solutions

[00:04:01] in the world won't fix these systems if the underlying anger and fear

[00:04:06] and everything else that helped to create and keep these systems in place haven't changed.

[00:04:14] This is why, for example, while things have obviously improved for women over the centuries,

[00:04:21] our problems haven't even come close to going away. They've just evolved over

[00:04:26] time. So today, instead of fighting for our voting rights or being able to wear pants instead of

[00:04:33] dresses, we're dealing with internet trolls and the lack of women in leadership positions. Our

[00:04:40] problems haven't gone away. They've just modernized to fit with the times, and that will continue to happen as long as people with their own suffering and fear and anger

[00:04:51] continue to operate these systems.

[00:04:53] I mean, really, how different is the man who protested women's suffrage from the man who

[00:04:59] sits behind his Twitter feed and spews his animosity at any woman that dare to speak her mind.

[00:05:07] But it's not just that man who has some shit going on internally that needs to be addressed.

[00:05:14] It's all of us. That man is just a very obvious example. But really, it's you. It's me. It's

[00:05:21] everybody. As Steffi Wagner from the Mother Wound Project said, pain travels

[00:05:26] through families until somebody is ready to feel it. We all have suffering within us

[00:05:33] that needs to be addressed. And until we learn to go inward and turn that suffering and fear

[00:05:39] and anger into love and compassion, we'll never heal as a society. Because again, root cause,

[00:05:47] what's stimming and leading to all of our broken structures and inequitable systems.

[00:05:53] And there are people much, much smarter than me who have been saying this sort of thing for a long

[00:05:58] time that in order to heal the outer world, we first have to heal from within.

[00:06:05] So with all of this in mind, I have ideas for evolving the story of woman into the story

[00:06:12] of human, where instead of focusing on the external world and all of its broken systems,

[00:06:18] we focus on the inner world and healing that.

[00:06:23] Same goal, equity for women and all people, but a different mindset

[00:06:28] and approach for getting there. This will probably be big news to some, but I feel it's a really

[00:06:35] natural evolution. It's an evolution that I've been on personally over the past couple years,

[00:06:40] and it's one that I firmly believe we as a society all need to go on.

[00:06:46] It's still activism, but activism that focuses on healing yourself in order to heal the world.

[00:06:52] Not to mention, it strikes me that we don't have a movement for humanity.

[00:06:57] I mentioned this to today's guest, Remy, and her response is what you heard at the

[00:07:01] very top of this episode.

[00:07:03] Again, we need feminism,

[00:07:05] we need all of these other movements, but why don't we also have something that encompasses all

[00:07:10] of us and that goes to that root cause? It's like we forget that we're all on the same team,

[00:07:16] and even all of these different individual movements are working towards the same goal. So yeah, I think we, in addition, also need a movement for humanity

[00:07:28] that really goes to that root cause

[00:07:30] and that focuses on healing the inner world

[00:07:32] in order to heal the outer world.

[00:07:36] There's so much more that I could say

[00:07:38] and that I wanna say as I've got big, big ideas for this.

[00:07:41] And as I mentioned, this is not a new concept.

[00:07:43] So I have lots of examples

[00:07:45] and stories that I love to share, but I'll leave it there for the sake of time. I'm

[00:07:50] on the lookout for sponsors or supporters to help me bring this big idea to life. And

[00:07:57] to be honest, without which, I'm not sure it ever will be able to come to life. Only time

[00:08:02] will tell. So if anyone has ideas or connections or just wants

[00:08:07] to hear more about this idea, I'd be very, very happy to tell you more about it. So please do get

[00:08:13] in touch. All of my contact links are in the show notes. And as of now, I'm still going to be doing

[00:08:19] stuff for the story of woman. I have very big ideas brewing there as well. Like I said, I believe that

[00:08:26] we need both. And it's really never been more urgent that we heal as a society. I mean, there's

[00:08:33] an actual epidemic of loneliness going on. And it's no secret that despite technology and globalization,

[00:08:40] we've never been more disconnected both from each other and from ourselves. So the time is now,

[00:08:48] it's incredibly urgent and I believe firmly that we need both and that this new, well,

[00:08:55] not so new, but this type of approach is something that's urgently needed and is what will bring

[00:09:02] us forward and what will help heal and save this planet.

[00:09:06] So today's conversation is a very small glimpse into what this new podcast would explore,

[00:09:13] speaking with people and looking at ways that we can form deeper connections with ourselves

[00:09:17] and with others, looking at ways we can start to heal internally and how all of this will lead to healing humanity and the planet.

[00:09:27] Today, I'm speaking with Rimi Olajoyegbi. Rimi is the co-founder of Medicine Festival,

[00:09:33] which is what we'll be mainly talking about today. Medicine is put on in the UK and it's an

[00:09:38] incredible and increasingly important gathering that I had the fortune of attending this past year

[00:09:44] that really looks at how

[00:09:45] we, the people, are the medicine we need right now for ourselves and for the planet. It's a space

[00:09:51] where people can come together and connect, where they can begin to pause and reflect and heal,

[00:09:56] and where they can learn and dance and have a lot of fun while doing it. And the underlying purpose of medicine, while it focuses

[00:10:05] on healing individuals, is actually healing humanity and the planet. So it really feeds into this

[00:10:11] concept of the best thing that we can do for the planet is to first heal from within. And what I

[00:10:18] really love about medicine is that it focuses on indigenous culture and wisdom because of course we have so much to learn

[00:10:26] about living in harmony with each other and the planet from these cultures that have been around

[00:10:32] peacefully coexisting for millennia. Us in the West have strayed so far away from these ways of life

[00:10:39] and that has led to the loneliness epidemic, the mental health crisis, the increasing division and polarization, and of course the climate crisis.

[00:10:51] So Indigenous wisdom keepers, as the folks at Medicine call them, are front and center at Medicine, and it's really fantastic to see.

[00:11:01] But you'll hear all about that very shortly. Outside of the festival, Rimi is also a systemic coach

[00:11:06] who looks at these broken systems

[00:11:08] and helps mostly female leaders

[00:11:10] transform how they show up in the world.

[00:11:12] She focuses on compassionate leadership

[00:11:14] and making an impact.

[00:11:16] And she's the founder of a retreat space

[00:11:18] called Isumatec Retreats,

[00:11:20] which is a space for women to dive

[00:11:22] into their inner knowing and wisdom,

[00:11:23] explore it unapologetically,

[00:11:25] and integrate it into their lives. You can hear more about Remy in the Bonus Patreon episode,

[00:11:31] where she dives into her background more and how she arrived to where she is today.

[00:11:35] There is 15 minutes of bonus content available because Remy and I had a lot to talk about.

[00:11:42] me and I had a lot to talk about. Ooh, that was a long one today.

[00:11:46] As mentioned, please do get in touch if you have any ideas, connections, thoughts, or

[00:11:51] just want to hear more about this new idea.

[00:11:55] Thanks as always for being here, for going through season three with me.

[00:12:00] I invite you to revisit previous episodes if you you're new here, we have great conversations

[00:12:06] with leaders from around the world.

[00:12:09] If you've been here through the whole journey,

[00:12:10] thank you so much for coming along.

[00:12:13] Stick around, because there's definitely more to come.

[00:12:17] But for now, please enjoy my conversation

[00:12:20] with Rimi Olajoiegbi.

[00:12:37] Hi Rimi, welcome and thank you so much for being here today. Hi Anna. Hi, thank you very much for having me. It's an absolute pleasure to be here.

[00:12:42] Yeah, the pleasure is all mine. I'm really excited chat with you

[00:12:47] about medicine, this wonderful festival that you co founded.

[00:12:52] Tell us what is medicine festival and why it was started and

[00:12:56] and what's its purpose?

[00:12:57] Mm, God, big question.

[00:13:02] At very top level, I would say that medicine is a movement. It's a platform as well as

[00:13:09] a festival, you know, the way that we present annually is we are a festival or a sacred

[00:13:14] gathering of between four to five thousand people that are like-minded individuals that galvanize around a common purpose or a common cause and seek to connect

[00:13:28] emotionally, physically, in real life in order to better our relationship with the natural world,

[00:13:35] with our communities and with ourselves. And medicine seeks to facilitate that healing. And so

[00:13:41] the movement is around those individuals that come together to facilitate the healing of the individual the community and the world at large and we do that through a number of different modalities you know we have world music dance. transformational workshops, artistic workshops, fun workshops. There's all

[00:14:05] manner of ceremony that are hosted by our incredible wisdom carriers. There's

[00:14:11] extraordinary talks across such a wide range of subjects, not just focused on

[00:14:16] healing but focused on change-making, on having an impact in the world, whether

[00:14:20] that's, you know, the farming methods all the way through to sacred sexuality

[00:14:25] and everything in between. So, yeah, those modalities kind of coalesce to present

[00:14:32] extraordinary smorgasbord of choices in terms of how can we connect with ourselves? How can

[00:14:38] we transform? How can we heal through these amazing modalities and also create a global community that feel bonded

[00:14:47] beyond the ties of say family or village or even local community but that feel bonded

[00:14:53] through a sense of healing in a sense of belonging and changemaking. The platform then enables us

[00:15:00] to really showcase extraordinary wisdom carriers,

[00:15:05] individuals, speakers, musicians, et cetera,

[00:15:09] in a way that is, I think, truly inspiring,

[00:15:13] but also very inviting for our community

[00:15:17] to co-create and collaborate with.

[00:15:19] Because of course, our question,

[00:15:21] which I'm sure will go on to unpack,

[00:15:23] is really an invitation for everybody

[00:15:25] to find the medicine within themselves

[00:15:27] and for us to create this container

[00:15:30] within the context of a gathering,

[00:15:32] a sacred gathering that's really held

[00:15:34] so people can dive into those inquiries

[00:15:37] and hopefully mine their own gold.

[00:15:40] I guess the other thing I would say as a final note

[00:15:42] is that what really fuels and weaves us is that,

[00:15:48] you know, in a time where there's such a huge identity crisis and it's sometimes hard to bring about change

[00:15:55] because we feel so separated and so isolated, this is an opportunity for us to do our work at all of those levels in and outer and to bring about change as a collective

[00:16:08] where we are asking questions around and about what needs to change and how can we bring

[00:16:14] about change within ourselves and beyond ourselves, you know, so that we're not careering into

[00:16:21] the next human disaster. Does that answer your question?

[00:16:25] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:16:28] I mean, I know it's so much to summarize, right?

[00:16:32] It's a movement, it's a gathering, it's a journey,

[00:16:35] it's a platform, it works on inner and outer work.

[00:16:40] You know, it just, it really does so much,

[00:16:43] but I feel like, yeah, the heart of it is this coming back to our wisdom that we have, especially through indigenous wisdom

[00:16:53] keepers and using this culture and this knowledge to, like you say, both heal ourselves and

[00:17:02] the planet.

[00:17:03] There's this common thread of inner and outer work,

[00:17:06] because you really can't have the first one, you can't heal the planet without healing ourselves,

[00:17:12] kind of individuals and as a collective. So it's definitely a lot, I think it was a great summary.

[00:17:19] I want to ask a follow-up why Indigenous culture and wisdom specifically. Because just to read a little two sentences here from the

[00:17:27] website, you know, about the purpose of medicine, it's two,

[00:17:31] or one of the purposes, I should say, to support indigenous

[00:17:34] communities around the world who protect and preserve a large

[00:17:37] amount of the world's biodiversity to preserve and protect

[00:17:40] their cultures, share their generous healing and inspire

[00:17:43] people to come in connection

[00:17:45] with the natural world and themselves by example. So yeah, I guess I'm wondering,

[00:17:51] rather than just coming together to talk about different ways we can preserve biodiversity

[00:17:57] and deal with the mental health crisis that we're all undergoing, why is the focus on

[00:18:03] indigenous culture and wisdoms

[00:18:05] to address those two problems?

[00:18:07] That's a great question.

[00:18:10] Yeah, I suppose I would start by saying that we see indigenous culture really embody some

[00:18:20] very simple principles, certain indigenous cultures, certainly indigenous

[00:18:27] leaders that we talk to and are influenced and guided by, understand that we are nature,

[00:18:33] we're not separate from it, right?

[00:18:35] We are obvious as opposed to from the earth, you know.

[00:18:40] I remember Matt McCartney once saying, and it's stuck with me since, we were once all an earth-honoring people.

[00:18:48] And that is why one of the reasons, there are many reasons and I'll try and be succinct, but that's one of the reasons thating Indigenous culture is one of our central guiding principles or guiding lights.

[00:19:08] These communities represent guardianship and custodianship of the biodiversity in the natural world.

[00:19:16] That relationship with the natural world is a system and a way of being that, you know, I think it's wouldn't be unfair to argue we have

[00:19:27] lost our way with in the Western world. So, you know, we live in an extractive consumerist culture

[00:19:37] that amplifies the distortions and the separations that we feel from the natural world such that

[00:19:45] you know we are not always even conscious of how an animal is slaughtered and how

[00:19:50] it ends up on our table. I'm not criticizing meat eaters, I eat meat. I'm

[00:19:53] just saying as an example we are not potentially even conscious of how we

[00:19:59] might cut down trees because as a dominant species we need to get

[00:20:02] somewhere right so we don't even think about the impact that that might have on our ecosystems and our environments. That level of removal and

[00:20:09] separation is something that is rife in our culture and so one of the reasons, one of the

[00:20:16] teachings that really comes through from indigenous communities that we work with is their relationship with the land their relationship with the earth

[00:20:26] and how that is

[00:20:28] honored and preserved through mythologies and stories and narrative and language and how much power that holds

[00:20:35] because it really helps us reconnect with the wisdom of this extraordinary

[00:20:41] flourishing diverse planet that we live on and that we call our home.

[00:20:45] And I think our sense of removal because of our separation within ourselves really

[00:20:53] makes it increasingly challenging of course to hold within our consciousness some of the

[00:20:59] impacts of our actions on the world that we live in. So I think that's one of the reasons

[00:21:05] that they are very important and as I've mentioned you know being custodians of

[00:21:11] the land of the earth and being able to witness how that transpires in terms of

[00:21:23] respectful practice and mindful practice is really inspiring because

[00:21:29] it helps us remember where we need to return to. So it's really critical for us that we work with

[00:21:37] these wisdom carriers and not just wisdom carriers from far-flung lands but wisdom carries from this land too and the way that we

[00:21:47] enable that is through these practices, these rituals, these songs, these ceremonies which allow

[00:21:54] people to drop in and have a lived embodied experience of that rather than you know feeling

[00:22:00] removed, feeling separated, reading something in a book, not quite being able to connect.

[00:22:05] And so we're really trying to create this container for that magic to flourish within

[00:22:12] and for people to find something that, of their choosing, that really resonates with

[00:22:17] them, that can kind of guide them back.

[00:22:19] Can guide us all back, can guide us all home.

[00:22:22] Yeah, that's beautiful.

[00:22:23] And yeah, that's a great way of putting it as well.

[00:22:26] It's gonna be a very different experience

[00:22:28] when you're living and embodying and coming face to face

[00:22:32] and hearing talks and connecting with other people,

[00:22:35] you know, in person over all of these

[00:22:37] versus just reading about it in a book

[00:22:39] or however else that information might come.

[00:22:43] But yeah, and that's lots and lots and lots of reasons.

[00:22:47] And then just to add one more on top of that,

[00:22:49] I mean, you mentioned, yeah,

[00:22:50] the custodians of our planet.

[00:22:52] And I've had Hindu Umaru Ibrahim on the podcast before.

[00:22:57] She's an indigenous environmentalist from Chad.

[00:23:00] And she said on the podcast how indigenous people are around 5% to 6% of the world population,

[00:23:08] yet they protect 80% of the world's biodiversity. So if everything that Remy said it was not

[00:23:15] enough, just that fact alone that they are protecting 80% of the world's biodiversity is,

[00:23:22] yeah, testament enough. So I think it's just really incredible what you all are doing.

[00:23:27] It was a really, really unique experience to be at this gathering and not just learning

[00:23:33] about the environment and connecting with each other from the types of people we can

[00:23:38] always hear from, but from these ancient wisdom keepers.

[00:23:42] I like that term as well.

[00:23:43] It's a really, really unique

[00:23:45] and beautiful space.

[00:23:46] Thank you, Anna. I'm so glad you came and immersed yourself and really have your own

[00:23:52] perspective on what it is that we're trying to bring. And I also, you know, it's such

[00:23:56] an important statistic to think about that Indigenous communities, what they hold on

[00:24:00] our behalf. And to present a, or create a platform where we can not just

[00:24:08] keep extracting from their generosity and their healing, but also, you know, give thanks, raise

[00:24:14] funds for, do things that can help their journeys because they're subjected to an awful lot because

[00:24:22] of this extractive consumerist culture that we live on, because we don't know the provenance of things.

[00:24:27] I mean if you think about

[00:24:29] everything that we eat, everything that we wear, every car park that is necessary for the cars that we drive, every road that is

[00:24:36] crafted, every house that is built, every single thing, right, is a natural material, is of the earth. And yet

[00:24:44] how many of us think about that day to day?

[00:24:46] It's hard to think about it because we've got lots of other things to be thinking about and

[00:24:50] managing but if we can and our intention is to create that container, that space where we can drop

[00:24:59] for four or five days, you know the to-do lists and the habits and all of the things that consume us

[00:25:08] and make that space, create that spaciousness for people to start engaging through content,

[00:25:15] through talks, through sound, through dance, through song, through prayer. Something happens

[00:25:21] within us where we start to remember and feel grateful and understand gratitude and service to be part of what we are as humans, as human beings, to be part of our offering back.

[00:25:35] And so for those that are doing that on our behalf, these indigenous communities, you know, profound thanks.

[00:25:55] you know, profound thanks. It's wonderful that people can have an opportunity to meet with and be in the presence of these humans that are doing so much work on so many of our bars, right? And also start to remember perhaps what our contributions might be in that regard. And so all of that is happening within this gathering

[00:26:06] and we are certainly doing our very best to ensure that people are remembering their own,

[00:26:11] you know, through these experiences, you're getting to connect with your own special medicine,

[00:26:16] your own offering, because we all have such riches to bring when we are able to open up to them,

[00:26:23] to look at them,

[00:26:25] to heal parts of ourselves that have maybe distracted us

[00:26:28] from even seeing them.

[00:26:30] Yeah, I like that.

[00:26:31] Starting to remember, and we have this innate wisdom

[00:26:34] in ourselves, kind of an intuition about maybe

[00:26:37] what's best for us in the world that we often don't

[00:26:39] listen to, because we override it with our thinking brain,

[00:26:43] but also this innate wisdom that stems back generations and generations that feed into everything that you're talking

[00:26:50] about here and allowing that to come to the surface through these different modalities,

[00:26:56] which I want to get into next actually is how do, okay, so we show up at this festival,

[00:27:02] we understand the what and a little bit of the why now, but how do we begin to remember?

[00:27:09] And what does that look like at the festival? Can you just walk us through some of the different components as what as an attendee we might find? There's so much. I find it overwhelming. But there's certainly something for everyone.

[00:27:27] I think what's important to share is that this is

[00:27:31] an in real life opportunity, right?

[00:27:33] It's a physical opportunity for people to come

[00:27:37] into connection with themselves and each other.

[00:27:40] We do continue to maintain that connection

[00:27:44] with our communities throughout the year online,

[00:27:47] encouraging that deepening and encouraging that expansion, but it's a physical opportunity.

[00:27:52] And so you arrive and you are immersed in a journey this year. The Festival is going to be

[00:27:58] the 14th and the 19th of August, so that gives you a good chunk of time. We actually don't even encourage day visitors

[00:28:07] because the immersion is really important.

[00:28:10] You know, it goes through the process

[00:28:13] and it is a process, it is a journey where you do emerge.

[00:28:16] Often feeling different.

[00:28:19] We want to make sure that we allow for time to do that.

[00:28:24] And so you arrive and over the course of that five

[00:28:28] days you get to choose what you do, whether that's movement workshops, listening to all sorts of

[00:28:37] extraordinary and exquisite music, having really deep conversations or listening to really thought-provoking

[00:28:46] dialogues and talks, there is an opportunity for you to immerse, for you

[00:28:52] to immerse and have fun, for you to immerse and crack open, for you to immerse

[00:28:57] and be really stimulated and so our intention, our endeavor is to create a safe container within which you are held and

[00:29:09] whatever occurs for you as a result of who you're interacting with is in a space that's

[00:29:14] safe and held, which is why one of the reasons we were very clear and intentional around

[00:29:20] not having alcohol, but I won't go into that just yet.

[00:29:23] What occurs in that container is

[00:29:25] almost like a kind of chaos magic in that we can't dictate you know your experience Anna or

[00:29:30] someone else's but we know that through a balance and a beautifully curated journey you are safely

[00:29:39] held to seek your own journey, your own journey to unfold and your own connections to unfold.

[00:29:45] And there is always ritual and ceremony being held so that you can find places to really

[00:29:57] deeply explore what's coming up and going on for you.

[00:30:00] I mean, we've got over 16 areas I think now which have phenomenal talks,

[00:30:08] 10 you can listen to anything and everything from decolonisation and racial activism to

[00:30:14] soil health and regeneration to women's empowerment and womb health. It's a very expansive program and what I would say is that the way that the space, the way that the land is curated is incredibly intentional.

[00:30:33] It's the offerings of the workshops and the music and the dialogues and the inquiries and the talks, but also the land itself. Every little detail is really thought through and curated so that

[00:30:47] if you're having a very deep reflective moment by the sacred fire every evening you can go and be

[00:30:54] with music that allows you to just drop into a very deep meditative ceremonial space versus if

[00:31:03] you want something that's a lot more active, you'll

[00:31:05] probably go to main stage in the evening and find again something super embodied but a lot more

[00:31:11] lively and energetic because you want to move and actually you want to move because you've had a

[00:31:16] strong experience in the day. You might have been sat in a tobacco ceremony and had a profound

[00:31:21] moment of insight or healing or teaching and you know you need to really embody

[00:31:27] that and so the spaces are curated and devoted to the mind and the body and the soul that we can

[00:31:35] allow within the container holding of all of those aspects of ourselves as well as allowing that liminal, chaotic energy to also be present knowing

[00:31:48] that you're safe and that you're held.

[00:31:50] Yeah, that is such a wonderful way to encompass all of it, because once again, a lot to go

[00:31:58] over and describe.

[00:31:59] I mean, 16 areas that Remy is talking about, 16 physical spaces on this massive

[00:32:06] property of land. I mean, the area is just so large and in every one of these areas,

[00:32:11] almost every hour of the day, you have something different. So exactly as you're saying, this is

[00:32:16] what I found and everyone I spoke to found is that everybody's experience is different and curated to themselves as they wish it to be.

[00:32:25] And you can go from doing yoga and breathwork in the morning to talk about storytelling,

[00:32:33] and then maybe a workshop on play and embracing your inner child. And then you learn about

[00:32:37] psychedelics. And then you do some forest bathing. And then you end it in a beautiful

[00:32:43] jam session where people from all over the world are coming together and connecting through music.

[00:32:49] Because clearly music is a very integral part to the festival slash gathering.

[00:32:55] And that was one thing that really stuck out to me was just seeing, you know, talking

[00:32:59] about our interconnectedness, talking about connection with others is just seeing how

[00:33:04] people from all

[00:33:05] over the world were connecting in the most glorious ways because of music. It was just such a

[00:33:11] beautiful experience. Absolutely. It's a transmission as well. It's a real form of very

[00:33:17] deep transmission. And so again, the music is very beautifully crafted and created and this year we actually added a music temple

[00:33:27] because we've got these extraordinary musicians and world music you know every part of the globe

[00:33:32] and beautiful sacred music that we want people to be able to drop into wherever they're at.

[00:33:38] Thank you for that summary I was just actually looking through the program just being like wow I

[00:33:43] mean you know in any one moment you

[00:33:45] could go to from Kerodran's courtroom where you're being schooled on the rise of the divine masculine

[00:33:51] to sexual embodiment work to men's work and the rights of passage to women's work and the power of

[00:33:57] the womb to create and to craft and birth not just children but how women birth other things in our world and the

[00:34:05] importance of really understanding our ability and our capacity for such

[00:34:09] birthing beyond our children and how important that is to hear. There's you

[00:34:14] know so much there's this history of magic, I mean and then you want if you

[00:34:18] want to look at land, very particular you know there's tons on land, extraordinary talks on so many subjects. As

[00:34:26] I said, everything from our sleep to radical love to altered states of the brain, as you

[00:34:31] said, psychedelics, spiritual complexities of transformation. I mean, it's full. It's

[00:34:36] full.

[00:34:37] It is full indeed. And I think that can really start to paint the picture of how it's about

[00:34:43] inner work and outer work. So you're

[00:34:45] learning so much about what needs to be done in our external physical world, but also you have so

[00:34:53] many opportunities for inner connection and for sitting with yourself, seeing what comes up,

[00:35:00] connecting with other people, having talks about whatever it is that might contribute to

[00:35:06] inner work and healing. And then on top of that, you also have just connecting with other people

[00:35:12] and finding community. So I don't know if you want to talk to that point at all, you know, even

[00:35:17] beyond the workshops and the talks and the music, just finding a place where you feel like you belong and connecting with the community of people and kind of the power that that has.

[00:35:29] Mm, I mean, our deepest longing as humans is to belong right. I'm deepest. You know, we go to great lengths. I mean, it's something that I look at in systemic work all the time is we go to great lengths to stay in systems,

[00:35:46] for good and for bad sometimes actually, that enable that sense of belonging. When we feel

[00:35:52] that connection to tribe, something settles in the nervous system and yet we live in such a global

[00:36:00] world now that the whole notion of connection and village, the fact that actually

[00:36:07] you know how can we really truly be connected to so many people everywhere beyond that of

[00:36:14] a village but yet we live in a world that dictates and demands that of us you know and

[00:36:19] of course there are many opportunities in life to be had being part of a global community and I'm sure many of us probably pride ourselves on being global citizens and yet isolation, this association,

[00:36:32] disconnection has probably never been more prevalent and indeed such levels of isolation,

[00:36:40] such levels of you know one of the key impacts on mental health is loneliness.

[00:36:46] If you just take it back a few years to the COVID years of how we all had to

[00:36:50] manage and that sense of isolation and separation in a very real and very

[00:36:57] particular way and so when you can create a space that feels expansive and interesting, but big enough that there

[00:37:09] is still an opportunity for you to find tribe, find connections with people around a common

[00:37:15] purpose of healing and growth and empowerment and love around these very deep principles of being in these

[00:37:26] environments that support self-love and love beyond. It's heady stuff, it's often

[00:37:34] what we're looking for, right, this deeper sense of loving connection and

[00:37:38] because we live in such a global world and it's harder to access unless you are

[00:37:44] lucky enough to live in communities

[00:37:46] where there's great connection and dialogue. But you know for many people living in urban

[00:37:51] environments they don't, we don't. And even within community this common purpose allows

[00:37:58] you to get stuck in in a way that perhaps you might feel more separation and more divide

[00:38:04] because you don't know and you

[00:38:05] don't have the time to inquire whether you and your neighbour are both into the same thing.

[00:38:09] And suddenly you're in an environment where you can pretty much assume that you'll be able to find

[00:38:15] somebody within a stone's throw that you can have a good conversation with, that you can go on a

[00:38:21] journey with, that you can feel connected to. And as I said, we long to belong. We need it.

[00:38:29] And we really, that's one of our prayers for medicine.

[00:38:33] We hold this big prayer that people can feel this sense of settling and belonging and healing

[00:38:40] so that we can then go out into the world refreshed, revitalized, regenerated and do the same

[00:38:46] and take energy onwards.

[00:38:48] So yeah, this is a big piece, it's community.

[00:38:53] We long to belong, I love that.

[00:38:55] And I've thought about this before

[00:38:57] and I mean, we don't have time to get into why this is,

[00:39:01] but I just find the irony so painful

[00:39:03] that exactly as you say, our greatest desire

[00:39:07] is to belong, is to connect with other humans. And that means that every single person on

[00:39:13] this planet wants the exact same thing, and it's mutually beneficial. And yet we have

[00:39:20] all of these barriers socially, culturally, structurally that prevent us from doing that.

[00:39:26] And like I said, it'd be a lot to dig into that right now, but it's something that, you know,

[00:39:31] that irony of that just strikes me. But I think, yeah, community in connection with others was a

[00:39:38] huge through line at medicine. And so was, and we've kind of alluded to this, you know, going into the festival

[00:39:45] and emerging slightly different, this kind of inner healing. And I think what a lot

[00:39:50] of that comes back to is connecting with yourself. So we've talked a lot about connecting with

[00:39:55] nature, understanding more where food, materials, all of these things come from tapping into

[00:40:01] indigenous wisdom. We've talked a lot about community and connecting with others.

[00:40:05] And then there's this third thread

[00:40:07] of connecting with yourself.

[00:40:10] And I just wanna kinda go back to the basics for a minute

[00:40:13] because I think lines like that can be thrown around

[00:40:17] and people might not even,

[00:40:19] like what does that even mean kind of thing?

[00:40:21] So I just wanna ask you,

[00:40:23] what do you think that means to connect with yourself?

[00:40:26] And then if there's anything you want to add about the challenge

[00:40:29] that we face in today's society in doing so and ways

[00:40:33] that that can kind of be overcome at the festival.

[00:40:38] Such a fine balance, isn't it?

[00:40:40] Because we need to pay on what's going on out there.

[00:40:44] And we don't want to be navel gazing so much that we miss what's going on out there. And yet, we also

[00:40:51] need to find ways to connect with self. And that is a really, really good question. And

[00:40:57] as I sit here and I tune into that, I think about the neglected places, the untended places within ourselves that require our

[00:41:09] attention in order for us to serve others. We have to serve ourselves and

[00:41:15] those places require our attention, our service. It's important that those neglected, untended two spots get some attention and that can

[00:41:29] be in the way of healing, self-love, more mindfulness, more awareness, but that connecting

[00:41:39] back to self, there's so much trauma that sits within the human system when we're so resilient

[00:41:47] and robust often that we don't always find or have the capacity or even the tools actually

[00:41:55] to come back to places that need attention. And yet when those places don't have the attention,

[00:42:01] then we find they play out in some way or another.

[00:42:05] And so being in an environment that enables you

[00:42:11] to deepen into, to tend to what is, what really is,

[00:42:16] those unspoken realms, those unspoken places within us

[00:42:21] that can often be driving forces

[00:42:23] if we're not aware or not careful.

[00:42:26] I think that for me is a very important part of connecting to self, connecting back in to

[00:42:32] see, you know, what do I need? Such a hard question sometimes you ask somebody. You need,

[00:42:38] it draws a blank because we're not sure, we don't know what we need. We're not even sure

[00:42:44] that we've ever been shown

[00:42:45] how to think about that.

[00:42:46] We can often say what do we want,

[00:42:49] and what we want can sometimes be,

[00:42:52] I think that's often what can fuel this consumerist society

[00:42:55] that we live in where we amass more stuff

[00:42:57] because we think that we want that

[00:42:59] and that's gonna make us feel better.

[00:43:01] But actually what we're seeking

[00:43:03] is something that helps us feel and enabling

[00:43:07] that feeling I think comes through an understanding of our needs where we can articulate them

[00:43:14] in a non-violent way often when we're articulating our needs in a violent way it's because they're

[00:43:20] unattended and we don't have the language we don't know how to express them and of course

[00:43:24] when we're doing that to another, that's potentially problematic.

[00:43:29] We can relate to that as individuals, you and I talking right now, or the global stage that we see.

[00:43:36] We're witnessing horrific human behaviors as a result of these unexpressed needs and inabilities to speak our truth.

[00:43:49] And so I think, yeah, for me it is that attending to those places within ourselves that are

[00:43:58] neglected, that are not feeling heard, that are not able to reflect and speak our truth because we've had experiences

[00:44:06] in our life that haven't allowed us to do so or have been even more extreme than that.

[00:44:12] And you know, the extremities of things that we humans go through is real. And so, of course,

[00:44:18] we need to have that imbalance and keep that imbalance. I really see when I walk around at medicine people

[00:44:26] are tuning into parts of themselves and are moved to do so and as I said earlier

[00:44:36] sometimes we need the immersive space where we can keep the list of to-dos

[00:44:41] and distractions and all of the chatter of the mind that

[00:44:45] stops us often doing what we actually really need because it's sometimes too

[00:44:50] painful to be able to to go there in a safe environment. Yeah. Does that answer

[00:44:58] your question, Anna? Absolutely. In so many ways and there's there's so many

[00:45:03] points I want to talk back to in response,

[00:45:05] but I'll just say, you know, I'm really glad that you brought up the parts about how these

[00:45:11] neglected areas, how when we're not connecting with ourselves can be the driving forces,

[00:45:16] because I think that a lot of times, you know, in the work of any type of movement, we look at

[00:45:21] the outside, you know, we look at the outer work that needs to be done, which is important, obviously, the systems, the planet, the people that we need to connect

[00:45:32] and come together with.

[00:45:34] But we are not always talking about the inner work that needs to be done in order for that

[00:45:39] outer healing to happen.

[00:45:40] Because if that's not taking place, you know, that's what's exactly you say, the driving

[00:45:44] forces of everything else. So that is kind of the foundation, I think, of all

[00:45:51] work that needs to happen to heal ourselves and to heal the planet is that inner work

[00:45:58] and connection with ourselves. But for a multitude of reasons, again, that we won't have time

[00:46:04] to get into it. It's not easy.

[00:46:06] But the last point that I'll just make

[00:46:08] is I think a lot of that connecting with yourself

[00:46:11] comes back to that innate knowing,

[00:46:14] kind of being still and listening to your body

[00:46:19] and what comes up.

[00:46:20] And we've kind of, we lose sight of this ability

[00:46:24] to listen and trust ourselves

[00:46:27] in a way that isn't coming just from our brain and intellectually kind of understanding

[00:46:33] and making decisions for ourselves, but connecting with ourselves.

[00:46:36] And I was just saying, absolutely so important.

[00:46:39] I just had this image of us all being brains on sticks, you know. And all of this deep, you know, I'm sure

[00:46:47] you've heard of the book, The Body Keeps a Score, all this deep, no-ism, trauma patterns, all of that

[00:46:53] which is stored in the flesh and bones that, you know, we also need to find ways to tap into and

[00:47:00] unearth because it's innately wise

[00:47:05] and the nature of mind is such that whilst it can be

[00:47:08] utterly brilliant, it can be massively distracting.

[00:47:12] Though, yeah, wow, what a fine balancing act it is

[00:47:15] just to be alive and be a human and be, you know,

[00:47:18] constantly trying to find ways to balance

[00:47:22] and contend with that push, pull, the polarities, you know?

[00:47:25] Absolutely, absolutely. So it's really great, you know, Madison really, really

[00:47:30] focuses on all three of these connections with the planet, with each other and with

[00:47:34] ourselves, and you need all three of that to make any progress for our own

[00:47:39] healing and for healing the world. So on that note, I want to ask this directly.

[00:48:00] Again, we can probably start to assume and deduce, but you talked in the beginning about one of the founding questions was, how can we be the medicine? And certainly throughout the festival, while I

[00:48:11] was there, there was a phrase I heard thrown around quite a bit, which was, we are the medicine.

[00:48:17] So how would you answer that question? What does that mean? We are the medicine.

[00:48:22] What does that mean we are the medicine?

[00:48:30] I think it speaks to the power of the collective to create solutions. Like we're all solutionaries. When I hear you say it back to me,

[00:48:34] it just makes me smile. We are the medicine.

[00:48:36] It's interesting what takes form in each festival.

[00:48:40] And I think that phrase is a statement of the collective sense of

[00:48:45] empowerment that we have the power within ourselves to heal, to collectively

[00:48:50] heal, to heal ourselves, to heal our planet, to make that choice. I feel like

[00:48:55] it's a statement of collective, well it's almost like the sovereign statement

[00:48:59] speaking to the collective you know we are sovereign individuals with an

[00:49:03] ability to come together and find solutions to be the medicine that we need rather than to be given the medicine.

[00:49:11] It's just like, you know, it makes Indigenous communities and what they do well in their

[00:49:17] medicine cultures is they're not separate from the medicine and those within the culture,

[00:49:23] it's slightly different to our Western model of I'm the patient and you're the medicine and those within the culture, it's slightly different to our

[00:49:25] Western model of I'm the patient and you're the doctor and I have the solution and I'm giving it

[00:49:30] to you. To me, what emerges from that, we are the medicine is this collective recognition

[00:49:38] of our ability to make change, to make solutions within and without.

[00:49:43] make change, to make solutions within and without. You know,

[00:49:44] I love that.

[00:49:45] Yeah, we're not given the medicine.

[00:49:47] We are the medicine.

[00:49:48] And I certainly felt that, you know, you mentioned that at

[00:49:53] medicine, you kind of can come in in one state of mind and

[00:49:57] leave in a completely different one, or you said something

[00:49:59] along those lines.

[00:50:00] And that was, that was my experience.

[00:50:02] You know, I actually, I arrived at medicine feeling quite sad.

[00:50:06] I noticed when one of the first workshops

[00:50:09] I had this sadness inside of me

[00:50:10] and I wasn't exactly sure why,

[00:50:13] but that's what came up for me.

[00:50:14] And like you said, medicine is a space, a container

[00:50:17] that is safe for whatever it is that comes up.

[00:50:20] And I certainly felt that way, but of course,

[00:50:24] didn't love that

[00:50:25] I was feeling sad on the first day, but that's how it was. And by the time the last day came

[00:50:30] around, I actually had a workshop in the exact same room that my first workshop was in that

[00:50:35] first day that I was noticing this sadness in me. And I noticed this time around, I felt this deep joy in my body that was such a stark difference

[00:50:47] to the beginning. And that phrase, we are the medicine just became even more poignant

[00:50:54] because everything that you're saying about, we are the medicine for the planet and the

[00:50:59] earth and each other. But also, yeah, we're the medicine for ourselves when we are able to

[00:51:07] connect with ourselves on that deeper level and connect with others because, you know,

[00:51:13] yes, there was dancing and learning and other things, but at the core of what my experience

[00:51:17] was those three days, it was I was given a space to connect with myself and others.

[00:51:22] And I transformed, you know, my mindset changed completely

[00:51:26] within three days time.

[00:51:28] So I felt like I had taken the medicine.

[00:51:31] Well, I guess I had it taken.

[00:51:32] I had, I was the medicine and everyone around me

[00:51:35] was the medicine as well.

[00:51:38] I felt that so strongly.

[00:51:39] The solution, right?

[00:51:41] Yeah, exactly.

[00:51:50] Okay, so then lastly, I just wanted to also ask about diversity and inclusion. You know, obviously we've talked about including indigenous wisdom keepers and ensuring representation

[00:51:56] there.

[00:51:57] But I know part of your role and really medicine as a whole is really ensuring there's diverse

[00:52:02] people that are both running the workshops and talks, but also in attendance of the festival. So can you kind of talk to us about the importance

[00:52:09] of that and perhaps how you ensure that that happens?

[00:52:13] Yes. Thank you. I am the only black female on the founding council and there are only three women on our organising team and so

[00:52:25] it is a really important point. I think in terms of diversity and inclusion

[00:52:32] there's a lot to say here but this year for those that haven't come to the

[00:52:38] festival we had a beautiful new space called the Ubuntu space. Ubuntu means I am because we are an

[00:52:48] African principle. It was curated by a wonderful curator called Muti, Mr Fahri, who curated

[00:52:56] that space and it was incredibly important and meaningful for us to have that space this year.

[00:53:06] I think I would say a few things.

[00:53:09] You know, you can't be what you can't see.

[00:53:12] And so in a festival space and scene

[00:53:16] that is predominantly white,

[00:53:18] it's been really important for us to recognize

[00:53:22] and reclaim the narrative around black excellence and people of colour,

[00:53:29] who hold so many keys to extraordinary practices that we look to for our healing and that have

[00:53:40] been typically underrepresented in terms of holding these spaces and so Ubuntu was a space where

[00:53:47] more of these ancestral voices I would say for diaspora traditions started to coalesce and

[00:53:54] congregate and I think it is incredibly important, you're absolutely right that is one of my roles

[00:54:02] and it's a hat that I probably don't speak to because I wear it so unconsciously in a way but it's so

[00:54:06] important that we continue to explore those narratives to decolonize I guess

[00:54:14] the process of or even the industry of wellness and that more individuals bring

[00:54:22] more of their excellence to this well-being space.

[00:54:27] And I know that there were, you know, some extraordinary things that happened in that space,

[00:54:33] from storytelling to self-defense to an Afro-Futurist ceremony,

[00:54:38] to, you know, just talking about the traditional spiritualities of people from diaspora communities and I think

[00:54:46] it's critical for us to express our contributions to this sacred truth within this container that

[00:54:56] we're holding right. We're living in a time where you know the diversity of people means that we need the diversity of approaches and philosophies and

[00:55:06] wisdoms and so that is very consciously something that we hold and that we

[00:55:14] continue to weave in more deeply in every aspect of the festival but it takes

[00:55:20] time because we're changing a model that has been inherently one way, you know, for a very long

[00:55:26] period of time. And so it's really important that communities feel represented, or increasingly,

[00:55:34] I should say, represented at Medicine Festival and feel increasingly like they want to bring and

[00:55:41] share some of the magic. I mean I myself am half Indian so both my parents

[00:55:47] are dead but my mother was from Assam, northeast India tea country and I'm half West African Nigeria

[00:55:53] and so I've just come back actually two weeks ago from West Africa and you know I'm deeply connected

[00:56:00] to the old Ifa tradition and Yoruba ways and the Orishas that are from that land which underpin so much of

[00:56:11] the medicine culture in Brazil because of course the West African slaves took

[00:56:16] the Orishas, these are the deities and were, I suppose in some ways they were hidden,

[00:56:20] but actually they were included and enmeshed within the spiritual medicine cultures in Brazil.

[00:56:28] And so, you know, it's really important that we recognize the cost actually of access that we have been given to some of these extraordinary healing histories and cultures and traditions.

[00:56:42] And that's why having a platform to not only

[00:56:45] receive them but to honour them is critical to what we do at Medicine and more spaces

[00:56:51] will grow and evolve so that they feel sustainable and welcoming to people of colour and their

[00:56:59] wisdom, traditions and sharings and excellence and that feels really beautiful and

[00:57:07] important because that is happening. Of course I and the entire Council will want

[00:57:11] that to happen more but we are really stepping into this space as consciously

[00:57:19] and as sensitively as possible. I did a panel that was really beautiful during

[00:57:25] the festival just talking about you know decolonization and racial activism and

[00:57:30] what that meant. We don't have time to go into that but from a personal

[00:57:35] perspective you know it was really beautiful and deep that these

[00:57:39] conversations are happening and they they need to continue to happen because

[00:57:43] there's a lot, I mean that

[00:57:46] doesn't even cut it, you know, the level of processing that needs to happen and inclusion

[00:57:51] and integration of some of these conversations and narratives as well as the practices and

[00:57:57] modalities is huge.

[00:57:59] And so we're making some ways into that and, you know, pray that that really continues.

[00:58:05] Yeah, amazing.

[00:58:07] Ubuntu Village was one of my personal favorite areas this year, so I was thrilled to see

[00:58:14] that and that's such an important work that you all are doing in your role specifically

[00:58:20] and thank you for sharing all of that.

[00:58:23] Yeah.

[00:58:24] Also, we're a CIC, so that's not for profit.

[00:58:27] It's a community interest company.

[00:58:29] So any profits that we make, we offer to indigenous communities that are protecting the biosphere.

[00:58:36] We don't sell alcohol, so we don't make profit margins on the sort of things that normal gatherings

[00:58:41] and festivals do.

[00:58:42] We are not for profit. So whilst we might

[00:58:46] look like that, it's not on operation that has been focused on the financials, it's about

[00:58:52] getting the energetic right. And that requires an awful lot of dedication and sacrifice actually

[00:58:58] would be absolutely impossible without that collective human spirit coming together to

[00:59:04] do this work.

[00:59:05] We're really, really, really blessed.

[00:59:08] Amazing. Amazing. And just my two cents on not to get us off track, but the no alcohol there,

[00:59:18] in case that's scaring anyone off. I mean, honestly, I think that was, I talked with a lot of people about this. It's like the

[00:59:26] whole energy of the place was just so much higher without having alcohol that adds this, you know,

[00:59:34] filter to everyone and the whole energy of the place. So I think it was, it was such a beautiful

[00:59:39] experience to be in this environment around all of these people consciously soberly. So I was a big fan of that decision personally.

[00:59:48] I'm so glad to hear it.

[00:59:50] You know, we really had to go through a process of decision-making and we could not compromise

[00:59:57] the energetics of the festival above the financial income, right? You know, many festivals and I'm not anti-alcohol.

[01:00:04] I'm just saying that many festivals rely on this revenue and so we needed to be

[01:00:09] super intentional about the energetics and actually if we were really offering

[01:00:14] sacred spaces and held spaces, we could not have alcohol. People would not feel

[01:00:21] held and safe knowing that they you know that there

[01:00:25] was alcohol at large because our ability to have that self-responsibility is

[01:00:31] impaired significantly whether you know what we know that and so to go

[01:00:37] inwards you know and to really connect in the ways that we've just been

[01:00:41] discussing for this last hour would be near on impossible and the other other thing to say is that, you know, and of course

[01:00:47] different festivals have different vibes and they're all great. People might be

[01:00:50] out in another festival drinking and taking drugs and that might be their

[01:00:56] way of escaping but the opposite is true for what we're trying to do. We're saying

[01:01:01] don't escape actually, don't escape themselves, don't escape from these

[01:01:04] places. Let's have a

[01:01:05] little lookie here. Let's dig a little bit deeper. You know,

[01:01:09] it's okay to do that. It's safe to do that. And so alcohol was

[01:01:12] just an absolute no no within the context of this festival. And

[01:01:16] we could not invite wisdom keepers from around the world to

[01:01:21] bring their prayers and their sacred work into a space knowing that there would be alcohol there.

[01:01:26] So we chose to not compromise for the financial benefits the energetics won out for us.

[01:01:33] And yeah, we all know that was absolutely the right decision.

[01:01:37] And the community reiterates that time and time again that the the vibes and the feeling and the type of relating and the type of

[01:01:46] immersion that's possible is really possible because of that key, very key decision.

[01:01:53] So I'm pretty proud of that actually.

[01:01:54] I think you should be and I love that too that it's the opposite of escaping. Yeah, you kind of

[01:02:00] unplug a little bit from your day to day world perhaps, but it's not escapism. And

[01:02:06] that's, I think that's a really key distinction to make. It's the opposite of that. So thanks

[01:02:10] for bringing that up.

[01:02:11] Oh, right. So then just some questions to bring us home to wrap here, even though I

[01:02:17] could talk to you all day about all of this. But if listeners haven't come up with their

[01:02:22] own reasons already, why do you think anyone listening

[01:02:27] should consider going next year?

[01:02:28] I think anybody that gets to a point in life where they, and you know, gosh, we can come

[01:02:33] up against this question, but it's a question that I really feel in my work that arises

[01:02:38] in many humans.

[01:02:39] Is that it?

[01:02:40] Is this it?

[01:02:41] I think if anyone can do that question, they should come, right? Because there's

[01:02:46] always more. It's being in an environment that really encourages us to be curious and look more

[01:02:55] deeply as to how we might answer that question. Sometimes we hit points in life where beyond

[01:03:02] the day to day, it's hard to make sense of what

[01:03:05] else might be out there for us whether that's in relation to another human or

[01:03:11] you know community or our professional careers but I think these spaces allow

[01:03:18] you to unpack and inquire in a way that as you've just described and actually smiling ear to ear hearing

[01:03:28] about how you emerged feeling that different after three days of immersion, we all need

[01:03:35] a reboot right in order for us to be our best selves. We hear that phrase all the time,

[01:03:39] be your best self you know bring your whole self to work. I mean, what does that even mean? Right? If we don't even know in our long lives how to refresh,

[01:03:50] how to regenerate, how to restock ourselves.

[01:03:52] And I think if you're curious about how you might do that

[01:03:56] and what you've been doing, hasn't been working for you,

[01:03:59] you should come.

[01:04:00] There really is something there for everyone.

[01:04:02] Absolutely.

[01:04:03] I couldn't agree more.

[01:04:04] And I think there's something just really important,

[01:04:07] I think as well, that just came up for me

[01:04:09] while you were talking about just putting yourself

[01:04:11] in new and different situations.

[01:04:13] So even if you don't know exactly what you're searching for

[01:04:16] or what medicine festival could even offer you

[01:04:19] or whatever, if it's still a little murky,

[01:04:22] just putting yourself inew in different situations

[01:04:26] and exploring those, seeing what comes up,

[01:04:30] being curious and being open is just such an amazing

[01:04:33] quality and trait to have and will help move you

[01:04:36] in the direction that you wanna move in life,

[01:04:38] even if you don't know what direction that is.

[01:04:41] Exactly, the answer lies within, right?

[01:04:43] You just need the space to look for it. Hmm. Yeah. Yes. If people take one thing away from this conversation with you today,

[01:04:54] what would you want it to be? Oh my goodness. I mean, I guess it would be something around,

[01:05:08] around, yeah, what aspect of yourself do you need to remember? Do you need to give space to and what riches might lie in there? What medicine might be so beneficial to yourself

[01:05:15] and others if you were to give it the space? How, how might you get there? What one thing

[01:05:21] might you do that allows you to connect into either that

[01:05:25] space of your own healing or just a greater awareness around your contribution. It's

[01:05:33] something that you often hear, people say, God, I feel so strongly about X or Y, but

[01:05:39] I don't know what to do about it. And so I guess if that's you I would love people to take away the invitation to come and join us

[01:05:50] and to do whatever is right for you whether that's to you know you don't have to be out there saving

[01:05:54] the world you might come and spend the entire time looking within and really deepening and then

[01:05:59] emerge feeling like actually I this is the direction I all this I've now connected with people that can help me

[01:06:07] Feel like I'm making a difference or a contribution in the world that feels right and good for me that connects me with my medicine

[01:06:13] Sorry, this is a very long-winded answer to say yeah, take away my takeaway would be to invite you to join us

[01:06:19] because you're curious about

[01:06:21] Yourself and your own healing and you're curious about the contribution you want to make?

[01:06:27] I love that.

[01:06:28] And that answer could be as long as you'd like it to be.

[01:06:31] So it was a perfect length.

[01:06:34] And is there anything else that you would like to say

[01:06:37] or talk about that we haven't covered before we wrap?

[01:06:41] I mean, I could talk to you all day and it's lovely.

[01:06:43] You know, this is a thing,

[01:06:44] get a passionate person on a soap box and you could have a

[01:06:46] four hour podcast.

[01:06:47] So, I mean, there's so, but I also, I tell you what the one thing I will say is it's

[01:06:52] also a lot of fun.

[01:06:54] You know, it's not just all deep, but you know, it's also fun, you know, because there's

[01:07:03] just a level of freedom of expression that's happening

[01:07:06] that is infectious and gorgeous and beautiful and the music is exquisite and so it does not

[01:07:12] have to be, you know, it's as deep a dive as you want it to be, but it's a lot of fun

[01:07:17] and yeah, I'm just reminding of a friend of mine that sometimes says, you know, sometimes

[01:07:22] we do some deep work and you might be in a ceremonial context and you're sort of really doing some deep work. But actually, joy is really

[01:07:28] important, you know, we have to find ways to really connect with and remember, what are we doing

[01:07:33] and why are we doing it and where is the joy in it? And there's a lot of joy. There's a lot of joy

[01:07:39] in seeing people, you know, you could walk past two people who are deep in conversation and floods of tears and another two will just be rolling around laughing. And again, those opposites

[01:07:50] are so true and so important within us and around us. And so I would just say that, yeah,

[01:07:55] that would be my final point, which is the invitation is there and joy is there too.

[01:08:02] Joy and the fun is there too. Joy and the fun is there too. Yes, what an excellent point to end on. And I second, third and

[01:08:08] fourth that lots and lots of joy is there as well. So thank you

[01:08:12] for that. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your work. It

[01:08:17] has been such a pleasure and I could have gone on all day as

[01:08:20] well. So maybe maybe again one day in the future.

[01:08:25] Well, thank you. Thank you very, very much. And yeah, delicious,

[01:08:29] delightful to talk to you. And I'll send you all my contacting

[01:08:31] photos in case people want it.

[01:08:33] Excellent. Yep. And I'll put all of that in the show notes. So

[01:08:36] thank you again, Remy.

[01:08:38] Great. Thank you, Anna.

[01:08:44] Thanks for listening.

[01:08:45] The story of woman is a one-woman operation run by me, Anna Steclain.

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