In today's episode, my guest, Daniel Cortez, shares an unusual mindset when it comes to exploring the path of enlightenment. One, I never came across before: the mindset of a hunter.

Join this intriguing conversation around practices, discipline and – hunt – in tracking your true nature, your higher Self.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:30) The great game of consciousness

(04:05) Initiation through teaching

(07:34) Physical practices

(11:41) Dualistic worldview vs. experiential wisdom

(15:20) A journey of delusion into human suffering

(18:41) The "rules of the game" and maps for winning

(21:47) Food and nutritional discipline

(25:50) On openness

(29:07) The mind of a hunter

(41:12) Predator within you

(49:14) Training to hunt

To learn more about Daniel's work, reach out via Instagram or his website.

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Subscribe to learn more about what it takes to be a human being in this and upcoming conversations. You can watch this episode on Youtube. I would be delighted to connect with you on ⁠Instagram⁠, too

/ Leave your comments, thoughts and feelings in the comment section to this episode on Youtube or Instagram /

Laura Sagen, host of On Emergence podcast.

Only by embracing the truth that you might be: lost – do you stand a chance of finding your way through. No matter if it's through your relationships, your job & career, your family or your communities – the approach is very similar.

In this episode I hope to inspire the courage within you, if you got lost – to accept it. Because that's how you begin to find your way.

The road through the dark woods is not for faint hearted though, and safety is not guaranteed. I share my experience and tools that helped me navigate the murky waters of being lost.

Timestamps:

(00:00) The dark forest analogy

(02:19) Culture of comparison make us feel more lost

(04:27) Understand your own signage of the dark forest

(05:25) Your physical health

(09:30) About addictions

(17:03) A space for contemplation

(18:10) Draw a map... but expect it to change

(20:02) The ebb & flow of being lost

(23:57) About the money.

(26:07) Why you should experience being lost

(28:26) About trust

(34:40) People & communities in your life

Subscribe to learn more about what it takes to be a human being in this and upcoming episodes. You can watch this show and episode on Youtube.

I would be delighted to connect with you on ⁠Instagram⁠, too.

/You're invited to share your comments, thoughts and feelings in the comment section on Youtube or Instagram to this episode./

Much love,

Laura Sagen, host of On Emergence podcast

So many reasons why you should dive into your subconscious and explore your psyche through journalling. I've had diaries since I was 6 years old and maintained a structured daily journalling practice for 5 years now. In this episode my observations and takeaway from this long-standing habit.

Your notebook and a pen could be there for you, when you need an understanding adult and support in your life the most and in the moments when nobody is around... It could also be scary, if you've never got to know yourself that way before. But all the while – journalling shines the light on your subconscious and patterns of your thinking, enabling you to gain control and give you a chance to grow beyond them...

(00:00) Introduction

(01:15) Morning Pages Practice

(03:34) Journalling gives a handle on your subconscious

(05:44) How often should you journal?

(07:38) Many reasons to start

(11:15) How writing helps you think & process life

(13:43) How to get rid of the inner critic

(17:18) Journaling is your invitation for...

Link to my journalling playlist >

Subscribe to the On Emergence podcast to continue exploring what it takes to be a human being. You can also watch this show on Youtube.

I would be delighted to connect with you on ⁠Instagram⁠, too - https://www.instagram.com/onemergence

Leave your comments, thoughts and feelings below.

Laura Sagen, host of On Emergence podcast

My guest today is Justin Byerly (Ancheta), an entrepreneur, business strategist and more importantly to this episode – a herbalist and a purveyor of weather patterns. The work with global and local weather patterns led him to explore the notion of harmony in the context of the world we’re living.

Whether it’s listening to a birdsong that only happens 3 weeks a year, or searching the night sky for a constellation that hides for 40 days as a predictor of El Niño, Justin has studied with the Indigenous tribes to understand how humanity can live in harmony, within itself and the nature around us. He also shared his approach and fascination with creating your own “living calendar” and practical tips on adopting harmony as a way of being even if you live in a busy city…

Timestamps:

(00:05:01) Herbalism as a spiritual path

(00:07:45) Indigenous ways of tracking & predicting weather

(00:14:22) Antropocentric view versus Harmony

(00:16:50) On cultivating a sense of harmony with nature

(00:22:03) Living calendar

(00:24:51) How ”Me-centric" culture actually pulls you away from the present

(00:30:32) How to attune to the harmony of nature when living in a city

(00:38:10) Moon is an easy gateway to start syncing with nature

(00:42:37) How to appreciate the rain (& other “bad” weather)…

(00:45:13) Celtic calendar - an example of a living calendar

(00:57:01) Harmony is not another practice, but a way of being

(01:01:43) "Eating" interconnectedness

To connect and find out more about Justin’s work, reach out via his Instagram.

Subscribe to learn more about what it takes to be a human being in this and upcoming conversations. You can watch this episode on Youtube.

I would be delighted to connect with you on ⁠Instagram⁠.

To find out more background of this conversation, go to On Emergence website.

Laura Sagen, host of On Emergence podcast

In this episode I spoke with Molly Hickey, a neuropharmacologist in the field of psychedelic science, a scientist and consultant in preclinical R&D, patient engagement and science communication. At the time of our interview, Molly was about to fly to the Amazon rainforest for a study conducted with Onaya Science and Shipibo tribe around a traditional plant medicine, ayahuasca – to explore its healing potential in veterans with PTSD. 

In our conversation we explored topics around mental health and mental illnesses and how they might be indicators rather than merely "symptoms" that must be medicated away. We also delved into philosophical discussions on psychedelics and psilocybin specifically - which forms the core of Molly’s work focus, various altered states of consciousness including psychosis, perspectives on trauma, depression & healing, neurodivergence and search for purpose amongst a few others. 

Molly is also an artist and a storyteller. You can connect with her via her website: www.mthickey.art, her Instagram or Linkedin 

Timestamps:

(00:05:13) Plant medicine and working with PTSD in veterans

Subscribe to learn more about what it takes to be a human being in this and upcoming conversations. You can watch this episode on Youtube.

I would be delighted to connect with you on ⁠Instagram⁠, too where you can leave your comments, thoughts and feelings about the episode.

Laura Sagen, host of On Emergence podcast

Hard to talk about human experience today, without mentioning scrolling. Because whether checking the news, your social media feed, or messaging app – what you’re actually looking for is beyond capabilities of what those tools can provide…

…Beyond the pictures of friends’ babies and the latest news updates, we look for connection and perhaps – some sense of control, in the hope that by “being in the loop of things” would reduce our existential anxiety.

Since 2019, I built a habit around news and information consumption, which contributed to my personal growth, overall happiness and wellbeing. And in this episode I explore human desires and need behind the impulse of checking the phone, and share my experience of “conscious scrolling”. 

(00:00) Introduction

(03:19) How have I not followed the news since 2019...

(05:21) Why you're compulsively scrolling

(06:41) How "social" is social media?

(09:32) Face your newsfeed, consciously

(15:29) What's the feeling behind our desire to scroll?

(16:31) Comparing yourself to others

(17:41) Searching for: feeling of connection 

(19:11) Let's talk about boredom

Subscribe to learn more about what it takes to be a human being in this and upcoming conversations. You can watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/AtIC3wPT82Y

I would be delighted to connect with you on ⁠Instagram⁠, hear your thoughts and comments about the practice of "conscious scrolling".

Laura Sagen, host of On Emergence podcast

In this third, and final part of the series on Grief & Sorrow, one by one, Zach opens all five gates of grief and explains what to expect from each. We finish our conversation by me sharing my own experience of attending and participating in a grief ritual that Zach has hosted in Pisac in the Sacred Valley of the Peruvian Andes. 

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In this three part series, my guest, Zach Seagle, a grief counsellor, former school principal, plant-medicine worker in the lineage of the Asháninka, an indigenous tribe in Peru – attempts to open gates of grief and sorrow to show that only through feeling it all a life of unbridled child-like joy is possible.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(03:11) History of grief rituals

(07:41) Five gates of grief

(08:01) 1st gate: Everything you love you will lose

(08:24) 2nd gate: The places that Have Not Known Love

(10:39) 3rd gate: The sorrows of the world

(11:51) 4th gate: What we expected and did not receive

(15:18) 5th gate: Ancestral grief

(17:25) Theatrics of a grief ritual

(22:07) My personal experience of grief ritual…

(24:10) An example of ancestral grief

(33:54) Purging is part of grieving

To learn more about the work of and connect with Zach, visit ⁠his website⁠.

Subscribe to the podcast to learn more about what it takes to be a human being in this and upcoming conversations.

You can also watch this episode on ⁠Youtube and I would be delighted to connect with you on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠.

On either platforms you’re invited to leave your comments, thoughts and feelings.

Laura Sagen, host of ⁠On Emergence⁠ podcast.

In this second part, we dive deeper – into the rites of passage, dissolution of the ego, and rewilding – all parts of ego maturation process. Zach shares one of my favourite insights I learnt from our conversations: “the culture of hungry caterpillars”. He describes his view on “unsafe nature” and its importance in children’s education. He gently invites you to go into the deep and darkness as the only way to unravel and feel into your mythopoetic identity… 

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In this three part series, my guest, Zach Seagle – a grief counsellor, former school principal, plant-medicine worker in the lineage of the Asháninka, an indigenous tribe in Peru – attempts to open gates of grief and sorrow to show that only through feeling it all a life of unbridled child-like joy is possible.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:07) The descent into the soul

(03:50) Culture of hungry caterpillars

(06:17) Apocalypse: redefined

(08:27) Ritual of adolesence: rite of passage

(13:51) Your mytho-poetic identity

(21:20) Visionary states in altered states of consciousness

(31:10) Ego & soul maturation

(34:18) Depression, anxiety, jealousy – and other “dark” emotions

(38:00) Ego maturation through education

(40:34) Life is not safe and why children should know

(42:35) Rewilding and imagination as tools

(46:53) Zach's project: Agora Academy

To learn more about the work of and connect with Zach, visit ⁠his website⁠.

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Subscribe to learn more about what it takes to be a human being in this and upcoming conversations. You can watch this episode on ⁠Youtube⁠.

I would be delighted to connect with you on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, too.

On either of the platforms, you're invited to leave your comments, thoughts and feelings.

Laura Sagen, host of ⁠On Emergence⁠ podcast.

In this three part series "Grief & Sorrow", my guest, Zach Seagle, a grief counsellor, former school principal, plant medicine worker of Peruvian Amazon lineage opens the gates of grief and sorrow – to show how through a process of ego dissolution and maturation one can become a full responsible adult, gently but confidently holding the reins of agency over one's own life. (And to add from me, that only through feeling, owning it to experience a life of unbridled child-like joy...)

In this first part we discuss the sorrows of the world, especially felt acutely by the Indigenous cultures. From years of his learning directly from the elders of the Asháninka tradition, Zach shares what Western world can learn from the “kinship system” – a profound feeling of relating and belonging to nature and its members (fellow humans, animals and rocks & rivers). A beginning of a fascinating spiralling conversation to lead you down further…

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(05:16) Receiving wisdom from the Indigenous

(08:01) Childhood acquaintance with grief

(10:46) Mythology vs Contemporary forms of truth

(11:41) Literal truth

(15:22) Cultural truth

(17:52) Knowledge of Facts vs Indigenous Wisdom

(21:03) Learning WITH the indigenous cultures

(25:25) Cultivating relationship with nature

(31:03) Fear to feel the pain of the world

(36:25) On Carl Jung, insanity and the dissolution of ego

To connect and find out more about Zach's work, reach out via his website, Agora Academy.

Subscribe to learn more about what it takes to be a human being in this and upcoming conversations. You can also watch this episode on Youtube.

Leave your comments, thoughts and feelings on Instagram. I would be delighted to connect with you.

Laura Sagen, host of On Emergence podcast

In this episode I share my worldview on “travel” that invites the entire world to feel like home.

I don’t like “travelling” in its conventional sense. But I like absorbing the culture, let it soak into my skin, my eyes, my belly, my breath – when I’m at a new geographical location. I like standing still at a new place – letting these new experiences flow through me. 

Some say that I travelled extensively. While I don’t count the number of countries I visited (it’s not a contest…), I was incredibly fortunate to live somewhat permanently, semi-permanently in different places around the world – as well as briefly encounter others.

I share my perception of travelling, of moving across and through the world and letting the world move through me. Gradually opening new horizons and imbibing in new cultures.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(03:11) Why learning the basics of local language is important 

(06:30) Problem with "Must visit" places and guidebooks

(07:19) Why do YOU travel?

(08:38) Places to come back to

(09:21) "Cheap" travel gives a more authentic experience

(11:08) Cooking & food

Subscribe to learn more about what it takes to be a human being in this and upcoming conversations. You can watch this episode on Youtube and I would be delighted to connect with you on ⁠Instagram⁠, too.

Leave your comments, thoughts and feelings below. I'm always happy to hear from you.

Laura Sagen, host of On Emergence podcast