Soul Soil: Where Agriculture and Spirit Intersect with Brooke Kornegay

"In order to rise to the challenge of addressing the global emergency known as climate change, we need to access and build a relationship with our higher soul. This connection fosters a life where we truly take stewardship of the planet and our relationship with other beings, and to the best of our ability, manifest love, kindness, and compassion for self, others, and the world. This leads us all to a better life."

Dr. Eben Alexander spent over 25 years as an academic neurosurgeon, including 15 years at the Brigham & Women's Hospital, the Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. Over those years he personally dealt with hundreds of patients suffering from severe alterations in their level of consciousness. Many of those patients were rendered comatose by trauma, brain tumors, ruptured aneurysms, infections, or stroke. He thought he had a very good idea of how the brain generates consciousness, mind and spirit.

In the predawn hours of November 10, 2008, he was driven into coma by a rare and mysterious bacterial meningo-encephalitis of unknown cause. He spent a week in coma on a ventilator, his prospects for survival diminishing rapidly. On the seventh day, to the surprise of everyone, he started to awaken. Memories of his life had been completely deleted inside of the coma, yet he awoke with memories of a fantastic odyssey deep into another realm – more real than this earthly one! His older son advised him to write down everything he could remember about his journey, before he read anything about near-death experiences, physics or cosmology. Six weeks later, he completed his initial recording of his remarkable journey, totaling over 20,000 words in length. Then he started reading, and was astonished by the commonalities between his journey and so many others reported throughout all cultures, continents and millennia. His journey brought key insights to the mind-body discussion and to our human understanding of the fundamental nature of reality. His experience clearly revealed that we are conscious in spite of our brain – that, in fact, consciousness is at the root of all existence.

His story offers a crucial key to the understanding of reality and human consciousness. It will have a major effect on how we view spirituality, soul and the non-material realm. In analyzing his experience, including the scientific possibilities and grand implications, he envisions a more complete reconciliation of modern science and spirituality as a natural product.

He has been blessed with a complete recovery that is inexplicable from the viewpoint of modern Western medicine.

In this episode…

• The story of Dr. Alexander's near-death experience and the subsequent journey into the nature of reality, the mind-brain connection, free will, and debunking conventional science's denial of the existence of consciousness
• Dr. Alexander's most powerful lesson since coming out of his coma has been the power of going within. Meditation is the first step to putting the little "ego-mind" in time-out, and helps us get in touch with aspects of ourselves that are more connected with other beings, and connected with the universe at large. That's the best way to manifest the loftiest world of the dreams of our higher soul.
• The Life Review: a common feature of reported Near-Death Experiences where boundaries of self disappear and your life is presented to you from the emotional perspective of those around you (reinforcing the Golden Rule)
• Past-life accounts from children have been validated through historical research
• This material world is where our souls actually make progress, not the in-between spiritual realm
• Reincarnation was very accepted in the early days of Christianity, but the concept was written out by Constantine at the Council of Nicaea
• Several examples of people having NDEs and making miraculous full recoveries from deadly traumas and illnesses Darwinian concepts of evolution through competition (ideas that bled into our social and economic systems) versus evolution via collaboration and cooperation
• Meditation as a technique to get in touch with our higher souls, as well as a scientifically proven tool to lower stress and blood pressure, improve sleep and productivity, enhance the immune system, generate inner peace and assist with interpersonal conflict
• Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's vision—echoed by those from the NDE world and the meditating community— of the evolution of all consciousness toward a higher level of oneness and connectedness and love, a utopian world for all of life on Earth—shifting the focus from the "ego-mind" toward the universal higher good
• It's time to shift our identification away from individual nation-states and toward a global vision focused on the highest good of all beings; it's time for us to wake up and care for each other and realize that a polarized society isn't healthy and will sooner or later collapse under its own weight

• http://ebenalexander.com/

• Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife by Eben Alexander

• The Map of Heaven: How Science, Religion, and Ordinary People Are Proving the Afterlife by Eben Alexander

• Living in a Mindful Universe: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Heart of Consciousness by Eben Alexander and Karen Newell

• Seeking Heaven: Sound Journeys into the Beyond Audio CD by Eben Alexander and Karen Newell of Sacred Acoustics

• https://galileocommission.org/

• The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael Singer

• https://www.sacredacoustics.com/

• University of Virginia Division of Perceptual Studies

• Inner Sanctum Center (One Mind: United in Hope and Healing)

• Why Jesus Taught Reincarnation by Herbert Bruce Puryear

• Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

• Dying To Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing by Anita Moorjani

• My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor

• The Phenomenon of Man by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

• The Science of Near-Death Experiences by John C. Hagan III

• Efficacy of Binaural Beat Meditation Technology for Treating Anxiety Symptoms: A Pilot Study (abstract)

"Your food just feels good when I eat it"…this is the refrain Jennifer Maynard hears again and again from customers eating the meals she produces from her regenerative agriculture farm and assembles through her meal kit business—meals based on the Longevity Diet. Jennifer has done her homework when it comes to food that works with the human body. She has traveled to several of the blue zones—areas with a high concentration of people over 100 years old—and discovered not just what they eat, but how they live and grow their food as well. Jennifer worked in the Biotech and Pharmaceutical specialty medicine areas for over 20 years. After putting two decades of her passion into changing people's lives through modern medicine, she felt her knowledge and experience would be better served focusing on "Food as Medicine." Even though progress has been made with medicine, the battle with chronic illness is being lost. In order to address this, she founded Greater Greens, a regenerative organic farm, as the first step to bringing this movement front and center and to help focus on the root of our health challenges. Once the farm was fully operational, she co-founded Nutrition for Longevity, a farm-to-fork meal kitting company that focuses on bringing nutritionally tailored meals to the masses direct from her farm.

In this episode…

• Phytonutrients and the connection between soil and human health, including our response to stress
• The soil microbiome is the plant's immune system, much as the human gut microbiome makes up a huge part of the human immune system
• Practices that have led to the reduction of organic matter in U.S. soils from 11% to 1%
• Techniques Jennifer uses on her farm, Greater Greens, to produce high quality, phytonutrient-rich foods
• The critical role of native insect populations in maintaining agroecological balance
• The power of the consumer in making the shift toward regenerative agriculture
• Ways to get more nutrient-dense foods into our local communities
• How farms with healthy soils are far more resilient with regard to climate change
• We can begin to support farmers interested in transitioning to regenerative agriculture using carbon credits
• Kids actually WILL eat vegetables…produce that is grown in living soil is far more appealing than conventional veggies!
• Centenarians in the Blue Zones tend to be regenerative agriculture farmers, utilizing ancient techniques practiced by the indigenous populations

• Nutrition for Longevity, Jennifer's meal kit service

• Greater Greens on Facebook and Instagram

• Jennifer Maynard on Instagram

• Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken

• The Longevity Diet: Discover the New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation and Regeneration to Slow Aging, Fight Disease, and Optimize Weight by Valter Longo

Microbes make the world go 'round. In regenerative agriculture, we rely on microbes to supply our crops to with the nutrients they need to flourish. On a larger scale, microbes play the role of the Earth's immune system, springing into action when disasters such as petroleum spills assault her waters. Today we talk about the magic of microbes in the soil, oceans, and human body. Dr. Patricia Tavormina is a research scientist who's worked on the Human Genome Project at the University of California, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at Caltech, and a dozen things in between. She's an occasional educator at local community colleges and a passionate advocate for greater science communication. When there's not a global pandemic underway, you can catch her doing outreach at Earth Day events, K-8 classrooms, and library lecture series.

In this episode… How environmental microbes act as the planet's immune system, supporting the Gaia theory that the Earth is intelligent Patricia's work at petroleum spill sites The human microbiome Symbiants in the body and in the soil Metaorganisms The Porter Ranch gas leak near Los Angeles, California Speculations on our ecological future

• Aerovoyant: The Industrial Age, Volume One by Patricia Tavormina

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• Patricia on Twitter: @pltavormina

• Giuliana Viglione: What did we learn from the Deepwater Horizon disaster?

• Sharon McNary: After Aliso

• John J. Berger: Can soil microbes slow climate change?

• Anthony Finbow: How Microbiomes could save the planet

• Ram Swaroop Meena et al: Impact of Agrochemicals on Soil Microbiota and Management: A Review

• Anne Armstrong, Marianne Krasny, and Jonathan Schuldt: Communicating Climate Change: A Guide for Educators

Microbes make the world go 'round. In regenerative agriculture, we rely on microbes to supply our crops to with the nutrients they need to flourish. On a larger scale, microbes play the role of the Earth's immune system, springing into action when disasters such as petroleum spills assault her waters. Today we talk about the magic of microbes in the soil, oceans, and human body. Dr. Patricia Tavormina is a research scientist who's worked on the Human Genome Project at the University of California, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at Caltech, and a dozen things in between. She's an occasional educator at local community colleges and a passionate advocate for greater science communication. When there's not a global pandemic underway, you can catch her doing outreach at Earth Day events, K-8 classrooms, and library lecture series.

In this episode… How environmental microbes act as the planet's immune system, supporting the Gaia theory that the Earth is intelligent Patricia's work at petroleum spill sites The human microbiome Symbiants in the body and in the soil Metaorganisms The Porter Ranch gas leak near Los Angeles, California Speculations on our ecological future

• Aerovoyant: The Industrial Age, Volume One by Patricia Tavormina

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• Patricia on Twitter: @pltavormina

• Giuliana Viglione: What did we learn from the Deepwater Horizon disaster?

• Sharon McNary: After Aliso

• John J. Berger: Can soil microbes slow climate change?

• Anthony Finbow: How Microbiomes could save the planet

• Ram Swaroop Meena et al: Impact of Agrochemicals on Soil Microbiota and Management: A Review

• Anne Armstrong, Marianne Krasny, and Jonathan Schuldt: Communicating Climate Change: A Guide for Educators

We are wired to perceive information from the natural world around us— it's how we have survived as a species. The problem is we have shut it off, influenced at an early age by the adults in our lives. We all have the ability to tend our reciprocal relationship with the plants and the Earth. Kami McBride is the author of The Herbal Kitchen and has developed several online courses that facilitate the skills and confidence building to use herbs in day-to-day life for health and self-care. Kami's 30+ years of teaching herbal medicine is steeped in her calling to inspire culture that embraces taking care of our bodies with healing herbs, a deep connection with the earth and a lifestyle that passes this knowledge on to our children. Kami has taught herbal medicine at University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, and the Integral Health Masters' program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has helped thousands of families gain confidence using herbs for disease prevention and self-care.

In this episode…

• Accessibility of herbal medicine versus the pharmaceutical model
• Effect of the disconnect from ancestral lands and foods
• Plant and earth communication is a continuum
• Our ability to connect with and see the world is incredibly profound between ages 1 and 3
• Remembering our own "door", the unique way we experience and interpret information from the natural world
• Ways to begin opening ourselves to plant communication—and the role of gratitude
• We can't protect what we don't deeply love
• Including Mother Earth in decision-making—listening to the land and including her voice in the discussion
• Full-spectrum herbal learning
• Bringing forth the Earth's message for humanity
• When you make a deep connection with a plant, herbal medicine becomes personal embodied experience that goes so far beyond memorization
• People are being called to bring our culture back into right relationship with Nature

• Kami's plant communication course: www.plantwisdom.online

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• https://bioneers.org/

• The Herbal Kitchen by Kami McBride

Have you ever tried to experience your yard, a garden, a woodland…the way a child does? Have you ever had a simple experience of a tree or insect without naming it or judging it or creating a narrative around it? Brigit Strawbridge Howard has rediscovered the pure delight and joy of doing just that—tuning in to the frequency of the natural world and experiencing nature on nature's terms.

Brigit Strawbridge Howard is a wildlife gardener, naturalist, and bee advocate. She writes and campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity, and is the author of Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Nature. Brigit lives with her husband, Rob, in rural Dorset, England.

With regard to designing your garden or property, according to Brigit…"If you're benefiting bees, you're benefiting EVERYTHING in your garden!"

In this episode…

• The moment Brigit realized she had more than an average passing interest in bees…
• Pollination via Sonication
• There are 350,000 species of flowering plants on the planet—each with their own pollination needs
• The art of experiencing Nature like children do—with presence, without analysis or the need to label
• The role of bees as teachers
• Bee alchemy
• Tuning into the bees—a different state of mind
• Industrial beekeeping
• What we can do to support bees and other pollinating insects
• Brigit's wildlife garden

Resources

• The Life of the Bee by Maurice Maeterlinck

• Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Nature by Brigit Strawbridge Howard

• The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America's Bees by Joseph Wilson

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• Soul Soil Podcast Patreon Page

• Soul Soil Grow and Glow package

"Parenthood is EASY!" said no one, ever. Raising children to be conscious, kind, sustainably-minded adults can be extra challenging in an age of global ecological collapse, and in a country characterized by immediate gratification, polarization, and single-use EVERYTHING. Today we talk with Shannon Brescher Shea about how to bridge our desire to be part of the solution, with being caretakers and models for the little people in our lives.

Shannon Brescher Shea is devoted to telling authentic stories about green living and parenting. She's the author of the environmental parenting advice book Growing Sustainable Together: Practical Resources to Raise Kind, Engaged, Resilient Children and writes the parenting blog We'll Eat You Up, We Love You So. After receiving a master's degree from Oxford University in Nature, Society, and Environmental Policy, she worked for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Department of Energy. She biked from New York City to Washington D.C. to raise money for climate change advocacy, protested the Keystone XL pipeline when she was pregnant, and led family community bike rides. Shea has bylines in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, Sierra Magazine, Scary Mommy, and Romper. She lives in the Washington D.C. suburbs with her husband and two kids.

In this episode…

• Mom Guilt: the struggle between spending time on climate activism vs. being present for your children
• The many aspects of sustainability that arise in a family's daily life that are all teachable moments
• Lessons children can learn from working in gardens (see article below)
• Kids who garden are more likely to try new foods!
• Psychological benefits to spending time outdoors (especially for children diagnosed with ADHD)
• Teaching kindness to children in words and action, especially regarding those who are different or have different circumstances
• Introducing children to environmental action in a playful way that empowers them to influence the power structures that affect us all
• Helping kids want less stuff by limiting their exposure to advertisements and helping them think critically about them
• Bringing awareness to the way the activities we choose to engage in impact the people, community, and world around us; making conscious choices

• Growing Sustainable Together: Practical Resources to Raise Kind, Engaged, Resilient Children by Shannon Brescher Shea

• https://welleatyouupweloveyouso.com/

• How gardening can help build healthier, happier kids by Shannon Brescher Shea (Washington Post)

• Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke

• The Broken Earth Trilogy: The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

• Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

• Soul Soil Podcast Patreon Page

• Soul Soil Grow and Glow package

If you can commit to serving fresh fruits and vegetables every time you serve food— to yourself, to others, and especially to children, you will feel better, you will look better, and your community and loved ones will thrive. Food security is national security, and supporting the US farmers who grow our produce is a vote for healthy bodies and healthy economies. Today we talk with Lori Taylor of The Produce Moms, a community of passionate fresh produce advocates with a mission to inspire everyone, especially children, to eat more fruits and vegetables. For ten years Lori sold fresh produce to over 300 grocery stores throughout the US. Today, Lori and her team are fully focused on educating consumers about fresh produce, introducing them to produce brands, engaging the produce industry with consumers in inspiring conversations, and promoting public policy to protect and increase the availability of fresh produce at American schools. Lori is a top child nutrition lobbyist and grassroots activist in the US with a staunch focus on bringing more fresh-form fruits and vegetables to USDA School Meals as well as food insecurity nutrition programs such as SNAP and WIC. Her policy work in D.C. includes Farm Bill and Child Nutrition Reauthorization. Lori is the host of The Produce Moms Podcast, a seasoned Keynote Speaker and is currently writing her first book. Lori resides in Indianapolis, IN with her husband Chip, their two sons Joe and Mac, and their Great Dane.

In this episode…

• How The Produce Moms got started
• Don't overthink it—one step in the right direction is how you start addressing these issues
• 94% of the farms in the US are family-owned
• Food security is national security
• The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program within the Federal School Nutrition Program
• Food is culture
• Producing more using less is the secret to sustainability in our agriculture systems
• No one cares about the planet the way that growers do
• Technology in agriculture
• Whole Foods named "regenerative agriculture" the top food trend of 2020
• Double up food bucks—stretching the SNAP and WIC dollars at farmers' markets
• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program empowers both students and the local food economy
• Only 2% of the fruits and vegetables served in schools are "fresh form" or raw
• Monthly produce challenge calendar

• The Produce Moms website

• The Produce Moms Podcast

• The Produce Challenge Calendar

• [email protected]

• Soul Soil Podcast Patreon Page

• Soul Soil Grow and Glow package

Today we have the opportunity to glimpse what it means to stand for community and healing in the midst of the fallout of Western extractive corporate interests. Lexie Gropper is a biologist dedicated to deepening her understanding of the life cycles, with a passion for the processes of decomposition leading to fertile grounds and new opportunities. She dedicates her energy to the cultivation of plants, fungi, bacteria, relationships, community, and healing.

Lexie has been living in the Ecuadorian Amazon since 2014. She lives on her family's reforested edible jungle, a literal island in the middle of a sea of deforestation and ongoing contamination from petroleum extraction, cattle ranching, and cash crop monocultures. The name of their project is Amisacho Restauración, where they've dedicated themselves to three direct lines of action with communities in their region: restoring ecosystems, restoring health, restoring community.

In this episode…

• About Amisacho Restauración, reforestation, and education
• Rescuing ancient soil building practices such as terra preta
• The history of resource extraction in Sucumbios, Ecuador
• The ongoing 27-year legal battle between the indigenous population of Ecuador and Texaco (formerly Chevron) for the crime of ecocide and challenges of watching a corporation exploit loopholes in the legal system to avoid responsibility for damages
• Involvement with Environmental Reparations Committee, organizing social approaches to environmental restoration and reparations
• The health therapy program which sends health specialists trained in permaculture, biomagnetism, and holistic psychotherapies to support cancer patients in areas affected by the contamination of the waterways by petroleum industry byproducts
• Growing mycomedicinals (medicinal mushrooms) and donating tinctures to help support the remote indigenous population
• Offering courses in soil regeneration and returning indigenous forest microbes to the land
• The magickal mystickal Wood Wide Web, bokashi and biochar
• Biomagnetism

• Support Amisacho Restauración in donating seeds and mushroom medicinal tinctures to Sucumbios Reparation Committees. Paypal: [email protected]

• www.amisacho.com; email: [email protected];

• facebook: amisacho https://www.facebook.com/AmisachoRestauracion/

• Instagram: amisacho_restauracion https://www.instagram.com/amisacho_restauracion/

• Amazon Frontlines

• Reusing the Resource: Adventures in Ecological Wastewater Recycling by Carol Steinfeld

• Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A do-it-Ourselves Guide by Scott Kellogg and Stacy Pettigrew

• Earth Repair: A Grassroots Guide to Healing Toxic and Damaged Landscapes by Leila Darwish

• Radical Mycology: A Treatise On Seeing And Working With Fungi by Peter McCoy

• Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz

• The Soil Keepers: Interviews With Practitioners on the Ground Beneath Our Feet and The Ground Rules: A Manual To Reconnect Soil and Soul by Nance Klehm

• Soul Soil Podcast Patreon Page

• Soul Soil Grow and Glow package

How do you feel when you get out in nature? What happens to your mental state when you spend some time in your garden? Today we chat with Heather Kelejian about her role as Executive Director of the Ability Garden, a place where horticulture therapy is available to a number of populations for the purpose of supporting the healing of emotional wounds, motor skill development, sensory stimulation, improving social interactions, navigating life changes and trauma, and connection with nature. Heather is a North Carolina native, growing up in Chapel Hill and Charlotte who has called Wilmington home for 23 years. A love of plants and being outside came from a childhood spent with her Grandmother, who had a bountiful garden every year. Heather has an English degree from UNC – Chapel Hill and has pursued graduate studies in both Gerontology and Public Administration. She has worked with the Ability Garden since 2003, initially as a Master Gardener Volunteer, a Horticultural Therapy Intern and Program Director, and eventually as Executive Director. Heather is a member of the Coastal Compost Council, the Carolinas Horticultural Therapy Network, and the Voyage and Wellness Committee. Her passion is finding ways to bring people and plants together.

In This Episode… Heather's path to horticulture therapy The populations she serves and skills they foster through the Ability Garden—socialization, vocational experience, nutrition and water quality education, fostering connections, learning how to nurture a living being Working with students flagged for behavior issues Using garden tasks as metaphors for life Addressing grief, instilling a sense of accomplishment and ownership Gardens to bring community members together and help establish a group identity Bringing all the senses into the garden, using the garden space for physical therapy patients Exposing urban individuals to nature; addressing fears of dirt, bugs, snakes, etc Importance of observing the inherently abundant nature of a natural system

• https://abilitygarden.org/

• https://therapeutic-hort.ces.ncsu.edu/

• Walt Whitman

• Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age by Anne Goldgar

• The Overstory by Richard Powers

• Soul Soil Podcast Patreon Page

• Soul Soil Grow and Glow package