This podcast features Zenzi Sewaah, host of "Spiritual Infinity," in a profound conversation with Susanna Rose Stokes, co-founder of Metamorphosis.
The core message is that many people are disconnected from their spiritual side and need to reconnect to source to overcome life's challenges, recognizing themselves as "spiritual beings with physical bodies having human experiences".
Susanna's spiritual journey, leading to the establishment of Metamorphosis, is a key focus:
* Early Connection: She grew up on a blueberry farm, finding her "first connection to god to source" through nature.
* Military Disconnection: Her time in the Naval Academy and Marine Corps, particularly deployment to Afghanistan, led to deep isolation, grief, and disconnection, triggering her first depression. She questioned the concept of an "enemy," realizing the "illusion of separation" and the "feminine knowing" of interconnection. Stories from the Bosnian War further highlighted "confusion and the disintegration and the separation and the compartmentalization" in human thinking.
* Coping & Awakening: Susanna realized she had complex PTSD, coping by overworking and externalizing energy. A transition to Silicon Valley, which she called "its own version of war," offered more freedom to explore. Guided by her father's teaching that "the purpose of life is the progress of the human spirit", she discovered psychedelics and plant medicine, alongside meditation and breathwork. A recreational LSD experience reconnected her to the "interconnection of all life" she had felt as a child, revealing the therapeutic potential of plant medicines. Her sister's mental health crisis, which mirrored Susanna's unacknowledged pain, profoundly convinced her to help, with plant medicine ceremonies aiding her sister in stopping suicide attempts.
* Embodied Feelings: After a year of dedicated meditation in 2020, Susanna moved towards heart-centered embodied meditative experiences that emphasize feeling emotions, asserting that the body "never lies" and is a guide to one's inner state. This contrasts with societal tendencies to avoid and suppress feelings.
Metamorphosis is a collective of organizations aiming to "harmonize the masculine and feminine aspects to create human transformation" and evolve into "new earth ways".
* They primarily initiate entrepreneurs and leaders through a plant medicine process mirroring Susanna's journey. They also offer retreats, events, and online courses.
* Their mission is to help people uncover their "truest essence," remember who they are, and reconnect to source, thereby moving away from pain and blindness.
* They teach a process called "Complete, Claim, and then Create" to help individuals get unstuck from "karmic blocks" or "karmic loops," which manifest as repetitive behavior, addiction, and neurosis.
* Susanna emphasizes that the ego is "necessary and deeply important" when it is an "authentic and pure expression of the spirit within". She reinforces that "grief is the portal to joy" and one must "go through" difficult experiences rather than avoid them.
* The work also focuses on "unblocking" and "balancing" energetic channels frayed by trauma, which can lead to chronic issues. This balancing involves alchemy and integration, where one faces their "darkness" or "shadow" to transmute grief into joy, anger into happiness, and shame into bliss, aligning with the hermetic principle of polarity. The goal is to shift from an overemphasized "head-mind" to the "heart-mind and gut-mind" for true balance.
You can connect with Metamorphosis via their website, metamorphosis.ventures, on Instagram at @embodiedmetamorphosis, or with Susanna personally at @SusannaRose. They host virtual gatherings and encourage joining their email list for "soul family" connections.
Zenzi Sewaah concludes by emphasizing that there are many different paths to reconnecting with source, like different types of food, and the ultimate goal is to find the way that is right for each individual.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zenzisewaah.substack.com
