Simona Irwin is a mindfulness teacher, neuroplasticity coach, and facilitator of Systemic Constellations. She is the creator of the Befriending Fear series and co-founder of the Mindful Earth Refuge, an eco-dharma community in Toronto. Simona also leads The Gathering Stream, a growing online space that supports people living with trauma, chronic fear states, and disconnection to return to inner aliveness, belonging, and embodied transformation. She offers monthly in-person circles and classes in Toronto. Her work draws on ancestral repair, somatic parts work, deep ecology, and meditation to support nervous system rebalancing and soul-level restoration and remembrance. Grounded in lived experience, Simona brings gentleness, depth, and kinship to what is often exiled or held in shame. She holds space for grief, fear, and fragmentation to be met with reverence and care. With decades of experience as both student and guide, her approach is rooted in practice, relationship, and a deep trust in the body’s innate wisdom. She is a mother of two, dedicated to her 5Rhythms movement practice, devoted to the land, and held by a lifelong relationship with the mystery. Her work is circular, multi-layered, and at its core an invitation back into reciprocity and deep connection with self, other, and the earth.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Mitch sits down with Simona, founder of Moving Towards and The Gathering Stream, to unpack her powerful healing journey.

00:00 – Introduction Simona’s comeback story: from trauma and chronic illness to resilience and purpose.

05:00 – Sensitization Why trying to “fix it” fuels symptoms, and how acceptance opens healing.

20:00 – Life Story Childhood trauma, homelessness, corporate success—and eventual collapse.

35:00 – Plant Medicine The potential and pitfalls of psychedelic healing without trauma-informed care.

45:00 – The Perfect Storm COVID, nervous system breakdown, and the journey through insomnia, pain, and intrusive thoughts.

56:00 – Befriending Fear How neuroplasticity, community, and relational healing create lasting change.

1:40:00 – From Hell to Purpose Turning pain into purpose with Befriending Fear and The Gathering Stream.

Connect with Simona

https://turningtowards.me/

Youtube ⁨@turning_towards⁩

IG @turningtowards

The Gathering Stream (Use Code: Mitch20 for $20 OFF)

https://the-gathering-stream-0df4d3.circle.so/checkout/the-gathering-stream-community?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Befriending Fear (Use Code: Mitch20 for $20 OFF)

https://the-gathering-stream-0df4d3.circle.so/checkout/the-befriending-fear-series?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Befriending Embodied Movement-An Intro to the 5Rhythms (Use Code: Mitch20 for $20 OFF)

https://turningtowards.me/embodied-movement?utm_source=chatgpt.com