Amidst political instability, humanitarian and ecologies crises and social fragmentation, where do we begin to create space for designing our freedom dreams for ourselves and our communities? How do we give ourselves permission to dream of a liberated future within creatively restrictive systems? 

In this first episode of 2025, we bring onto the show Dr Michelle Pledger, the founder of Living for Liberation, an organisation that supports liberation of self, systems and society, and academic focusing her research on cultivating culturally responsive teaching and classroom management for culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Michelle is committed to disrupting inequity in education and cultivating a community of practitioners who honour the lived experiences of all their students and educators. Her book, LIBERATE! Pocket-Sized Paradigms for Liberatory Learning is a must read for any educator who aspires to design educational experiences that are responsive to culturally and linguistically diverse young people. Whether it is through the vehicle of project-based learning, culturally responsive-sustaining pedagogy, or freedom facilitation, her hope is to develop educators and students who think critically, act empathetically, and live a life of liberation.

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Take a pause and ask yourself - have you tuned into your senses today? Have you been able to take a moment to tap into the senses that help regulate and make meaning of our inner landscapes as portals to the ever-changing outer worlds?

As we begin to come to the end of the year, we hold space in this reflection episode for the sacredness of the places of our bodies in helping us navigate and make sense of these challenging and constantly changing times. By weaving together sensuous experiences throughout the episode, our host Agrita Dandriyal grounds the body as the primary place we make sense of our inner and outer landscapes in a call for deep remembering of our roles and responsibilities as current stewards and future ancestors of the land.

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How can the emulation of nature’s processes of regeneration seed hopeful inspiration into new beginnings? In what ways can we tap into the regenerative capacities and energies of our material bodies to engage in reparative changemaking that feeds imaginations of a reality that break cycles of internalised scarcity and overconsumption to nurture cultures of care, mutuality and rest?

In our first episode of 2024, we are joined by the host Agrita Dandriyal to explore the ways in which we engage in the complex regeneration of our material and non-material capacities with the beginning of each new year. Being deeply inspired by the microcosms of her family’s gardens and the political space of her body, Agrita calls for a remembering of the eco-cultural roots of regeneration in values of reciprocal care and resilience so that we can reclaim the reparative power of the age-old concept and materialise our dreams of equitable and restful realities.

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How can we deepen our understanding of the ways of being of our more-than-human kin through the art of heart-led communication and embodiment practice? In what ways can decentering the human experience equip both our animal companions and ourselves with the necessary energy healing tools for smoother life transitions?

For our final episode of the year, we welcome onto the show Maribeth Decker, an intuitive animal communicator, medical intuitive, and energy healer, is the founder of SacredGrove.com, where People and Pets Heal and Connect.

She works with people to help their animal companions move gracefully through transitions - into the family, into a new family, or onto the next life. A retired Navy officer, Maribeth’s rich personal life experiences have enabled her to bring a wealth of heart-centered wisdom to her work with each client, and her unyielding intention is to consistently bring forth the maximum benefit for all concerned in the most benevolent manner possible.

In this heart-felt and deeply emotional conversation, Maribeth walks us through her beautiful journey of animal communication and energy healing, and how her gift of telepathically connecting to any beloved more-than-human, as well as wildlife, has equipped both carers and their animal companions with tools to understand each other on a deeper spiritual and emotional level and move through more difficult phases in life, particularly as more-than-human kin transition to the spirit world.

Maribeth envisions her work inspiring a shift in consciousness in homes and families where people ‘see’ their animal companions, and other more-than-human beings, as having experiences, standpoints and decision-making abilities that are indeed ‘more-than-human’, and she hopes this will induce greater consciousness-level shifts at the macro-scale.

Connect with Maribeth and find out more about her work at SacredGrove.com.

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How can the intimacies of human relationships with the more-than-human help inform and reshape environmental and development policy at the global scale? What power does awakening a collective ecological consciousness have in remediating our moral and political systems which have grossly failed in building and sustaining unity and integrity in wider community?

Today we are joined by Rebekah Shaman, a plant medicine shaman inspiring conscious change in the urban jungle by bringing nature and humanity back into balance through working intimately with the Master Plant medicines Ayahuasca, Cacao and Cannabis over the past 25 years. Through her work, Rebekah has inspired and urban dwellers to live shamanically by reconnecting to the rhythms of life through the Master Plant ceremonies she offers under the guidance of indigenous shamans in the Amazon. Rebekah is the managing director of the British Hemp Alliance which promotes hemp as an environmental tool to reaching Net Zero, and she also CEO of Ritual Cacao, one of the largest suppliers of ceremonial grade cacao in the UK.

In this episode, Rebekah guides us through the wonderfully complex and deeply inspiring stories of the Peruvian Amazon, and how the teachings of the rainforest enriched her journey as a plant medicine shaman working for radical system change in the urban jungle. Challenging the divide between bottom-up and top-down approaches to addressing our ecological crises, Rebekah particularly emphasises on the need for consciousness shifts at the individual and community level to feed and stabilise decision-making at the macro-level, which requires the integration of indigenous, local and more-than-human knowledges into policy which have been successful in preserving cultures of care and stewardship.

Connect with Rebekah at rebekahshaman.com and Instagram (@rebekahshaman_).

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How can we mainstream relational and care-based environmental policy paradigms as a way to radically transform and heal our moral and political systems which control environmental decision-making in overly legalistic and abstract ways? What power does using the care-informed gift economic framing to conceptualise volunteer-led citizen science hold for locals, who have deeply intimate and often generational relationships with the land, for bringing them to the centre of decision-making for their environment?

Today we are joined by the host Agrita Dandriyal to explore the wonderful research she got to conduct over the summer on the gift in volunteer-led citizen science as part of her MSc in Environment, Politics and Society. By using the moral framing of the gift economy and a case study example of a London wildlife group, Agrita demonstrates to us how the embodied experiences, situated biographies and moral responsibilities of stewardship of volunteers intermesh to form the fabric of environmental caregiving that provides the space for bottom-up initiatives to thrive and empower local knowledge and agency, for both the human and more-than-human.

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How can immigrants, or children of immigrants, resist the colonial tendency to homogenise their identities into quantifiable and qualifiable categories? What power does repoliticising languages having histories of linguistic and cultural genocide hold for communities working to preserve the sacrality of their ancestral tongue within a dominant culture which centers Eurowestern language ideologies?

Today we reunite with Chesline Pierre-Paul to continue on the conversation from the previous episode on decolonising our relationship with money as a means to build multidirectional wealth, specifically focusing on the liberatory practices of repoliticising language and identity. In this intricately layered episode, Ches beautifully walks us through their journey of reclamation and rematriation of their Haitian identity as a child of political refugees. By embedding their life experiences, Ches guides us through the anti-colonial practices of retranslation and decentering western language ideologies as we mindfully honour the stories, cultures and identities of our ancestors who pre-dated the dominant languages in concern.

Ches is a multi-award-winning DEI expert and global thought leader. Their mission is to help the most disenfranchised humans on Earth go from generational debt and poverty to multi-generational wealth and healing. They run © Chesline Inc., the most innovative and transformational DEI consulting firm and digital global edtech company in the world, and they use low-cost online education to help Queer, BIPOC, Gen Z, and Millennial college and university dropouts live amazing 6-figure lives and careers without ever going back to school. Ches shows them how to thrive, not survive, in a White man's world without selling out, giving up, or settling.

Connect to the podcast on Instagram (@mindfullofeverything_pod) and Facebook (@mindfullofeverything).

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for full episode resources and shownotes.

How can we begin to decolonise our relationship to money as a means to heal intergenerational poverty that perpetuates cycles of survivorship and struggle for disenfranchised peoples? In what ways can we use our privilege to transform capitalist and colonial economic paradigms to ones which promote the multidirectional use of money as an instrument to true freedom?

In today’s episode, we are joined Chesline Pierre-Paul, an multi-award-winning DEI expert and global thought leader. Their mission is to help the most disenfranchised humans on Earth go from generational debt and poverty to multi-generational wealth and healing. They run © Chesline Inc., the most innovative and transformational DEI consulting firm and digital global edtech company in the world, and they use low-cost online education to help Queer, BIPOC, Gen Z, and Millennial college and university dropouts live amazing 6-figure lives and careers without ever going back to school. Ches shows them how to thrive, not survive, in a White man's world without selling out, giving up, or settling.

Connect with Ches on Instagram (@cheslinepp).

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Why is it important that we integrate relational work in environmental conservation and restoration work to shift away from colonial and anthropocentric practices of managing the land to move to a more regenerative and caring paradigm which serve the emotional and spiritual needs of all? What power does decentering and deprivileging the human experience hold in building meaningful relationships with the more-than-human when the conservation community has internalised self-centrism and extractivism?

On today's episode, we reshare the conversation Agrita got to be a part of as a guest on the wonderful Ximena Garcia’s podcast Traditional Medicine with Shamaflora. In this episode, Ximena provides her the space to share her story and journey into grounding healing in her work within environmental science and policy and the ways in which embodied, lived experiences have guided her in creating space for deep healing work in social and environmental fields through the Mind Full of Everything podcast.

NOTE: The structure of the episode has been kept the same as how Ximena’s podcast team has produced it so there has been no editing involved in this release, which also means the breathing exercise is not included so please feel free to pause the recording now to do it now. 

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In what ways can the Enneagram reveal the inherent paradoxes and contradictions within each personality type? How can this open up pathways to exit trap cycles and opportunities for our deepest developments as individuals and as part of the wider community, whilst also challenging tendencies to oversimplify paradox work?

We welcome back the lovely Samantha Mackay to the podcast to build on  the previous episode on the Enneagram and personality mapping, focusing on a very complex but integral part of the tool - paradoxes. In this deeply inspiring and wonderfully detailed episode, Samantha guides us through the process of identifying and breaking down contradictions for each of the nine Enneagram types by giving practical examples of trap cycles for each and some of ways we can begin to transform our internalised patterns by allowing ourselves permission to change.

Samantha is a personal development coach at Individuo, incorporating the Enneagram into her integrative approach to inner work. She came to this work through a journey of recovering from chronic pain, illness and anxiety and discovering that in order to shift her pain she needed to master a range of skills that strengthened her inner resilience.  On her multi-year journey of recovery, Samantha has learnt that some treatments act like a short term bandaids and others provided more permanent healing. She incorporates the Enneagram into her work for this very reason; it helps us invest our time, energy and resources into inner work that provides true relief. 

For a more comprehensive insight into the Enneagram, listen to the previous episode before tuning into this one.

Connect to Samantha at individuo.life.

Connect to the podcast on Instagram (@mindfullofeverything_pod) and Facebook (@mindfullofeverything).

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for full episode resources and archives.

How can we begin to make connections between somatic ailments and deeper ruptures in our mind, spiritual and emotional bodies as a way of tending to inter-body dissonance when dominant healthcare spaces struggle to connect the dots for us? In what ways can alternative healthcare professionals and psychotherapists help us map out our illness and trauma histories to provide specialised treatment that serves to our individual needs rather than following one-size-fits-all treatment frameworks?

Today we are joined by Samantha Mackay. Samantha is a personal development coach at Individuo, incorporating the Enneagram into her integrative approach to inner work. She came to this work through a journey of recovering from chronic pain, illness and anxiety and discovering that in order to shift her pain she needed to master a range of skills that strengthened her inner resilience. With that, she could move inwards, to find the stillness needed to stay with, and release, her most painful imprints. On her multi-year journey of recovery, Samantha has learnt that some treatments act like a short term bandaids and others provided more permanent healing. She incorporates the Enneagram into her work for this very reason; it helps us invest our time, energy and resources into inner work that provides true relief.  

In this episode, Samantha and Agrita explore the problematic internalisation of productivity culture in dominant healthcare and the ways that we as individuals can resist this cultural paradigm through allowing themselves permission to attend to signs of deeper emotional and spiritual ruptures which are emerging on their physical bodies. We do this by examining the Enneagram as a tool for adults to begin to map out their trauma and illness histories with a certified Enneagram practitioner as an alternative approach to convention psychotherapy which often requires patients to work from their traumas up to internalised patterns/behaviours. By working from measurable behavioural patterns that can be categorised into types, the Enneagram breaks away from expectations of patients knowing how to use language to describe their difficulties to working to break open cycles of internalised behaviours in order get to the root of their problems, at a pace which feels comfortable for them.

Find out more about Samantha's work at individuo.life.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com to access full episode resources.

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In what ways can creative catharsis metamorphose the energy of grief into love which expands beyond our kin and beyond the material? How can we seek inspiration and guidance from nature’s abilities to heal and regenerate in order to recapacitate ourselves as we move through grieving cycles and put love in action?

Today we are joined by Laura Formentini, an author, nonprofit photographer and activist who has worked all over the world with NGOs and resilient people, and who has personally healed from the traumatic loss of her son’s suicide which began from a small act of kindness and human responsibility by a complete stranger and has now evolved into the conceptualisation of getting “unstuck” from grieving cycles as Love in Action. In this episode, Laura and Agrita explore the different pathways for healthy cathartic expression within the context of maternal grief, and how conceptualising the transformation of grief to love as Love in Action can help map out pathways to embodied healing which meet the specific needs of mothers (and others within grief cycles) but also regenerate their capacities to love, nurture and care.

Connect to Laura at lauraformentini.com.

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Whilst living in realities polluted with ableist, colonial and capitalist values of human domination and subordination of the more-than-human, where can we seek inspiration and hope for manifesting alternative futures of inclusivity, vulnerability and reciprocal care? How can tracing trails of injury and resistance to generational disablement of human and more-than-human communities equip us with the necessary tools for building a disabled future that is grounded in the values of living with and caring for the body and the environment?

This month, we are joined by the wonderful Sunaura Taylor, an artist, writer and author of Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation (The New Press, 2017) and Disabled Ecology: Lessons from a Wounded Desert. Taylor has written for a range of popular media outlets and her artworks have been exhibited widely both nationally and internationally. She works at the intersection of disability studies, environmental justice, multispecies studies, and art practice. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in the Bay Area with her daughter Leonora, husband David, and their two cats, Rosie and Pirate. 

In this heart-felt episode, Sunaura offers us ways of mapping out disabled ecologies by framing our ecological crises as a multispecies disablement that extends out to biotic and abiotic bodies, human and more-than-human life, and across generations. Using the themes of her book Disabled Ecology: Lessons from a Wounded Desert as a grounding, Sunaura sows seeds of hope and radical imagination for a disabled future, which resists ableist and colonial systems of power to foster values of alternative caregiving and meaning-making of the diversity and beauty of our worlds.

Connect with us on Instagram (@mindfullofeverything_pod) and Facebook (@mindfullofeverything).

Visit mindfullofeverything.com to access all episode resources, shownotes and archives.

In what ways can we nurture more loving and reciprocal relationships with our more-than-human kin to outgrow capitalist and colonial conditions of extraction and human domination? How can engaging in rainforest medicinal ceremonies provide personalised pathways to embodied care which honour the needs of humans, the more-than-human and the land? 

Today we are joined by Ximena Garcia, the Center Director of Peru’s Rainforest Healing Center, soon to be named Shamanflora. She has lived around the world and experienced life in many different cultures which ultimately led her into the world of Kambo, Ayahuasca and other animal and plant forest medicines. Through practicing rainforest medicine and sharing plant wisdom with her clients, Ximena follows the path of service and healing, for her loved ones, herself and now the world.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com to access full episode resources.

Connect to Ximena via Instagram @an3mix and the Rainforest Healing Centre @rainforesthealingcenter.

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How can we overcome the false dichotomy of biculturalism as people of the diaspora so that we can reclaim the wholeness of our cultural identities and outgrow ‘either/or’ thinking? In what ways can self-expression and embodied creativity help us to become more comfortable in our bodies whilst settling on land, and living within cultures, that are so different to our homelands?

Today we are in conversation with Damini Gallagher, an intuitive coach, trained Vedic counsellor, professional Kathak dancer and mother. By working with the fundamental level of vibration to guide her clients, particularly women, Damini offers pathways in honouring creativity, individuality and material and spiritual abundance by awakening to our inner, experiential wisdom and being aligned to our multicultural identities which shape our being and the ways in which we share our gifts to the world.

Visit saudamini.life to connect with Damini.

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In what ways can conceptualising the masculine and feminine as foundational archetypes for cultures and life help us to outgrow power-over binary systems and move towards cultures of unity and connection once again? How can the sacred act of remembering the divine feminine and masculine tend to cultural, religious and generational traumas, inflicted by systems of domination, and re-activate the energy balance of the planet?

Today we are joined by Sarah Poet, a truth seeker, thought leader, former school creator turned feminine/masculine integration expert, and, as it turns out, a medicine woman for modern times. It is Sarah’s mission to serve the true evolution of human consciousness, to integrate feminine & masculine on all levels, and to bridge us collectively from separation to connection, unity & wholeness. Sarah helps couples, individuals, and organisations heal the separation traumas inflicted by patriarchal culture and come into deeper connection via integrity, embodied intimacy, resiliency, authenticity, & love.

Sarah will go with you to the depths, responding exactly to your unique path or query, to uncover your deepest and most empowering truths. Watch her TEDx and schedule private work with her at www.sarahpoet.com. 

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In what ways have reactive activist efforts at restorative community work furthered divide between ‘marginalised’ communities and groups characterised as ‘oppressors’? How can we reimagine reparative work in community so that it holds space for reflection and pause, both integral for long-term systemic change but also acceptance of the multiplicities and complexities that make up our individual and collective bodies?

Today we are joined by David Lewis-Peart, a Toronto-based writer, educator and former TedX speaker whose work looks at identity, race, masculinity, mental health and the concept of the GRACE Principle.

He holds a diploma in Human Services Counselling - mental health and addictions, with certification in Life Skills Coaching, and additional training in Facilitating Restorative Circles, and Family Group Conferencing. He has previously been a member of faculty in both Child and Youth Care and Social Service Work programs in Toronto, Brampton and Oakville.

David has been a founding lead on a number of community service and arts-based initiatives supporting Black and other groups. A former minister, David was co-founder and former coordinator of the spiritual-arts community Sunset Service Toronto Fellowship, honoured by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation in 2014, and again in 2016. In 2015 NOW Magazine Readers Choice Awards recognized Sunset Service as Best Activist Religious Group - Runner-up, with David later being appointed by the Chicago-based Parliament of the World's Religions as Co-Chair of the Next Generation Task Force in 2017.

David has been the recipient of several awards for his work in community-building including the TD Canada LGBT Youthline Award for Achievement in Social Services, the Toronto Community Foundation – Vital People Award, and the inaugural Walden New Thought Awards recognizing socially conscious leaders globally in 2019.

He has regularly contributed to national publications such as Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC), Huffington Post Canada, and Global News, engaging as a thought leader on issues of race, identity, restorative practice and working across difference.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for all episode resources. 

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In what ways can deep nostalgia help us reimagine the modern human being to being more integrated in the systems of inter-relatedness of both the Earth, as a whole, and the individual human body? How can past lived, and shared, experiences offer us deeper insights into where ruptures lie in our collective sense of belonging as a human species and how we identify (in our dominant culture) as separate from the more-than-human world? 

In this REFLECT episode, Agrita Dandriyal brings to us the lens of nostalgia for reimagining the modern human being in ways that are reminiscent of ancient ways of being, but also serve the needs of our current time as we shift the foundations of power-over systems to one of inter-connectedness, love and stewardship. Agrita is guided by her own spiritual/Hindu standpoint and ancestral wisdom as she explores the medicine of nostalgia for inner child/trauma work and healing fractured human identities as a result of living within systems of creative suppression and restrictive living. 

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What can redesigning space in community look like after inheriting generations worth of dogmatised, static belief systems on what it means to hold and create space that preserves the inherent dignity of its people, and other spaces? Today we are joined by Andrew Lang, an educator in the Pacific Northwest and an alumnus of the Living School for Action and Contemplation, led by Richard Rohr, Cynthia Bourgeault, James Finley, Barbara Holmes, and Brian McLaren. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Unmasking the Inner Critic: Lessons for Living an Unconstricted Life. Along with blogging regularly, he facilitates workshops helping people to navigate their inner lives and explore their sense of identity and spirituality. 

In this conversation, we explore pathways for redesigning communal spaces to restore their fluidity and sacredness, how abstract spaces are grounded in embodiment practices and hold you as you are, the interweaving layers of shadow work and how shadow work can bring down walls of defensiveness towards radical change in community.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for full episode notes and resources, and ways to support the show.

Access Andrew’s writings, offerings and information on his upcoming book at AndrewGLang.com.

In what ways can art forms such as poetry, which allow for total expression in their purest form, guide immigrants through their journey of reclaiming identity as they navigate foreign lands oftentimes culturally different to their homelands? How can people of the diaspora use storytelling to overcome cultural dichotomies, reinforced by colonial systems, and manage healthy co-existence of both worlds (life as an immigrant and life as a member of their own community) in order to live more connected, wholesome lives?

Mind Full of Everything returns after a 2-month hiatus with this inspiring conversation on reclaiming identity as immigrants through the lens of poetic storytelling with Laura Hyppolite. Laura is is a Haitian immigrant learning to navigate life in the United States. She has a true passion for the power of poetry, and she wants her voice to empower her readers to dive deeper within themselves. Her work transcends the personal and draws on connections with history and society. She poetically weaves tales that travels from the beaches and colours of Haiti to the slate and rough edges of city life in the United States. 

To Laura, in poetry there are no imposters, only personal truths which sing throughout one’s work. Through Hyppolite’s view of herself, we learn more about the beauty within each of us. Her first book Ordinary explores the intersections of culture, immigration, and identity.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com to access this episode's shownotes, resources and Laura's website.

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*NOTICE: Mind Full of Everything is on a 2-month hiatus, the next episode release will be announced via Instagram.*

In what ways can cultural brokers tend to, and mend, the Western medical divide in order to ensure healthcare in multicultural regions is culturally competent and a safe space for BIPOC patients? How can cultural brokership aid us to bring out the best of both worlds (Western and Indigenous/cultural medicine) and collectively work towards a safer, more equitable and healthier future?

Today we are joined by Snigdha Nandipati, a patient advocate, writer, and first-generation Telugu-American with a strong curiosity for the sciences and a deep appreciation for the traditions of her Hindu culture. As a former Scripps National Spelling Bee champion and Yale graduate with a B.S. in Neuroscience, Snigdha has used her study of science, language, spirituality, and culture to guide her thought leadership. She has delivered a TEDx talk exploring the intersections of science and tradition and makes her authorial debut with A Case of Culture, a book about how patients from different cultures navigate the challenges of Western medicine. Snigdha and Agrita delve deeper into what inclusive cultural brokership can look like in Western healthcare, one which grants enough space and resources for cultural brokers, both within and outside the medical profession, to provide specialised care to BIPOC patients, especially those struggling to navigate practices foreign to them i.e immigrant patients.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for Snigdha's book, services and episode resources.

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How can we begin to disembody the system of capitalism as individuals and communities after having been collectively entrapped in generational cycles of constant growth and burnout? In what ways can we listen, and attend, to our body’s need for safety, rest and movement as we birth a liberated world in community?

Today we are joined by Laura Hartley, an activist, writer & founder of an online school for changemakers.  The school’s mission is to empower changemakers across the globe to live their most meaningful lives, while creating their deepest impact.  Programs can be found on healing burnout culture, ethical business & the inner work of dismantling capitalism and supremacy culture.  Laura is currently based in Sydney, Australia but can often be found around the world. In this conversation, Laura guides us through the systemic issue of burnout through the lens of capitalism, how capitalism has taken over our bodies and communities as systems and the ways in which we can disempower this oppressive system by listening to our personal/collective needs, harmonising ourselves with Nature’s cycles of growth and rest and actively challenging capitalistic conditionings.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for Laura's website/work and episode resources.

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How can re-embodying the philosophy and mindset of multi-passionism aid us to preserve our fluidity, authenticity and dynamism as individuals and the collective? In what ways do these embodiment practices serve us in our collective liberation from radical structuralism and institutionalised restriction of imagination?

Today we are joined by Dr Egypt Iredia, a holistic medical doctor, naturopathic physician, multi-passionate creative, healer, poet, metaphysician, and non-linear creative. She believes that minimalism, slow living, and living a spiritual and intentional life are powerful healing forces. She believes in using all of our wonderful gifts to show up authentically in our lives. Her mission is to empower people to live calmer, connected, healthier, conscious, and creative lives. In this conversation, Agrita and Egypt delve deeper into what it means for them to live multipassionate, non-linear and creatively fluid lives, antidotal to the violence of oppressive systems on the human experience.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for Egypt's website/resources.

As we mourn human-induced ecological loss and violence to the more-than-human world, what space do we hold for grieving what we have lost in ourselves by creating walls that were once blurred boundaries between our bodies and the ecosystem? How do we create joy from what remains of our lost capacities to communicate and connect to other bodies through languages of the heart?

This month we bring to the space Leah Rampy, a writer, retreat leader, and educator who weaves ecology, spirituality, personal stories, and practices to help others deepen their relationship to the natural world. With experience as a teacher, professor, corporate and nonprofit executive, and leadership consultant, she began a decades-long journey to understand what lies beneath our unwillingness to change our interactions with the natural world.

Her growing commitment to reweaving soul and Earth has been informed by leading over a dozen pilgrimages and many more retreats, extensive reading and research, her contemplative practice, and she shares her wisdom of the living world through her book Earth and Soul: reconnecting amid climate chaos. Leah has taught in public schools and universities, held leadership roles in Fortune 100 companies, offered executive coaching and leadership consulting through a company she founded, and led a nonprofit organization. Leah holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum from Indiana University.

The episode explores the complexities in grieving ecological loss and degradation community fragmentation and environmental inaction, particularly bringing focus on the paradox of reconnecting to the natural world we were never apart from. Our conversation invites moments of reflection on how we see our ecological crises through a human lens but also how we see ourselves placed in the ecosystem, from moral responsibility to collective identity.

Connect with us on Instagram (@mindfullofeverything_pod) and Facebook (@mindfullofeverything).

Visit mindfullofeverything.com to access all episode resources, shownotes and archives.

How can we relearn practices of self/community nourishment, taking up space and boundary-setting through serving the needs of our inner children? In what ways can inner child work aid us to co-create safer environments for both children and adults, as well as the relationships between both?

In this episode, we are joined by Tiffany Trieu (Triệu Thanh Nguyệt), an inner child advocate, community cultivator, and human connector. As a child of refugees, specifically of the Vietnamese diaspora in the 1970s, Tiffany has spent the last five years of her adulthood exploring how family trauma from surviving a war has shaped how she relates to herself and those around her. She believes our inside and outside worlds are much more connected than we’re given space to acknowledge. And currently loves exploring how personal and collective rituals allow us to bridge our inside to our outside, from meditative visualisations to communal celebrations.

In this open, emotional and deeply inspiring conversation, Agrita and Tiffany explore what it means to heal the inner child through embodiment practices, tending to, and balancing, our inner child and parent needs, and being there for ourselves in order to mend damaged relationships with loved ones, the wider community and place.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for this episode's resources and ways to connect with Tiffany and her work.

Why is the reintegration of spirituality into scientific theory and practice essential for our collective liberation from social, cultural, political, biological and economic confinements? How can the coming together of spirituality and science help us to collectively rebirth a world which is free from borders between nations, cultures, communities and species?

In this episode, we are joined by Vi Vi Thai, an author, truth seeker and healer, fearlessly determined to live in a liberated way, through the alchemical and nomadic pathway to true freedom. Vi Vi believes that we must rediscover our inner freedom, on an individual scale, to be able to collectively birth a new world which is free from institutional violence of fragmentation and division of a united Earth, within a connected Universe.

This conversation offers us the opportunity to explore nuances in our journeys to heal and attain true freedom, in order to open minds and hearts to the limitless ways of becoming your true self, rather than following a "one size fits all" healing approach.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for episode show notes, resources and transcripts.

Read Vi Vi's book, Living Through Alchemy, here.

Connect with Vi Vi on Instagram and YouTube.

How can we re-imagine community re-building through the intimacy lens to preserve the emotion and spiritualism in the process of reconnecting to community? In what ways can intimacy revolutionise collective healing and our current understanding of what community means?

For the final episode of this year, Agrita brings to us a Reflection episode where she shares her awakening about, and gifted opportunities to relearn, Indigenous teachings on optimising community functionality through respecting and valuing all individuals and relationships which connect together to form the system of community. Agrita emphasises the need for intimacy to be contexualised as the foundation for all relationships, not just romantic/sexual ones, to re-centre love and openness in our collective effort to re-build a culture of community and relationality.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for access to the episode archives, resources and transcripts.

What role does storytelling play in revolutionising our work to heal our current selves and natural world, as well as our future? How can we re-establish a culture of relatedness and reciprocity through reclaiming our wisdom and positions as storytellers and communicators?

We are joined today by Sanjana Sekhar, a filmmaker, climate activist, & Ayurvedic wellness communicator who uses her work in ethical filmmaking to amplify character-driven stories that heal our human relationships to ourselves, each other, and our planet, with a specific interest in socioecological justice, ancestral knowledge, and systems of re-nourishment. In this heart-warming and insightful conversation, Agrita and Sanjana explore the medicine of storytelling in relation to the ancient practice catalysing our healing work, within community and Earth, to revive lost and damaged connections to who we really are in this interconnected world.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com to access all episode resources, show notes and transcripts.

Follow the podcast on Instagram (@mindfullofeverything_pod) and Facebook (@mindfullofeverything).

Living within oppressive systems, built to benefit Western colonial social structures, land and society through the racial hierarchy established by white supremacy, is a traumatising experience for people of colour, particularly those aware of what is happening to their bodies. Coupled with systemic sexism perpetuated through the gender binary, women of colour, often at very young ages, face the traumas of racial and sexual violence which can leave us feeling detached from our entire being - far from human. Where do we begin to unpack these traumas to our bodies which have left us subject to objectification and exotification as a function by the white gaze? Can tending to the disconnects in our bodies be done on colonised land?

In this episode, we are joined by Kelsey Blackwell, who uses her wisdom within the field of somatics to support women of colour in their journeys to decolonise the entirety of their being through abolitionist practices such as Interplay and Pleasure Activism. Kelsey believes that collective liberation must bring joy, and as important as it is to tend to traumas, often times passed on from generations, liberatory practices also must involve what the body finds pleasurable and comfortable.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for episode resources, show notes and transcripts.

Connect with the podcast on Instagram (@mindfullofeverything_pod) and Facebook (@mindfullofeverything).

Connect with Kelsey on Instagram (@decolonizingthebody).

Navigating our fast evolving world as a young adult can seem extremely daunting. As we transition into adulthood, our capacities to healthily manage work-life commitments and choices, leaving us youth to question: who am I and where do I stand in this broken culture of community?

Join the host, Agrita Dandriyal, on her journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance and reimagining a restored and abundant world. In each monthly episode, pertinent environmental and social issues will be discussed, with an emphasis on preserving self within community, as a step forward in collective healing and re-creation of a world that values all walks of life and all states of being, beginning with the re-adoption of our pre-colonial standpoints in the world as interconnected and relational beings.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com to access all episode resources, show notes and transcripts.

Connect to the podcast on Instagram (@mindfullofeverything_pod), Facebook (@mindfullofeverything) and Twitter (@mindfull_agrita).

We live in an interconnected world, full of beings, spaces and life that are connected through an intricate web of interdependence which sustains the health of Earth. Yet we are increasingly seeing a disconnection between humanity and the wider world, which has been exacerbated by the human-nature dualism adopted by Western and urban spaces, but this disconnection runs deeper into the flawed notion of humanity's domination of Earth and rejection of our positions in the world as relational beings. 

In this Reflection episode, Agrita explores the social crisis of community fragmentation within modern and Westernised societies, with a particular focus on the cultural divide caused by the individualism-collectivism approach for cross-cultural/national studies between/within Western and non-Western cultures. Agrita calls for a rejection of defined categories to represent individuals and society and instead emphasises the need for us to rebuild a culture of relatedness and understanding for every individual and every community to be valued.

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To listen to other episodes in the Reflection series, and access episode show notes, transcripts and resources, visit mindfullofeverything.com.

Follow the podcast on Instagram (@mindfullofeverything_pod) and Facebook (@mindfullofeverything).

Our modern dominant cultures for too long have trivialised motherhood experiences and practices, jeopardising the wellbeing and safety of mothers as they undergo various emotional, physical, social and mental challenges that come with transitioning to motherhood. As like any other social figure, and individual, mothers deserve respect, support and care by systems of power and society, but since most cultures assign the role of the primary care giver to mothers, the urgency to provide holistic maternal support is strengthening for a world which is becoming increasingly volatile.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Allison Davis to share with us her deepened understanding of the role that mothers play as environmental stewards, due to their standpoint in the world, and the need for mothers to reimagine motherhood for themselves for sustained personal and planetary health.

Dr. Allison Davis is a researcher, writer, counselor, and educator of maternal mental health. With an ecofeminist-informed, strength-based developmental framework she helps mothers challenge and reenvision motherhood norms and practices in pursuit of personal and planetary wellness. Her upcoming book The 6 Initiations of Earth-Honoring Motherhood: A Nature-Guided Rite-of-Passage for New Mothers weaves together modern research and ancient wisdom to help new mothers root into who they are and who they are becoming.

Allison is in private practice in New Mexico where she specializes in trauma resolution through nature-centered expressive therapies. She’s also affiliate faculty at Alliant University where she teaches in the Masters of Clinical Counseling Program. As a writer Allison explores “mother praxis” the possibility of a dynamic interplay between the theory and practice of mothering as mothers can reflect on harmful structures while also finding liberatory ways to work with and through them. As a researcher she focuses on bringing an applied psychoecological lens to maternal mental health, investigating how mothering in a time where we’re increasingly aware of humanity’s ecocidal behavior has profound implications for maternal mental health andhow we can create structures to support mothers within this experience.

Mothers outside of New Mexico can work with Allison through her support sessions to explore the growth and growing pains within motherhood as an ecological awakening. She also offers consultation to mother-supporting professionals and organizations who want to attune to ecological interactions in understanding maternal mental health as well as health care delivery. You can learn more by visiting her at www.motherpraxis.com and following her Instagram page @motherpraxis.

Find the episode show notes, transcripts and resources at mindfullofeverything.com.

Centuries ago, the idea that humans could even be a separate entity to the rest of the natural world would be too alien to believe by ancient societies. Fast track to the modern world, and people are starting to realise that spiritualism and science can indeed go hand in hand and that the dualistic relationship humanity has with Nature is only a recent phenomenon.

Being part of a culture and religion which still has traces of ancient Indigenous spiritual and environmental wisdom present, Agrita has always felt drawn to the knowledge of the past which helped preserve the very landscapes that are now rapidly degrading. It's this strong sense of historical nostalgia which has urged Agrita to delve deeper into the history of the Indian culture she so proudly embraces to see where India went wrong with environmental stewardship and justice and how ancient eco-spiritual values can be revived to help solve India's ecological and waste crises.

This episode discusses the importance of spiritual ecology in rebuilding our broken relationship with Nature on the basis of compassion, altruism and stewardship, giving an in-depth example of the evolution of spiritual ecology within India and how the abandonment of the concept, through colonisation and the urge to become developed, has resulted in major environmental problems the nation is facing now. Agrita argues that spiritual ecology can help in reimagining environmentalism in India, for both religious and secular communities, by decolonising conservation practices and protecting Indigenous communities and environmental practices.

As the environmental movement has evolved over the years, concerns have been raised about the intersectionality of environmentalism, especially since decision making for environmental policies has been led by white middle and upper class men. Whilst extensive work has been, and is being, done for the intersections of race and class with environmental issues, not enough research has been done on the gendered impacts of climate change.

Despite the fact women and girls are disproportionately affected by the changing climate, women, particularly women of colour and Indigenous women, are constantly left out of decision making for the management/protection of their land. In this episode, Agrita argues that ecofeminism poses as not just a lens for the effects of the climate crisis on women (as well as transgender and non-binary people) but also challenges the role of patriarchy and toxic masculinity in exacerbating anthropogenic climate change by bringing women to the centre of modern environmentalism.

Making livelihoods from artistic passions is essential for sustaining art communities and preserving the art itself, but many artists find the joy of creating being lost within the struggles of survivorship and power imbalances of our capitalistic world. What can de-commodifying creativity look like for artists seeking more fluidity and joy-making in their creation processes but also balancing their business needs?

This month, we bring back to the space the wonderful Maanarak of Grey, the artistic alias of Radinka Ustasia, a multidisciplinary artist from the Caribbean island of Bonaire. From 2010-2023 Maanarak has lived, studied, and worked in the Netherlands, with the highest qualification she obtained there being a Bachelors of Science in International Development Management, majoring in Rural Development and Innovation, at Van Hall Larenstein in Velp. During her study program, she minored in Art and Creativity at work and this is where she started an exploration of combining her competing passions. 

In this episode, we extend from the previous episode's themes of artistic expression and playfulness in activism and development to explore the ways in which we can balance capitalistic tendencies to monetise joy and basic financial needs in our lives, and challenge urges to perfect and structure as a way to expand our limitless imaginations.

Connect with Maanarak on Instagram (@maanarak.art).

Follow us on Instagram (@mindfullofeverything_pod) and Facebook (@mindfullofeverything).

Visit mindfullofeverything.com for episode resources and archives.

Culture is a part of history that holds great importance to those who are part of the communities that have carried forward ancient traditions. The feeling of embracing your culture through practicing ancient customs is what keeps community members attached to their cultural heritage. However, as time calls for change in perspectives and actions, the fear of losing even the smallest part of your culture with our evolving world can feel daunting and confusing.

For Agrita, becoming a vegan meant that she had to give up dairy, honey and other animal products (except meat) that hold great cultural and religious significance but were also substances that she didn't feel comfortable in consuming/using anymore because of the reality of their production. Similarly, silk, a material that is still revered in India, was a natural fibre that Agrita had to move away from because of the abuses of human rights and silk moth rights that occur to produce conventional, and even ahinsa/ahimsa (peace), silk.

Despite not using silk herself, Agrita knew that just like dairy and honey, silk would also need to be omitted from the list of potential natural materials she could use because the production of silk went against the morals that were given to her by her Indian culture and Hinduism. In this episode, Agrita explores the origins of silk from China and India, the unsustainable and unethical practices of producing the luxury material and how allowing cultures to evolve over time to meet the needs of contemporary society is not only important for community members but also for the rest of the living world.

TW: This episode mentions (doesn't go into detail) pedophilia, attempted rape/sexual molestation, murder and emotional/physical traumas (particularly childhood traumas).

In this self-reflectance episode, Agrita discusses the nuances in the concept of forgiveness, the need for the definition of the concept to be unique and shaped by the experiences of each individual and the importance of self-forgiveness as the first step to long-term healing. Whilst this episode reflects the personal choices of Agrita, the listener is encouraged to replicate and/or adapt her thought processes to the definition of forgiveness they are most comfortable and happy with.

Mind Full of Everything is back from hiatus with this conversation on lessons learned from animal spirituality with Dr Linda Bender, an advocate and educator of animal rights protection and reconnecting conventional science to spiritualism. In this episode, Agrita and Linda discuss prominent issues associated to animal rights violations but also emphasise on the need for humans to reconnect to their spiritual selves in order to begin to value their connections to every being and entity on this planet. By unlearning colonial teachings of human dominion over nature, we can actively relearn indigenous teachings on interconnectivity of all beings to help create a safer space for everyone.

Visit https://mindfullofeverything.com for additional resources for this episode, including Linda's book and website. All other resources for previous episodes can also be accessed on the website. 

NB: This is the final episode before Mind Full of Everything goes on hiatus until 12th May due to the host's education commitments. 

In light of the outcry of women on their safety and issues around sexual exploitation of women across the world, this episode emphasises on the importance of establishing a sex positive culture, where women's sexual rights and freedoms are celebrated, not oppressed. Leah is a sex and intimacy coach, and also the host of the Good Girls Talk About Sex podcast, where women anonymously share their sexual journeys and experiences in an effort to encourage other women to embrace their sexualities and denounce misogyny around women's sexual exploration.

In this episode, Leah and Agrita discuss a wide array of prominent sex issues and topics that directly affect the sexual happiness of women including: stigma around sexual exploration as a woman, birth control/abortion rights, validity of asexuality, motherhood and sexuality and shifting away from zero-sum relationships. Although this conversation is revolved around sex issues that most heterosexual women experience, as the misogyny often found in heterosexual relationships needs to be urgently addressed, issues/topics discussed here are applicable to all women in all sexual/romantic relationships. 

To celebrate International Women's Day, Agrita explores trauma cycles and patterns within South Asian communities with Aparna Sagaram, a licenced marriage and family therapist who has worked with many South Asian individuals, couples and families to help normalise trauma therapy within the community.

Being of Indian origin themselves, both Agrita and Aparna discuss some of the toxic cultural patterns in South Asian households that result in traumatic events, the ways in which immigration can exacerbate or trigger trauma and the ways in which South Asian women can try to break out of trauma cycles and unhealthy mindsets in order to prioritise their mental health alongside supporting their loved ones.

Head over to www.mindfullofeverything.com to find out more about Aparna's work and access additional resources. 

TW: mentions of genocide, suicide, abuse and rape. 

This episode is in response to the ongoing farmer protest in India where farmers, and everyone in support, are protesting against the new agricultural bills proposed by the Indian government which seeks to privatise the sector in a bid to boost income from agriculture. The protests are important because they depict two issues: 1) the economy and profits constantly being put before farmer livelihoods and 2) the usage of undemocratic measures by the Indian government in response to public backlash, highly ironic to India's title of being the "largest democracy in the world".

However, these series of events are not just about farmers and the Indian agrarian crisis, these events have shone a light on the prolonged oppression and marginalisation of the Sikh community, particularly because Sikhs have been leading the protests that are now becoming nationwide. It's evident that the Indian government is still bigoted to the Sikh community, despite the dark history of Sikh genocide that the Indian government fails to be held accountable to.

Therefore, it's crucial that every Indian and non-Indian helps support Indian farmers, particularly Sikh farmers, by raising awareness, supporting farmer/Sikh organisations and doing their own research to understand the history of conflict between people and bodies of power in India. 

Sustainability is multifaceted, and Zero Waste makes up one of these facets, gaining rapid popularity within the past decade. Whilst achieving zero waste in our highly urbanised and (generally) wasteful society may seem like a great achievement, we should really be worried over how we could abandoned such an environmentally and socially just ancient practice in the first place.

This episode discusses the importance of Zero Waste, the need for us to decolonise the concept to decarbonise our economies and the key ways in which we can shift to a circular economy, with real life examples of how Zero Waste is carried out successfully. 

Anger is an emotion that is as important as any other, yet the negative connotations associated to it, coupled with the masculine attributes assigned to the emotion, has exacerbated female inequalities further.

This episode emphasises on the urgency to destigmatise and demasculinise anger so that women are able to practice health portrayal of their anger and work towards creating a more just and safe environment for themselves and other women. Most importantly however, this episode celebrates the legacy of all courageous women that taught the rest of us how to break out of gender stereotypes and start living the life of the woman they wish to be, not what society wants them to be. 

The need for health frameworks to be holistic to better solve health crises has become increasingly important, especially now that we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impacts on vulnerable populations are extremely severe. This episode explores the three key approaches used within the scientific community to solve health issues in a holistic manner for the environment, humans and non-human species in order to achieve sustainability on all levels. 

This episode is the final one for 2020, where I have an honest conversation with myself about the way in which I have gone about self-discovery/love and how I learn to have a healthy relationship with myself. Although this episode is all about my personal experiences and journey to acceptance of who I am, this episode is tailored for those willing to embark on a journey of self-discovery and are seeking for strategic ways to do so. 

Whilst being in natural spaces is a birthright for all, with nature being us and us being nature, BIPOC communities often find themselves alienated from the ‘natural world’ so guarded by privilege and power, it almost seems impossible to feel seen or even safe. How then can reviving deep cultural connections to the land through improved eco-education remediate historical harms of environmental injustices faced by our communities?

This month, we invite to the space Nayo Shell, the visionary founder of EcoWell Co., a transformative platform established in 2020 with a mission to deepen our connection with nature through wellness practices and eco-education. A Maryland-native holistic wellness teacher, environmental scientist, urban planner, and climate activist, Nayo is dedicated to amplifying eco-consciousness and resilience to climate change. Through her multifaceted background, she endeavors to bridge the gaps between our minds, bodies, spirits, and the Earth, igniting mindful, radical (r)evolutionary change from within. As the host of the Meditation Matters Podcast and curator of the EcoWell Co., Nayo inspires individuals and communities to embrace collective transformation towards a resilient, harmonious world.

In this wildly open and animated conversation, we centre re-storying as an essential tool for countering eco-narratives rooted in colonial power, particularly re-instilling confidence and courage in people of colour to engage in environmental placemaking. Nayo weaves together embodied intention-setting practices to offer people of colour ways of finding place and belonging in nature, as a way to reclaim lost identity as interconnected beings.

Visit mindfullofeverything.com to access full episode shownotes, resources and archives.

Connect with Nayo on Instagram (@ecowellco).

Connect with us on Instagram (@mindfullofeverything_pod) and Facebook (@mindfullofeverything).

As we become more aware of our collective negative impact on the environment, wide scale emphasis on purchasing locally and from ethical/sustainable brands through the political belief of ethical consumerism has risen. However, many ethical consumers are now starting to question the success of the belief and whether it has resulted in change in the corporate world or whether the problem of unethical and unsustainable production continues to persist but just behind closed doors.

Listen to this episode where I discuss the problems of ethical consumerism, my personal journey with the belief and how we need to find a middle ground between purchasing ethical/sustainable goods whilst also challenging firms/industries to take responsibility for reducing their impact on the planet through consumer activism.

When a woman joins a department at work that's full of men, she's celebrated as diversity. When a woman prioritises her career over starting a family, or when she juggles family life with work, she's considered strong. When a woman embraces her flaws and is comfortable in her own body, she's looked up to as an example of self-love. But as soon as a man tries to step away from gender roles and redefine his masculinity for himself, people dismiss his efforts because of the notion that men are collectively "too privileged" to be celebrated.

Whilst it's true that patriarchy dominates throughout, very few of us take out the time to understand that toxic masculinity shapes society and that men who don't conform to the traditional masculine image have been suppressed as long as their female counterparts have been. Gretchen Hernandez, a men's mindset coach and host of the My Freedom Grove podcast, works towards changing that narrative through giving a platform to men willing to break out from gender norms, as well as providing a space where men can share their journey with other men. Gretchen is a strong believer that gender equality can only be established when everyone is included and gender stereotypes are abandoned to ensure those that weren't being heard are able to amplify their voices when they are ready.

This episode looks at the intersections between imposter syndrome and jealousy, and how the constant fear of being overtaken, in any part of life, drives many individuals to feel, and a lot of the time act upon, their intense hatred towards others that threaten their happiness/success.

All this results in is long-term instability of the mind and large-scale damage to both the jealous person and the person that they felt jealousy towards (which is exactly what I have experienced). Whilst all emotions are valid to feel, jealousy is that one emotion that needs to be urgently transformed, especially when felt frequently, because it highlights insecurities of an individual that stunts growth and destabilises mental wellbeing in the long term.

Veganism has sky-rocketed globally in the past few years, as we begin to evolve into more eco-conscious beings through being hyperaware of our impact on the planet. Although, the fundamental principle of intersectionality, along with the culturally rich history of vegetarianism and veganism, is being erased as quickly as the belief is gaining popularity. 

This is a massive issue because veganism has gradually become into a radical ideology, often perpetuated by the white, privileged, hipster image of an ideal vegan, that favours animal rights and livelihoods over human ones. Instead of remaining a philosophical belief rooted in equality for all walks of life, it has become, yet again, a breeding ground for white saviourism that fails to embrace diversity and inclusivity, especially for those non-white communities that don't engage in industrial meat and dairy farming but are sanctioned for going about their "non-vegan" ways that not only are a significant part of their culture but are also not environmentally damaging.

This episode aims to redefine veganism by emphasising on the importance of intersectionality through decolonising the philosophy, and reconnecting it back to it's non-colonial roots as a way to say that all lives really do matter, whether human or non-human.