The Long Road Home Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to The Long Road Home—a space for those searching for home and belonging.

Here, we explore what it means to find your place in the world—through identity, relationships, movement, and the quiet work of becoming.Here, you are allowed to be in-between.

Each episode offers:

* intimate, honest conversations

* stories of leaving, staying, and starting again

* reflections on identity, place, love, and loss

* glimpses into the lives of people finding their way

and gentle reminders that belonging is not something you chasebut something you grow into

These aren’t stories with neat endings.They’re lived experiences—unraveling, evolving, and becoming.

For the wanderers, the seekers,the ones who have built a life in one place but still feel the question…the ones who have crossed oceans and are still finding themselves—

you’re in the right place.

This is a space to listen, to reflect,and to remember that home is not always a destination—but something within.

Subscribe, and welcome to The Long Road Home.

Hi, and welcome to The Long Road Home Podcast!

In this first episode, I’m recording from the Western Ghats of India, under the stars, sharing tea and conversation with Aje and Irie Akarsha—an intercultural couple raising their four children on a mountainside homestead in Kerala.

What unfolds is a deeply honest conversation about what it means to step outside of expectation and into a life shaped by presence, nature, and inner truth.

We talk about:

* Leaving behind societal conditioning and choosing authenticity

* The real cost—and quiet rewards—of living unconventionally

* Parenting with freedom, boundaries, and trust

* Building a life rooted in land, ritual, and simplicity

* Grief, identity, and letting go of comfort

* And ultimately, what it means to belong—not to a place, but within yourself

This conversation is a return to the body, to the earth, and to the present moment as home.

To find out more about our guests find them here:LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasakarsha/

Instagram @iriemama.india

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@RasAkarsha/videos

Hi, and welcome back to The Long Road Home Podcast.

In this episode, I sit down with psychotherapist and rewilding advocate Bahar G. (name changed for privacy) to speak about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, leaving her homeland in her twenties, and returning decades later during one of the country’s most politically tense periods while caring for her aging mother.

About This Conversation

What began as a conversation about Iran became something much larger: a meditation on identity, migration, family, language, grief, healing, indigenous wisdom, ecology, and the search for belonging in a fractured world.

Bahar speaks candidly about witnessing political repression as a child, the emotional cost of exile, and the feeling of becoming a stranger in one’s own homeland. We also explore her work in psychotherapy, rewilding projects in Scotland, indigenous teachings from the Amazon rainforest, and the creation of inner stability amidst constant movement between countries and caregiving roles.

At the heart of this episode is the question: What does it mean to build an inner home when the outer home has been lost, transformed, or left behind?

About Bahar G.

Bahar G. is an Iranian-born psychotherapist and rewilding advocate whose work explores healing, belonging, relationships, and the preservation of what makes us human. Born in Tehran during a time of immense political upheaval, Bahar grew up witnessing the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution before immigrating to Canada in her twenties.

Her personal experiences of exile, migration, loss, and rebuilding shaped her path toward psychotherapy and deep inner work. Over the years, her journey has expanded beyond the therapy room into environmental and community-based initiatives focused on reconnection — to self, to land, to ancestry, and to one another.

Bahar has been involved in rewilding and ecological projects connected to the Amazon rainforest, Scotland’s Atlantic rainforest, and the wider Fertile Crescent region. Her work draws inspiration from indigenous wisdom traditions, mythology, ritual, and the understanding that healing is both personal and collective.

She is also the co-founder of Altar State, a project exploring altar-making and intentional living as practices for cultivating presence, reflection, and inner grounding in modern life.

Today, Bahar moves between countries and cultures while caring for family across generations, continuing her work as a psychotherapist and guide for those navigating relationships, identity, grief, and transformation.

What we talk about

In this conversation, we explore:

* Growing up during the Iranian Revolution

* Women, Life, Freedom and the realities of modern Iran

* Immigration, exile, and cultural identity

* Caring for aging parents across borders

* Indigenous wisdom and the Amazon rainforest

* Rewilding projects in Scotland and the Fertile Crescent

* Creating an “inner home” through life’s instability

Key Takeaways

* Home is not only a place — it can also be a language, a memory, or a relationship to the self.

* Political upheaval reshapes not just nations, but family systems, identities, and emotional lives across generations.

* Healing often begins with reconnecting to nature, ritual, ancestry, and community.

* Indigenous cultures hold profound wisdom about belonging, reciprocity, and remembering who we are.

* In an era of fragmentation and distraction, preserving kindness, attention, and courage may be a radical act.

Chapters

00:00 Introducing Bahar and her story03:00 Childhood during the Iranian Revolution10:00 Mandatory hijab, repression, and life under the regime17:00 Immigration, exile, and leaving home22:00 War, identity, and belonging34:00 Psychotherapy, healing, and the Amazon rainforest38:00 Rewilding projects in Scotland and environmental activism44:00 Indigenous teachings, language, and preserving culture49:00 Caregiving, motherhood, and building an inner home53:00 Altars, intention, and preserving human qualities58:00 Hope for Iran and the future of humanity

Connect with Bahar

Altar StateTrees for Hope

Original theme music composed by Diego Tenorio

If you listen, I’d love to hear what resonates or what it brings up for you.

In gratitude,

Yamuna x

The Long Road Home is a listener-supported podcast exploring identity, belonging, memory, migration, healing, and what it means to remain human in a rapidly changing world. If conversations like this one resonate with you, consider subscribing to support the continuation of these stories and the creation of future episodes.

Hi, and welcome back to The Long Road Home Podcast.

In this episode, I’m in conversation with Abby Kneipp, joining us from the mountains of Peru—a place she now calls home after a profound and challenging period of transformation.

About this conversation

This conversation is about what happens when life strips everything back.

Over the last few years, Abby moved through what many would call a dark night of the soul—a period marked by deep physical illness, heartbreak, isolation, and the unravelling of almost every part of her life.

It’s a story of loss, but also of listening.

Of learning to trust the quieter voice beneath the noise.

And of finding a way back—not to who you were, but to something deeper and more true.

Because at the heart of this episode is a question I keep returning to:

What does it mean to live in alignment with the soul?

About Abby Kneipp

Abby Kneipp is a mystic, healer, and guide who has spent over a decade working with indigenous communities and sitting in plant medicine ceremonies around the world.

Her work centers on supporting women in healing trauma, reconnecting to their bodies, and reclaiming their power—particularly through womb work and feminine embodiment.

She is also an advocate for children and indigenous rights, and brings a deeply lived understanding of trauma, resilience, and transformation into everything she shares.

What we talk about

In this conversation, we explore:

* the experience of a dark night of the soul and spiritual awakening

* healing trauma through ceremony, embodiment, and deep inner work

* learning to listen to the soul and trust your inner voice

* the cost of speaking your truth—and how it can impact belonging

* navigating illness, sensitivity, and environmental factors like EMFs

* ancestry, identity, and Abby’s journey to Ireland

* returning to Peru and finding a sense of home in the land

* womb wisdom, feminine power, and reconnecting to the body

* practical ways to come back into the body and feel more grounded

Key Takeaways

* Your soul often speaks quietly—but it is persistent and deeply guiding.

* Telling the truth can sometimes cost you belonging, but it can also lead you to a deeper alignment.

* Healing is not linear—it can involve collapse, isolation, and rebuilding from the ground up.

* The body is not something to escape, but a place we return to.

* The womb can be a powerful center of connection, intuition, and belonging for women.

* Environment matters—where we live can deeply impact our well-being.

* Belonging is not always found externally—it can be cultivated within.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Abby Kneipp’s Journey00:53 The Call to the Medicine Path04:01 Listening to the Soul07:00 Navigating Inner Voices08:52 The Near-Death Experience15:59 The Dark Night of the Soul22:52 Returning to Peru and Healing31:21 Finding Wisdom in the Journey32:46 The Depth of Healing Work33:30 Feminine Empowerment and Sexuality35:03 The Wisdom of the Womb37:53 Connecting with the Womb43:04 Ancestral Ties and Identity49:34 Finding Home in Peru51:57 Connecting to the Body and Soul58:48 The Search for Belonging

Connect with Abby

Website LinkedIn Instagram Facebook

Original theme music composed by Diego Tenorio

If you listen, I’d love to hear what resonates or what it brings up for you.

In gratitude,

Yamuna x

The Long Road Home is a listener-supported podcast. Subscribe to receive new episodes and support the continuation of these conversations.