The Knowing

Episode 12: A little bit of Ciel Story

In Shamanic practice the medicine of each person and practitioner is profoundly different, and has been shaped and honed through the experiences of their lives.What one person knows and can offer as medicine is determined by the experiences they have had in this lifetime and soul process. I thought, therefore, that it might be interesting to provide a bit of back story for my life and experience--and resulting medicine--both so that we could get to know each other better, and to answer questions I often get regarding how I ever came to be connected to Shamanic practice. I hope you'll enjoy this bit of story x. Connect with us here: Allison Strickland: Website and InstagramCiel Grove: Website and Instagram

Episode 11: Letting go of the rope

This conversation is apparently what you get when both Allison and Ciel have had little sleep, a bit too much caffeine, and a healthy dose of social chaos. We explore a wide range of topics here, including: Why we swing from rope to rope of what is familiar for us, and why it's important to let go (and why that is so hard!) Why surrender is so important, and what we need to focus on instead of aiming for control all the time. Starting the conversation of what 'decolonization' in the mind might look like. The challenges with thinking in polarities, and what it might set up in our lives (that we actually really don't want..) We love ya'll. Thanks for listening. Connect with us here: Allison Strickland: Website and InstagramCiel Grove: Website and Instagram

Episode 10: Building the Bones

Welcome to Episode 10, friends! This is probably my favourite episode so far. Not only did I get to use the term ‘batshit ’ in a complete sentence, Allison brought forward the Bones card from the deck, which is one of my favourites to work with and explore in the Soma section. The bones ask us to look at our core beliefs about ourselves, other people, and the world at large, and to question whether we are truly being ‘good friends to ourselves’. And then…what really gets in the way of doing that for ourselves and each other? In short, it’s shame. And the very normal experience of not wanting to/not knowing how to feel our shame so that it no longer controls us subconsciously. We explore here three different approaches to working with shame. You’ll hear about: Somatic Psychotherapeutic work like Focusing (Eugene Gendlin) and ‘Affect Tolerance’ as a means of moving towards uncomfortable emotions like shame. Shamanic perspectives on the ‘soul retrieval’ work that is necessary to heal the parts of us we carry shame for. Why it’s necessary to work on our Vagal Nerve tone and to cultivate self regulation if we are to move towards these unwanted parts of ourselves…and why co-regulation can be so difficult with other human beings, and what another option for co-regulation might be. Thank you so much for being with us here. As always, please reach out if you have questions or ideas for a topic you would love explored here! We can be reached on Instagram most easily:Ciel Grove Allison Strickland

Episode 9: Tonglen Practice

As far as transformative practices go, Tonglen is certainly up there with the most profound and powerful ones. There has been nothing so potent in helping me shift my relationship to suffering (both mine and that of those around me) than this ancient work of ‘sending and taking’. Tonglen has guided me through depression and personal struggle in the past, and continues to support what feels like a meaningful and compassionate approach to the wider suffering of the world. This is the first ‘practice’ episode I’ve recorded, and while I think you could probably listen to it while driving your car, I might suggest that you instead set aside some time to do this work without other distractions if that feels possible in your life right now.

Episode 8: Beautiful Conversations

At this moment of great uncertainty and transformation there is so much to explore, and so much more that will become available to us over time, disclosed to us all as we explore our racial biases, limits in perspective, and unconscious orientations towards the valuing of certain people over others. We are being called to widen our understanding and compassion on all levels, and this is a beautiful, messy, and yet ultimately unquestionably necessary process of societal value shifting that we are all in the midst of. As Allison recently said to me, ‘there is no easy way to begin these conversations’, but here we are together doing the work of understanding, listening, connecting and commiserating to the best of our imperfect and human capacities.

Contemplations 1: Right Relationship

Allison + I will be back with more conversational-style podcasts soon, but thought I’d try out a new format this week: ‘The Knowing Contemplations’. Brief, pithy, and hopefully meaningful, Contemplations will aim to offer a bit of perspective and insight into topics relevant to healing + spiritual practice, and leave you (hopefully) wanting to explore more on your own! Todays’ topic is Right Relationship. I hope you enjoy.

Episode 6: Animal Spirits (Part 1)

If you have questions or would like us to focus on a particular topic here, please reach out! Ciel GroveAllison Strickland

Episode 5: Making Peace with Vulnerability and Reality

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Episode 4: Cultivating Joy + Magic

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Episode 3: What does Anger have to do with Transformation?

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