Learning from Trees

This episode is a quiet exploration of what it means to be in dialogue with ourselves — through creative practices, through breath and introspection. And what it means to honour our processes and our needs in a world that rarely pauses. 
I am accompanied by Michelle Baker, breathwork teacher, mentor and guide to self-inquiry and somatic practices. We talk about the beauty of slowness, depth and long stories. And we explore the power of tactile creative practices - like sewing and pottery - and how they can become acts of healing and self-discovery. 
Sharing generously from our own every day - from profound lessons to challenges - we inquire gently about what it means to be in co-creation with life. Curiously exploring what it means to take care of ourselves through different initiations and evolutions.
It’s a moment for anyone longing to breathe a little deeper, listen with curiosity and rediscover the art of inquiry - instead of answers - as a means of creating movement and connection.
 
About Michelle:
Alongside being a devoted student and practitioner, Michelle is a teacher, guide and mentor known for her grounding presence and steady counsel. She is the founder of Radiant Wellbeing, which is home to her ever evolving offerings that aspire to braid together the sacred, seasonal and somatic.
 
Her work is centered around supporting people in navigating personal, spiritual and seasonal evolutions by guiding them back home to the innate wisdom of their body through breathwork, movement, meditation and body focussed inquiry & coaching. She also mentors other visionary leaders and creatives in building and growing their heart-led, service based businesses.
 
Her love for poetry, perspective, nature and language is woven into the tapestry of all that she offers.
 
Michelle has been working with clients individually since 2013 and fostering community connection and growth through retreats, trainings and group gatherings (both online and in person) since 2014.
 
Get in touch:
Website: www.michellebaker.co 
Insighttimer: insighttimer.com/michellebaker
Substack: substack.com/@michellebaker
Instagram: instagram.com/__michellebaker/ 
 
This episode in headlines:
Reflections on a Weekend of Rest and Near-Death Experiences 
Stories, Podcasts, and the Power of Long-Form Content
The Joy and Healing in Using Our Hands
Lessons from Pottery: Letting Go and Beginning Again
The Body as a Site of Healing
Being Held: The Power of Connection
Personal Practice, Boundaries, and Balance
Intention in Teaching, Creating, and Sharing
Conversation as Healing practice: Embracing Diversity and Difference
Navigating Defensiveness and Polarization
Welcoming Contrast, Welcoming Growth
Talking to that which we avoid
 

This is a gentle dive into what it really means to be here, fully. An exploration of how we can stay present amid the noise and the strong pull of plans, objectives and efficiency — learning to return, again and again, to this very moment.
 
In this episode, I am joined by Oren Shai - Organizational Psychologist, Somatic Leadership Coach and Co-founder of Feeling School. We talk in depth about somatic awareness and the art of feeling sensations without needing to fix or control them. And we touch in the delicate balance between creating space and holding on. The quiet and loud ways in which our nervous system and learned patterns can shape our current reality - and how our inner landscape responds to the environment and relationships that we are part of.
 
By weaving together the science of our body with our personal stories of trials and realisations we surface a multifaceted view of what it means to practice and grow or interoception and connection to self. It’s an invitation to slow down, to listen inwardly, and to rediscover the nuances of being alive.
 
About Oren:Oren’s experience combines a decade in corporate learning and change with well over a thousand one-on-one hours of leadership development within budding 10-person startups all the way to 10,000-person giants, as well as collaboration with top universities researching applied team performance.
As the co-founder of Feeling School, Oren teaches his signature methodology to leaders seeking to integrate cutting-edge neuroscience with depth and humanity, helping them step into healthy, sustained performance, and an alive expression of leadership at work and in life.
 
Get in touch:
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/oshai 
Substack: https://workingwithfeeling.com 
This episode in headlines:
Introduction and Current Lessons
Daily Practices for Presence
Balancing Anticipating the future and being here now.
The role of control
Small Shifts for Big Changes
The Importance of Repair and Integration
Embodying Emotional Awareness
The Journey of Neuroplasticity
Building a Connection to Our Bodies
We need others to grow
What does it mean to practice somatically?
Busting ideas about personal growth
Ownership and Accountability
Integrating Somatic Practices
Gentle Curiosity and Sensation Awareness
 

This is a curious search for balance. An honest conversation between two humans who explore what it really means to pursue peace and contentment, when both our inner and outer world offer so much contrast, dissonance and variety.
 
In this episode I am joined by Joana Castro, a Food Therapy Educator and consultant rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). We use a big and generous canvas to uncover what a holistic approach to our wellbeing could look like. Taking us from the abstract waves of acknowledging and processing emotions, to the practicality and necessity of gentle and patient self-care through the different seasons of life.
 
Sharing our personal experiences, successes and disappointments, we shed light on the true pace of change and the role that curiosity and willingness to adapt our methods - little by little - can lead to personal growth and healing…that we are also able to sustain.
 
About Joana:
Joana is a modern creative polymath with a love for  blending disciplines in unexpected ways—science, art, health, food, design. Her life’s work is a canvas made of all of them. Curious by nature she is  likely to question everything and soak in new perspectives.
 
As a founder of My Own True Balance, she offers her services as a Food Therapy Educator & Consultant. (But never without creating space for her other big love - songwriting)
 
Get in touch:
Website: https://www.myowntruebalance.com/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanadscastro/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myowntruebalance/ 
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@myowntruebalance_ 
Medium: https://medium.com/@joana.7.castro
 
PLUS:
Find your own personalised path to health with
Food therapy consultation (1:1) - at a discounted price with promo code: TB20
Rebalance Meal Plan - with promo code TAKE15
 
This episode in headlines:
The Transformative Power of Music
Balancing Science and Art
Embracing Multitudes 
What is balance even?
How is the concept of balance applied in life?
Inner harmony through the seasons
The Role of Emotions in Health
Embracing our emotions
The Pursuit of Contentment
Mood Swings or flow of emotion?
Meeting Emotions with Actions
Taking accountability for your healing
The Power of Food 
Gentle Recovery and why we struggle with it
Personalize your healing
The Importance of Patience and Sustainability
Mindfulness and Breath Control

This is an intimate conversation about our relationship with life. And all the raw material that it gives us - whether pleasant or painful - to expand, learn, create and connect.
 
In this episode I am joined by Sofìa Laria, a concert pianist, piano-mentor and researcher of creativity and creative expression. Together we explore the idea of effort, what it can mean to our process and to our sense of self-worth. And we talk in depth about what it means to trust and engage with the impermanence of our experiences and performances…
 
Through the lens of our personal practices in music, art and human interactions, the episode sheds light on how engaging with an object, whether it's a piano or clay or a desired change (or impact), can help us not just understand, but also integrate and put to use valuable life lessons.
 
About Sofia:
Since the age of six, Sofia has passionately pursued piano, beginning her journey in Argentina and continuing her studies in piano performance in the Netherlands and Sweden with dedication and curiosity.
 
After completing her bachelor's in classical piano and studying anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires, Sofía followed her lifelong dream of studying in Europe. She earned a Master’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of the Arts Utrecht in the Netherlands. Now based in Sweden, she’s pursuing a second Master’s while researching how music and artistic learning can support personal growth and positively impact society, bringing together her love for the arts with insights from psychology and cognitive science.
 
Her piano studio is a space for creative learning, where both lessons and one-on-one consultations offer a way to grow, reclaim agency, and find clarity in a noisy world through creativity.
 
Get in touch:
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/sofia-laria-piano
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sofialaria 
Website: https://www.sofialaria.com/
This episode in headlines:
What is so good about effort?
The role of effort for self-worth
The Importance of Process Over Goals
Is it effort or suffering?
Can effort be playful?
What does it mean to be engaged?
Transitioning from Listener to Player
The Role of Honesty in Art
Integrating Theory and Practice - of anything
Being honest and being of service 
Embracing Impermanence
The Power of Presence in Art
The performing persona - that is actually you
The role of trust in presence