Episode 3: the Minister & the Shaman with Reverend Howard West

I am so honored to share this conversation with my friend and spiritual advisor Rev. Howard West. Howard is an ordained Presbyterian Minister with at Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and he specializes in geriatric spiritual care, dementia, end-of-life care and caregiver support. He has served for more than 15 years as Executive Director of Spiritual Life Services of Country Meadows Retirement Communities.  Howard is also a trained counselor with a Master’s degree in Counseling from the University of Pittsburgh with almost three decades of experience collaborating with self-help groups that address family and relationship problems, addiction/codependency, depression and other mental health issues.  Howard has a B.A. in East Asian Studies (China specialization) from Penn State University, is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and is a daily practitioner of Chinese martial arts including Taichi.  He also has a long-term interest in eastern spirituality and its impact on physical, emotional and spiritual health.  When Howard and I met, his first question to me was, “Are you a shaman?” From there, we became fast friends. Our spiritual connection runs deep, always coalescing in discussions about how much we actually have spiritually in common. I once said to him, we should really have a podcast called “the Minister and the Shaman” where we answer questions from people and I admit that when I started this podcast, I immediately thought of Howard and some of our amazing conversations about spirituality, religion, trauma, psychological issues, & emotional sobriety. I consider Howard to be one of the most important spiritual advisors, influences, and friends. We have birded together, as Howard has an uncanny ability to be observant and aware in nature. No mistake that he is an avid outdoorsman and nature photographer. His connection to the Earth and nature is profound and humbling. I’m so honored to have this as one of many conversations we will have together, so here is my conversation with Reverend Howard West.

Episode 2: What is Tarot's place in this moment? with Kyra Paules

Oh, boy, I was looking forward to this conversation with Kyra Paules so much. I have known Kyra for a number of years, and she has become one of my go-to Tarot friends who I talk to about cards, life and ethics. In fact, I called on her when I was working on my June reading, because I just did not know if any of this was relevant or useful in this time. She and I talked about it, and I thought…this might be a useful conversation to have on the podcast. So, I hope you enjoy it!

Episode 1: Chakras with Sharon Muzio

It was so fun to talk to one of my BFFs Sharon Muzio from Alta View Wellness Center in Harrisburg, PA. She is a long-time practitioner of energy work and massage. She is the OG in this area. I wanted to talk chakra with her, since she works with the chakras do in-depth. As COVID-19 has reared up, she has recorded journeys around each of the chakras, which will soon be available. She actually has a journey coming up on June 2nd called Shamanic Journey with the Chakras, which you can register for now. It is being held on Zoom, and seriously, she leads a beautiful journey. You can register by getting in touch with her at avwc@comcast.net

Have a listen to my conversation with Sharon:

Centered

One of the things I love about what I do for a living as a healer and teacher is having amazing conversations with people. Breakthroughs happen. Ways of thinking about our own journey evolve and change. I often say in my classes, I can raise your vibration, but you have to change your consciousness.

We are all on the path of healing. I grow because of the people around me, the conversations that are evolving. One of the things I have felt were most damaging to the metaphysical community is the BS. I really crave conversations that get to the meat of matters and really dig deep into the rich soil of healing work. I kept thinking about some of the conversations I have had with my friends who are healers and psychics when we are just bullshitting on the phone. We talk about HOW we do this work for ourselves. I am really interested in sharing some of those conversations, so I have invited some of my friends to talk to me about a topic. My hope is that it isn’t just get to know you conversations, but deeper conversations about specific topics.

I’m going to have regular monthly conversations about astrology, tarot, healing and other one-off conversations with spiritual people who are doing their work.

Listen to the trailer here: