Melissa Lambour is a vibrant, trail-blazing Guatemalan-American woman currently living and loving in Bali, Indonesia. She grew up watching her migrant parents work incredibly hard for the "American Dream", and found herself amassing degrees and credentials to make their sacrifice seem worthwhile. But there was something missing for Melissa, and her search for identity and meaning took her far away from her well-paid engineering career and marriage in the U.S., to where she finally landed in Ubud, Bali (finding new love basically on arrival!). In this episode, Melissa shares her experience of exploring different aspects of herself including her sexuality, a shift to non-monogamy in her marriage, her racial identity, and a new career that literally had to be made up to fit her unique "Ikigai" or life purpose! Melissa is an astro-geo guide, ayurveda and Reiki practitioner, and altogether wonderful human. You can learn more about her work at: Instagram: cosmic.roadmap Website: www.cosmicroadmap.com Content warning: sexuality, racial identity.

Danielle Rateau is a radiant American beauty, currently living and working in a small fishing town near Seattle. She landed in the misty far north of the U.S. after years of global travels where she lived and worked among spiritual communities - from the ashrams of Australia to an ayahuasca retreat in Peru. After struggling with an eating disorder and the breakdown of a relationship and career in her mid-twenties, Danielle sold everything and moved away in search of herself (or something like it!). The journey that unfolded from there took her through incredible experiences of growth and healing, from immersing herself in yogic philosophy, to women's circles, chanting and beyond. We discuss all this, and much more, in Part 1 of our chat - check it out on Episode 4 if you haven't already. In Part 2 of our chat today, we delve more deeply into Danielle's work with the psychedelic plant medicine, ayahuasca, both personally and in support of others, which she did for a year while working at an ayahuasca retreat in Peru. We discuss both the beauty and the perils of working with this potent medicine! If you want a balanced view of working with ayahuasca from someone who has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly, this episode is not to be missed. Content warning: eating disorders, suicide. You can get in touch with Danielle and learn about her work at: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwpPahxoHh_NQZ_xbMiTo0w Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniellerateau/

Michelle Gardiner is an Australian social impact entrepreneur currently exploring the concept of home in multiple locations around the world including Bali, Indonesia and the Mediterranean. After marrying young and throwing herself into her social work career and life in the suburbs, Michelle started to have those uncomfortable nagging questions. Is this enough? Do I want more? Could I start all over again? She summoned her courage and followed her intuition, building a new life in the city as a single woman-about-town. It was fun, and shiny, and there was lots of dancing... but eventually the questions came again. Is there more to life than travel and going out with friends? She noticed a growing spiritual curiosity. Fast forward to a trip to Peru, ayahuasca visions, and a few more bold moves and she found herself stranded in Bali for the duration of the pandemic. During this time, Michelle not only faced her own dark night and identity crisis, but also built her incredible women's leadership business, Aspire, and launched her book series, 55 Faces. Through 55, she elevates the voices of women from all over the world and helps them tell their stories. We discuss following your intuition and having the courage to re-invent yourself (more than once!) in this wide-ranging discussion. Please enjoy! Content warning: fertility challenges, IVF. You can get in touch with Michelle and learn more about her work at: Website: https://www.theaspireseries.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theaspireseries/

Danielle Rateau is a radiant American beauty, currently living and working in Washington state, in a small fishing town near Seattle. She landed in the misty far north of the U.S. after years of global travels where she lived and worked among spiritual communities - from the ashrams of Australia to an ayahuasca retreat in Peru. After struggling with an eating disorder and the breakdown of a relationship and career in her mid-twenties, Danielle sold everything and ran away in search of herself (or something like it!). The journey that unfolded from there took her through incredible experiences of growth and healing, from immersing herself in yogic philosophy, to women's circles, chanting and beyond. We discuss all this, and much more, in Part 1 of our chat. We also skim the surface of her work with the psychedelic plant medicine, ayahuasca, which we delve into more in Part 2. Content warning: eating disorders, the Voice referendum (Australia). You can get in touch with Danielle and learn about her work at: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwpPahxoHh_NQZ_xbMiTo0w Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniellerateau/

Nathalie Sage is a Swedish native currently living among the beautiful, foresty outer suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. She grew up surrounded by the lush greenery around Stockholm and felt deeply connected to nature at an early age, having her first notable spiritual experience at just six years old. A challenging adolescence led to one of the most beautiful spiritual experiences of her life, catalysing a life of spiritual seeking and learning. At just twenty-one, Nathalie followed her supercharged intuition across the world to live in New Zealand and then Australia, adding to her toolkit of holistic modalities along the way. She currently practices as a divine channel and ascension specialist, which you'll have to experience to understand - she is seriously powerful! In our interview, we discuss an incredible dream, the spiritual awakening Nathalie experienced after the darkest time in her life, how things just seem to work out when she follows her intuition, motherhood, connecting with animal spirits, and much, much more. Nathalie is a true goddess and I really enjoyed this conversation (not to mention our impromptu card reading afterwards - she was SO spot on!).  Content warning: suicide, eating disorders. You can get in touch with Nathalie and learn about her work at: https://www.facebook.com/nathaliesage123

Karen Garton is a Melbourne woman who lived a self-proclaimed "vanilla" life right up until her forties when she started to dig into some of the childhood trauma she had experienced. After an initial spiritual awakening experience catalysed by the powerful touch of a Reiki master (who also happened to be Karen's boss at an accounting firm!), Karen has since explored many spiritual modalities and had more fascinating spiritual experiences which she shares with us in Part I and Part II of our conversation. In Part II of our chat, we discuss altered state experiences had on retreat, sound healing, re-connecting with her late ex-husband in spirit, quitting her stable job to take a risk on her own business, a recent plant medicine journey, and the healing power of storytelling. She candidly discusses the challenges of integrating spiritual experiences and subsequent life changes, including dealing with the rational mind and its constant narrative about paying the bills! Content warning: childhood sexual abuse. You can get in touch with Karen and learn about her work at: Instagram: ⁠@karengarton5⁠ Website: https://www.storynights.com.au/⁠ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StoryNightsForWomen/⁠

Karen Garton is a Melbourne woman who lived a self-proclaimed "vanilla" life right up until her forties when she started to dig into some of the childhood trauma she had experienced. After an initial spiritual awakening experience catalysed by the powerful touch of a Reiki master (who also happened to be Karen's boss at an accounting firm!), Karen has since explored many spiritual modalities and had more fascinating spiritual experiences which she shares with us in Part I and Part II of our conversation. In Part I of our chat with Karen, we discuss her early life, her first awakening experience and the healing process this kicked off, her foray into meditation, and much more. She candidly discusses the challenges of integrating these experiences into daily life, including navigating close relationships as a new version of yourself. Content warning: childhood sexual abuse. You can get in touch with Karen and learn about her work at: Instagram: @karengarton5 Website: https://www.storynights.com.au/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StoryNightsForWomen/