The Soul Garden: Recent Episodes
Georgina Langdale
Hosted by Georgina Langdale - alchemist, plant whisperer, founder of the Centre for Nature Connection and creator of The Natural Carer training for care at the End of Life. The Soul Garden is where where we get to explore nature, compassion and soul through the inner and outer workings of living in a connected world. www.georginalnature.com
As someone with a soulful approach to life, but who never really thought of themselves as a religious person; and as someone who tends to shy away from belonging to anything (apart from this beautiful natural world), I have found myself the bearer of a new definition, that of being an ordained interfaith minister. I’m now officially a Reverend.
And that’s taking a little getting used to. But I’m loving the inner alchemy that’s happening for me at the moment as I go through this ‘settling in’ process.
And what’s more you see, I love words. I love writing, and as such this can make me fumble and find myself at a loss as I seek to get hold of the perfect words to describe something. And this something is me as a freshly minted interfaith minister.
What does being an interfaith minister mean to me, a woman who has always found her spiritual sustenance in Nature? Why did I go on this two year interfaith seminary training with the OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation in the UK?
Well the answer has to do with things like fluency, connection, soul path, lineage and good old fashioned curiosity. It’s about creating a sense of spiritual ecology and how that might help with self-care in a changing world. It’s about what the dying have shown me about spiritual peace, and dilemma, at the end of life.
It helped to speak some of this out loud and so this episode of The Soul Garden is a poke and prod at the wondering about what an interfaith minister is.
My heartSfelt thanks to my tutors and fellow cohort at OneSpirit for this two year journey. And a deep bow of gratitude to the poet Mary Oliver for always managing to have the right words, when one can’t find them oneself.
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This week in the Soul Garden, I am reflecting on the tyranny of the And. What it is, what it does to us, and how we might be able to turn that around with some soul searching and the power of No. For solopreneurs, freelancers, consultants this may resonate. For women in midlife, thinking about how we can work with the menopause transition to gain clarity around our true purpose and the things that serve us well can be a powerful time for deep transformation.
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In this episode of The Soul Garden we explore natural perfumery and working with ancient cosmological concepts in the approach to creating aromatic portraits of ancient mystics and modern day perfume lovers.
Georgina Langdale discusses her approach to working with aromatics. She talks about using raw ingredients, astrology, amulets, and Renaissance mysticism. She studied aromatherapy and natural perfumery and founded an apothecary called Archeus. She sees plants physically, through the doctrine of signatures, and energetically. She makes medicated oils by infusing herbs. She discusses how Marsilio Ficino used aromatics as medicine for the soul and spirit in the 1400s. The speaker explains how she composes natural perfumes based on astrology, symbolism, and the energies needed. She created aromatic portraits of Marsilio Ficino, Paracelsus, and Hildegard of Bingen. She describes the process of formulating each perfume based on their life, writings, astrological charts, and the energies they embodied. Georgina talks about making bespoke perfumes for people by looking at their astrological chart and having them draw in the elements and energies they need. She discusses remembering those who have passed by creating an aromatic portrait of them.
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In this episode of The Soul Garden, Georgina Langdale reflects on a book by Thomas Moore, The Eloquence of Silence - surprising wisdom in tales of emptiness.
Thomas Moore offers a compelling case for an easier, lighter way of moving through life by experiencing the peace. calm and openness of emptiness. Georgina touches on how emptiness can be a powerful tool for navigating transitions such as menopause and the end of life.
The Eloquence of Silence is available at Thomas's website and in all the usual places.
https://www.thomasmooresoul.com/
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The hormonal changes women experience as they go through menopause can lead to vaginal dryness, which is not a topic many people are keen to talk about. But over the past decade Georgina has been developing and making natural products to support women through menopause and other transitions, and has spoken to women and health professionals about this painful condition. In this episode she talks about the problem, what makes it happen, what not to do, and what may help.
NatFem Balm can be purchased at https://archeus.nz/
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The Leo Full Moon is here and what better time to do a Love Meditation. Get comfy and let's get started.
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When life changes and someone we love, or maybe its us, is given bad news, we need to dig deep to find ways through it all. In this episode I share with you how recent bad news within my own family prompted me to write a book to offers ways to help those I love navigate the times we find ourselves in.
There are three things that I think are at the heart of finding resilience, compassion and courage when we face change and challenges and they are breath, nature and ceremony and I share some ideas in this episode.
50 Things to Help when Life Changes - contemplative & nature-based teachings for navigating life transitions.
Author: Georgina Langdale
Available on my website
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This week is all about the goddesses within and looking at goddess archetypes through the lens of a midlife woman. Getting to know these archetypes and working with them to help navigate life can be wonderfully empowering.
In this episode we explore the archetypes of Hestia, Hera, Artemis, Demeter, Persephone and Aphrodite.
If you are interested in the Soul Medicine for the Midlife Woman online programme join my mailing list and I'll let you know when the doors open.
The full NatFem Botanics Collection of products I have created to support women through perimenopause and menopause can be purchased at archeus.nz
The Book I mentioned:
Jean Shinola Boden, M.D
Goddesses in Everywoman - a new psychology of women
Harper Perennial
Published 1984
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It's that time of the year when we ask ourselves the big questions about who we really are, what are we doing, are we truly answering our calling. We set goals for the year ahead, dream about that career change, wonder what claiming one's true self after menopause could look like, we think about the art we could create, and the service to others we could offer.
And we can get stuck.
If you are looking for a way through the puzzling and self-doubt then a Renaissance soul session with me could be just the thing to help you unlock your potential and fling open the doors to your true self-expression.
I draw on the way the Italian Renaissance 'soul doctor' Marsilio Ficino worked with his clients, helping them find their guiding star and deepen their connections to nature, spirit and cosmos so that they could confidentially move forward with their dreams and wishes.
And I talk about this offering in this week's episode of The Soul Garden
“Georgina led me on a beautiful journey that left me feeling inspired, on purpose, and powerful.” - Brenna
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This is the last episode of The Soul Garden for 2023! And in this episode Georgina Langdale reflects on the power of landscape as part of one's own sense of being. She shares the wood in which she laid her father's ashes to rest, and conjures the green path she walks on inspired by nature and mystics such as Hildegard of Bingen, ending with a Celtic call for peace.
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In this week's episode we look at plant essences, also known as flower remedies. These are a form of vibrational medicine that is said to tap into the 'life force' of a plant. Georgina Langdale, presenter of The Soul Garden and founder of the Archeus Apothecary, has been working with this form of plant medicine throughout her life.
This episode looks at what plant essences are, some examples of plants and their uses in this form, and ways of working with them. She also provides information on the offerings she has that work with plant essences.
If you are interested in Georgina's plant essences, plant essence consultation or other offerings you can find them at georginalangdale.com.
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As Archeus celebrates 10 Years since it launched, founder and Soul Garden presenter, Georgina Langdale discusses how Archeus evolved from an artisanal apothecary into a centre for compassionate care.
Reflecting on her parents' deaths, the power of Nature as a teacher, and how compassion can help deepen connection at every stage of the life journey this is a tender episode, recorded, as it happens on Georgina's mother's birthday. RIP.
Link to episode.
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In this week’s episode of The Soul Garden podcast, I reflect on my own connection with nature and ways I have worked with it over the past ten years of Archeus.
For me, stepping away from my previous career, to step fully into this realm of working with nature, with plants to create offerings to support health and wellbeing at a physical, emotional and spiritual level has been so rewarding, so life-enriching. So in this episode I share some of my thoughts on my approach to formulation, the rules I gave myself when starting Archeus, and the different ways I have explored the healing power of nature over the past decade.
I hope you find this informative and maybe even just a little inspiring!!!
If you are interested in a Plant Essences & Energetics Guidance Session you can book that here.
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This episode marks 10 years to the day since the launch of my business Archeus! In this episode I reflect on why I set Archeus up, some of my influences, a big thank you to those who have believed in my over this time. I reflect on the awards recognition over the years.
I list ten things I have learned from ten years in business.
And reflect on what may be to come.
Join me again next week when I dig a bit deeper into what I love about working with the healing power of plants and my relationship with the natural world.
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World Menopause Day has come round again and in this episode of the Soul Garden, host Georgina Langdale reflects with humour, wisdom and even joy at the things that can make this time of life so tricky and so wonderful.
Who are the people who can help you navigate this time? What are the symptoms you may feel? What is the art you can create? What do ancient goddesses have to do with you as a woman in midlife? And how does a fine wine relate to sexuality in the postmenopause years.
All this and more in this episode of the Soul Garden. Enjoy.
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What are the things we tell ourselves about ourselves? And how do those messages get in the way of our true potential?
In this episode of The Soul Garden, Georgina Langdale takes a look at Self Talk and how we can work with it as a force for good. She draws her inspiration from the 12th Century mystic, healer and abbess Hildegard of Bingen who wrote about a form of psychotherapy and prayer she described as ‘vices and virtues.’ Hildegard’s way of working with the idea of healing vices by focusing on virtues is powerful self-medicine and is as relevant for navigating the times we are in, as it was for her time over 800 years ago.
This talk is part of the Soul Medicine for the Midlife Woman group coaching programme which will be available again in January 2024 at georginalangdale.com
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This episode is slightly different to my normal approach to this podcast. It is part creative mash-up, part lament, part call to action. Earlier this year the area I live in was hit by tropical cyclone Gabrielle, and even in the few months since then it seems as if the whole world is burning or flooding. I started getting this riff going around in my head and so I made this song to try and capture my fear and my reimagined future, in this moment now.
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Who's afraid of flying? Me! I used to love it, but now I am just seriously afraid. I have gone from intrepid explorer, to trembling coward. And I don't think I'm alone in this fear.
So in this episode of the Soul Garden, I look that fear in the face and talk about how I have used the power of ceremony to overcome it, or at least bring down to something manageable! Given how many of us are afraid of flying, I thought it might be helpful to others to share the techniques I have used to deal with this phobia.
Also mentioned is my upcoming course, Soul Medicine for the Midlife Woman.
For more of Georgina's offerings including products, courses and coaching visit:
archeus.nz for products: natural menopause support, natural perfume, plant essences
Instagram @ArcheusNaturalLiving
georginalangdale.com for ecotherapy, courses, guidance
Instafram @GeorginaLangdaleSoul
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In this episode of the Soul Garden, host Georgina Langdale reflects on Earth Day. She also is prompted by its proximity to ANZAC Day to name some of the fallen, species that have gone extinct since WWI due to human impacts.
For more of Georgina's offerings including products, courses and coaching visit:
archeus.nz
Facebook @ArcheusNaturalLiving
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This week I share with you some background on why I set up my business Archeus (ten years ago!), some of my thoughts on how I work with Nature to help and support women in midlife and all the changes and transitions it brings from menopause, to changing relationships, caring for ageing parents, and all the grief and joy, living and dying of life.
I think of everything I do as earth medicine for the midlife woman and it is informed by touching oneness in a childhood event, discovering the wisdom of ancients, working with the healing power of plants, understanding the physiology of menopause and wanting to offer ways of supporting body, mind and spirit.
Archeus,nz
Beauty on Eden
Niki Bezzant - This Changes Everything
For more of Georgina's offerings including products, courses and coaching visit:
archeus.nz
Facebook @ArcheusNaturalLiving
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How do we find balance and resilience in a changing world? How do life changes and transitions, both internal and external act as catalysts for a deeper way of being?
It's been a few weeks now since the cyclone Gabrielle devastated the region I live in. This has been a life-changing experience and this episode of The Soul Garden explores how to navigate through events such as this and how we may help create love, resilience and compassion in a changing world.
Info about the Earth Medicine for the (midlife) Soul offering is here.
For more of Georgina's offerings including products, courses and coaching visit:
archeus.nz
Facebook @ArcheusNaturalLiving
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Youtube @ArcheusGeorgina
In this week's episode I'm sharing a healing meditation and visualisation I recorded today for a friend who is going through cancer treatment. I wanted to create something that she might find gives her comfort during her treatment, that may help her activate the healing her body wishes for at this time.
After I sent it to her I thought of how it might give comfort to others too. It could be a place of quiet refuge that helps healing happen. That supports the soul and spirit at this time.
If you need a bit of healing right now, a bit of love then I hope this helps. And if you know someone who may find comfort in it, then please do feel free to share this link and spread the love.
The meditation itself starts at 5.10".
Go well,
Georgina
For more of Georgina's offerings including products, courses and coaching visit:
archeus.nz
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In this powerful episode of The Soul Garden, Georgina Langdale explores the idea of perimenopause as a liminal space that invites us to draw in the potential of our post-menopausal wisdom years. She offers up another view of perimenopause that reframes symptoms as markers of transformation. She sees perimenopause as a gestation and birthing of a new way of being, and mentions how she has worked with ceremony to deepen these ideas.
"Perimenopause is a time of great change. It is a casting off, and a gathering inwards. It is transformational. An initiation. It is a farewell, and it is a welcoming in of a new power. "
The ceremony At the Threshold is available here
The offering Unlocking Potential is available here,
For more of Georgina's offerings including products, courses and coaching visit:
archeus.nz
Facebook @ArcheusNaturalLiving
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Youtube @ArcheusGeorgina
It's World Menopause Day and following an interview I had with the fabulous Tracy Minnoch-Nuku and her Sexy Ageing Podcast I felt a little nudge from some of the things we had talked about in her interview. I had touched on sensitive topics. I was being candid, but not forthright and this troubled me.
And so it came to pass that I found myself writing a blog entitled Beyond Menopause a different power awaits. But it felt like it wanted to be said out loud and so here it is for you. I hope there are things that resonate for you, or may even uplift and empower you.
You can find Tracy's Sexy Ageing Podcast here. Our interview is released on 18 October. Her website is here.
And my NatFem Botanics range of products that I formulated to support women through the menopause change cna be found at nfbalm.com
Why is it that we find out so much about those when love only when we are at their funeral?
Sometimes inspiration for a podcast episode sneaks right up on you and compels you to sit down in front of the microphone and speak from the heart.
This is one of those episodes. Short. Sweet and hopefully helpful. In it I explore things left unexplored and the beauty and sadness of the things we discover only after we lose someone we love.
Thank you Stevie Nicks for your beautiful classic Fleetwood Mac song 'Landslide' as your music made this moment happen.
While this episode is for my friend Ruth, I do think that really, it is for all the people we all love and cherish.
Georgina x
georginalnature.com
Sometimes we just feel the need to take a deep breath and pray for peace. This meditation is one I have created to extend that peace to this planet, to our Mother Earth. It is an invitation to come together in a message of healing for this planet, for ourselves.
I've been so troubled by the language that is increasingly being used to describe Nature. it is a language of battle, of fury, of revenge. This earth doesn't want battles, it wants balance. This earth does not want fury, it wants peace. I think we all really just want peace.
Our relationship with nature, as part of nature and cosmos is central to all the work I do, from coaching and guidance, to teaching. from end of life care, to creating ceremony and helping people explore their soul purpose. In the apothecary I create products that are imbued with the healing power of nature, from balms to tree and flower essences. And in my daily life I meditate, visualise and connect to nature, and in connecting with nature, I connect with my own true essence.
This episode shares a moment of this connection so that together, we can raise the frequency of healing and hope.
https://www.georginalnature.com/
@centrenatureconnection
When we can explore consciousness we can find ways to see death as a natural part of the life cycle.
Life experiences shape us, but they can also give us the ability to make more sense of the world around us. For me a Near Death Experience opened the door to insights into infinity and the paradox of connection.
None of us want to lose the people and beings and places we love, yet we can find new ways of remaining connected to the love of these things.
In this week's episode of the Soul Garden, presenter Georgina Langdale gently explores life, death, and infinity.
Being Here
In this episode of The Soul Garden, Georgina Langdale takes a look at how the wisdom of the Florentine philosopher, physician and priest, Marsilio Ficino, can help us to create a soul-aligned life.
When I look at soul, I really think of this heart space for me, soul is where we truly reside within ourselves with no ego, with no fears and sense of competition or comparison. It is just where we truly are. It is the things that light us up. So when we are really in touch with what our soul needs, we can really start to live and work in a way that supports our well-being, our emotional wellbeing, physical wellbeing. It can help allay stress and fear and anxiety. And in this day and age, I just think that's so important.
I've found over the past few years when been coaching clients or doing my own work, my own artistic pursuits and things, I really draw on the work of Marsilio Ficino and his ideas to help myself and to help others reach that point of really understanding their inner landscape and the things that feed their soul.
In this episode of the Soul Garden I describe this process and how it can take you from feeling like you are not doing what you came here to do, to living a life with a purpose that makes your soul sing.
To listen to the Soul Garden interview with Thomas Moore click here
To learn more about my Soul-Aligned purpose offering click here
georginalnature.com
In this episode of the Soul Garden presenter Georgina Langdale takes a look at the 15th Century physician, philosopher and priest, Marsilio Ficino.
Ficino has been a key influence in Georgina's work as a herbalist, healer, end of life carer and energy worker. She shares some of the things she loves about him and how he has inspired her 'Planets Within' collection of natural perfume, skin serums and creams and a flower essence elixir for her Atelier Signatum Naturalis range.
Ficino is an extraordinary man whose wisdom rolls down through the ages for our times today. He saw our health and wellbeing within the context of our relationship with nature and cosmos, and he saw care of the soul as central to life. Astrology, herbology, music and art are all part of the lexicon of this self-proclaimed 'Physician of the Soul'.
Georginalnature.com
The Atelier Signatum range can be found under the SHOP tab.
How many of us have been struggling lately? The news is unrelentingly grim. Everything has become calamitous. It is hard not to feel fearful. Grief is never far from the surface. I have found myself asking, how do we navigate a path through this?
If you have followed my writing, podcast, videos and teaching for a while now, you’ll know that my first point of call for support through tough stuff, was Nature. Over the years I have dug deeper and deeper into the ways we have connected to Nature for our health and wellbeing throughout times and I believe there is valuable wisdom from those ages past that can help us find a way of being in these unsettling times. In this episode of The Soul Garden I reflect on some of the ideas of the ancients , through to contemporary mystics and how they can help us navigate these times and create a better future.
At the end of the episode there is also a 4 minute guided meditation. Enjoy
In addition to the teaching and coaching that helps people deepen their connection to nature, develop compassionate communication skills to help in life, and at the end of life, and help the changemakers committed to building a sustainable future, I also have part of my business dedicated to helping and supporting women as they go through the menopause transition. I recorded this episode the other day for a podcast I called The Dangerous Age - I put it upon my NatFem website, but thought I should share it here as well. In fact I will probably merge it into this Soul Garden podcast so everything is all in the one place. So, without further ado, in this Dangerous Age episode I talk with GP and women's health expert Dr. Samantha Newman about HRT, the Mirena and menopause.
Sam's private practice is called FEMALE GP and can be found here: https://www.femalegp.co.nz/
You can find her show on Radio Kidnappers here.
NatFem Botanics is a range of natural and organic products for menopause and beyond, including vegan and non-vegan balms for vaginal dryness. You can find the range here and we ship internationally: https://nfbalm.com/
The book Sam mentioned is The Vagina Bible: Vulva and Vagina - Separating the Myth From the Medicine, by Jennifer Gunter.
Other links:
Continence New Zealand: https://www.continence.org.nz/
DermNet: https://dermnetnz.org/
ISSVD The International Society for the Study of Vulvalvaginal Disease: https://www.issvd.org/
When your guest says, “The deep ancient side of me responds to the deep ancient side of that site, that place in nature” you know you are in for a fascinating discussion.
In this week’s episode of The Soul Garden I’m talking to Harriet Sams, archeologist, archaeotherapist, intuitive guide and ecotherapist. I love our discussion! We talk about the beauty and the pain of sense of belonging. We explore our relationship with landscape through the felt, the known and the unseen. We look at grief at a personal and at a landscape level.
We experience the sunrise on winter solstice at Newgrange in Ireland. Newgrange is a Stone Age (Neolithic) monument in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, it is the jewel in the crown of Ireland's Ancient East. Newgrange was constructed about 5,200 years ago (3,200 B.C.) which makes it older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza.
We climb to the top of peaks in the Lake District and explore the story of the wonderful Neolithic ‘Langdale Axes’ and we discuss the power of storytelling and its role in helping us bring our relationship with the environment back into balance.
We also look at the relevance of nature-based forms of spirituality in these modern times. One of these forms of spirituality is druidry, which really is just a word for understanding and celebrating the connectedness of the natural world (and our place in it). She explains how druidry for her was part of her quest for "wanting to find a deeper meaning of archeology that wasn't being spoken."
Whether at the COP26 Climate Change talks or standing at an ancient site, part of the process of healing is bringing back the story. And so on that note, I hope you enjoy our story.
The Soul Garden is presented by Georgina Langdale, founder of the Centre for Nature Connection. The Centre for Nature Connection offers coaching, guidance and training for navigating life with a deeper connection to nature, and caring for others at the end of life. It is also home to Archeus products including a range of plant essences and elixirs. https://www.georginalnature.com/
Harriet’s links are:
https://www.tarikitrust.org/
https://nwyfre-earth.co/
https://radicaljoy.org/
OBOD
https://druidry.org/
I think that we can all relate to feeling stuck at times. We ask ourselves questions like, “what is my potential?” and “How do I figure that out?”. A couple of days ago, I found myself literally sobbing at my computer going, ‘who am I? What am I doing? I had got really, really stuck. So in this podcast I take a look a getting stuck, and getting unstuck, and how we find our tribe, and the common questions and issues that we can find ourself facing as we hit midlfe. Creativity, potential, menopause, happy places, historical wisdom, vaginal dryness, it’s all there!
True Nature renaissance readings can be found at: https://www.georginalnature.com/renaissance-reading
If you are looking for NatFem’s own website it is here: https://nfbalm.com/
Jackie Butler is a Biodynamic Cranial Sacral therapist based in Richmond in the Tasman district of New Zealand. I first met Jackie when she enrolled as a student in the Natural Carer end of life care programme I run at the Centre for Nature Connection.
Jackie's approach to end of life care incorporates her skill as a 'cranio' therapist and we explore this in this discussion. I love this interview - there is something about Jackie that is instantly calming. She is beautiful food for the soul!
Jackie's website is jackiebutler.nz
For courses, coaching and other offerings of mine, including The Natural Carer training, head to The Centre for Nature Connection https://www.georginalnature.com/
Do you find yourself sometimes wishing that you could connect into something bigger, into nature to help you feel grounded or to help you through the tough stuff? In this episode of the Soul Garden we are going to look at plant essences, which are beautiful, beautiful bridge builders between us and the natural world. I hope you enjoy this episode with me, Georgina Langdale and the Soul Garden.
Plant essences invite us to observe the natural world more deeply and for us to become really cognizant of our resonances with the natural world. The resonances that can bring us back into balance that can support us through the tough stuff of life. In doing this, we start really tapping into an ancient way of being with the natural world. We start to see ourselves reflected in nature around us, and we start to find our natural allies. And this is absolutely beautiful nature therapy. This is medicine for the soul.
For further training and information on plant essences look in the Training and Coaching sections on my website: www,georginalnature.com
Setting up your own business can be incredibly exciting, rewarding and stimulating – but it can also be hard!
I learned two things (possibly the hard way!) in pursuing my dream of creating Archeus and the Centre for Nature Connection. One was: you are going to learn more about courage than you ever realized you needed to know; and the other thing is you should never be afraid to reach out and ask for help or guidance.
In this week’s episode I talked to business coach, Tony Walker, about the role a business coach can play in helping you as you build your dream.
You can find out more about Tony at Tony Walker Coaching
Tony's radio programme is on Radio Kidnappers
If you have a dream to set up your own natural skincare or products company then you may also get a lot out of my online course: Beauty Business Nature. I’ve pulled together everything I‘ve learned about setting up a natural skincare business AND how to place nature at the heart of every business decision. Beauty Business Nature can be studied in your own time and at your own pace. It is packed full of information, videos and downloadable resources. It won’t tell you how to make your formulas, but it will give you everything else you need to know to set up an eco-conscious business for the 21st Century.
The link to Beauty Business Nature is here.
Georgina Langdale x
This week’s guest is Joanna Huriwai. Joanna is many things including: mother, friend, nurse, sister, midwife, rabble rouser and druid. In this episode Joanna and I explore things that bring meaning and comfort to our lives, especially in the face of a life-limiting illness.
I first met Joanna and her family when I was asked to spend time with them talking about end of life care. This meeting coincided with the druid Grove of the Summer Stars gathering for the Samhuinn festival which marks summer’s end. Our discussion explores family, relationships, love and the people and things that are important in our life. We talk about how our society has got so scared of death, yet it is a natural part of life. We talk about Tikanga Maori and contemporary care.
The Druid philosophy is inextricably linked with Nature and this connection to the natural world radiates through this discussion. If you are interested in finding out more about Druidry check out www.druidry.org
If you are at the bedside of someone who is nearing the end of life you may find some ideas in this blog helpful. https://www.georginalnature.com/blog/ten-ways-to-care
You can find more of my nature-based offerings: teaching, coaching and products at the Centre for Nature Connection https://www.georginalnature.com/
How can we help our much loved pets as their end draws near? The bond between our animals can be so, so strong and so when the time comes that they are dying we want to be able to do all we can to support them through their last days, hours or moments of life.
Caring for our beloved pets at the end of their life is as important, as necessary, as heartbreaking and as beautiful as caring for the humans we love. We can also feel the same sense of helplessness and a deep desire to do everything we can to help them feel loved, feel comforted and feel seen, right to the very end.
A large part of my work is helping people navigate life - and the end of life. But it is not just our human loved one's that we grieve for. It is our animals too. People have asked me how they can help their animals when they reach the end of their life.
I decided to create this guided meditation to help draw people even closer to the creatures they love. It is a way of working with energy and is a balm for human and animal alike. It may help you focus the ‘lovebeam’ on your pet as you support it in its last days.
This guided meditation is lovely to do with the animal with you, but you can also do it across distance. Energy is wonderful like that, it flows where you need it to go. The meditation starts at around 4 minutes in, but I encourage you to listen to the whole recording the first time through.
Georgina xx
The Centre for Nature Connection https://www.georginalnature.com/
In this episode of the The Soul Garden, Georgina Langdale is joined by Dr. Tess Moeke-Maxwell to discuss work being done to support Māori whānau (families) to provide care to adults and kaumātua (older people) at end of life.
In our discussion Tess talks about identity, dislocation from traditional customs and how we have to prepare our whanau and our health professionals for getting things right so we can all care better for family and individuals at the end of life.
We discuss the Pei Herenga study, its genesis and the inspiring website www.teipoaronui.co.nz that is a stunning outcome of the work done by so many.
Te Ipu Aronui celebrates traditional methods of nurturing and caring, and the leadership that unites and strengthens whānau. The website also celebrates the inspiring ways that whānau adapt their tikanga (customs) to respond to their cultural preferences and needs.
My gratitude and thanks to Tess for this discussion.
Georgina Langdale
To explore further visit
Te Ipu Aronui - https://www.teipuaronui.co.nz/
For more information The Centre for Nature Connection and the End of Life training and offerings there visit:
centrenatureconnection.org
‘Conscious dying’ is a term that is starting to weave its way into the zeitgeist but what does it actually mean? Like hospice staff and palliative care providers, increasingly I’m also being asked that question.
In this podcast we take a look at what conscious dying means and how the emergence of conscious dying as a term in the end-of-life care space creates an opportunity for a shift in communication style for health professionals and patients.
Being at the bedside as someone we love is dying is painful, and heartbreaking, and profound. So to be honest, when it gets to this moment, we need all the help we can get, yet so many people are so afraid to talk about this stuff. Here are some lessons I've learned about being at the bedside with people who are dying.
If you would like to find out more about The Natural Carer training I offer that brings nature, compassion and soul to care at the end of life, check out my website:
www.centrenatureconnection.org.
And if you'd like to hear more of my conversation with Thomas Moore, check out the podcast interview with him in the previous episode.
Georgina x
In this episode of the Soul Garden I am joined by Thomas Moore, bestselling author, psychotherapist, former monk, and musician. Known for his international bestseller Care of the Soul, I first discovered the magic that is Thomas through his book The Planets Within, about the 15th century philosopher and ‘physician of the Soul’, Marsilio Ficino.
In this interview we look at soul therapy through the lens of End of Life care.
We contemplate the healing power of nature
The art of conversation
The beauty of music
And the inspiration of Ficino and the ancients.
Thomas Moore’s new book Soul Therapy – is published by Harper One and available in all good bookshops, online and as an audio CD version.
You can find his Soul Psychology course at thomasmooresoul.com
And you can find me, Georgina Langdale at centrenatureconnection.org.
In this episode of the Soul Garden, Georgina Langdale is joined by third generation funeral director, Terry Longley in a warm, thoughtful and informative discussion on what happens after someone dies.
Statistics say that most people will only have direct experience of having to manage the funeral of 2.3 people in a lifetime. That doesn't give us much practice at knowing what to do!
So in this interview Georgina and Terry explore the deathcare landscape in New Zealand and a range of topics including:
- The role of the funeral director
- The importance of visitation
- How to care for a body at home
- Embalming
- Deaths referred to the Coroner
- and what do do if someone dies at home
Many thanks to Terry Longley for taking part in this episode. You can find him at http://www.tlas.co.nz/
You can learn more about end of life care with Georgina at https://centrenatureconnection.org/.
My name is Georgina Langdale and increasingly my work centres around providing care, support and training for end-of-life care.
As we care for people, how deeply are we observing them? Digging beneath the diagnosis to observe the nature of the person and the patterns that presents? My father taught me tough lessons on this in the place where dementia and pain get blurred.
The lessons are visceral for anyone caring for someone who has lost language.
If you are interested in supporting someone, or being supported as you face your own mortality, the Centre for Nature Connection offers coaching and training in non-medical, nature-centred end-of-life care.
Rob McGowan, or Pa Ropata as he is also known, is one of this country’s national living treasures. He has loved plants ever since he was old enough to grab one in his tiny fist. His fascination grew when he was given responsibility for looking after the fernery at the Greenmeadows seminary in Hawke’s Bay while training to be a Marist priest, and later, when he returned to his hometown of Whanganui and learned about the medicinal uses of plants from local kaumatua, Maori elders.
Since retiring from the priesthood over 25 years ago, Pa has devoted his life to ensuring that matauranga Maori (traditional Maori knowledge) is being woven into conservation management, thus ensuring not only the preservation of indigenous trees used for rongoa Maori, or traditional Maori medicine, but also the culture that surrounds it.
Tiwaiwaka is a collection of principles and a shared vision that he believes will empower us to create a long term future for us and especially for the generations that follow us.
Rob joined me in the apothecary today and shared some of that vision.
These are gentle words of wisdom from a beautiful man.
You can find out more and subscribe to Rob's newsletter at www.tiwaiwaka.nz
You can find our about the ways I can help you work with the medicine of the land at www.georginalangdale.com
There is so much unrest and turmoil in the world right now, yet the natural world is also providing ways for us to make a positive change, to step up and be the change we wish to see in this world. This episode takes a look at the solar eclipse that is taking place this Sunday; we look at what makes it so special, and how it gives us the opportunity to use it as a force for good.
Episode notes:
For more info on my Find Your Magic offering click here.
You can find all my offerings, online courses and one-on-one guidance and care at georginalangdale.com
Every purchase on my website supports plant conservation and habitat restoration.
In this episode, Georgina Langdale looks at working with plant energy and the medicine wheel to help journey through grief.
Working with the vibrational medicine of plant essences made in her organic gardens, Georgina crafts directional plant elixirs to help with strength, courage, release and memory.
Find out how she works with them and the four directions of the medicine wheel.
Georgina creates natural and organic products to help with life transitions. PLant essences and elixirs. She offers online training and one-on-one offerings from guidance to the ultimate in personalized care for body and soul.
georginalangdale.com
How do we navigate the death of a loved one and the grief after they are gone? How do we navigate the death of normal in the face of Covid-19?
Four Winds Light Body School teacher, Karen Johnson, joins me for a poignant and powerful discussion about how we both came to terms with loss and grief, and then stepped out on a path to help others on this journey.
We share insights into shamanic practices of the medicine wheel and the energetics of plant allies that can help support us in grief and death.
Candid, heartfelt, this is a tender exploration of new ways to deal with grief in the 'new normal'.