The School of Whispers Podcast

This week I'm joined by Will Mccandles, a health coach whose path to healing has taken him from the mountains of Thailand to the jungles of the Amazon. As a patient, student, and practitioner, Will has consistently gone to the source, learning directly from the indigenous teachers and lineage keepers who hold these traditions. Today’s he’s built a successful practice around health coaching, bi...

This week's episode is about my experiences and lessons around death this year. In February I had to put my cat, Viracocha, down, and in June my father ended up in a coma and eventually passed away. Both experiences have come with their own stories and lessons, which I've been digesting as life keeps moving forward. As my life's story typically unfolds, working with plant allies such a...

As a licensed physician of Chinese Medicine and iboga facilitator, I've had a front row seat to something that I couldn’t ignore: iboga as a medicinal herb is an agent for energetic, physiological and spiritual vitality. And my training and way of seeing the world through the eyes of Chinese Medicine have provided a beautiful framework for understanding why. In this episode, I walk you through...

Welcome to the show! You can learn more about your host, Stephanie, and The School of Whispers at www.schoolofwhispers.com

Have you ever reduced yourself or another person to a single role? Maybe it's "mother." What is a mother supposed to be? How is she supposed to act? And what happens when she no longer fits that role? More importantly, what happens inside your own psyche when someone breaks the image you've built of them? This week's episode is a discussion on a concept developed by Carl Jung...

Just like Yin and Yang Qi and Blood, it’s the kind of thing where you can’t really talk about Chinese Medicine and explain what’s happening without using this framework and guide of the Five Element Theory. On this episode, I really focus my lens on what this theory is and why anyone would want to use it in their life. The five elements are fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. Within each elements...

This week on the show, we have my friend and returning guest, Troy Valencia. If you're not already familiar with him, he is cofounder of retreat company Root and Wisdom, an iboga provider, and cofounder of nonprofit Sacred Roots Foundation — a 501(c)(3) dedicated to reconnecting with and preserving ancestral traditions in Gabon. With a background in chemistry and East-West psychology, Troy is now...

Welcome to a brand new season of the podcast! Welcome to a brand new season of the podcast!  This week’s episode is all about dharmic dating. Originally dubbed “duty dating” by one of my former patients, this is the type of dating that isn’t about finding your prince charming, but instead about finding yourself.  Last fall, I entered the dating world in the traditional sense for pretty much the fi...

This week’s episode is part two of the whispers from the five spirits of Chinese Medicine. In part one, we covered the Shen, the spirit of the heart and fire element, the Hun, the spirit of the liver and wood element, and the Yi, the spirit of the spleen/stomach and earth element. Now, we are diving into two aspects of the soul which exist within the earthly aspects of our entire being: the Po and...

This week’s episode features my dear friend and returning guest, Joaly Trinidad—co-founder of Root and Wisdom and Sacred Roots Foundation. As a ceremonialist with a background in counseling, she weaves sound, breathwork, and movement to guide others on their return to their truest nature. On the show Joaly opens up about her journey into motherhood. Together we explore common themes amongst mother...

This week's episode is part 1 of a two-part series about the 5 spirits within Chinese medicine. In this medicine, there is no separation of mind, body, spirit, and emotions in diagnosis and treatment. It's why this medicine is extremely effective in treating nearly any ailment one could experience. Working with the spirits of Chinese Medicine is another one of the many ways that we can imp...

If you’re on Instagram, you may have come across Brian’s work before. His grounded, relatable approach helps people deepen their relationship with themselves and others. He’s developed a system called SIBS—Somatic Work, Inner Child Work, Breathwork, and Support—which has guided his clients through what might be the most challenging spiritual path there is: the yoga of relationships. While we don’t...

This week on the show, I’m joined by conscious fashion stylist and thinker, Taylor Nevin. Taylor holds a degree in Merchandising of Apparel and Textiles with a minor in Theatrical Costume Design, as well as a master’s in Material Culture and Textile Studies. She lives and breathes fashion—and brings a sharp, grounded perspective on how we can create personal style with more integrity, creativity,...

Are you having a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, experiencing crazy dreams, or not feeling well rested despite a full night’s sleep? Is it your mind, your body, or both that are keeping you awake? These are the questions we’re going to dive into on this week’s episode, which unpacks sleep from a Chinese Medicine perspective. Chinese Medicine (CM) is an ancient, indigenous system of heali...

This week on the show, we’ve got my girl Chrystee. She teaches yoga and vocal activation teacher, singer-songwriter, a hype coach, a true girl’s girl, a space-holder for magical retreats, and a devoted student of Ayurveda. On her Instagram, you’ll catch her bridging the worlds of eastern philosophy and western science, singing her big little heart out, and throwing that a$$ back as a reminder that...

This week on the show, I’m sharing my recent journey of initiation into the spiritual tradition of the Bwiti in Gabon, Africa. What is the Bwiti? Why Gabon?
Why did I choose to do this—and what did I gain from it? All of these questions (and more) are answered in this episode. For 17 days, I stayed in village and underwent three initiatory ceremonies into the Bwiti tradition. Out of respect, many...

This week’s episode is an interview with returning guest, Bonnie Biagioli. She’s a somatic breathwork practitioner, certified sound healer, Functional Medicine Health Coach, and yoga teacher who has dedicated years to deep personal work. She shares her powerful journey of breast explant surgery after realizing her implants, which she had gotten over two decades ago, no longer resonated with who sh...

This week we have returning guest, Troy Valencia, on the show to share about his recent book: “Living Beyond the Mind: The End of Personal Suffering”. Troy does a lot of things- he's an author, a dad, cofounder of Iboga retreat center, Root and Wisdom, and nonprofit, Sacred Roots Foundation, he's a spiritual teacher, mentor, and coach, and he's at the tail end of his doctoral program in clinical p...

Tantra is an ancient tradition and tool for expansion and liberation. To break it down to its Sanskrit roots, "tan" means to stretch or expand, and "tra" translates to instrument or technique. While your host, Stephanie, is a very fresh student in this world, the practices and tools she's learned from her studies have had her wondering, "Why isn't everyone doing this??" So on this episode Stephani...

This week's guest is Jonas Kilker, philosopher, actor, and avid student of spirituality and mysticism. Jonas' work and content, which you can find in the links below, go into rabbit holes that will have your questioning what you think you know about life and history. This conversation between your host, Stephaine, a student of indigenous medicine, Goddess worship, and a spiritual woman of...

This week we’re diving into women’s cycles from your host, Stephanie’s, perspective. It’s one that’s shaped by her lived experience as a woman in Western society, her training in Chinese Medicine, and her ongoing curiosity and experimentation within the world of natural and holistic healing. The intention of this episode is to offer a different way of understanding women’s cycles, to illuminate al...

This week's episode follows the path of Hope, who has formerly been on the show as Danika Gisvold. Last year, Hope left her career, left her home and community in Austin, deleted her social media, deleted all contacts in her phone, and started fresh in Oregon with her husband. Doing this was not a rash decision, but a call from her heart when she allowed herself to be stripped back and humbled...

This week is one of our favorite topics: food as medicine from a Chinese Medicine perspective. On this episode, your host, Stephanie, gets into the main patterns she sees in her clinical practice: Spleen Qi deficiency, Damp accumulation in the Middle Jiao/Middle Burner, Cold accumulation, Stomach Fire, Stomach Yin deficiency, Liver overacting Spleen, and a touch on Blood deficiency. She also cover...

This week we have writer, photographer, mother, and certified life coach, Kristine Casart, on the show. She’s recently published a very important book called, the Unconventional Addict: A Guide to Healing, Transformation, and Living with Purpose”, which explores her own life’s journey of personal growth while inviting others to look deeply into their own lives, uncover hidden strengths, and live a...

Welcome to season 4 of the podcast! In this opening episode, your host, Stephanie, invites you into the raw and real terrain of her current season of life—one shaped deeply by the tender process of moving through a breakup. If you’ve ever been there, you know: heartbreak isn't easy. With openness and vulnerability, Stephanie shares reflections on what this experience is teaching her—about love, lo...