Wisdom Without The Guru

Debbie Harrell grew up learning that the safest way to move through life was to stay quiet, responsible and unnoticed. In a home marked by emotional abuse and instability, she found refuge in school, work, friendships and the private space of her bedroom. Those early lessons followed her into adulthood. Debbie began recognising familiar dynamics in her relationships, while continuing to rely on ha...

Returning guest Michelle Nermerich joins me for a special episode focused on Kundalini Reiki — how she came to it, how it differs from Usui Reiki, and why preparation matters when working with kundalini energy. Michelle, a certified holistic practitioner, shares her experience with Kundalini Reiki attunements, chakra balancing, crystalline Reiki, past-life Reiki, and the different ways she uses en...

Certified Holistic Practitioner, Michelle Nermerich joins me from Canada to talk about identity, chronic pain, domestic abuse, and the healing practices that eventually became part of her work with others. Michelle’s story moves through several major turning points: growing up in a Catholic family with German heritage and being bullied because of that background living with undiagnosed dyslexia un...

Ashley Holmes, a holistic fertility coach whose work grew out of her own experience with grief, unexplained infertility, motherhood, yoga, Ayurveda, and nervous system healing, joins me this week. Ashley grew up on a farm in a small Canadian town. After the sudden death of her older brother, her family life changed dramatically, and she later left Canada for New Zealand in search of a fresh start....

Yoga therapist Mandy Mona speaks about family, faith, motherhood, body image, relationship strain, yoga therapy, pregnancy loss, and learning how to support yourself and others through difficult seasons of life. Mandy shares how early losses in her family left her with questions about faith, God, and grief that she did not yet have the language to understand. She also reflects on growing up in a l...

Wellness coach Amanda Bearce joins me to talk about growing up with fear, instability, and a nervous system that never fully learned how to rest. Amanda shares how her father’s severe mental health struggles shaped her childhood, including years of stalking, disrupted sleep, and a constant sense of uncertainty. She reflects on how those early experiences followed her into adolescence and adulthood...

In this special episode, I welcome back Angela Jamieson to talk about her unusually titled book, Using No. 2 to Get to No. 1: The Shockingly Insightful, Full-of-Crap Self-Help Book . Yes, the book really does connect poop and personal development — and, as Angela explains, that is exactly the point. Through humour, digestive metaphors, personal stories, and very relatable observations, Angela expl...

Author and creator of Relaxed Productivity, Angela Jamieson, joins me to speak about identity, culture, ambition, family history, grief, creativity, and what it means to redefine success. Born in Canada to Chinese immigrant parents, Angela grew up between cultures, with family roots connected to the building of the Canadian railroad and prairie life in Saskatchewan. Her early love of maths, music,...

In this special episode, I welcome back Megan Malick to discuss her book A New Path — a workbook and planner created to support people navigating grief while also managing the practical realities that follow the death of a loved one.  After losing both of her parents within three months of each other, Megan found herself overwhelmed not only by grief, but by the paperwork, legal processes, financi...

What do we actually mean when we talk about grief—and what happens when the beliefs that once grounded us begin to shift? Megan Malick shares experiences from across her life that connect to different forms of grief—some recognised at the time, others only understood later. From early disruption and loss of stability, to navigating bullying and coping responses in childhood, through to uncovering...

In this episode, Debi Barr joins me to discuss her book The Call of the Sacred Rebel and the path that led her to write it. We talk about how the book evolved over time—from early ideas during her corporate career to a later shift toward questioning expectations and choosing a different way of living.  We begin with her earlier work on Reiki, where she shares her perspective that it’s not somethin...

Debi Barr describes herself as “feral at 50” — but that phrase only makes sense when you understand the path that led her there. Raised in Northern Ireland in a strict religious environment, Debi learned early how to be the “good girl”: quiet, compliant, and careful not to disrupt the fragile emotional balance around her. Beneath that, she was already experiencing the world differently — sensing e...

In this compelling interview, Dr. Chris Nirvelorron shares their extraordinary journey from a strict Southern Baptist upbringing, academic struggles, and military service to discovering their spiritual calling and healing abilities.  We explore themes of faith, resilience, healing, and overcoming adversity as Chris reveals how they navigated complex personal and professional challenges,  reflectin...

A follow-up conversation with Tammie Vecchiarelli on her two guidebooks exploring chakras and psychic senses. Tammie shares how the books were created, what they cover, and how they are designed to help people understand energy, intuition, and self-awareness through simple explanations and guided exercises. The episode also includes reflections on personal experiences, questioning perception, and...

Tammie Vecchiarelli shares her experience of growing up through loss, family change, and career shifts, and how those experiences shaped her later decisions. She talks about losing her grandmother at a young age, followed by her parents’ divorce and the transition into blended families. She reflects on taking on a protective role within her family and navigating those changes without much emotiona...

Certified Gut Health Coach Karlee Close shares how her ongoing gut issues developed despite following common health advice — and why years of restrictive diets, supplements, and testing didn’t resolve the problem. After growing up with convenience-based eating habits, Karlee carried similar patterns into university life, alongside stress, lack of sleep, and frequent illness. Over time, this progre...

What if fear isn’t something to push through—but something to understand? Cori Myka shares how her early experiences with mistrust, fear, and childhood trauma shaped not only her relationship with water but also her understanding of how the body holds and responds to experience. Despite initially resisting traditional swim instruction, Cori taught herself how to swim—and later built a swim school...

Samantha Stewartz’s story doesn’t follow a simple arc of struggle and recovery. It unfolds through years of internal conflict, self-destructive patterns, and moments that forced her to question everything she believed about herself. Growing up in what appeared to be a stable household, Samantha nevertheless felt like an outsider in her own family. Early experiences with bullying and being labelled...

What happens when the environment you grow up in leaves emotional patterns that follow you well into adulthood? Tenya Eickenberg shares the story of growing up in a military family where frequent moves, family conflict, and a mother struggling with mental illness shaped her early life. Tenya describes childhood experiences that included relocating across countries, separation from siblings, and li...

Michael Bugary, a former elite baseball player whose life shifted after injury, addiction, and serious illness changed his direction, reflects on growing up in a military family, finding structure and recognition through baseball, and progressing through college athletics into professional baseball. He speaks openly about prescription stimulant use, injury, and the end of his playing career. Follo...

Natasha Randolph shares her experience of growing up with instability, neglect, and abuse, alongside the early emergence in childhood of an intuitive and sensory awareness she didn’t yet have language for. Much of Natasha’s childhood was spent without consistent adult supervision. She describes being passed between caretakers, navigating bullying, food insecurity, and abuse, and learning early how...

Elizabeth Kipp returns for a focused conversation on her book The Way Through Chronic Pain: Tools to Reclaim Your Healing Power. In this special episode, Elizabeth explains why she chose to write the book after being told she would never heal from chronic pain—and how the writing process itself became part of her ongoing recovery. Rather than focusing on memoir, the book explores the lived inner e...

What if chronic pain isn’t only physical? In this episode, Elizabeth Kipp shares how she lived with chronic pain, anxiety, and panic attacks for over 40 years — including 32 years on prescription medication and multiple spinal surgeries — before finding a path to recovery. But this episode is not just about back pain. Elizabeth reframes chronic pain as a nervous system condition — one shaped by tr...

What happens when the environment that raises you is also the source of harm? In this episode I speak with Laverne Friesen , a former Canadian law enforcement officer who grew up in an ultra-conservative, closed religious community in rural Alberta. From early childhood, Laverne experienced violence, scapegoating, fear-based control, and profound betrayal — including sexual assault that was never...

What does grief look like when it doesn’t follow the timeline people expect?   In this episode I speak with Maria Belanic, a certified grief educator whose life has been shaped by cultural identity, caregiving, and profound loss. Maria shares what it was like growing up as a first-generation Italian immigrant in Canada, raised in a traditional household with strict gender expectations, silence aro...