Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the True Life Podcast. I hope everybody is having a beautiful day. I hope that the sun is shining and the birds are singing. I have a great show with a guest that's been on multiple times and we're going to check in and figure out and try and understand what she's got going on, where she's in her journey. And for those that may not remember, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I introduce our esteemed guest, Sophia Dagg. Sophia is not just an author, but a visionary whose transformative work in the realms of holistic healing and self-discovery has touched countless lives around the globe. As the author of The Truth Within, Sophia has crafted a masterpiece that delves deep into the ancient energies of fire, air, earth, and water, offering readers a profound journey towards self-alignment and empowerment. Her words are not just ink on paper. They are keys to unlocking the door to one's true potential. Drawing from her extensive experience running a natural medicine business and facilitating wellness treats around the world, Sophia has honed her skills as a coach and a guide, an incredible individual leading other individuals on transformative journeys and healing and self-discovery. Her focus on harnessing the healing power of sacred plant medicines has brought profound shifts in the lives of those she has touched. Sophia's impact extends far beyond the pages of her book and the walls of her retreats. Through her dedication and compassion, she has supported countless individuals worldwide on their path to healing from within. The positive ripple effects of her work are felt not only in the lives of her clients, but also in the communities they inhabit. Sophia, thank you so much for being here today. How are you? Thank you so much, George. Always a pleasure to be on here. Always super fun. Yeah. So you're coming to us from Colombia. I know you've had some big things come up. Where do you want to start at? Yeah, I mean, goodness, where to begin? Colombia, not where I expected to be, for sure. That was a surprise. I mean, always the surprises are the best part. Yeah, so I was working in retreats in Europe last year and I received an invitation to do some work here in Colombia in a retreat center. And I was like, yeah, that sounds amazing. I'd been here once before, but not really much knowledge about Colombia yet. And yeah, I'm just in the mountains and it's really the project that's so powerful. It's a community living project that's immersed in the retreat center. So it's been a wonderful experience. And every day I realized just how special that invitation was last year. You know, I received the invitation. I was like, that's interesting. Yeah, I'll think about it. You know, and little did I know what it actually entailed. Yeah, good. Community. Yeah. Like what does that mean? Like you're building an entire community there or it sounds to me like you're just, it sounds to me like a lot of things, but maybe you can flesh that out a little bit. Like what, what's going on there? What are you doing? So, so this has always been my biggest vision with elemental medicine, you know, and what I share in the truth within is, is how to work with the elements to connect with your body, to collect with your life story. You know, what story are you telling yourself about your life? with my own body and do my personal development journey, I was like, wow, there's so many stories that I tell myself to create my worlds that are just, you know, creating chaos, mostly. So so that's kind of the next step. Once we connect with ourselves is like, what stories am I telling myself? And then we can look at the world around us and say, Okay, well, what stories, you know, how am I creating my home? How am I creating my career? How can I shift my energy, my physical energy, my mental energy to create more something that's in resonance with, you know, something that I want something that gives me purpose, passion. So this is the inner journey, the personal journey. And this is what I was fascinated with for so long. I was working with meditation, mushrooms, different types of medicines, different types of retreats. And then I started to get this fascination with community living. How does an individual work with a collective? Because that's kind of almost what I've felt like is the next level of the game. You want to connect with others and figure out how to contribute, how to really have a purpose. And so then I started to see how the elements actually really help us to do that as well, because they help us to see, okay, how is the fire doing in the community? How's the masculine energy with the men? How is the feminine energy, the water with the women? How is the earth? Are we able to, you know, earn enough finances, make food for ourselves? So by observing the elements, it gives us a way to see how the community is functioning together. And most importantly, the biggest hurdle with communities is conflict. You know, it's, it's blaming it's thinking I'm can do it better than you where with the elements it's very compassionate and simple it's like well the fire is clearly showing that there's you know a lack of fire so let's talk about that not about your personal problems and we start to find better better solutions that are more orientated on where the community wants to go rather than getting wrapped up in the relationship issues, which of course everyone experiences, whether it's a family or a business, we're all in different types of communities around the world. So the specifics of this community is that we're dedicating our lives to living together, to living in harmony, to educating our kids in a certain way. to growing food, to making ourselves self-sustainable. And so it's been a really different experience because it's in Colombia, it's not European. So that's been a big learning curve of just how much time I've spent up here in my younger years. Cause they're just fully like in the body, in the earth, in, you know, and that's so much the medicine that personally, you know, I've been so grateful to receive from living here. Yeah. To get that balance, you know, it's so helpful to be able to think things through. It's also so helpful to be able to feel your feet. Yeah. Why are you, the community are you building? Is it more, is it a lot of indigenous people or is it like 50, 50 or what does the community look like? so I'm here with my my partner he's swedish so we're the first europeans that have actually well have are here now I think other people have kind of come temporarily haven't stayed so everyone else is from colombia and you know they have traveled there's different experiences it's not like an indigenous medicine community as such like you would find if you went to like from tomorrow into the depths of the jungle So it's kind of, you know, there is an understanding of the international world. We speak mostly Spanish, Spanglish, you know, some of the time with English. So, yeah, so we have a bit of a mixture, but it's pretty new to have like complete foreigners in the mix of things at the moment. Yeah. Have you found that your definition of the elements, like you are really skilled and I've read a lot of the writings that you've put in there and I've talked to you multiple times and I think you have a very unique way of interpreting the world around you. How has that changed like in the different culture? Is it difficult to explain the way in which the elements work in a different culture or is it easily transmittable or do they give you like a different lens through which to see the elements and understand those relationships? You know, it's such an excellent, excellent question. I would like a book of your questions. You're so good at the questions. You just get right to it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was really challenging in the beginning. Yeah, of course. because we're working with also different medicines here in the retreats and things like that and I just came straight through the door with my masculine european energy I was like I see this this could be organized better where are the sponges you know military why aren't things more organized and they're like you've been here for like five minutes like you don't know how it works you can't change something that you don't understand and I'm like oh You know, totally correct. So I was like, okay, I'll just take a seat and learn more about the process. And that's been the past month, you know, just working. And there's a retreat pretty much every second week or every weekend. And that's how I've had to work with it to see, okay, how did they understand the world? How do the retreats work? How does the whole system work? What do people really find interesting here? And so for inside the community, we have pillars, you know, so there's different pillars, basically for the different tasks that we need to do, for example, like the territory, medicine, finances, so that all the things function. And for me, I've been given the pillar of medicine. So how to integrate the elements, I've decided, like, you know, I decided before it was to just ask questions. I was like, I'm going to meet everyone and ask them where they're at. You know, how do they communicate with their body? Where are they at with integrating the information they get from plant medicine experiences? So yeah, so I'm learning, but also I'm really realizing with the elements here, it's just so much more intuitive. They're much more connected to the elemental forces and the way that nature speaks, the way the body speaks. It's more in a sense, I feel something that the other side of the world, like the States and Europe, are learning real relearning. Yeah. Because we're spending so much time in the mind. So so it's something I do find it comes more naturally here. It's so fascinating to me to think about the way you've explained that in the elements in the community, and it It almost seems like the world is going through a process of rewilding and in doing so, so are we as humans. And that means that you are at the forefront of what's coming by kind of going back and setting up a community that's distance itself. You know what I mean by that? Like that's a pretty interesting concept to think about, but it's kind of the truth within. Is that how you got to the truth within by kind of doing this right here? Is that what inspired it? Yeah, I mean, well, the truth within for me that I mean, the journey began from like, mostly sensations of frustration of like, what's happening? Yeah. You know, it just felt very disorientating for me to be hearing information that people were so certain was correct, and so certain was true. And then I'd figure out, you know, that it wasn't true down to the most basic thing, you know, like the food pyramid in school. Yeah, you eat this many portions of this, you eat this, you know, it's just totally you know so far from intuitive eating or any any of the information that I actually found about about food so so yeah the truth within for me I was like okay I need to find a source of truth to find a source of stability you know within life and and that's what started my my process of searching for that and then it did start to expand I mean the community aspect of this really came into that truth within idea for me, because I just realized the more I felt the truth within myself, the more I couldn't live in the normal world. Because anyone I feel anyone who's really living by their truth, there's just so many lies. in normal day-to-day life and in many societal structures so if you live with the truth within then you obviously look for the truth around you and and that's you know not found in in structures usually yeah it reminds me of that quote the um The people who are most well-adjusted in a society that's sick are probably the sickest people. When you start looking at the food pyramid or the concept of history, like whose history? My history or their history? What is history? All the different wars and all the different propaganda that seems to be radiating through all the different waves that communicate to us. Man, it seems like we are in a post-truth world. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's a choice for everyone. You know, it's either like keep staring at the food pyramid and fighting with the food pyramid or look the other way and go and get a nice table and, you know, enjoy yourself on the beach and just let it go. So I think that's kind of like a decision that a lot of people are facing at this point. Do I keep fighting the old or do I turn to the new? But it's a scary decision to turn to the new and to just walk the path of truth. Because it's so unknown because so few people are walking. So yeah, I mean, for you, have you ever thought about living in a community? Has that come to your mind? Like I feel so alienated from a big turning point in my life was after my son died, you know, that is when the scales began to fall from my eyes in a way. And it was not so much, it was not only that there were truths or that there were lies that I was subscribing to, but there were lies I was telling myself. And as that journey progressed, I realized those two things coincided. It was like the lies I told myself were reinforced by the people with whom I was surrounding myself, the workplace, my idea of what a relationship was, my idea of what a father was. And I was like, man, and it just gets to a point where you can't lie to yourself anymore. And if you do, part of you dies inside. And it's like, I can't do it. I can't fucking do it anymore. This means I'm going to lose people in my life that I love. You know, like there's some real decision making that goes on in these processes. And, you know, you can see people that are just busted up inside and you're like, God, damn it. Just tell yourself the truth. I know. Just believe. And it's this relationship with uncertainty that is so difficult for us to wrap our arms around because you can't. It's like the ineffable part of a psychedelic journey. Like you can't explain it. but you can feel it. You know, when you're in the right direction, all those goosebumps, that's a sign, you know, like the world's talking to you, the elements are speaking to you. And I think that you begin to learn on, you know, like you come into my life and all these cool people come into my life when I begin telling myself the truth. So does that answer your question? for sure yeah the blinkers coming up and that's it's so crazy because sometimes people like when I explain to them in an elemental reading you know okay I'm seeing that the fire is like this and your water is showing this about your relationship with your mother and they're like oh my god are you psychic and it's like no I mean a little bit but no you can see it by observing but like you're saying it requires that strength that bravery to take the the blinkers off. But yeah, it does. I think some people see it as like supernatural, you know, to also separate themselves from it. Yeah, I do. That's where the elements come in, where it's like, it's just, it's such a simple language, like it can be taught to a child. So there's no reason why, because I think for also for a long time, it has been made to seem so complicated to understand the truth of reality, and the truth of the universe, you know, by religions, where it's like, I can, I'm the only person that can read this book, you know, and it's been kept locked away for certain people. And now we're entering into a time where, you know, it's available to everyone. Yeah, it's powerful. It is super powerful. It's, it's, it's the rewilding, I think, and the rediscovering and the revealing, it seems to me, it seems like there's so much that's revealed to us if we're just willing to, to be honest, right? Oh, sorry, I jumped right there. Oh, no worries. I was just saying that it's, the revealing, like when you, when you reveal to yourself, I don't know, maybe when yourself was revealed to you, I guess I have to think about it a little bit longer. What for you, most people know that you, well, you've got a new book coming up, but you had a previous book too. Was that sort of a huge deal for you? The first book that came out and the story behind it? Yeah, the first book I feel was more to do with like the more heavy times of finding the truth within myself. Like I feel I took some paths to teach myself that were just very challenging, very challenging relationships, challenging experiences, like In that experience that I share in the book, it's called The Birth of Ben. It's sharing about the release of a pregnancy, my first pregnancy, and just not being able to continue with it because it was too... It just wasn't aligned with the partner that I was with at the time. And it was in line with my I was also very young. So it explained how to move through that process and with the elements also heal that process, because I understood through the elements that I actually could transmute like immeasurable pain with rituals and with these mindfulness practices. So it was like it wasn't just a theory in my head anymore of like, oh, these elements are interesting to think about. I'm in insane pain and now I can find, you know, and it did take some time and it took quite a bit of time and quite a bit of different plant medicines as well to support that process of really moving through it. But this new book is kind of more of a sense of focusing on moving forward and how we can really just focus on the truth within ourselves so that we can feel happy, so that we can feel centered. Yeah, I felt like with that book, I wanted to, you know, let it rest in a sense. It's a beautiful story and it's such an important part of my life. that I'll always remember. But I'm also very excited for this new book. It's like really laying the foundation for retreats and for people to connect and build the life that they have always been destined to live. Yeah. So when you say it builds the foundation for retreats, like what does that mean? So yeah, so living here in this community, I also have a vision, have a passion for sharing the elements in this environment because it's such a beautiful, like we have waterfalls, we're growing food, you know, it's very easy to connect with the elements as well with the different kinds of retreats that we host. So, you know, I feel with the medicine in this book, if people are interested in having that kind of immersive experience for three days or 10 days, that's something that we can start to facilitate with time. So this book is kind of the first step towards that kind of experience because there are beautiful concepts shared in the book, reflective questions. It also has an online course, the Elemental Medicine School. And so you can kind of get really familiar with the concepts and then step into really experiencing it in the actual elements, you know, in an immersive retreat here. It's interesting to think about, like, what can happen in the right set and setting and situation. Is there... i say the word initiation does that what role does initiation have in healing or in your what is the relationship between initiation and healing I know that's kind of out there but are those two different things that can happen at retreat are those two different paths to walk on or maybe you could speak to the ideas of initiation and healing yeah I would say initiate like a healing is a process an initiation is a change it's a transformation so that's what I would perceive as a difference healing is something that you know you might be healing something for a week a day two years an initiation could also be you know a week or a month but it tends to be much shorter And usually healing is like a spiral. So like the lesson is down the center and you spiral around it. You know, you go and it's almost feels like you're going through the same thing over and over again. But each time you come back to it, you come back to it from a slightly different perspective. So it's like you're healing it and then you reach the top of the spiral and it's like your energy is ready to release that spiral, that experience and move on to the next chapter. And so then that's usually the point where life gives us some sort of initiation. It could be moving country. It could be, you know, a serious challenge, you know, with a sport or an exam, something like that as well as like an initiation into a new form of self. And then we also have, I mean, every, I feel every retreat is an initiation. Yeah. Yeah, totally. Just to get yourself to sit there and, you know, face the truth and do your work. I mean, that's like such an initiation of self to just, it's really, I mean, an initiation in its essence. I mean, I haven't really thought about it before, but if I was just to think about it in its essence, it's, it's saying yes to change, you know, it's, it's centering and focusing one's consciousness. So they're like, okay, I'm going to move from one version of myself into another version of myself. Yeah. I like that. It's, It's always interesting to me to get to see the way in which different people are able to apply different methodologies to healing. And when I talk to a lot of different people from different areas, they speak a lot about integration. And I'm curious, what does your process of integration look like? Nope, sorry, it's back there. That's all right. When people come down there or when you work, and I know you've worked with different groups from different parts of the world, can you speak to the idea of integration? What does that look like for you when you're working with somebody? Mm-hmm. Yeah, so within integration, it's a process where we have a realization of self, where we receive information that's very truthful about other people, our life experience. But that doesn't just land in our lives very easily, sometimes, you know, sometimes it requires like a significant change in our home, leaving a partner, you know, or embracing an entirely entirely new life path, you know, in regards to your purpose. So the integration process is about slowing down and having someone usually like it's nice to have someone to integrate with someone you trust a friend or a professional, because what the integration guide does is keep you centered through the process, it keeps you on the central line of like, being calm not panicking what we guide people to do at the end of retreats is not you know go home quit your job tell your partner how you really feel change your sheets and you know move on with your life it's like no that's gonna be absolutely so traumatic because you're energetically so open and it's hard to even you know it's hard to adjust to your emotions even like the most basic things can be challenging after after really intense medicine experiences So yeah, with integration, it's about slowing down and figuring out what step do I need to take next? Okay, reminding myself of the information, reminding myself of the truth. Okay, next step. And you just keep recentering and moving forward. And basically, it's like you have an old version of yourself before that experience and a new version of yourself. And the integration is just about moving towards the new version of yourself slowly but surely and just taking that time that it needs because it's already happened in a sense on an energetic level. It's already the work is already done. It's just about allowing and surrendering. And like we're talking about trusting the unknown. Because you don't know how this new version of yourself, you might not know what country they're going to live in or what they're even going to look like. But it's about you kind of falling and allowing that to happen. So that's what usually is the mantra of just reminding like you've already done the work. This is just about focusing, allowing and taking the next step. Yeah, I've read some interesting stories and I've had some fascinating things happen in my life and other people that I've spoken to. It's this idea of identity. as a fluid identity. I think sometimes you hear people, get lost because they have this transformative thing happen to them and they see themselves as new identity. But when they go back and they integrate into society, the people around them don't yet see them for the new person they are. And that's, that's interesting, right? Cause that's the mirror. And if we don't see that reflection of the new person, like we kind of can fall back into those old patterns a little bit. Wait, first off, have you noticed that to be true and what can people do about that? Yeah. Yeah. It's a very profound part of it for sure. Yeah, I mean, the elements are very helpful with that process, just to stay centered because it's to be aware. Again, another piece of guidance after taking medicine or going into kind of altered states of mind is to be conscious, like super conscious of communication about the experience. because the air can be kind of crazy. There's all these different stories and you might tell a whole story of a really intense experience that has a specific message for you that you understand. You tell it to someone else and they are like, that's crazy. That's not possible. You couldn't have experienced that. And then it kind of might cause you to shut it off and not listen to the message. So usually the guidance with the elements is to not use the voice so much. You know, if you feel like communicating it, make sure that it's with either an integration person, someone from the retreat, someone very, very, very, very trusted. But if it's someone who hasn't worked with that kind of medicine before, it's likely that they may not understand. And focus more on breathing it down into the body. Because sometimes the desire to communicate can almost be like vomiting it out. It's like you don't want to make the change in your life. You don't want to realize those things. So you just decide to tell everyone about it instead. And so when we don't talk, we don't use our energy for speaking so much. We use our energy for focusing on the feet, the steps we need to take. OK, I need to look for a new career. OK, today I'm going to redo my CV. I'm going to send it out to these people. And taking, you know, a good few steps before you start to tell your friends and family or the people in your life. what you're doing. Don't tell your LinkedIn community that you're making a massive life change before you put your feet underneath yourself. And then people see from, oh, your clothes have changed. Oh, you have a job interview. And there's less that they can actually change in your behavior because you've already started to make the change. But that requires a lot of confidence in yourself, you know, and confidence in your decision making. And that's where it's really nice to, you know, because in our retreats here, we work as a community. So you feel like you can always reach out and connect back into that energy. So you don't feel alone when you leave, because that's that community connection is what gives the confidence to make the changes, you know? Yeah, that's well said it. Do you think of like the language, the words that are exchanged between people, is that the air energy? And then if you don't speak and you turn that into actions, does that become like the earth energy? exactly exactly yeah I mean when I first came to colombia last year I was here for work on a writing project and I really hadn't I hadn't brushed up on my spanish in quite a long time so I wasn't really speaking to anyone and I was right I rented a cabin and I just I built so much of an online community and I was just writing and creating And it was really interesting process because when I'm, especially when I'm in Ireland, everyone, I mean, if you're in the hairdresser, you're telling them your whole life story. Like you're always telling people what's going on, what you're doing next, what you did in the past. And I just noticed from that time, those weeks, I was just so centered. There was no one to tell where I was in the past or where I was going. It was like this very calm stillness. And it just made it so much easier to do what I needed to do. So yeah, the air can just have that kind of turbulence, if you like, like on an airplane, where the earth is just very still, very calm. So we almost need to get to the frequency of the earth, that stillness, to be able to work with it, to make finances, to change our homes, all those earthly changes in our life. Yeah. Maybe you could speak to the idea of like isolation, like isolation with different elements. It seems to me like if you're able to see someone that maybe is lacking some fire or maybe someone's lacking some water, are there ways in which you can isolate them with those elements or other elements to help them see that? Yes, definitely. You can see each of the elements in isolation. And that's that's a good way to just check in with yourself. Very simple check in, you know, how is my my fire, my stomach, my masculine energy has my earth, my food, my feet, the base of my body. So just kind of like checking in one by one and seeing, OK, I'm feeling like I have a lot of earth. I'm feeling like I don't have much air. And then we can start to see how we use the other elements to balance it out. So, for example, if I'm experiencing a lot of water that can signify quite a bit of depression, heaviness, feeling like I like emotional stagnation, things like that. So then I would think, OK, that that's when I need fire because the fire reduces the water. So we can increase fire then by doing something creative that you really enjoy, maybe changing your foods, eating more hot foods, doing some more exercise, getting out for a run. these things are just going to get your water flowing more in the body so we can you can use another element or multiple elements to balance to balance out what you're experiencing but first the first step is always observing and noticing where you're at so that's that's definitely what that means and I mean there's no we're never like at a perfect equilibrium with the with elements there's always kind of ways that we can move move things around What does it look like? Like say somebody comes down, do you have like a team or do you do an analysis of an individual when they come down there? Like have a talk with them or try to figure out what it is they're working on or, you know, what's that process look like? Yeah, a little bit, but not too much, to be honest. I mean, there's an intake form to get vital information for the process. And then aside from that, obviously, there are servers there to support with conversations as needed. And beyond that, then the medicine does the work. The medicine does the connection once everyone is safe and understands the rules of the space and the process of the retreats. there's not much more that that has to be done. You know, we don't have to get over involved in every single person's process because it's such a deep process that's best to just let everyone. And then of course, if they have questions, there's, there's multiple people there. There's women specifically supporting the women, men specifically supporting the men as well. It's such a, it's so interesting to get to hear the process that happens and the healing that comes from it. I'm curious about, How, in your opinion, do you think that we've seen this resurgence, at least in the West, like we've seen this resurgence of different plant medicines and there seems to be this sort of wave of healing on the rise. And I know that you have worked all over the world, from South Africa to Europe to parts of South America and in Colombia now. How have you seen things change? And how do you see the momentum shifting now? Do you see a wave cresting? Or in your opinion, how do you see this whole movement shifting? I mean, it's a good question. I do have some rain, so I apologize if that's a lot of water energy coming in. Yeah, I mean, the change aspect, I mean, there's a massive change coming for sure. It's because we already have experienced the first crack with the COVID-19, really people starting to question their reality, starting to question who they trust, you know, in regards particularly to the medical system. so we've had that major shift and that's like a preparation you know okay well what happens if they close the stores and they tell you that you can't leave your house okay you can't leave your house we see where the where the boundaries are where the points of control are in society and so that's really waking people up in a sense to their physical realities of like how much control do I really have when it comes to all aspects of my life but particularly you know we're talking about health here and wellness So I see that, you know, the change that's coming is really like a maturation of humanity. It's an evolution where like at the moment, the governmental systems are kind of parenting, you know, parenting people because it's like, OK, you're not going to grow your own food. So I will give you a supermarket and give you food. And like all these different ways we're being parented. But it's like our evolution, where we are in our evolution, we don't need to be parented anymore. We're ready to be sovereign individuals that make conscious decisions to work more in control. So, for example, in this community, it's like I know where my water comes from. I have control over that. No government can cut it off because it's just where the water comes from. And I manage it with this group of people. So I feel we're going to go through another experience similar to COVID that's going to restrict the availability of resources, you know, food and electricity and water. I lost you just for a second. We were talking about the, this next shift where we're going to potentially be losing, you know, some resources or access to them. Well, I mean, it's already happening in a sense where like, we're, we're starting to slowly lose the availability of different things. So we're, we're seeing that transition happening and we, we saw a shift like, like COVID-19 happening. So it's, it's like birthing pains. That's the best way I can describe it. You know, it's like we have kind of, it's normal, it's okay. And then we have, oh, like a strong contraction and then we have oh it's okay and a strong contraction because we're all working together to birth ourselves you know into new earth into a new way of being in in this planet together because it's not an option anymore we have to we have to treat the world in a different way for it to survive and for us to survive in it you know that's how it has to go at this point yeah the way I see it you know I love it I i was just speaking with um an individual. And she told me that she had had this, this deep vision on a, on a Ibogaine journey. And she was shown these ice cubes and the way that she broke it down is she was saying like, in her opinion, the message that she got was like, we've been like ice cubes for so long, like all hard and rigid. And now we're going to be torqued and pop, you know, prodded until we come out of this thing. And I started laughing. I'm like, yeah, it kind of seems like an ice age, right? Like all of a sudden we're waking up and like thawing out a little bit, like, wait a minute. That was a really rigid, dumb thing we were doing. We should not do that anymore. That's so, I mean, it's shown so differently to every person, isn't it? It's so wild. Ice cubes. I was like, yeah, that makes sense. I was thinking it's... But you know what? When I think about the humankind, or I think about all of us as one of us, when you look at demographics, and I think it's around the world, but it's definitely in the Western world. There's such a giant group of baby boomers that are moving on to whatever comes next. And with them go their unrealized dreams and a lot of their ideas. So many of this older generation still... you know, clinging to power on some level and refusing to maybe come to terms with some things that you come to terms with. I think that that has to have an effect on the whole world. When you have a giant group of us, it's just like, we're not, we're not ready to face this thing yet. You know, it's, it's, it's the birth pangs. Right. And interesting to think what's your take on that? Like on a, on the demographic going before us going through a change, doesn't that make a change for all of us? Yeah, I mean, it's an interesting perspective in the sense that like, for me, that was a big part of the wake up call was like the family tie, you know, the earth element really made me question these things. Okay, what do I value? And also, as I was getting older, it was like, okay, it's one thing to be born into a family and to follow patterns. back in I lost you right at being born into a family that's right um yeah so we have a different decision you know that we can make when we create our own families so that's where I see that was a big part for me of like questioning okay what what do I want to create so so for people I mean i think it's the same as you know what do we want to focus on I think there's enough people that are focusing on moving towards the truth within themselves because it feels good for them not because they feel like they should do it for some other reason you know that's what I've been hearing through the communities is that if enough people decide to move forward the energy will be so strong that it will pull everyone else along it's like not every single person has to decide that you know the world's transforming and it's it's good to live in in a conscious way It stokes me to talk to you. I feel like on some level, people that find themselves at a sort of new Eleusinian mysteries area, like there's all these people coming in and you're getting to see them from all over the world. And a lot of these people that are coming in are people that go back to their communities and they bring with them new ideas. They bring with them changes. They bring with them flexible thought. And so you really have a unique perspective of getting to see these people, what they're going through. So you get the process of seeing what's coming in and then going what's out. It's almost like you're being the lungs of the people there. But maybe you could speak to some more of the things that in which you see, were you noticing happening there that could probably radiate out into the world? Yeah. I mean, it's, it's like kind of watching a filter, you know, it's like, I'm not like, it's like they come in, the filter is there. They move through the filter and yeah, it's like that. You just watch, you watch them before the filter, you watch them after the filter. Some people decide to come back again and again. So they, they go through the filter multiple times and it's just like, wow. I mean, it's just a point of appreciation and gratitude that we have plants that can help us to actually clean such deep wounds, such deep emotional problems that just go beyond the mind. So, yeah, I mean, when people come in, generally there is that sense of fear. There's a lack of self-expression. oh no it's all good we're we're halfway around the world and it's pouring down rain over here too so yeah we're getting some rain here which makes it tricky um yeah so I mean the most beautiful thing is to see someone come in really quiet and then you know there's there was this woman once and she was just kind of like very angry with the world she was just like Oh, you know, in our younger years as well, like finding herself and she shared a little bit, you know, the second day came and she started to like open up more. Okay, this is what I'm angry about. This is what I'm confused about. And by the third day, she, the sharing circle came to her and she pulled out a notebook and she asked one of the servers to play the guitar. And she sang us this incredible song. I mean, it was like angels were coming out of her voice and it was just sharing everything that she had been feeling, but from a different, entirely different perspective. I just like anger to this song. I was just like, wow. It's just, it's, it's beyond imaginable that it's even possible that someone could change their expression, their face, even, you know, in just a matter of days. It's really, really incredible. It is incredible. And again, I want to ask a question that leans on your experience, not only where you are now, but where you've been in the past. And that question is, what do you think is different between an individual who can travel abroad and be put into a new environment and given medicine versus an individual who takes the medicine in the spot where they are? yeah it's a good question yeah I mean we we do do retreats in in europe as well so I've had this direct experience of people taking I actually first worked with with this community in portugal as I mentioned before And I mean, to me, it was a much lighter experience. I mean, for me personally, I've also taken medicine in my home country. It was wild. I had to face so much stuff that was in the earth of my ancestry. Because it's just such an earth medicine. It was just like I was going into the roots of my Irish heritage just to see it all. Yeah. Whoa. So I think there's been there's huge, huge benefit to taking, you know, different types of medicines like psychedelics and things and sacred plant medicines in your home country, because you are connecting with your you are seeing the truth of your your home space. There's also a sense of comfort as well. Some people just feel safer. Traveling, the other aspect of traveling is that you kind of let go. Right. you left us at traveling and letting go right right at that point and let go imagine letting go letting go yeah you let go of more of who you are you know like let go of this person oh I have this job and I am this you know from this country uh and you can just be more of a raw version of yourself especially in in this current environment like you go to the waterfall to bathe in the morning and you don't have to wear makeup there's just no need for any kind of mask And so that can give people in some ways the freedom to do deeper work. And also just, I mean, in general, when you come to places like Columbia, there's certain types of structures and the medicine houses are organized energetically in a very specific way. And they're maintained in a very specific way with the territory and the way that the land is cared for. So energetically, you usually just, you get a much more deeper, profound experience when you travel to places like this. Yeah. Another question I was thinking about is I was reading the MAP study about MDMA and they were talking about some sort of abuse that had happened with one of their patients there. And it really got me thinking that You know, a lot of the times we think about the person that ingests the medicine as being in an altered state of consciousness or awareness. But it seems to me that someone who takes a high dose of medicine is also changing the awareness of the person that's delivering. You know, it's kind of a weird thing to think about. Like that fundamentally changes the relationship, right? It's no longer, even though it is the role of a provider and someone taking it, I wonder what is your take on the opinion or your opinion on someone who takes the medicine, changing the awareness of the person that's observing? Yeah, it's I mean, I feel it's I have never personally given someone medicine and not taken it at the same time. Right. Because I feel like that's very hard to help navigate the different situations that can arise. I know that that's quite different from a medical standpoint. I know people are being trained in different ways now, of course, with MDMA and everything like that. But it's just not something I've personally done because I feel also being a very water orientated person, I navigate from intuition and I need to be in connection with the medicine to be able to navigate that. But yeah, I mean, observing people, I mean, the role of service, serving medicine is completely transformational because it's such a medicine in and of itself. It's such a process to be able to give someone and to be able to put yourself aside in a sense in some ways to step forward for their process. It's like you really sit with seeing yourself in everyone. seeing their process as your process because it's such an intense experience you know if you're helping someone it's like you're in it together for 100% so I think that the change in perception for me over time has been to to be able to see things as clearly as I can and to be able to be as centered as I can so it's like yeah, it's like a training, I think, you know, as you observe people in the medicine, it's a training of how to be centered, because you can't go too deep into their process, because then you're both in the process, and neither of you can help each other. Yeah. Yeah. It seems like it would be very challenging to look that deeply into somebody. Like if you're both taking medicine, like it seems like a really huge responsibility and it can be challenging. I'm wondering if you could speak to that idea of have you found it to be challenging or what, what is, what, what are some of your thoughts on that? Yeah. I mean, the responsibility has been a big process for me for sure of just realizing that The extent of the support that is necessary for these types of deep dives into the physical body, into the psyche, into the soul. It's like if you're going to go there or you're going to help someone go there, you just don't know where you're going to go or what's going to come up or what kind of healing process is going to be needed from what comes up. And that's sometimes where different types of practitioners can run into some trouble because it's like you find something, you're not sure what to do with it. And then there's some panic and people have bad trips or bad ceremonial experiences. So what I've learned is that the best type of experience for the responsibility is just to check in with self. Am I prepared for anything that could happen in this type of experience? And that's totally different for every different type of psychedelic or plant medicine. For plant medicines like MDMA, it's much more mind-based. For things like ayahuasca, it's much more expansive and you need a much broader service team to be able to manage the different things that arise in different types of situations. Yeah. Have you ever had an experience where you got into a situation and you had to just dig down deep and find all your moxie to figure out how to get out of that situation? Or have you ever been in a situation that scared you? For sure, yeah. Yeah, no, I have been in situations that I haven't, I realized that I kind of, I wasn't sure, you know, what to do. I didn't have the information of how to support or guide the person. And it definitely leads to a state of panic because, you know, and in being a guide and holding space, it's like, you are the go-to, like you are the only person in the room that can tell them what to do next. Look around, this is me. Anyone else? You want to ask the dog? Nope, no kidding. So, so what I've learned from that, you know, my, over time, you know, initially when I first, when I was learning with the medicine and going through this process was like, okay, I need to control their experience because that's going to control the situation. But really I understand that that's, that's not actually, it doesn't help with the medicine type of experience with that type of facilitation. it's better to ask questions to see where they want to go, where their experience is leading them. And if they go too far or then they start to go to a place where you feel like it might be too much for them or you just don't have the skills or the space to hold space for that, then it's easy to ask them, okay, do you feel like you can process that trauma right now? You know, it's like, okay, maybe it's better that we actually leave that and we come back to a more centered space and we have something to eat. You can kind of bring them away from it if you both are consciously aware that you can't do that kind of deep dive in that certain situation and that's okay. You know, then maybe they go to a different retreat, you go to a different situation and take a different type of medicine to do that kind of healing work. So, yeah, I think that's the one kind of key with facilitation is the controlling. It's to step back from that and just recenter and ask a question. In those particular instances, or maybe not in that deep of an instant, but while you are on a journey with someone, are you able to... integrate like the different elements in there? Are you like, Oh, this person's gravitating towards the fire right now? Are you still able to have that sort of cognitive know how when you're on a journey? I mean, that's to be honest, like that's one of the most fun places to play with the elements. It's so insane. Like it's so crazy because I mean, in the space, like I always choose spaces or I always am in spaces that are very elementally based. You know, there is a physical fire, there is a water source, So that's a way for me to see how the energy is flowing, because a lot of the times in the medicine experience, no one's explaining what's happening in the experience. They're in the experience. So I don't actually know. But if I have a physical fire and the fire is starting to smoke or the fire is really big, I know where people are at in their journey or what they might be needing to balance the space. and so yeah the elements I feel they just speak they speak so loudly yeah and my intuition as well like I say for example if someone is going crazy there's so much fire maybe some anger coming out then there's water medicines that I can use like flower essence different types of water sprays to just be okay do you want to take some spray in your hand smell it spray it around the head and it's like oh okay so yeah I mean the elements just have such a profound ability to transform the emotional, mental and physical experiences of participants in so many different ways. yeah and a lot of the time I mean particularly I mean earth is that place to find your way back to yourself to center yourself just putting putting the feet on the earth if someone's spinning out you know it's just like okay let's go outside let's just put your feet on the earth and the fire is there for strength especially with ayahuasca medicine where there's a lot of purging sometimes that medicine's like okay let's get this out but you feel like you don't have any strength so you can go to the fire ask the fire you know the abuelo please can I have some strength And you can get it together. And then you can do what she's asking you to do. So they're so chatty. Yeah, super, super chatty. Is it primarily ayahuasca? Or are there other sorts of medicine that you guys work with down there? Yeah, primarily that's, that's what we work with here and, and different supportive medicines to go with that as well. Yeah. That's just to, to support the integration, to support the preparation. Yeah. Is it I know in some places they use like a layering technique depending on what people need. Is that is that sort of the same process down there when you talk about supporting medicine? Is there like tobacco in the beginning or is there something about halfway through or something towards the end? Yeah, so we use different medicines. Sometimes they're optional. Sometimes everyone takes them. It's very different for every retreat, of course. We use a balancing medicine. So there's different supportive medicines like Ortega, which is like a plant that's used on the skin to help the energy to come out of the body. If you're struggling with some, maybe after an experience, still feels trapped, you can use these types of plants to release the energy. We also do a very special process with a feminine medicine called kaguana, which is a pineapple medicine drink that the women prepare. And the ayahuasca itself is fire. It's just like very strong, energy intensive. So at the halfway point, we give the kaguana to replenish and to give that feminine energy. so that you can relax and share a little bit about your experience so that's also a very intentionally made medicine for for the process yeah and then there's also just depending tobacco sage copal like different cleaning medicines used as well well on uh I think in the beginning of the conversation you would mention there's like a three-day retreat and a 10-day retreat if on a three-day retreat are you guys taking medicine two of the days one of the days or all three of the days So there's three ceremonies and there's the first one. The first is usually a nighttime one. Well, there's a seven-day retreat and there's a three-day retreat. Elemental hasn't been launched yet or created in this space, but that has projections to be different lengths of time because some people do like to stay in the community for longer periods, especially if they want to learn how to serve. So yeah, at the moment... Sorry. Yeah, there's a whole other aspect of learning how to serve. Now we're talking. How do I serve in this space? That's a longer process. But yes, three days and seven days. So the seven days is just two three-day retreats pretty much back to back. But the three days is one nighttime ceremony and then there's one daytime ceremony and then another nighttime ceremony. Yeah. the the daytime and the nighttime are pretty much back to back they just have a small break in between Yeah, so that just facilitates you because you kind of, you start to get comfortable with the medicine the first night, the second night, you start to really do the work. And the third one's really to put the full stop on whatever you've been doing. Right? Is there is there a tolerance that builds up after like, I'm not, I'm not familiar with that is I know that on psilocybin, there's a tolerance that builds up, but is the same true for ayahuasca? Not really. No, it's it's very different. You just have a different experience every time, depending on how tired you are, depending on your process, where you're at, what she is sharing with you. And that's why we have a lot of guidance for the preparation beforehand for rest, for food, because that really helps to just prepare your body to continue training. But you have a long experience with that ceremony. And then you take a break, maybe eat something. And then when you go into the next ceremony, it's the same level of intensity. It's not like you get that resistance level coming up. So that's why you have the ability to take it for, if you're really training with medicine, you can take it for days and days and days to continue the process. Because the closer you take it together, the deeper the process goes. Yeah, it sounds like he would really strengthen those neural connections. If you began to live your life that way. There'll be a unique, that's kind of like you have to have a different you must have a completely different perspective on relationships and the world because you're around it so often. Yeah, well, it's a different way of living to receive the guidance. Because for me, it was a choice. And I really believe this for anyone who serves medicine. There's always this point of choice where you use the medicine for a certain period to heal. And then you reach a point where it's like, okay, do I want to help other people heal with this? And not everyone wants to do that. So for me, that shift into serving was like, okay, this is now orientating my process with the medicine to learn how to serve. And with this type of, that's one element of if you work in a retreat center. And then this is another level where it's like, okay, to serve, to build a community is the larger process. But it's something that I accepted to do, but did not know how to do. I was like, that's definitely a full 100% soul, yes. But it's like, I have to keep going with the process. I have to keep taking the medicine to understand how to do it. Are there ever times when you question like, okay, am I still going to do this? Or am I done doing this? Or do you look for guidance? Do you ever have that question? Like, do you ever think to yourself, I'm done doing this now? Or I'm just getting warmed up? What goes on in your mind there? With the particular path of the medicine you're saying? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, see that, yeah, I mean, that point of choice for me of choosing a path that she showed me, but I don't know how to do was like a commitment for me for life. Because it's like, it's not, it's like, I can't do the life that I have envisaged for myself without it. Yeah. So it's more, it's less of like a clean, there is cleaning, there is healing happening all the time, but it's transformed into a different energy for me. It's more of a creative energy of how to build a life. And it's such a blessing, I feel, because like we're talking about with the world changing so much and it's being hard to see the truth within things. to have a teacher that's so deeply ingrained in the truth guiding the steps. It's like, okay, I can relax into that. I can take those steps to create something new and trust that it's something that will be helpful for not just me, but for other people as well. If people that read the book that's coming out, The Truth Within, what do you want people to take away from that book? What do you think they're going to learn when they read it? So what I hope or what my intention is with the book is that it awakens a person's connection with their life purpose. So as we finish out the book, there is a leading into your life purpose and your life mission. And so that's a mirroring of what I've seen come through with clients. And my initial experience with this medicine is like, okay, I'm aware of myself. I'm aware of how I can change the world around me. But there comes a point where it's like, yes, I can change the world around me, but for what? Yeah. Okay, I have a car. For what? Like, what am I going to, where am I going to drive? Like, there has to be a point. So then we go deeper. It's like, okay, you have that ability to be the magician of your life. What would you like to do with it? So that's what we discuss as we finish out the book. And what I would like, you know, for people as they finish out the book is that they feel like they're on the path to finding their purpose. If they already feel very connected with their purpose, that they have a new sense of confidence about it. And so when we have that confidence, okay, this is my purpose, that's when the universe can really offer us what I call the life mission. This is an example for me with this community project. It's like, okay, I became aware of my purpose. I became aware of my skills. I worked on my skills. And then the universe is like, okay, here's a mission. Here's a place to put your energy. And that's when I feel really everyone becomes very helpful in the world because they're creating what they love. They're creating from their soul. And so that's what I have the intention for for the book. That's the mission of the book. I love it. It sounds very meaningful. It sounds like you're giving people a pathway towards a more meaningful life. I'm hopeful. Yeah. I'm hopeful that people will choose that. I think we're lacking a little bit of meaning in our life. Maybe that's what this new world we're moving into is. When does the book come out? It's coming out in September. So we have a few months lead up to that experience. where are we now june yeah yeah over the summer so I launched the website yesterday which is available on my linkedin it's www.elementalhealing.com and on there you can get a free meditation to discover your elements you can start your journey of connecting with the elements and there's a lot of information you know me I'm always writing information on the website so if you want to discover a little bit more I'm also offering elemental medicine readings for people to connect with their bodies, messages that are coming through for them at this time. So there are some services available in the meantime. And yeah, you can join the waitlist as well to hear when the book is coming out in September. Yeah. Is there going to be a promotion? Like, are you going to have maybe like 20% off for all True Life listeners? Always a promotion. Can I get a discount code? We'll chat about that and we'll make it a big surprise in August. We'll launch it for your wonderful, beautiful subscribers for sure. I'd love to do that. Fantastic. I'll tell you how to put you on the spot right there. Sophie, it's such a pleasure to always talk with you. Yeah, right? I got him. I'm so thankful to get to be in your life for a little bit and hear what you're doing. I think you're doing really cool things. I love the last projects you were doing. I know some of the people that you really helped out. You seem to be always traveling around the world and learning and providing us with a doorway into new things. So I really appreciate that. And I can't wait to learn more about what you got going on down there. I can't wait to check out the book and to talk to you again. But let me just throw it back to you one more time. Can you please tell people where they can find you, what you have coming up, and what you're excited about? Yeah, thank you so much. And just thank you so much for this space. I mean, I just thoroughly enjoy this podcast always. So thank you for following your path and keeping it and sharing it. Yeah, so you can find me on the website if you want to find out more information. Like I said, elementalmedicinehealing.com. LinkedIn, my LinkedIn is very open. If you feel called to reach out, Messenger are available on LinkedIn. And yeah, so those are the two places that you can primarily find me. I'm not a major social media fan. So I tend to strictly stay to those two places. But yeah, I'm very open for people reaching out if they want to connect, they want to learn more about elemental medicine and they want to collaborate in some way. Those are the spaces that you can find out more. Okay. Well, hang on briefly afterwards. I just wanted to talk to you shortly after about a few things. And ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for tuning in today. If people don't know Mark Davis, Mark Davis is such an amazing connector. Go down and click on Mark Davis if you're listening to this. Or if you're listening to this, Google Mark Davis, especially if you're in the cannabis industry. The guy knows so many people and he's so helpful. Thank you, Mark, for always hanging out. And to everybody else, I really appreciate your time. Hope you have a beautiful day. That's all we got. Hello.