Integrating Witchcraft and Healing: Trauma-Informed Care with Megs Emerson

Have you ever wondered how to blend modern witchcraft with trauma-informed care? This episode of "Your Average Witch" features the incredible Megs Emerson, a Reiki master, yoga teacher, breathwork coach, and life coach. She shares her innovative approach to integrating yoga, breathwork, and energy work to help individuals heal from trauma and achieve alignment with their true aspirations. We'll also hear about Megs' perspective on imposter syndrome, the contemporary use of the term "witch," and her rich family history of energy workers and clairvoyants.

Navigating the complexities of personal practice and community service is no small feat, particularly when battling imposter syndrome. Megs lays out the duality of service and the necessity of vocalizing doubts to diminish their power. Our conversation explores how balancing personal practices with parenting and being of service to others creates a fulfilling cycle of energy exchange. We delve into the grounding effects of witchcraft tools like breathwork and crystals, and Megs shares a memorable story about a whitewater rafting trip on the Zambezi River that underscores the profound impact of seemingly simple choices.

To wrap things up, we discuss overcoming magical slumps, especially those influenced by menstrual or lunar cycles, through intentional nature engagement and digital detox. Megs advocates for compassionate dialogue within the witch community, emphasizing the importance of trauma-informed care in a post-pandemic world. She highlights influential figures like Starhawk and Pixie Lighthorse and offers practical advice for new practitioners. Tune in to deepen your connection to witchcraft and healing practices with this rich tapestry of wisdom and practical advice.

Transcript

KimHost

00:04

Welcome back to Your Average Witch, where every Tuesday, we talk about witch life, witch stories and sometimes a little witchcraft. Your Average Witch is brought to you by Crepuscular Conjuration and supporters like you. If you'd like to know more behind-the-scenes info, or if you're just looking for a fun witchy community that's full of support, come join us in HiveHouse. We post silly memes, share recipes, talk about our day and, of course, we talk about witchcraft. Just go to facebook.com/groups/hivehouse and join up. Be sure to answer the questions so I don't think you're a bot, but I do love when people go off the rails when they answer them, so using your imagination is a plus. This is also a private group, so if you need to be in the broom closet, we'll help you stay there. This week I'm talking with Megs Emerson, a Reiki master, yoga teacher and life coach who specializes in trauma informed care. We talk about energy work, why she views imposter syndrome as a good thing and why breathwork is her favorite tool. Now let's get to the stories. Megs, hello, welcome to the show. 

MegsGuest

01:18

Hi, Kim, thanks so much for having me. It's good to be here. 

KimHost

01:21

Oh good, I'm glad to have you. Can you please let everybody know who you are and what you do and where they can find you? 

MegsGuest

01:28

Yeah absolutely so. My name is Megs Emerson and I am a Reiki master, yoga teacher, breathwork coach and life coach all under a trauma-informed lens and I'm operating out of Canada, or Turtle Island, specifically in Ontario, off the Piton land. Right now I'm recording this on Sagin First Nation land, up at our cottage and, yeah, I just sort of I weave together different things of yoga and breath work and energy work, and all with the intention of helping folks heal from past trauma and different experiences that they've gone through and also align to the future and that which they're calling in, so be it around fertility or, you know, whatever it is that they're looking to create and really kind of bring into their life. So I work with folks in all different aspects and areas and highs and lows and lefts and rights, kind of all over the beautiful web that makes us all human, um, which is something that I really am deeply passionate about and I love it.

KimHost

02:35

Cool.

Megs

02:36

Yeah.

Kim

02:27

Where are you on the internet? 

MegsGuest

02:38

I am loveyoga.ca and you can find me on instagram Wmegs_emerson. That's E- M -E -R- S- O- N. And that's pretty much it. I don't really hang out on all the other platforms. I probably should, but…

Kim

0247

You should not.

Megs

02:50

That's, that's pretty much where I'm at, so that's where folks can find me and that's where I offer. Most of my content is on Instagram, and occasionally that'll be kind of thrown to Facebook, if it, you know, if I think of it, but really everything that you need is is right there on Instagram. 

KimHost

03:16

I noticed you didn't say witchcraft anywhere in there. Do you consider yourself to be a witch? And if you do, what does that mean? 

MegsGuest

03:23

So it's funny, I was, you know, kind of really sinking into that question before jumping on our recording together, and I have perhaps a complicated relationship with that word in the sense of I do relate and consider myself a witch in the original and or old terminology and frame. I feel and I'm kind of like nervous to say this and after having shared where you can find me on the internet, but the overuse of the word witch in today's media and sort of online spaces I don't really align to that and to what I see folks defining as witchcraft or being a witch. I don't identify with that definition and that's okay. I don't feel I need to really what I'm, what I'm saying, to be more specific, is, you know, which is broken down to mean wise woman, someone who knows the old ways of healing and helping folks feel better and achieve a more balanced or harmonized way of living, and that is something that I really connect and embody. So it's kind of a, you know. I can go both ways with that, but I don't often lead with, you know, mentioning that I'm a witch or witchcraft. I don't consider necessarily what I do to be under that umbrella. However, I actually come from a long line of maternal folks who practice witchcraft and who have that woven into their upbringing and their kind of DNA and everything else. So it's definitely within the family lineage. But does that answer your question? 

KimHost

05:27

It does for me. Cool. Would you say that your family or ancestors, who you would consider more traditional witch with quotes around it? Would you consider them more of the rabble-rousy kind where a lot of my guests now for the past couple years have said witchcraft? If you call yourself a witch you're automatically saying hey, I'm fighting. Would you say that is who your family is, or would you say they are more of the herbalist, healer side? 

MegsGuest

06:39

We are in solidarity with a lot of the action points and activism and we align to that. But my grandmother, so on and so forth, we're all kind of those people that are in the background, deeply supportive and ever present, but not not necessarily being really loud, and so that's. We definitely kind of are more on the side of, like the quiet kitchen which is herbalists, and actually we don't even have any of that in the in the lineage. What you know, what we have are energy workers, um, a lot of tarot readers, and my grandmother actually, who read, uh, for folks in her community, and not using tarot but instead using a regular deck of playing cards. Um, she was a clairvoyant and a clairsentient and was able to kind of weave that into the readings that she was offering for folks, which a lot of those claires have sort of passed down through the lines as well to my mom, my aunt and myself. 

KimHost

07:41

That is cool. And if anybody is thinking it means makes you not a real witch. If you're not out there fighting, then that's incorrect, because when I was in the army I was not a fucking infantry person. I was on the back lines doing paperwork. We. It's still part of the battle. We still need that to happen. So.

MegsGuest

08:00

So I guess I should have like what is the definition of fighting that both you and your previous guests kind of identify with? How would you boil that down? 

KimHost

08:12

More, I think, being an outsider outside traditional social norms. 

Megs

08:20

Oh well, that absolutely, we are absolutely fighting against, like the patriarchy and religious oppression and. Yeah, bigots. Yes, I'm not saying you don't do that, but…

Kim

08:32

But the people that I'm talking about, who said, hey, this is what it means. They are actively out there, like on the front lines, kind of causing a ruckus. 

MegsGuest

08:45

Yeah, and I'm not sure that I would say that I'm causing a ruckus. I really believe that you can shift so much through personal practice, through intention, through beginning in community, through like kind of what is accessible to you right here and right now, and that's really where it begins and that's really how it grows. I'm a big component and believer in that, and so a lot of what I do and a lot of what I believe in starts there and I believe that it does echo out, you know, and I I certainly participate in and am aware to the best of my ability of events and things that are happening around the globe and injustices that are happening. And I mean there's a list, you know, a hundred miles long, that you could, you could get into and fight with. And I certainly, I certainly believe in the importance of activism. I believe in the importance of using your voice, for that which you believe in, but I also believe in compassion and kindness and creating space for folks to have different opinions than you and it not having to be necessarily as polarized and as intense as it is in the world and certainly in the online space nowadays, you know it's, it's a very, hot place to be, and I like things to be soft and rounded. You know edges and and space it you know, spacious conversation and don't really connect with it and identify, as that is because I find that it. Then people then have an assumption, people then put you in a box and think that, oh well, then this means that you are this and you are that and I, I really struggle with that. I don't identify as pagan. I believe I'm an earth keeper. I,  you know, participate in supporting the environment and, like I was saying earlier, like you know, the activism piece and working within my community and all of those important parts. Um, but yeah, I try not to label myself as anything. Keeping in theme, I guess, with that spacious, fluid, open space for folks to just kind of be, I think we need more of that in the world. 

KimHost

11:12

Well, thanks for asking, because it made me have to figure out words that I don't normally do. I just sort of assume everybody knows what I'm talking about. Yeah, thanks. 

MegsGuest

11:23

Yeah, well, thank you. Everybody knows what I'm talking about. 

KimHost

11:29

Can you introduce us to your practice? Do you have any daily or consistent if not daily things that you do that you would call witchcraft? 

MegsGuest

11:38

Absolutely. I mean connecting with the nature every day, multiple times a day. I'm very blessed and grateful to be living in the country with lots of trees and I'm right in the forest, right by a river, so I have magic all around me all the time, and being outdoors is a big component of my mental, energetic and emotional health. So that's certainly, you know, probably the biggest piece and component. Another piece is the breathwork. Breathwork, to me, is the fastest and most efficient way of shifting my energy, of creating and aligning to that which you're calling in. So around manifestation or around clearing out energy or you know things that are just feeling really sticky, Breathwork is a huge piece of my daily practice. 

KimHost

12:30

Would you say that your practice has changed your life at all? 

MegsGuest

12:36

Oh, absolutely, yeah, it's absolutely shaped, informed what I do and how I do it, because my practice is also my service, or my career, my job, and so you know, I it's something that I live and embody every day, but it's also something that I share with other people and I, you know, help folks through really turbulent times and things using things like breath work and energy work and all of these things that are really important to me. So it's absolutely helped to shape my life and I would say that I didn't really, you know, I've been in this consistently and really intentionally for the last 10 years since about 2014. And before that, it was something that was kind of always hanging around, like my clairsentience and my uh, the sensitivity level and my manifestation practice and all of those things were always kind of there, but I wasn't necessarily plugged into it, um, but I was leaning into the possibility and the power that existed around me, without necessarily knowing that that's what I was doing. So I would say it was very, it's been very intentional for the last 10 years, and thus has created a career or an avenue to be able to support others in kind of the same line of work or intention. 

KimHost

14:01

I relate, I same, same year. But yeah same I did. It was just our sort of around in life. But I didn't really lean into it until like a certain point and then after that it was all to walk back out of it. 

MegsGuest

14:26

You know it's just, it's so. I often refer to it with my clients as like a rabbit hole. I'm like you got to understand that once, Cause I, you know, I get a lot of folks who come to me and they're coming because they're curious, they might have doubts, they might not believe in in the power of energy work or what to expect or what to feel or the shifts, and um, afterwards they're always kind of so intrigued and you can see that there's almost this level of like thirst that's been like awoken and I'm like you're standing on the precipice of a rabbit hole. You're going to go. This is a whole other exciting, beautiful, magical world that is just extraordinary to uh, to explore and be a part of. 

KimHost

15:01

. I was thinking more like puberty. Okay, Because we still have those hormones as kids, just not so many. And suddenly whoosh we have boobs. 

Which boobs, why? Which boobs have grown? Why am I like that this morning? I don't know. 

What's the biggest motivator in your practice and has it changed since you first started out? 

Megs

16:00

Service, being of service to other people. I'm always,  and I've been like this my whole life. Whether we're talking about, like, the practice of energy work or witchcraft, or we're talking about literally anything else, I am always at my best when I am of service to other people. Um, and so, being of service to community, being of service to folks who are working through trauma or traumatic brain injuries or whatever it may be, or whoever the person is who sat across from me telling me their story, I there's a there's just a deepening of commitment and awareness. That happens every time that I kind of sit down with a client and it's not lost on me, the great privilege to be able to hold space for folks, Um, like I said before, kind of like their most turbulent or sticky time. And so being of service is really my. My answer to that question is just helping community and being connected to folks. 

KimHost

16:42

Wow, that's nice. 

MegsGuest

16:44

That's your biggest motivator and and like not something, more oriented to self I mean, if we, if we look at it from another lens, you know, being of service ultimately always feeds back to us, if, if you are the kind of person who really enjoys it and get something out of it, which I do, I I like I said before, it's a great privilege and an honor to be able to help other people feel better,  and that genuinely gives me a deep sense of satisfaction and connection and it just it fills me up. So it's, it does, it does feed me back. You know, it's not like it's just a one way kind of system there, but yeah, it's definitely, definitely my biggest motivator. 

Kim

17:48

That's… I want, I want people like you in healthcare and not people like me. 

Megs

17:52

Well, I mean, that's a whole other thing. I cannot imagine being in healthcare. That's got to be so hard the way it is now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely the way it is care. Okay. Well, thank you for being in healthcare at one point and you know doing all those things, because it's not, it's not easy and it's a. That's a again, a huge thing of service, right. 

KimHost

18:38

Yeah, I did like that part, but not enough to deal with the other parts. 

MegsGuest

18:42

Yeah, yeah, I can. Other parts, yeah, yeah, I can understand that. 

KimHost

18:49

What would you say is the biggest struggle in your practice? 

MegsGuest

18:54

I would say like being really. I mean, I have a two and a half year old son, so creating pockets, pockets of time for myself to, you know, really drop in and, do, you know, like a full moon practice or do, uh, you know, be really connected to the natural rhythms of the earth, uh, while also parenting a tiny human. You know we're we're on different agendas at that point in time, different timetables, you know. So there's often things that I would, I would love to do in ways of, you know, working with the moon or or whatever it is that may be at play, and my little one just has a different idea as to what's going on. So I would say that that's, that's, the biggest kind of struggle, is just that time for myself and that kind of. Again, that feeds back into, like, the being of service thing, because when I am sitting with client, obviously my little one is being cared for by others, and I am able to be present with them and also myself and really honor that kind of place within me that is so deeply connected and woven into this world and into witchcraft, and into energy work and into all of this, and that's how it kind of comes full circle and like feeds my, my soul as well, as as helping others. So it's, I would say, consistency, both because I'm, like you know, I'm a Gemini brain, gemini sun, so I do bounce around a lot from different things, but also the, the little love of my life that just keeps me so busy and uh engaged with things other than my own uh wishes or desires at the time. 

KimHost

20:45

That's good for us. 

MegsGuest

20:46

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

KimHost

20:53

Would you say that you have any sort of imposter syndrome about your practice? And if you do, how do you beat it? 

MegsGuest

21:02

Yeah, I definitely do. I think that makes us human and that makes us check in with ourselves and go how can I be better? So I actually see it as a really good thing. I don't see imposter syndrome necessarily as a bad thing. Obviously, you know, if it's imposter syndrome that halts us and prevents us from showing up, reaching out and seeking support around, that can be really beneficial of just even even having someone to say, hey, I'm feeling this way, and it could be a friend, that could be, you know, in community, it could be a therapist or a coach or whomever. But to have somebody to just say, hey, I'm feeling really, out of place right now, or like  I'm not sure that I'm really belonging in this space or that I should be here or whatever whatever it might be, saying it out loud often will clear away that belief. You know, there's so much power in using our voice. We all know that. Your listeners know that. You know, being able to speak to that which is holding us back, or standing in our way, often will dissolve or certainly knock it down in height, so it doesn't feel as daunting and it doesn't feel as scary. And then just realigning and reconnecting to like, what is it that you bring to the table that nobody else does? What do you? What is it that makes you sort of stand out from the other people in your field or the other people in your craft or the other people who are doing this kind of work? And can you lean into that more so that you allow yourself to be really seen and visible in the online space or again, whatever kind of space it is that we might be talking about, but really allowing yourself to be visible and to be seen, which is super scary, especially when we're talking about, you know, being a witch and being visible within that, because obviously there's a tremendous amount of history and weight and things that haven't yet been fully unpacked, I think, generationally speaking, and also just you know, between think, generationally speaking, and also, just you know, between witches, the witch wound, the sister wound, all of those things that need to be healed and I think are moving in that direction. But obviously we still have a good way to go on that. It takes time and it takes a commitment and it takes grace, and the best that you can do that for yourself, I think, the better. But it's a practice right. And continuing to come back to that time and time again and go, you know what? I'm human, I'm having a moment. It doesn't mean that I'm not meant to be here, it means that I'm checking in with myself. And ultimately, I think, the more that you can practice that, which is what I do when imposter syndrome comes up, taking that as just a yellow flag to go hold on, let me check in what's not aligned, what's not feeling right, and then address that to the best of your ability, then the imposter syndrome tends to quieten down a little bit. 

KimHost

24:00

Hmm, that made me have thoughts that I can't verbalize. 

MegsGuest

24:07

Good thoughts, I hope.

KimHost

24:11

Well, it was ways that... Is it imposter syndrome? Or are we calling other things imposter syndrome when it's actually just our brain saying you might want to check on this one thing before you go forth? 

MegsGuest

24:24

yeah, do that. absolutely right, and and look at the power we give it and I don't feel like that is imposter syndrome. 

KimHost

24:31

I maybe it is, but like my ocd is not imposter syndrome, but it does sometimes act like it is. But it also covers my Like when I save something in four different places now because my hard drive died. Yeah, that's not imposter syndrome, that's my brain's looking after me. 

MegsGuest

24:53

Absolutely, absolutely Right, and I think it's again, like you can. This is a part of practice. This is a part of the witchcraft that I'm really connected to is like the power that you give things right, the power you give your thoughts, the power you give imposter syndrome, the power you give the belief in yourself, like you can kind of choose anything that you want to talk about and and weave it back into witchcraft and and the practice of giving things power, which is ultimately to me, what what witchcraft boils down to. 

KimHost

25:26

Thinking of using the power I have and giving it to imposter syndrome makes me so angry. But I know that I do it and I didn't think of that until now. 

MegsGuest

25:32

Oh, that sucks, but again, we all do it right. So there's that grace piece of it to come back into it right, it's just like I'm human and there's a certain level of like social conditioning that happens. That especially to you know yeah, especially to women that that makes us doubt and question and we have to be committed and like again, just to feed back. This could even be like a piece of the activism, piece of being so committed to, um, dismantling that belief in yourself and dismantling the belief that was placed there by societal impressions, and that takes time. But getting over that hurdle to the other side, where you are giving the power that you do have to the belief in yourself or to your craft, or to the activism that you're committed to, or whatever it may be, you know, I think is really an important piece of all this. 

KimHost

26:29

I like this conversation. 

MegsGuest

26:31

Oh, me too. I feel like I really threw you at the beginning where you were like you didn't, you didn't say witch, and I was like, okay, yeah, I know, but wait, I feel like you know, I don't know, it's kind of coming around. 

KimHost

26:46

What's something you did early on in your practice that you don't do anymore, and why don't you do it? 

MegsGuest

26:54

I would question myself a lot and kind of be in my head. And when I say I question myself a lot, I would be very, I have a naturally anxious brain, so I would unconsciously be feeding that before sitting down with a client or before sitting down for manifestation work or whatever it is that I was doing. And it's not that I was second guessing myself, but I was just hyper vigilant and hyper aware of everything, and not necessarily everyone, because it's obviously it's a solo craft where I'm sitting across from someone, so there's not like a crowded room of people that I'm considering at the time. But you know other people's energy and am I doing this right and should I be leaning into what's coming up? Can I trust this? You know that this energy is presenting itself to me, or that this message is coming through, and can I trust that and should I relay that to that person? And you know all of that kind of thing when when. I didn't know how to have the difficult conversations with people, through a trauma-informed perspective and lens with a tremendous amount of compassion and love and understanding, and I didn't really know how to articulate hey, you have all the power here. I'm just a vehicle for that which is coming through if you want to hear it. And over the 10 years that I've been doing this, I've developed my vocabulary and my ability to have difficult conversations or what my brain goes this could be potentially difficult or this could be potentially uncomfortable and whenever my brain does that and we have the conversation anyway, it's always met with so much spaciousness and this person being like this is exactly what I needed to hear. And this is amazing, like this really aligns and connects. So it's funny again how we, like, we tell ourselves stories about that which feels uncomfortable, but then it just changes direction so quickly, when we get out of our own way. 

KimHost

29:02

Okay, I have. I don't know if this is going to come out as a question or just commentary, but it's interesting. I started hearing the term trauma-informed care when I started phasing out of… I'm an occupational therapy assistant, when I started phasing out of doing that. That's when people, like when I heard it, anyway, I'm sure people were talking about it before then because who the hell am I? I've been doing this for 20,000 years and now it's interesting that it's coming into witchcraft. How did that happen for you?

MegsGuest

29:41

I think it's integral. I don't think that we can be practicing from a place of integrity and consciousness without considering trauma-informed care, especially if we're working with others or for others, because it's not a question of am I going to trigger someone, it's a question of when, and that's not like a like a scary thing, it's just, it's a, it's a knowledge piece that's so important, and the more that you can prepare yourself for holding space for someone who has a moment or several moments of being triggered, the safer you are creating, the safer space you're creating for yourself and for them. And to me, it's just something that really came about very early on I would say probably 2015, maybe 2016 is when I really started diving into it. Um, after teaching and practicing yoga consistently for about a year and just seeing the effects that movement and breath can have on folks and the conversations that would happen after a practice and the depths that people would go to in child's pose or you know all of these things, and so I really wanted to be able to properly and safely create space for these people to share. 

And then that led down its own rabbit hole. And then working with folks who have PTSD, anxiety, depression, addictions, traumatic brain injuries and obviously all of that is woven in. So it's something that I'm really deeply committed to and passionate about is  committed to that trauma, informed care and perspective for folks, and again, because my craft, my practice is so rooted in the service based space, to me the two things just go hand in hand. 

KimHost

31:52

As you were talking, I was thinking first. I love this conversation. I like that we're talking about things that I don't usually talk about, but I also thought about new witches coming and hearing this conversation and thinking what in the hell is happening? Yeah, yeah, it's all witchcraft, baby, yep, yep. What is your favorite tool? Not necessarily a physical object, just whatever you most like working with, whether it's music or a thought process, or yoga, whatever. What would you say is your favorite tool? 

MegsGuest

32:32

Yeah, I mean I have a number of them, so choosing one is really hard, but I would say the most effective tool at anyone's disposal is breathwork. It's the fastest way to shift your energetic, emotional and mental space um to again align with that which you're calling in or that which you're practicing um to offer that to somebody else, like whatever capacity you're talking about, but also like something that's a little bit more fun, is crystals. I love crystals. I have them all over my home. I use them at my practice, I use them um on my person. I they've just they've been a huge component of my own healing and the healing of my home, the land that we exist on, and the folks that come into my space as well.. My husband jokes that we need a another room for all the crystals that I keep bringing into the house. So, um, they're definitely it's up there as well with breath work. 

KimHost

33:33

This is funny. I'm going to take a picture and post it on Instagram today, but I'm going to show you, I'm gonna post this one. This is making me laugh. I have a pile of fidget stuff. Oh, yep,and it's all, I love it and so, as they warm up, I I pick them up and I fiddle with them, and as they warm up, I put them down and pick up another one. That's cold, yep. 

MegsGuest

34:05

Now, are they tumbled or are they raw? 

. 

KimHost

34:11

These are tumbled because I like the smoothness. Well, there's one raw garnet, but the rest are tumbled. For this I like smooth. But I don't really work with crystals. I just like to look at them and I like to touch them. 

MegsGuest

34:28

So this is a sensory thing.

Kim

34:32

And I like I want them to be smooth because I put them on my face or like on my mouth or whatever. 

Megs

34:40

Yeah, I love it! Absolutely and like it is such a sensory thing and that's part of the beauty of them and that's why I I'm a I'm partial to the, to the raw, because of the all the edges and the crevices and the different, you know, and it really for an anxious brain, for me anyway, holding like smoky quartz it's raw and it's got all these different jagged edges and stuff, and just really helps to reorient myself back in the present.

KimHost

34:59

 I feel as crystal stuff could talk, that's like a whole other podcast episode.. So everybody, if you, if you, if you happen to hear this go check out the picture I just posted. You can see what my recording setup looks like. It looks insane because it's in a closet, but also all my little fidget crystals. Can you pick out one decision you've made that changed the direction of your life? What was it? 

MegsGuest

35:25

Yeah, yeah, I definitely can, and it's, it's kind of it's kind of funny and also kind of not funny at all. It's got a lot of serious undertones to it. But the decision that changed my life was the decision to go to not allow my husband to go whitewater rafting on his own on the Zambezi river. I was afraid he was going to die and somehow I thought, if I'm there, he'll be fine. Magic. So, yeah, a hundred percent Right. I'm like, yeah, if I'm there, everything's fine. I've got it. Um, and what I didn't know was how much that decision was going to impact and steer my life in a different direction. So this whitewater rafting happened in 2012. In and around there, we were on a big world travel. We went backpacking for about six months and world travel we went backpacking for about six months and we were backpacking from Kenya down to Cape town, and Zimbabwe was on the list, and we, yeah, we went whitewater rafting on the Zambezi river, which has like class three and four rapids, and it was insane. And I don't whitewater raft like I canoe and I'm I'm outdoorsy and I know what I'm doing, but like not at all prepared for this river and what it had ready to throw at us. So I actually ended up having a bit of an incident, which is pretty expected when you go whitewater rafting. I got knocked out of the boat, but what wasn't expected was that I couldn't swim against the current, so I was. They tell you to do hand over hand when you're under the boat, and hand over hand they say we'll get you to the edge of the boat. You can grab the rope and pull yourself up. Hand for me did nothing and I was stuck under the raft and I was not able to bring myself up to catch air. I was completely at the mercy of the rapids and I was fortunate enough that the water brought me up for a very brief moment, enough time for me to gasp air, and then it brought me right back down and under and I was just I. You know, as rapids do, there's sort of like a condensed section of them, and then often the river will kind of smooth out for a little bit before the rapids pick up again, and so when the when the river smoothed out, I was obviously brought up to the surface and climbed back into the boat, but I was only about halfway through the tour. At this point in time there was about I want to say about 20 rapids that we were going through, and that was probably number nine or number 10. Yeah, so I was stuck in this ravine on this river for another hour and a half or so and I came out of the boat two more times. Nothing is scary as that first, yeah, nothing is scary as that first incident. And actually I fell out. They called so it was a set of three rapids tightly, sort of pushed together. They call it the mother and the two ugly sisters. Um, and I fell out at the mother and two ugly sisters, so it's three, three big rapids consecutively, one after the other, so there's really no break. And then, yeah, I was. I was on this tour for another hour and a half or so, and what I didn't know at the time is how much that really impacted me and how. You, you know, after that incident I was very, uh, uncertain about water. I couldn't really go any any deeper than knee deep which, of course I didn't know at the time, was anxiety and and trying to process everything that had happened. And so it took a number of years to really kind of fully rear its head, in the form of anxiety and a panic attack that landed me in the hospital, as I thought I was having a heart attack, and I walked away from that going I really need to be intentional with my life. I need to figure out what I want to do, cause at the time I was just working a job. It was just for money. It wasn't for, you know, it's not cause it was what I was passionate about or what I wanted to do longterm. It was just, you know, it was there, it was easy, yeah, 100% right. It was like living and all the things, and it really kind of woke me up and I realized that you know what I need to be living far more in alignment and intentionally than how I am. Of course, at the time I couldn't articulate that. I just knew that what I was doing wasn't working. And that led me into my yoga teacher training, which then obviously kind of had this beautiful cascade effect into everything else that really kind of came online, I would say, after that initiation that I went through. So, yeah, that's what I mean about kind of like a funny yet very serious undertone of one decision that totally rocked my world, changed my life, tossed know my my importance on trauma, informed care and all this other stuff. I can see how it all weaves back into what I went through through my own experience. 

KimHost

40:55

It's interesting that you were able to go back that far and say this was the origin and not when I found yoga. That's cool.

MegsGuest

41:08

Yeah, thank you, it's. It was definitely, because I can see it as the reason I found yoga was because I was so anxious and stressed and out of alignment and not myself and, you know, not living the life that I wanted, and I  had always been curious about it and always thought, man, that would be so cool to teach yoga and to, you know, help folks feel better and all the things. Of course, I had no idea at the time that there were so many different branches and avenues and you know depths of a yoga practice that exists, but I was just really drawn to it and I think it's because it held so much medicine for me and activated so much more in my life around energy work and everything that I do now. So it absolutely, totally shaped who I am and what I'm doing right now. It's cool, thank you. 

KimHost

42:11

How do you pull yourself out of a magical slump? 

MegsGuest

42:17

Two, two things. The first is well, actually I should preface this by saying this happens to me often, often in rhythm with my own cycle, um, my own menstruation cycle or the cycle of the moon. I mean, you can tie the two together for sure, but there'll be times when things get really quiet and I feel really kind of removed from from all of that. But getting into nature, really intentionally, okay, I'm going to put my phone away, I'm going to go for a hike, I'm going to be really present, I'm going to be connected and dialed in, I'm not going to be. You know, instagramming my walk and all this other stuff that sometimes we end up doing, that really helps me to shift back into a space of gratitude, and from gratitude comes, you know, the craft, and comes service, and comes all these other things, and that's really where, for me, so much of my energy flows from, and the other is being of service. So, you know, often I will feel just kind of like again unplugged. To give listener kind of like a visualization of like literally just unplugging a lamp from a wall, and then a client will look in with me and suddenly I'm plugged back in and the lights on again, and I think that for me anyway, that's really, it's healthy. I like that. I've learned to come to like that. Before I used to think, oh, is this, maybe this again imposter syndrome, right, maybe this means that I'm not good enough, maybe this means that I'm not enough of a fill in the blank, but I was kind of like that's ridiculous, that's just not true and I'm not going to believe that. Aand I've learned to take it as time to rest, time to step away. I don't think that we're meant to be in it 24, seven, all the time. Our nervous system, I don't think, is meant to withstand that kind of intensity. You know, I think, the slumps and the quiet times and the points in our life where we feel unplugged. There's actually medicine in that as well. If we choose to look for it, if we're choosing to open to it, there can be stuff there for us as well that actually end up fueling and adding to our practice or to our craft at a later point in time. 

KimHost

44:39

This might seem like it's from out of left field, but I remember when smartphones first entered my life and I thought I don't need that shit. I got a computer right here. If I'm away from the computer, I don't need to be at the computer. Now I am addicted to it and not being like, oh, my OCD makes me arrange my Sharpies no, the word as it. I behave like an addict when I do not have my phone with me. Yeah, yeah, it's weird that addiction. 

MegsGuest

45:27

Do you know what I mean? Like the everything from the color of the light screen to the algorithm, to the accessibility to all of that it's meant to. I mean it literally gives us dopamine releases and makes us feel good, so of course we want more of it. You know it's it's. We've come to live in a world of such quick and easy access to so much stuff which is incredibly privileged and entitled and not at all Okay. You know that that our phones just fuel that and add that fuel to the fire, and so I I totally understand that. And, you know, there's actually, there's actually centers that people go to to detox from their phone. They actually need, they actually need help to step away and reduce their screen time and get off of, get off the device. So I found that really interesting when I found that out a number of years ago, when I was working in an addiction center teaching yoga, I found that out and I was like, oh, it makes a lot of sense, yeah that's wild and necessary. 

KimHost

46:35

Totally, totally. What is something you wish was discussed more in the witch community? 

MegsGuest

46:54

It's funny, you know, I I'm not, I'm just stepping into my comfortable time being in community. I, I come from a long line of practitioners or women who are solo practitioners. We've, as I mentioned before, we've never been at the front lines and big community with big voices. We've always been those solo people, um, impactful but quiet and, and I'm sure, for some folks, reserved. And so I'm, I'm just starting to feel that real draw and that real desire for community and, uh, in a big way. And so I I'm probably not the best person to weigh in on this because I'm not really sure too much about what's been frequently talked about within this community, but again, something that's just really important to me is that trauma-informed care and trauma-informed perspective, and that to me, includes the ability to hold space for people to have a different opinion than ourselves, and it doesn't mean that we're right, it doesn't mean that we're wrong, it doesn't mean that they're right and we're wrong. It just, it just means that the world is big and there are many different opinions and, you know, we can learn how to lead with compassion and understanding and still believe and be committed to our cause or to, you know a particular line of activism, or whatever it may be. You know we live in a time where one thing negates the other, it's this or that, it's all or nothing, and I really would love to start seeing in every space the ability for folks to come to the table and sit and black and white, like and and have a conversation. And again, I feel like I feel like we were so capable of this not that long ago, pre pandemic era, you know, I feel like folks were so much more forgiving, so much more spacious, so much more understanding, um, around differing opinions and, you know, folks with different whatever, and now it just seems like you're either right or wrong, You're either in or out. You know, and we're so quick to, you know, cancel culture and all this other stuff, and I don't know, I just, I just don't think that that's at the that are, it's not at the root of our humanity, it's not really. I don't think anybody really wants to be living that way. I think we're all craving and have a deep thirst for that spacious understanding and compassion that once existed and definitely could have been built upon, but is really, really missing in today's conversations. 

KimHost

49:47

I agree. 

MegsGuest

49:49

Yeah, it's so polarized, right, it's intense. 

KimHost

49:57

Think about the three biggest influences on your practice. Whether it's a person or an old pet, or a book or a song you heard once, maybe a smell, who knows? Thank them for the effect they have on you and your practice. 

MegsGuest

50:18

So top of the list is Starhawk. Starhawk, I actually just recently have been enrolled in her magical. It's called magic and activism. Ooh, I think, I think it. I think the title of this ends there, and it's an online course that she's running. It's, I think, about six weeks and in it, talking about talking to the solo practitioners. So I'm like, hi, that's me. Who is, you know, wanting to make a difference, wanting to change the world, wanting to help, and how do we do that in an energetic perspective, from our home, from our communities? What does that look like? And, and, of course, I've read a ton of her books as well, both her fiction books and her more practical, practical works. So Starhawk is is like right there at the top. Pixie Lighthorse is another human being who has been very, very impactful on my service spacecraft, and I will often refer to her teachings, but also her blessings or poems or prayers, or however you want to frame it. Her words are just exquisitely written and speak to all manner of folks. It's not, it's not geared specifically for witches or specifically for you know, it's very inclusive, it's very encompassing, it's very digestible language, but it's deeply profound as well. And so I'm, I'm really, and I I appreciate all that Pixie Lighthorse does and her activism and her core space and things like that as well. But, so those are the two human beings that I attribute a lot of my lessons from a lot of what I've learned. A lot of you know the tools that I bring in. And then nature is again my, my biggest influence, I think, because it influences me so much. I'm very influenced by the seasons and I would say, more so since my son came along. I'm more open to what those natural rhythms look like and being okay and at peace with them, knowing that there's those like peaks and troughs of busyness or being plugged in and unplugged and just kind of riding that wave and being okay with it because we see it reflected in nature all the time and it's like, okay, nature is good, I'm good, I'll be okay. So those that was a hard question to really kind of narrow down and be very specific with, but I would say that those are my three biggest influences. 

KimHost

53:10

Cool. 

MegsGuest

53:11

Yeah. 

KimHost

53:14

What advice do you have for new practitioners? 

MegsGuest

53:18

That's such a good question. I think trusting yourself is so hard, it's so hard, it's so hard, um, but it's also so important, because whenever we're new at something, we are always looking to others for guidance and inspiration. And how do we do this, how do we do that which is great, and I love that and find the people that you align with. Find the people that you know really speak to you and the practice that you align with. Find the people that really speak to you and the practice that you want to create or have created. But don't be afraid to trust yourself as well. Don't get lost in what something should look like or should be, because someone else is doing it that way, because no one else can do what you can do, even if you're brand new. You have so much to bring to the table, and so allow yourself to borrow the things that you like from others. Allow yourself to be influenced and find inspiration from people, but try not to get caught up in that. It has to be done this way. Let your. The more that you can trust yourself, the more that you can allow yourself to be brought forward, the deeper your magic becomes. The more powerful you become, the more aligned you become um, and the better off everything is. 

KimHost

54:36

That's so good. Oh, thank you. Who do you think I should have on the show? 

MegsGuest

54:50

Ashley Mariana. So she is someone that I'm actually doing an upcoming day retreat with just in our local community, um, but she's a licensed therapist, but she also does she's a witch. She does breath work. She does cold plunges for folks breathwork. She does cold plunges for folks, um, and she's really changing. I know I did one, so I actually had her come to my home and hold a breathwork session for my husband and I, and afterwards we did a cold plunge, and it was minus 15 Celsius, absolutely not. Celsius Minus 15 degrees C and it was snowing. It was so cold and the water was 0.8 degrees and I was in for three minutes. I was so proud of myself I didn't think I could do it. I'm such a sucker. I hate cold water. I'm like, if it's not 84, I'm not getting in. But I did it and it was really. It was pretty cool. And what I love so much about Ashley is she's changing the way that therapy is digested and given Um, and she's impacting so many people who need it, both couples and individuals. Tthrough alternative ways and alternative methods as well as traditional methods like the. You know the therapy and that sort of thing, but she's a very cool human being. Highly recommend reaching out and connecting with her. 

KimHost

56:14

Cool, I will do that. Yeah, is there anything else you wanted to bring up? Anything that you're doing soon, any other podcasts you're going to be on, or did you have any questions for me? 

MegsGuest

56:28

So I'm always offering different online things for folks. I would love to welcome people into my little corner of the internet where I teach a lot of breath, work on reels and I just I'm always trying to offer different ways for folks to feel better and shift into more space and into a higher energetic frequency. That for folks to feel better and shift into, more space and into a higher energetic frequency that just makes them feel better and makes their life feel better as well. Um, cause, I think we all need more of that. But yeah, I'm just I'm always offering new programs and different courses and different, you know, kind of masterclasses and things about grounding and just different techniques and tools that always sustain and support folks, whether they are talking about witchcraft, specifically, or energetics or how to protect and ground yourself as highly sensitive people, which I think so many of us are and don't necessarily identify with until we're kind of told about it. So you can find me on Instagram @megs_emerson. I'm always trying to teach different breathwork techniques and different ways of shifting energetically to feel better and to help soothe stress and anxiety and overwhelm and all the things. I do a lot of work with people who are highly sensitive, on a one-to-one basis, both online and in person, helping to ground their energy and how to kind of energetically protect yourself. Whether you are in the witchcraft kind of community and space, or you are just perhaps an entrepreneur looking for additional energetic support, I'd love to welcome you into my little corner of the internet. You can also find me at loveyoga.ca, and I'm always open to collaborations as well. So if anybody feels connected to what I've been saying, then I'd love to hear from you and you can email me at meg at loveyoga.ca. 

KimHost

58:24

Awesome, yeah. So the last two things I ask of my guests. Thing number one is please recommend something to the listeners. It doesn't have to be witch related at all, it doesn't have to be related to anything you talked about. Just whatever you're into this week, tell people about it. 

MegsGuest

58:44

Oh, that's a really good one. Okay, I we just we just wrapped up watching a TV show called race to survive, and it is this…

KimHost

58:57

I'm already stressed about this.

MegsGuest

59:01

It's definitely not for the faint of heart. A friend of mine. Actually, I met her at a womb healing retreat in Joshua Tree. She actually helped to produce or create the show and she was promoting it on her Instagram and I had never heard of it before, but she was talking about it and I was like this sounds so cool, so I kind of found it through that channel. I'm not sure I would have come to it otherwise, but it is an outdoor adventure race with all these different groupings of people. Some of them are father and son, some of them are brother and sister, some are just friends and they do all these wild challenges out in season. One was in the arctic. So it's like all this beautiful scenery and just rugged terrain and just total wildness which I'm like I really connect to. I love all that. And then, of course, you've got the interpersonal play and stuff and it was. It was a really good show. We really enjoyed it. It was. My husband and I got through it pretty quickly and we are we. We do love being outdoors and that kind of stuff. So I don't know if that's a prerequisite or not but it was. it was fun, it was a good show.

Kim

1:00:10

 I actually have a recommendation for everyone, and it is go find a fast food chili dog and eat it. Well, Megs, thank you again for being on the show. 

MegsGuest

01:00:23

You're very welcome. Thank you so much for having me. 

KimHost

01:00:32

And everybody, be sure to go to show notes and click and follow and I will see you on Instagram. Okay, bye!

Megs

01:00:36

Bye!

Kim

01:00:37

Megs, welcome to Hive House. 

MegsGuest

01:00:39

Woo hi Welcome!

KimHost

01:00:41

Thank you. This is where you do tell the inappropriate things. 

MegsGuest

01:00:46

Fabulous, this is my zone right here!

KimHost

01:00:52

Okay, I have some cards in my hand. Please say when. 

Megs

01:00:56

When.

Kim

01:00:58

That's a boring one, I don't want that one. Okay, sorry, I'm going to just put that on the spot altogether. 

MegsGuest

01:01:05

Go for a funny one, okay, when. 

KimHost

01:01:09

Oh you already told me this, what social media do you use the most? 

MegsGuest

01:01:16

Oh, okay yeah, Instagram. 

KimHost

01:01:19

Okay, what is your favorite quote? 

MegsGuest

01:01:24

You never know until you ask. Something that my mom said to me all the time growing up she was always like you just, you just never know. You gotta ask, you gotta do the incredible thing and just lean into it real ones. 

KimHost

01:01:37

That's a good one, it is real, yeah. What's the most fun you've had in the past year? 

Megs

01:01:41

 I would say.. (fades out)

Kim:

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