There's a fair bit going on in the world of bees at the moment. The pesky varroa mite is wending its way across our continent and choices are having to be made on an individual and industry level on how to respond to it. Treat with chemicals, or use the 'Bond Method' and trust the bees ability to self-manage. Pollination of food crops will be impacted so food security and the cost of food to us consumers, along with the actual quality of honey in the years to come. It's a thing. What can we do and how can we help?  In this episode Karen shares what she knows about the current 'state of play' and shares her thoughts along with some interesting links for those of you who would like to explore a little more.  www.wheenbeefoundation.org.au/about-bees-pollination/ and www.happierbees.com/kenyan-top-bar-hives/and the link for Les Crowders version of the Kenyan Top Bar Hive is here as well www.bee-mindful.com/plans. If you'd like to contact Karen directly you can do so via the contact form on her website https://soulfulandwild.com.au/contact

In this episode of the show , Karen speaks with Sarah Bonnar who has danced and taught Tango both here in Australia as well as overseas. Sarah shares her thoughts on dance as a tool for freedom and greater connection to the inner spirit. To connect with Sarah direct, go to her website www.dancegrammar.com.au

"What's it all about?" Have you ever asked yourself that question? If so, you're not alone, but it seems that there is no answer - or so they say. Karen, who has been working with the Tarot over the last 30 years or so, says that using the Major Arcana Tarot cards and some basic math, you can work out the significant lessons your soul is here to work with. So tune in and get the formula to work out your purpose this lifetime.  If you'd like to check out the list of Astrological Life Cards she mentions you will find that here at www.soulfulandwild.com.au - just click on the Resources Hub and then select Reflections - the post you are after is called Tarot and Astrology and it has links to descriptions for all twelve of the Astrological Life Cards.

This was a fun interview to be a part of. Some great questions asked that took us on a deep dive into ethics and ways of working with the Tarot. Interviewed by Renee Gee for the Tarot Guild of Australia, this was their first episode of Tarot Talk. Below is part of the description the TGA used to introduce this interview;  "Karen is well-known in the Tarot community and has been a member of the Tarot Guild for many years. Karen is also a member of the TGA Committee and has been reading Tarot for over 25 years. She is a wonderful teacher, practitioner, author and the creator of the Tarot Oils™. We talk to Karen about her first memory of Tarot and her personal views on an array of topics and 'gnarly' questions we sometimes don't get a chance to discuss and demystify." If you are interested in Tarot and would like to become a member of the Tarot Guild of Australia, do check out there website https://www.tarotguildaustralia.com/

Clinton Hall is a local business owner with a deep passion for holistic health, fitness, performance, personal growth and evolution. Clinton runs a coaching business where he supports men's health and growth through experiential workshops, retreats and online mentoring. With his wife Katie Hall, the couple run an organic grocery and health food store called Almar Organics, and a small organic farm where they grow produce for the store and their community.  We touch on the quality of food, biodiversity, food miles, food security, sovereignty, the energetics of food, community, values and the meaning of life. A great chat with a man with a big why.  If you'd like to check out the store Almar Organics, you can click o the website here [https://almarorganics.com.au/]. If you want to follow Clints work in Mens Health, you'll find him on instagram here [https://www.instagram.com/almarlife/]. 

In this episode of the Soulful and Wild Show, Karen shares 2 simple processes to follow that will move you into a place where you can genuinely become your own guru. She says, it's important not to give your power away to others, that you do indeed know the answers to your own burning questions. She describes how to create inner stillness so that those special gems of insight can drop into your consciousness and also shares a process that she calls 'Golden Bodies' that she learnt in India - yes at an Ashram.  Some interesting concepts to consider here.  Karen Seinor is a Tarot expert and an accomplished therapist. You can contact through her website www.soulfulandwild.com.au 

Emily McQueen is a Soul Guide and Intuitive Astrologer who supports empaths, intuitives, and spiritual seekers in reconnecting with their inner magic. Blending Astrology, Human Design, energy healing, Kinesiology and sacred ritual, Emily guides others on transformative journeys back to their soul. Her work is grounded in deep spiritual insight and embodied practice, helping others awaken their intuition, align with purpose, and live in harmony with their cosmic blueprint. She is also the creator of Moon Magic, a soulful sanctuary for lunar wisdom, spiritual embodiment, and soul remembrance. If you'd like to connect with Emily, her website address is www.emilymcqueen.com.au and you'll find her on instagram @emilymmcqueen.

From a spiritual and energetic perspective most of us are comfortable with the concept that all things are connected. It's not a stretch to consider a link between the extreme weather we are seeing on the planet, and the destabilsation of bee colonies due to pests like varroa mite. Both the planet and the bee hive are held to be feminine in nature, both are representative of the Goddess. Interestingly, we are taught to work with and treat our bee hives, in ways that might have been considered by the ancients to be somewhat barbaric . Is it time to change things around now? Can we respond to the current bee crisis in a way that honourss and enables the resilience of the bees to shine through? Or have we gone too far? Karen is a Psychic Tarot Reader, and an advocate for slower living with a permaculture bent. She can be contacted via her website. [https://www.soulfulandwild.com.au]

Making change, whether it is getting over the fear of public speaking or flying or trying to lose weight, change is a challenge for most of us.  So how do we do it? Obviously there are many ways, but here Karen shares a few key concepts to help you get yourself  'over the line' to the place that you want to be. No BS and no fluffy stuff, logic, common sense and a few cool tips to help you get there instead. She talks about weighing things up, stopping unhelpful thinking, and focussing on what you want and why that will help you get there.  Here is the link [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTO94wJXQoc] to the snippet of Derren Brown's program, (Derren is a well known Mentalist) that she mentions in the podcast - it's definitely worth watching.  Karen is a psychic Tarot Reader as well as a therapist of may years who is trained in NLP, Counselling Coaching and Hypnosis. You can check her website out here [https://soulfulandwild.com.au/about]. 

I had the pleasure of catching up with Ashley Pilcher this morning and look forward to seeing some feedback from you on how you find this episode of the show. Ashley is what I would call a 'shamanic healer'. He is also a Bowen Therapist, and runs regular sound healing baths and spiritually based breath work sessions for groups here in the local area, but also farther afield. Ashley has studied extensively in the shamanic space and walks his path with a depth of respect and trust in spirit that is both refreshing and wonderfully reassuring. You might hear him say "It grates my bones" and it was fun for me to discover exactly what it was that does that to him. Topics like the interconnectedness of life, the importance of spirit in everything we do, what shamanism is, and what it is not were explored. There was some laughter and some travel down conversational side streets as we enjoyed the journey of our conversation with topics like, core and traditional shamanism, cultural theft (not quite the right word, but you'll get what I mean), working with spirit for financial exchange, reciprocity, ritual when working with plant medicine and using the trance state. I particularly enjoyed hearing Ashleys interpretation of the ordinary and non-ordinary. If you'd like to know more about Ashleys work you will find him on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/AkunaBalanceandFlow/] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/akuna_balance_and_flow/] as Akuna Balance and Flow or look out for his events on Humanitix.

An informal chat with Nurse Practitioner Sue McSweeney on the breadth of colour puncture, (as opposed to colour therapy). We touch on the value of combining natural therapies like medical marijuana or aromatics to naturalise healing, and to maintain optimal health for patients with ongoing conditions like back pain.  Sue is a Nurse Practitioner based in the United States and has 25 years experience in urgent and primary care. Widely travelled and trained across an array of alternative healing therapies, Sue currently works in Hawaii and Massachusetts, and is in the process of setting up a private clinic where she will combine her skills in western and eastern medicine. 

As a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Counsellor, Karen has sat in sacred space with many men, women and couples. From them she says she has learnt some interesting things about sex and relationships. Here she shares a few of these insights, and will touch on things like; - presence - sex drive -  orgasm - kids - setting the scene Karen has been working as a Spiritual Guide and Teacher for many years, teaching Tarot , Aromatherapy, Meditation and other energy based practices. You can check availability for consultations and current course offerings via her website www.soulfulandwild.com.au 

Leanne is a dedicated health professional. She runs a naturopathic clinic in regional NSW and is a self confessed water snob. In this interview Leanne shares some of the cool research she has unearthed on water. She shares some great tips that any of us can use to get started on consuming better quality water.  We talk about things like; - filtering out impurities -  fllouride and the pineal gland - water frequency - water ph and more If you'd like to contact Leanne to talk about water or to book an appointment with her, you can find her on facebook [https://www.facebook.com/MyNaturopathOnline/about] or via her website [https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mynaturopathonline.com.au%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0i6_jSw0bF2bGzrtXMOpemHQ9BqRTOh3jeyo9yFRCHjTB6JB0d9235ecU_aem_BqhIAb6IDe7vKDsnnesa2g&h=AT3w9eu6bWOGt5-H_cvTfA4epY1XmVgwckpiEgaIMM-k4Ge9-2yUHjINrYbJK3hJ03dXdcqF0iqJSuw20pa46OmzrBASRDKuIWTBaS9YNh7CJ1oylajwyq4TyOMo7eFZhwMHvN4K2qyMVUPxdqcxGsVYYTA].

An inspiring conversation with Hannah Read this episode. Hannah is an Occupational Therapist and a big advocate for Intermittent Fasting due to her own experience with it. She is big on the science and shares the beneficial changes the body makes as time passes during the fasting phases. Hannah also speaks about the herbs in her cleanse day tea, and the different religions that use fasting in their spiritual traditions. Upbeat and positive, you can get some good info here, and Hannah is happy for you to contact her through her Facebook page BorderlandTherapy if you are after more information.   If you loved this episode, please give us a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel.   Warmest to You. Karen

A great chat with Marie-Nicole Meunier prompted by the launch of her new ebook Empower Dressing which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was interesting to hear from her about things like; * the vibrational frequency of the fabrics she works with and wears * how the colour and energy of your clothing can affect you * curating a wardrobe with flow * the symbology and intention of jewellery Marie-Nicole is a well known Dharma Coach and honestly, she's a bit of a creative genius. I was entranced when I checked out all the offering on her website. Marie-Nicole works with individuals and small groups, supporting small and micro business owners to do business on their own terms. Her podcast 'Business To The Beat of Your Own Drum' is very affirming and you can subscribe to that here [https://open.spotify.com/show/6hNcHmQi1Ky5Y0HqmsfSzh]. If you're interested in getting a copy of Marie-Nicoles book for yourself, you can grab one on her website [⁠https://creatorsnest.com.au] where she also has some rather cool creations! Thanks for spending time with us here. If you enjoyed this episode of the Show, please share it with your friends, and do subscribe to the channel - that means so much. Till next time, stay wild! Karen xxx

In this episode of the show, Karen speaks about approaching your work and play with the Tarot in a reverent manner, one that moves it from enjoyable pastime to sacred ritual. She shares not three, but four specific processes, each of which can nourish the spirit, and move you into sacred space with yourself. If you would like to learn the Tarot in person with Karen in Albury, check out the Courses and Events on her webpage here. [https://soulfulandwild.com.au/events⁠] If online training suits you better, check out the current offering here [https://soulfulandwild.com.au/online-resources]. Karen offers in person and online sessions from her garden studio in Albury. You can check availability here [https://soulfulandwild.com.au/services].

An interview with Margot Smith who is a registered counsellor trained in Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT), a specialised health and wellbeing modality that includes horses and nature to help people learn, grow and heal. Margot speaks about her own journey with loss, and how her horses offered a path to healing, that she could not have imagined possible. Margot offers on farm therapeutic sessions with connection with the horses in a way that feels safe and right. She says that people from all walks of life are drawn to EAT, sometimes through curiosity initially, but she says it can really help with issues like depression, anxiety, grief, loss, trauma, mental illness, neurodivergence, addiction, relationships and general self-improvement. If you want to check out Margots offerings or talk to her personally, you can contact her via www.pegasuswellbeing.com.au

A wonderful conversation with Rose Sexton and Nicole Parker from End Stage Matters. They are both End of Life Doulas, and we're talking about Death As a Rite of Passage. Nic and Rose both speak about their own experiences with death, their professional background, what moves them to do this profound work, and the actions they are taking 'on the ground' in North East Victoria to improve death literacy. Death Cafes, Dying to Know Days, a Play - they're doing a lot of change work, opening up spaces for people to get educated about their choices. Rose is also a Palliative Care Nurse and Nick is both a Health Coach and a Counsellor. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with these women and feel a lot more informed about what is possible. They touched on how poorly our culture handles education around death as well as the importance of preparing for the transition from this life to the next. I imagine we could go a lot deeper down some of the paths we touched on in this particular conversation. If you'd like to know more, you can contact Rose and Nic via www.endstagematters.com.au

A fabulous chat with Lisa Patten, who is co-owner of Sud-Woofa's Dog Wash in Wodonga and also Ascent Health. Lisa speaks about her personal experiences as a dog groomer and how she integrated essential oils into her work with her 'tricky' dogs, and ultimately moved to swapping out chemical products in her home with aromatherapy based ones for her families health and wellbeing. There's a side story that goes with this too, an auto immune disease that Lisa deals with ongoing, that is deemed to be connected with chemical build up in the system. Lisa says, "That is my non-negotiable with Young Living, it's the cleaning products that I use Young Living for every month." She goes on to talk about specific essential oils she used to boost her immune system and treat her skin condition. "It (the oil blend she speaks about using) did more for me, did more for my skin in a month than every doctor had done for me in six months." ⁠https://ascenthealth.com.au/ [https://ascenthealth.com.au/] https://booking.moego.pet/ol/landing?name=SudWoofasDogWash

I had a long chat with Nutta about self responsibility; being prepared for the unexpected, and being able to take care of yourself, feed and care for your family in the case of a natural disaster or something along those lines, instead of sitting around and waiting for the government to come and save you or fix it for you. We spoke about uncertainty, the dramatic nature of the news, the creation of fear through dramatisation, and touched on topics like; * the preparedness mindset * generational differences * family and community * making do and going without * fighting bushfires * sustainability * eating what's in season and sharing your bounty * water and survival * gender roles and the sacredness of family * the fragility of the supply chain * green energy and reliance on the electric grid "We had to take time off school to move through Ash Wednesday to protect the house. Droughts come and go, things happen. But as a young man in the 80s and 90s on a rural farm in Australia, nobody was coming to help you. Like nobody came to help you. You relied on yourself and your neighbours... That taught me that if you can't put your hand on it and you need it, you don't have it. That's right. And so the way of life of a small holding farmer, and it's always been the way, is you don't know what's coming in the future. So it's like that adage that I always use about hunting. You're going hunting for rabbits, but you're armed for bear because you don't know what the future holds... We have two generations that have no concept that you don't actually get to eat strawberries in the middle of summer. It's only because of globalisation and the fact that we can fly these things in from who knows where, to here so that we can have it... I remember as a kid, when there was that glut of fruit; the jams being made, the preserves, all the things. And if I've got it, I'm going to make, apple puree, apple pies, all that... Preparedness was instilled in rural communities." A long meandering chat that covered many 'hot' topics. Nutta has strong opinions about some things and you may not agree with him, and he is absolutely fine with that. By the same token, you may hear some things here, that cause you to take action that might hold you in good stead at some point along the way.