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In Our Nature
Why do we feel so overwhelmed, anxious, disconnected and lost...and what does that have to do with what's happening on our planet?
This show explores the hidden connections and deeper patterns that are forming our inner struggles and the wider crises unfolding around us. From mental health to ecological collapse, productivity culture to planetary grief, from burnout to reconnection, join me to poke around in the stories, systems and patterns shaping this extraordinary time...
...and then let's riff on what becomes possible when we stop pretending it’s fine and feel the feels.
Your host is me: Siobhán Friel. I'm a mental health practitioner, a Work That Reconnects facilitator and I was probably a lavender plant in a past life.
This podcast offers a way to make sense of your inner and outer world, especially if you were shaped by capitalism (like me) and not by a lineage of ecological literacy, love and wisdom.
You haven't missed the boat. There are many boats and this is one. Get in.
In Our Nature
When the Western Model of Mental Health Is the Problem (& What Animism & Myth Have to Say About Anxiety)
The prevailing Western approach to mental health often treats anxiety, grief, sadness, despair and other challenges as individual problems to be fixed (by you!) and ignores the larger systems we exist within.
But how's that going? Take a look around.
What if our inner unravelling is a healthy, natural, appropriate response to a world that’s dangerously out of balance, and what does an animist worldview say about health and wellbeing?
Join me for:
- Questioning the materialist, individualist, and linear mindset that shapes our current models of mental health… t this framework is often tangled up in the very systems causing social and ecological harm.
- Sharing how the conversation moves from "how do I feel better?" to "how do I stay rooted when everything is falling apart?"
- Understanding what an animate worldview might say about all of this, how it’s different, and why it matters.
- The role of myth in times of collapse
- Ok so what now, then, smarty pants?
Mentioned or relevant:
Episode: Shedding the Stories That No Longer Make Sense (Even When It's Hard & Lonely)
Episode: An Update For These Extraordinarily Precarious Times
Episode: Are You Feeling Your Feelings … or THINKING Your Feelings? (And Why Your Answer Really Matters)
Episode: What Happens When Our Spiritual Grounding & Our Meaning-Making Frameworks for Life Stop...Helping?
Episode: We’ve Made up What Mental Illness Is (And Who Decides What’s Normal Anyway?)
Recommendation: The Emerald Podcast and Josh’s work and courses
Plugging self: I have lovely things happening in Aotearoa, Australia or online coming up in the next few months…head here for details and registration.
Get support or guidance from me here
Everything I do is by donation or gift. You can donate to support my work here if you want (thank you, amazing person)
Gosh what a stupendous amount of links.
Thank you so much for being with me today. You are the bank of cloud that frames the sky ☁️
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