Our guest this time around is writer, coach and podcaster, Erick Godsey. I have been following his work since 2020 and found him to be an inspiring, insightful voice in a wellbeing and spirituality media landscape that often promotes dangerous, wild content. His weekly newsletter is regular thought-provoker for me and I would highly recommend subscribing to it if this conversation moves you.

After exchanging pleasantries, we start the podcast by unpacking his fascinating project called The Shimmer which aims to help people understand the degree to which modern life has left us deeply distracted and provides a helpful roadmap of practices to assist individuals to get their attention back. This has helped me a lot and I have a feeling that many listeners will appreciate this project so I wanted to share it with those who might not have come across Erick and his work.

Lucy O’ Hagan is a very inspirational person. She has been on a fascinating journey, a journey that we couldn’t do justice to in one hour. However, we did cover a lot. I primarily asked Lucy onto the podcast to talk about her work with WildAwake – a fantastic organisation designed to help people connect to themselves, their communities and the non-human life on earth in a deeper way. Wildawake through Ancestral Skills, Ethnobotany, Wildlife Tracking and Trailing as well as Rites of Passage Training invite people to relate to the natural world in a way we have forgotten. Part of this Rites of Passage training with Wildawake includes a process which is often described as a Wildness Fast or Vision Quest which is an ancient ceremony involving several days of fasting in the natural world with little to no human company nor modern distraction. This conversation attempts to delve deeper into this rich process, why Lucy felt the call to Wilderness fasting and how it deepened her relationship with the land and inspired her work in Donegal with Wildawake.

This week's guest is Evelyn Van Winden, a Therapist with expertise in attachment, behavioural and parenting-related challenges surrounding child development. We talk to Evelyn about the importance of those foundational relationships during childhood and how they affect us as we grow into adulthood. We also talk about the challenges of parenting and getting the balance between supporting and caring for your child and taking a step back to allow them to learn important lessons on their own. We could have spoken to Evelyn for hours and hours and will be sure to get her back on soon, but we hope you enjoy this first very illuminating conversation.

This podcast is a conversation with Declan Hammond, the co-founder and former director of the Irish School of Homeopathy. Declan’s array of skills are vast but with this podcast, we focus in on homoeopathy. Most people, at least in Ireland, disregard homeopathy as woo-woo or pseudoscience but my hope with this podcast is that the listener becomes more open to this approach to healing. In this full episode, we cover how Declan came across homoeopathy and eventually established a school in Ireland, the philosophy behind homoeopathy and how it can serve as a catalyst for you to change your life. We talk about the need for balanced practicality in the world of medicine reflecting on what can homeopathy aid and it’s limitations (in the words of Declan- sometimes a gentle approach doesn’t do it). We also cover some memorable transformations it inspired in people over the course of his career, misconceptions about homoeopathy and much more.

James Cussen is a philosopher, video creator and the first Limerick man we’ve had on the podcast. He runs a very successful and useful YouTube channel titled “The Living Philosophy” through which he unpacks long-standing philosophical arguments with modern-day application. A good friend put me on to his stuff and I’ve been dipping in ever since. In this conversation, we cover what philosophy has done for James, and how exactly it can help us in a very real way in our daily lives while acknowledging the dangers of overthinking and overanalysing. We also critique some heralded figures in the mainstream and what their success might reflect about our current society. Are we running away from feeling?

Martín Prechtel is an artist, writer, musician, storyteller, teacher, healer and leading thinker..he’s also one of the funniest guests we’ve ever had on The Earthly Delights. He has lived an incredibly full life and has some profound lessons to share with whoever is open to learning. I was first introduced to the work of Martin by My dear friend Matt who shared with me “The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise”. In this book, he speaks of the inherent interconnection between grief and praise in a truly life-affirming manner. It is one of the most influential books on how I view life and I would encourage anyone to give it a read if they are struggling with grief and joy in their own lives. To be brutally honest, I would recommend the work of Martin Prechtel to you all listening.

Brother Richard Hendrick is a priest-friar of the Irish Capuchin Franciscan Province, now based in Dublin. He was director of Youth Ministry for the Irish Capuchins for over ten years and has worked at both secondary and third level as a retreat giver and chaplain. He is deeply knowledgeable about ritual and initiation within several wisdom traditions and his work highlights the significance they play in our development as humans. With the Sanctuary Mindfulness and Spirituality Centre in Dublin, he has created many youth and teacher training programs around this perspective – the perspective being that young people need elders along with ritual and healthy forms of initiation to help them progress through the stages of human development. In this conversation, we unpack this further with Brother Richard, along with essential components of initiation, the precise role of the elder, and why our parents cannot be our elders. We also hear his critique around the confirmation, the common form of initiation for young people associated with the Catholic Church. This was a special chat with a man deeply committed to spreading insights from many wisdom traditions, not just the Christian tradition. If you would like some more from Brother Richard, he has a fantastic book out called Still Points: A Guide to Living the Mindful, Meditative Way which is available in all good bookshops.

Barry Dillon is the Programme Manager at Venture Out Wilderness Project, a registered charity and social enterprise based in the West of Ireland. Barry spent many years teaching adventure sports in places such as Honduras, Mexico, Asia and South America and returned to Ireland 10 years ago to spread the expertise and wisdom he learned to the young people of Ireland. In this podcast, we unpack his experience with the natural world, working with young people outdoors and the specific programmes Venture Out provide. Some of these programmes have helped people that haven’t yielded much benefit from traditional talk therapy and I hope this serves as some inspiration for those who feel that nothing is working to help their mental health, their relationship with themselves and the wider world. I invited Barry on because, as a Youth Worker myself, I see first-hand the lack of time many young people spend outdoors and I sense that this has broader repercussions than we are quite aware of right now, so I strongly support the work he and his team are doing at Venture Out.

Manchán Magan is a writer, traveller, documentary maker, Gaeilgeoir and polyglot. He is a very necessary presence in Irish culture right now as interest in the Irish language and Pre-Christian Ireland grows and grows. I was introduced to his work by my girlfriend late last year and was pulled by his incredible passion for the Irish language and myth. He describes in powerful detail how the language provides us with a much more rich, more mystical and interconnected perspective on the world compared to the English language that was forced onto us. His recent work can be seen as a plea to ponder the significance of an island losing its native language and as a rising call to explore the Irish language and myth with greater curiosity if one feels the call. This podcast covers all of this in more detail and insightfully highlights how the Portal of language and mythology can push us to feel a tighter connection to our ancestors and to our land.

Melissa Kramer is the founder of LIVE UTI FREE. An organization established to help support people struggling with long-term Urinary Tract Infections. They also advocate for the need for more research in this somewhat neglected area of women’s health. Why arrange this podcast? Well, I think our majority male audience could brush up on their knowledge of UTIs as it has and will impact a large percentage of the women in their lives. I have also seen the crushing impact of a Chronic or long-term UTI on my girlfriend and her mental health. She and many others in a similar situation feel alone and often dip into periods of despair- wondering if they will always experience this pain. Melissa is keenly aware of this, having suffered with this condition for many years.

In Ireland in 2023, we find ourselves in a deepening housing crisis that means fewer people than ever can afford to finance their own home, let alone achieve joyful and sustainable life.

It’s easy to forget that we once had the skills, resources and sense of community to feel confident in addressing these kinds of challenges – perhaps easier to believe that we have lost them forever. Common Knowledge is a non-profit organisation, based in Co. Clare committed to helping people familiarise themselves with such skills while empowering the community to play a more hands-on role in their living arrangements. Spider Hickman is a Co-founder of Common Knowledge and programme director. Originally thinking that architecture was her path, she diverted to contemporary art, then residential development before finding her happy place back on site, this time with tools in hand.

Moe Aloha is a facilitator, DJ, writer and a man who’s devoting a lot of his time to improving relationships; people’s relationships with themselves, their loved ones and their relationship with the universe around them. The initial intention of this podcast was to discuss grief, and we did. Still, this podcast also turned out to be a healthy conversation between men who experience the world quite differently. I found it to be a wide-ranging reflection on where we are collectively with our felt sense of pain, grief, loss and trauma. This isn’t one of the episodes where an expert gives us the answers, this is an episode where 3 men listen to each other and respectfully express their thoughts.

In a world of everything, everywhere, all the time it can be very challenging to have time to pin down what’s really important to us and keep the focus on these aspects of ourselves and our lives, in the midst of omnipresent content and distraction. Ronit Herzfeld is a woman who cares deeply about helping people reach an intimate connection with themselves, their deepest selves. She is a social worker specializing in psychiatric crisis and trauma, and a social activist devoted to alleviating human suffering by guiding people to live a conscious, open-hearted life. In 2014, she began co-creating a community of diverse individuals who are deeply committed to authenticity, and to consciously transforming our relationships toward ourselves, each other and our planet. This community is called Leap Forward and I have left a link below for anyone who is interested in learning more about their work. This conversation begins to unpack the key processes and perspectives that have aided Ronit's and Leap Forward's growth towards a richer, more trusting and more connected life experience.

Dr Jacqui Dillon is an activist, trainer, writer, and speaker specialising in hearing voices, dissociation, trauma, abuse, and recovery. She is the Chair of the Hearing Voices Network in England and a key figure in the international Hearing Voices Movement. Her survival of childhood abuse and subsequent experiences of using psychiatric services inform her work. She is an outspoken advocate and campaigner for trauma-informed approaches to madness and distress. Jacqui is part of a collective voice demanding a radical shift in how we understand and respond to experiences currently defined as psychiatric illnesses. In this episode, Jacqui talks about her experience with hearing voices, her relationship to the voices and the power of community and support in aiding her healing and the healing of many across the world. I think this can be a huge turning point for those listening who are not too knowledgeable about the phenomenon of hearing voices.

Robbie Tomkins is a remarkable person who has overcome all manner of hurdles. We spoke to him about his struggles with binge eating and his honesty, transparency and clarity regarding the subject made this podcast one to remember. If you believe you suffer from binge eating or just have an unhealthy relationship with food then this one is for you!

Dr Piera Briganti is a trilingual therapist and a trained EMDR therapist. Life led Dr Piera to face different adversities, but also to develop an interest in the influence of events on the mind and personality. She chose to graduate in clinical psychology and become a psychotherapist because she wanted to teach people how to stop suffering and learn to overcome difficult moments. Thanks to EMDR, Dr Piera has managed to overcome past experiences and realised that it could really help a lot of people to overcome their traumas quickly and deeply.

Ciara Sherlock is a hard woman to put in a box, but she can be definitely described as someone who is deeply invested in helping people improve their relationships with themselves and the world around them. You might find her holding space for a woman becoming a mother, supporting a person through an altered state of consciousness or working with someone with pain or trauma manifesting physically. She weaves her knowledge and experience of bodywork, altered states of consciousness and shamanism (or spirituality) to create a holistic process that encompasses mind, body and spirit. In this podcast, I speak with Ciara about the importance of what is referred to as integration work after a psychedelic journey, in essence how we can derive meaning from the experience and how this meaning can help us in our everyday lives. We discuss what psychedelic integration can entail and what can happen if one moves from a trip to trip without attempting to bring these experiences into the day-to-day. We also talk about the Women’s Circles that Ciara facilitates and the healing power of being held by a group of people as you reveal the layers of your soul (yes, that is a Kanye West lyric). But sincerely, I have benefitted hugely from men’s circles and it was lovely to hear Ciara describe similar uplifting shifts and deeper connections occurring for women too.

This week we chatted with Environmental activist Manuel Salazar who has been associated with the organisation Extinction Rebellion in Ireland since its inception in 2018. Extinction Rebellion is a global environmental movement, with the aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse. The media I consume often depict Extinction Rebellion as quite extreme and lacking a clear structure to achieve its aims. I invited Manuel on to talk about this and much more. For anyone frustrated at the lack of large-scale environmental response or who feels heavily judged by environmentalists for not living a carbon-conscious lifestyle – this is the podcast for you.

Ronni Abergel is an author and founder of the Human Library Organization, where real people with real stories are on loan to readers instead of books. At the Human Library, people have the opportunity to talk with others who are often discriminated against to find out about their lives and to get a better idea of what’s it like to be them. A man who is deeply committed to facilitating communication and making our society a less judgemental place, Ronni started the Human Library at a festival in Denmark 20 years ago and it is now located in 85 countries across the world. This conversation covers a lot, including the collective intolerance of the intolerant, our lack of curiosity and the power of conversation. We also discuss the process of changing people’s opinions and perspectives on issues and how this usually takes an extended period of time. This serves as inspiration for having conversations with people we disagree strongly. We won’t change their mind immediately and vice versa but if there is curiosity and respect, greater understanding can be achieved.

Our guest this week is Dr Iseult Twamley, who is a Clinical Psychologist and Open Dialogue Trainer/Supervisor. She is Clinical Lead of the Irish Open Dialogue implementation in West Cork, which she initiated with a successful implementation grant. Since 2012 she and the team there have been implementing Open Dialogue as part of the Adult Mental Health Service. This project has been very well received by service users and families and described as “transformative” by staff involved. Put succinctly, Open Dialogue is an innovative, network-based approach to psychiatric care. It could well be a future model of care in Ireland and beyond in the coming years. We invited Iseult on to discuss Open Dialogue more thoroughly, how it came about, how does it work, who can it potentially help and much more. For anyone who has been frustrated by the mainstream medical model, this will be a very important listen. There are alternative approaches out there helping people with a wide array of conditions