Think a lot about all of the women that came before us who didn't have this chance to step fully into our power source, our education, our public sphere capacities, and that we have a responsibility with, with our ancestors who brought us to this moment. We are the dreams of our ancestors, and everything that we inhabit while we're breathing in these temporary bodies will impact future generations, whether we have kids or not,
welcome to the lettuce loves you, the Podcast where we explore belonging and nourishment through the perceptions of body, Earth and community. I'm your host. Jeanell Innerarity, for over 25 years, I've been helping people come home to themselves through somatic or body based practice, dream work, nature, connection and relationship with self, other, humans and spirit. I want to get beyond belonging as a buzzword and beyond nourishment as a fitness strategy, and get to the heart of what it really means to belong and what it really means to be nourished. Each of my guests has a unique take on these ideas, and I hope you'll take home a greater sense of what belonging and nourishment mean to you. I hope you benefit from listening to the lettuce loves you, and if you do, it would mean a great deal to me. If you would like rate and share the show so that more people can discover it and get the same benefit. Now let's dive into today's episode.
So welcome back to the lettuce loves you. I have such a wonderful, incredible guest on today, Ahri Golden. And Ahri Golden is a media midwife, and I am so excited to introduce you to her and Ahri. Thank you so much for joining me.
Thank you so much for having me. Jeanell, yeah,
it's really a pleasure, and I'm really excited about your everything that you have to share. I was just like getting goosebumps about what you were sharing, even as we were setting up. So I can't wait to dive in, but let me let people know who you are and what you do here. Yeah,
my name is Ahri Golden, and I am passionate about tapping into the deep wisdom of our lives and creating podcast series that contain the stories that animate the purposeful work that we're here to do. And I focus with wise, visionary women leaders. And I do believe that there's something about the collaborative tending force that we are that when we infiltrate nourishment into the marketplace, into our leadership, into our relationships, into ourselves, that we really integrate what we've been through with what we're what we're focused on bringing forth at This moment, at this existential moment in the human story. And so my work is really about taking in the wisdom from life and then bringing forth those stories so that they can uplift others and help others get through really difficult, unimaginable disorientation and regrouping to focus inward so that we can come with energy and inspiration at this moment.
Yeah, that's another like goose bumpy moment for me, hearing you say that, and it brings up so strongly how much story is a fundamental form of human nourishment, like we create our sense of reality and belonging and wholeness through story. And what an incredible gift. And I'm going to um. Share your sort of formal bio here in a second. But what an incredible gift that you help people actually dive into their story and share it in a way that feels enlivening so Ari is an award winning media midwife, a podcast series consultant and creator a mother of two, and is deeply informed by stories and creative response to the world that's unfolding within and around us. And so Ahri your your vast experimental projects, you're enlisting new podcast series. You work on lots of different podcast series, public radio documentaries, music and memoir create an urgent human response to the roiling changes in society. I love that word roiling, and I'd love to unfold that with you and so as a media midwife in the story womb, you support wise, visionary women leaders and both one on one or in groups, which I really want to know more about, to gestate and hone and collaboratively create from the core stories guiding their purposeful work through the wild of this era. So tell me about navigating the roiling changes and what that means in story work. Love
that question. I grew up, you grew up, We, we grew up in a society where, if you buy this, you're going to be okay, if you have this outside of yourself, you're going to be enough, you're going to be happy, you're going to be successful. Or all of these external measurements that have guided our society to the place that it is right now. And so I believe that when we go back to the real essentials, the fundamentals, the elemental truth, that we're human, that we're organic matter, that we are born and we die, and we have all of these mini deaths in between that bring us to our edges, that that melt all all the excess, and you get really clear about What matters and who you are, and that that inner guidance, that inner strength, the inner resource, that inner currency, if that is tact, when we can get into that space, It is so catalyzing. It is so just it. It inspires us to remember who we are, where we come from, what we've overcome, what we've done. And to me, when we do that work and we really root into those core lived experiences that connect to our purpose, connect to the guide that we are here to be that, and we all are. It's a birthright. We're all born with gifts. We're all born with wisdom, and we can either come back around to that or not. And so I guess in roiling, uncomfortable, disorienting, shattering, really, times of reality that we thought was and is no longer to go inward and lead from the inside out, I think, is going to really make or break whatever it is we're here to do, because we we can't be identified with external measurements anymore. It's it's not going to sustain us. It's exhausting to always be pushing and pushing and going and going and trying to get approval or trying to get something outside of ourselves, when we orient inward, we have more space, we have more room, we have more breath to focus our gifts.
That makes me think about how through every period of history, there have been prevailing stories, and that even if we've lost the architecture or cultural information, somehow so many stories have been passed on, and we know so much about people's orientation through that, and that you're helping people tell the story of now, or write the Story of now, and how powerful that is. It's unfolding in the moment.
Yes, right. It's uh it's not prescriptive. It's it's our it's sourcing our lives for wisdom. It's sourcing this ancient knowing that you're just talking about in. All of culture that's ever been that's right inside of our blood and our bones and our our breath. And so I find that when we're deeply seen for who we are underneath, underneath the kind of physical appearance or what we're wearing or what we're any anything external that that when it's a when we can tap into the soul of ourselves and the soul of our business, then we magnetize the soul of those who are meant to be connected to the work we're doing in the world?
Yeah, that's so powerful, I think, like, because you work a lot with with business owners or entrepreneurs, and you're an entrepreneur, and there's this idea that has to be overcome so often that you need to reach everybody. And actually, when you have the story that's from your deepest place, you reach the people who need that story medicine, exactly, and you're helping people do that.
That's exactly, right, yes. And it's it. It then becomes this, this garden of ideas and this, this rich soil that then what wants to emerge from that soil, the life that gets drawn to that soil, and what gets conjured in there, there's a purity to it. It's a it's an aliveness. And I just, I believe that we, we have that no matter what is happening outside, that inside, we can we can nourish, we can develop strength inside to withstand any thing that that comes our way that's
big in this moment. There's so much coming, so many people's way, everyone in a different way. Everyone's taking on some different piece of the puzzle.
It's true. It's true, and to the point of women and leadership, and this idea of being a visionary person that is, you know, orienting the world with, with a vision, with a purpose, with a sense of of of inspiring other people and and helping to uplift others. That there is, there's a certain kind of fire and fuel and and grace that comes with the courage to orient that way, and so I find that really inspiring to be around every day.
Yeah, I love it. I feel sort of shy to say this, but sometimes people will say to me like, Oh, I really want to start my own business. And like, Are you sure? Because
it takes a lot of grit. You have to really get comfortable with being super uncomfortable.
Yeah, yeah. You're just always going over edges. You're always right at your own growth edge or beyond your own growth edge, and you just figure it out that's right, and again and again, that's
right. And you root and you grow and you become a version of yourself that you sometimes you can't even imagine. I mean, it really does empower us, and I think a lot about all of the women that came before us who didn't have this chance to step fully into our power, source, our education, our public sphere capacities, and that we have a responsibility with, with our ancestors who brought us to this moment. We are the dreams of our ancestors, and everything that we inhabit while we're breathing in these temporary bodies will impact future generations, whether we have kids or not, so it is this awareness of being a bridge between worlds and that also really guides me and inspires me every day.
Wow. So tell me how that shows up differently when you're working one on one with folks, versus when you're working with a group?
Yeah. Well, I think it, yeah, there's in one on one work. It's so intimate, and it's so intimate in groups too, but there is a sense of companionship in a one on one environment where it is, you know, it's, it's a, it's a, it's a deeper experience, because it's solely focused on the client and the resonance between us and and it's also, you know, there's, there's a way, like, if my client is sick or can't make it, or, you know, that there. Just a lot of flexibility around one on one that in a group, it's more of a set thing, and you miss it. And there's, you know, there's certainly, you know, ways to engage if you can't make it to the group, but, but in terms of just group dynamics, and, you know, holding a container for people to share, everyone's going to have different experiences. So it's, it's a navigation of vulnerability and of of of holding space for that dynamic to to bring forth the the truth of what they're there to bring so it's, it's, I think, you know, people impact each other, and it's also an opportunity for networking in a way that is, you know, one on one is certainly a network of experience. But when you have five women together, sharing on that level, you know each other, it's a it's a deepening and when one person is brave enough to begin, then that creates an incredible ripple effect of courage around the circle one of my I also teach and at the University in my in my town, which actually my course in college at Southern Oregon University, was the thing that inspired all the work I'm doing right now, which is really cool, but, but this idea of in my students, one person specifically I remember, shared a story that was really tender, and it opened up the whole class, and everyone started sharing in ways that was inspired the idea for groups and leaders. Like, yes, this is this is so powerful when one person feels safe and seen and clear, and then shares from that, and it unlocks for everyone else. So
what led you to branch out from doing the one on one deep dive work that you've been doing for so long into the
group work for podcasting?
Yeah, thanks for that question. I you know one of my clients is bringing her work one on one to groups, and that really inspired me to think about, how can I help more people at one time? And also, I think we're in this moment where community is so important just feeling connected to other women leaders who are kind of going out on the edge and facing the stories of their lives that connect with their work. I mean, these are really brave women. These are these are women who have an amazing balance of risk appetite and and strength and grit, but then also such a there's a softness, there's vulnerability, there's this ability to just be seen in in the perceived messes of our lives, because we know that that's where we learned our wisdom. We know that that's how we strengthened ourselves, and we're strengthened by life. And so I think that that that capacity to hold opposition, that capacity to show up with our most authentic purpose in the world right now at this existential moment, is deeply cohesive. And I think that building community is something that I am deeply committed to in my personal life. And so I also want to bring that alchemy into my work life as well and really integrate that passion for creating a space for truth to emerge and being witnessed in that and the solidarity and the sovereignty that gets generated from that opportunity right now, feels critical, feels vital, feels alive, and I tell my daughter, there are two kinds of women in the world. There are the women who tear you down, or there are the women who lift you up, and who you are lifted by them. And so that sense of being lifted in a world that's full of competition and sort of power over that we are here to create a new culture of women leaders on purpose through this moment together, lifting each other up, being imperfect, being alive and being brave as hell. So I, yeah, I'm just, I'm feeling myself getting. Excited as I speak about it, but it is, it is a it's a sacred thing. So is
there one project that you've worked on that stands out as something that really touched you or transformed you, or you saw someone go through a big transformation that inspired you to continue the work? Yeah? Yeah. I
have. Currently, I'm working on a project right now that is the my client, who I can't name right now, but she is. She's a grief and loss spec specialist. She's been doing she's a clinical social worker, and has been working one on one with clients for over two decades, and she's working one on one, and she can see eight people a day at max, and really felt compelled to help people with grief and loss and tools on how to navigate these immense feelings and experiences. She wanted to help more people. Like, how can I help more people? How can I take it from a one on one practice to to really just supporting people around the world? And so last year, we finished our seven part episodes, or seven part series. It was seven episodes, and each episode centered on a core story from her life that gave her the insight, the wisdom, to do the work that she does. And it's sound designed and it's beautifully edited, and we, we really made a stunning series. And right when it was about to launch, she sent me a note that her husband was diagnosed with cancer stage four. Wow. So we just halted everything, obviously, and she basically spent that whole year nursing him through to his death. Wow. And she was texting me through out as just a I would just check in with her and just,
and
it was so intimate, so intimate, such trust, such context from I knew her soul, I knew her strength already, and was reflecting that back to her when she was in the throes of unspeakable pain, but also that the work that we had done together was validation and confirmation that she was on the path she was on, and she's being given this test because this is her medicine. This is the medicine she carries, is to help people through this and to experience it so up close and so personal, elevated her understanding of the work she was already doing, and to support that process was so powerful and intimate and That couldn't have been done in a group. You know that that kind of context, I guess, is, you know, the flexibility of like, okay, let's reengage when you're ready. I and so there was a very natural relational power to what we did. And a couple of months after he passed, she said, Ahri, let's do the final episode. And so it's the story of her year. Wow, and it's, it's profound. I mean, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about about it, and it's a document of this is what resilience looks like, feels like, sounds like. This is real time, raw truth and beauty at once that it's so excruciating, and there's beauty that, that just holding that, that tension of opposition within an experience and and really sort of honing the beauty, honing the learning, honing, you know, what is here for us to grow through that project, and I'm just actually finishing it up now and about to deliver it next week. So that series will be coming out later this year, probably this summer, but but there is this sense of. Of we are creating legacy work here together. This is the work that will ripple backwards and forwards, that this will help so many people to engage challenge with heart, with soul, with vision, and so yes, it was so inspiring for me to keep going, to keep doing this work, to know this is impacting my clients at such a transformational level, both personally, just the catharsis of sharing your stories and being seen in them and making work from them. But then also the listeners, the future, listeners will get that medicine too.
That speaks so much to how the telling of a story is as much, if not more, for the storyteller, the listeners, and how you enter the field of a story when you're telling it, even if it's your own, and it transforms you as you're in the process of telling
it. Oh, absolutely no, that is so right. And I hear that again and again, that it is it roots the purpose of what we're doing and why we're doing it. And it expands us to receive it and to give it. It's it is this incredible ecosystem of giving and receiving, and it is so empowering for the teller to to be witnessed in it to integrate the story and to recognize, I mean, every time it's it's almost a it's a discovery of, oh my gosh, I never thought about that. Ah, we're connecting these dots that felt separate before somehow, and now there's just because I'm always listening for, where are the connection points, where are the turning points, and how do they connect? It is like a puzzle of of life, and it's fascinating. It's fascinating to do that, and just to say, also, you know, there's the the telling of the stories and the being seen in them, and I work with my my clients to do that and then creating a podcast that can be a separate sort of engagement, but, but just to focus on Your stories, either one on one or in a group, that that can really pour out into many different medias, or, you know, ways of engaging any element of communications with what you're doing, whether in like social media, or if you If you're called to do a curriculum or a one woman show or a podcast series or a film like it can be expressed in many ways, is my point. But that really, that first part of really organizing and thinking through, what are these core, core lived experiences that connect in with a steeper purpose, and then to just eliminate that together.
That's so interesting, because that's a lot of what I do when I work one on one with clients in a in a closed, private setting, where they're not sharing it out to the world, and often it's things that they would never want to share out to the world. But I'm thinking in much the same pattern in terms of like, whoa, what's the puzzle piece? Oh, you just said that, but it connects way back to this and, and, and what a powerful transformation for someone to say, Okay, now I'm ready to actually synthesize this and put it out as a story that's useful in my own transformation, that's useful to other people, that connects the dots, and how healing that is to see the threads reflected back.
Oh yeah, yourself, 100% Oh yes, yeah. That's a really good point. I think, yeah. One of the things that is essential in the work is that the more personal you get, the more universal you get. So so it's always looking for what is the through line that is resonant for the listener, even if they didn't have that particular experience that the learning in it, finding your voice, you know, speaking your truth, you know, can be found in so many environments, but that these universal themes of of creating a boundary of you know, doing the thing that you that, that your that your soul is calling you to do. But it's terrible. Fine, and you do it anyway. I mean, there's just those kinds of gems of universal insight are what I'm always looking for in every story.
What do you find the most challenging in your work or in this process? I Hmm, good question.
It's funny that I'm like searching for what's most challenging. That's a good sign. Yeah. I I really feel aligned with my purpose through this work, and I've thought often about the lack of stress. I feel that there is a container for everything here and so even the challenging things that you know, if, if a client is is feeling like, Okay, I'll say there's one thing that's coming to mind where you know one thing that comes up often will be in the middle of working, And then the story of, does my story matter? Does it matter? Does it really? Can it really make a difference? Wow. You know some like of that, that sense of of working with clients, to reframe that idea, which is that it's not about them, it's not about us, it's not about you, it's not about me. This is about something bigger than us. So that this frame of, yes, what is that universal thread that then takes us out of the self doubt, it takes us out of the fear, because if we're just instruments for wisdom to come through right now, at this roiling time, at this disorienting moment, if we can come from that sense of, what have I learned? What have you learned? How can that be helpful? It takes so much pressure off it sort of, it relinquishes the tightness and and so that, I would say, in terms of like, one of the bigger challenges is to soften the field so that we have access to that authentic discovery of of our own internal wisdom
brought me a little bit of tears to the corner of my eyes, because it reminds me how many people myself included, on some days, this sense of how many people carry this sense of, I don't matter, not just my story doesn't matter, but like, I don't matter. And it's so common. It's a thing that people say to me all the time when they when they come to work with me, and it's really heartbreaking that we live in a time where that's a, I would say it's almost a normal experience in these times,
and if we can see it as a lie, yeah, that's the lie, yeah? What if we're all born as a miracle? Yeah? What if all life is actually phenomenon. It's miraculous, and we're all part of that, this breath, these bones, this blood. If we can reinvigorate our perception of life with that idea that we're we're a part of something so magnificent, which is just the awe of being alive, that we get to be here, that we get to be Here at all. I thrive in presencing that truth. And I think that when we touch into all of those who came before us, who didn't have the chance to speak, who didn't have the chance to step in to this public space. What are we bringing here? What what is, what is ours to bring, and the more we can go inward to inquire about what makes us come Alive, that it sort of infiltrates everything from there, right? It just it ripples out. It is a sense of integration and seeing that there is a huge lie that's getting dismantled,
and we can let that burn
and create something else.
I think people often think that in order to have a story to tell, or in order to matter, they have to have done or experienced something epic, something really big, something that nobody else has done or like this, off the charts experience and that, how do you elicit those stories of just the little everyday, deeply personal details that are Not epic, that touch us at the deepest levels. Yeah, great question.
It's really great question. I think, you know, a big part of the exploration process before we do any production, if a podcast series is part of the the goal is that the discovery journey is, is really a back and forth intake on your life. You know what, what happened. Tell me about your life. Tell me. Tell me where it all begins, and in the in the memory of where you were, what you went through, who was around you, who inspired you. You know what we take the time to really get to know the journey that you've been on. And it's kind of, I think about, I thought about Seinfeld, right when you said that, but that there's just this everyday living that comes when there's space and a curious participant, which is what I bring. I my work is to be fascinated by your life, and so I'm going to ask all kinds of questions that pull on those moments of discovery, of an everyday experience, I I'll tell a story that my son, he came home from school one day he was in fifth grade, and he was really short at the time, like he felt very short, whatever Small and and the kids were calling him midget at school and just being cruel. And he came home one day and he slammed the door, and he was so angry. It's just like so much rage. And I get down on his eye level, and I said, What happened today? And he was just so angry. And I asked him if I could hug, give him a hug. And I hugged him, and he just sobbed. He just let out all of that rage into just feeling. And he was crying for probably 10 minutes, and by the time he self regulated, he said, Mama, thank you for letting me have my feelings. Oh, and it was this moment of, if we could just be held in the moments where something happens that could be really traumatizing, or could, you know, be a really painful experience, and if someone is there to witness you, to hold The true experience in all its nuance, without performing, without trying to say or do anything, but just being in the truth of it. There's an alchemy. There's a transformation that happens where we move from fear and rage into compassion and acceptance and learning. And so I'm always looking for those moments. Those are the moments of those, those kind of tension points in life where we experienced being human. And so it's not a big epic, necessarily story. Sometimes it is but most of the time, even in really big, epic stories, you're learning something very basic and so and all humans are fascinating.
Hi ya'll, Jeanell here solo for a moment. I just wanted to pause and slow down a little bit around this conversation around the word midget being used as a slur and an insult and using somebody's part of somebody's identity as a weapon against them. So one of the ways that I work with people is on internalized oppression, and this type of insult, this type of intentional shaming and using somebody's identity against them is so so common. Most people have some experience of some part of their identity being weaponized against them. And there are certain identities, like people with dwarfism being particularly persecuted for something that is just part of who they are. And so Ahri's son also just a short kid, and that's being weaponized against him as part of who he is, and it's really hard not to internalize those things. It's really hard
in the human condition to
remember your value when those things are used against you and to even claim them as gifts, and that's one of the things that I support people to do, in particular, exploring chronic health issues when you have complex chronic health issues, just Navigating the symptoms themselves and sometimes the mystery around them, and sometimes the intractability, the difficulty around them, and definitely navigating the medical system can cause you to start to internalize that experience. And if you have social identities that are ethnic, racial, religious, gender, body size, sexual preference, etc, etc, etc. If you have any identity that society tends to weaponize against you, it can be that much harder to really stand in your own value and in your own worth. So I have a free, completely free. Course on my website on working with the inner critic and working with that type of internalized oppression, highly recommend it. It's on the free stuff page. Link is in the bio, and I just didn't want to go past that slur that was used against Ari sun and that way that, in general, these types of things are used against people, when really they can be incredible gifts or they're just part of who we are. And there's there's nothing wrong. It's just ways that people try to enact control because they don't feel good within themselves, because they have their own inner critic and they're not
thinking it through. So
check out that course, and be kind to yourself and be kind to others. I know that's what Ahri stands for, and We're going to keep talking about it.
So I think another part of the lie is that you have to do something really big and external and measured to be enough, to be okay, to be interesting, to be successful. And that's just wrong. It's just it's a way to control humans is to think that we're not enough.
That's another
excruciatingly common experience of people feeling like they're not enough. And one of the things that I notice I've been doing interviews and tele summits and online events for many years, and I invite people to speak, and often they're people who have lots of experience as an entrepreneur or teaching or like speaking in lots of different spaces, but they still have so much inner critic. System about hearing their own voice and hearing it recorded back. And some people don't want to listen to it at all. Some people are super nervous, some people are super apologetic. And one of the things I've noticed in myself is that I've often recorded something and then my inner narrative says, Oh, you shouldn't have said that. You shouldn't have said that you shouldn't have said that. And what about that? And, oh, you should have explored that. And then I listened to it, and I'm like, Oh, that was good. Like, how amazing that I want, like, and how many times in life must I have some interaction, go home and criticize myself about it? And actually it was pretty okay, you know, slash, so I'm imagining that you're having clients come to you to work on their podcast and work on their stories with this edge around hearing themselves recorded or hearing their story. What do you say to them about that? Yeah,
well, I have a lot of empathy. You know? I have a lot of empathy. There were definitely times where I couldn't stand the sound of my voice, and felt so critical about my own voice and all of that. And I think just by doing, just by keep going by, by continuing to lean into being uncomfortable, that there's a softening that happens, that there's a there's just a practicing of continuing to lean into life that makes us braver and makes us more courageous, and softens our voice and softens The edge. And I would say that in the process of recording, one of the things that makes my clients feel really safe and able to access their authentic voice is that we can do multiple takes of something that, if something is, you know, off, we can re record it. We can, we can. So my clients are really when we're doing podcast production, we do all of the discovery work, so we have the full plan of what the stories are in each episode, and then we go back and we record the plan. So recording it is my client on the other side of zoom with me, guiding them through the story and and drawing out details. Oh, wait, we forgot that. What about this? And what about that? And, and what about this discovery and just deepening into the story, and then I take all of that material, and I cut out my voice, and I cut all the fat off of the storytelling, so I get it into its most essential form, and then sound design it and bring it alive. It's like a really powerful, visceral exploration of the voice. And then I send that to my clients. They listen to the first cut, and they give me notes. So if there's any sounds or music that doesn't work for them, or if they say something and they're like the way I said that was unclear. We can go back and record it, and I can add it in so it's, it's a very collaborative, empowering access to to the voice, to empowerment, to sharing stories that are artfully created with agency, with a sense of collaboration, with a sense of nothing is going to go out into the world unless my clients feel clear about about it and feel like a full body Yes. So I would say that that you know that deep work of tending the material. It It brings about a real shift from the the kind of inner critic into such confidence and so much validation for what they've experienced
that sounds incredibly healing. It is. It really is, and
it's incredibly healing for me as as the collaborator to to support that that process.
So talking about healing, I ask every guest to share with me what Herb or spice or medicinal plants they love, and you picked turmeric, and I would love to know what you love about turmeric,
but I love the color. I'm a color lover, and when you walk into my house, the whole. Right wall walking in is a turmeric color with a Turq with a turquoise mirror, juxtaposed to the turmeric wall. So But aside from the color I have found, I'm 50, and on the other side of menopause and inflammation has been just a thing that I've worked with. And turmeric. I try to have turmeric with everything I eat, and if I don't, then I'll have it in water with lemon, and I feel like my joints are so much more fluid I'm holding so much less inflammation. So it's a really specific I don't necessarily like the taste very much, but I make it work. I like add salt to it, or olive oil and garlic, lime but, but it has a real medicinal effect on my joints and my achiness, like I don't feel achy anymore. And I also will say that I'm I, I'm I lift weights. And I've started lifting weights, actually the day of the inauguration of of Trump's second term. I started lifting weights every day, and just the strength of that with turmeric, the combination of those two things has, gosh, I feel so strong in my body because of it.
I love that combo, turmeric and weight lifting.
You know, the weight lifting opens up all of my muscles to receive the turmeric
that's beautiful.
So I'm going to share a little bit of the sort of turmeric bio, and then I would love to know what that sparks for you and what you resonate with, because it's actually, it's a cousin of ginger, which people don't really think about, because often we see turmeric as a powder, and it's becoming more and more available as an actual rhizome that you get right next to the ginger in the store. But that's, I think, more in recent years in the US. That's been true in many other countries for 1000s of years. Turmeric is Curcuma longa, and we've been using it as humans for literally 1000s of years. And it looks like ginger, for anyone listening who hasn't seen it before, it looks like ginger, but this like bright I don't even know how you describe the yellow. Maybe Ahri. You have a better a way to describe the orange like fire that is this color
that that does it, it is an orange fire, right?
Looks like a little like a little ginger, but made of orange fire. And you'll often see it often in the also in the supplement aisle as curcumin, which is an extract of just like a single compound. And that's been really well researched as well. And it works with like for certain conditions, but with all plants and all herbs, the whole plant is so often more effective Western or modern, I hesitate to say westerns, like modern medicine, is really interested in extracting specific compounds. What's the one thing that makes it work? And actually, as a plant, the whole plant is what makes it work. All the different parts of the plant, all the different constituents in the plant, are working synergistically to make it work on the whole so if you can use turmeric as a whole plant, that's often a better option, but that's not always available, and it's not always the right choice for everybody, but it's warming, it's drying, it's pungent and it's bitter from an herbal standpoint. And one of the things that's really interesting is that it's touted as this cure all, right? That like, it's available for everyone to miraculously resolve any manner of inflammation related condition or anything else, basically. And actually, if you're already a really warm or hot person, or you have a really warm or hot condition, or if you're already a really dry person, like you tend to have dry skin, dry joints, that kind of thing, it can exacerbate that. It can make it worse. And so you need to tone it down, or you need to balance it with things like golden milk, which is really, really popular. It's like a milk with honey and some other ginger and sometimes black pepper, cardamom or some other spices. That's like this, really lovely. I think of it as a tea to drink before bed, because you it helps detox your liver, and so you drink it before bed. It's really soothing. It's relaxing. Reduces inflammation, detoxes your liver while you sleep. So I will share in detail the laundry list of things that turmeric has been researched for, and it's not even complete, because it's so many things. But Ahri, I'm curious if there's something else that this has sparked for you.
Gosh, I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is that the earth is so intelligent to create these incredible resources for us, with us, that that earth actually creates healing, and that we are here to create healing with for of through the the the magnificence of being alive. I love that. I love that Earth creates the thing that helps us heal that just to it's fascinating. It's a fascinating exchange, and for us to reciprocate that care, how can we reciprocate that care and receive that care? Give and receive, and not here to dominate it, but here to learn the ways, the wise ways that are all around us and within us, and that turmeric is a stunning metaphor of listening within for what is needed.
I love that, and it's actually a really beautiful plant, like it's a gorgeous plant to have in your garden, and beautiful flowers and these big, sort of striking leaves. And I think of growing a plant as one way that we give back to the plants that collaborate with us if you're growing it and tending it and replanting it, and it's like, yes, please, please distribute my seeds. That's great. Yes, yes. That's part of how we give back to the plants. For sure.
I love that. I love that. And I do love the turmeric root itself, without the powder that to take it and to to cut it and put hot water in it, and let it just really Yeah, to soak in it's all of its medicine into the water and into our blood and and let it, let it help us clean ourselves from the inside.
And I should distinguish that. So there can
be a dehydrated, powdered, whole turmeric, and there's the curcumin, which is the extracted, specific compound. And so you can get both. They're both out there. They're both available. And love that important to differentiate.
It's great to bring in herbs to this conversation. I love that and just it's a it's a wonderful way to think about purpose and work in the world. Like what you know, what animates us, what helps us feel alive, what, what cleans us from the inside. What what makes us feel connected to life outside of ourselves? And I think herbs and plants really do that.
They absolutely do. And one of the places where the Western mind, or the modern mind, tends to get stuck is this idea that herbs are drugs, and to try to use them the way you would use a pharmaceutical, the way you would use an extracted, synthesized compound. And they're not they have a whole living energy and their own intention and their own drive, but also they have all of these synergistic compounds that work in this really complex way that's not very well understood in in all the layers scientifically yet, but it's, for example, something like Willow white willow bark is the aspirin was synthesized from that. But if you take aspirin, it often irritates your stomach because you're just taking a single compound. But Willow has these mucilaginous compounds that line your stomach and coat them and soothe and it doesn't irritate your stomach, and you get the pain relief. So interesting, like they're not drugs, and they take time, and they like turmeric, you can put in your food and develop this sort of long term relationship with it, where it's also medicinal and, let's say spiritual, right? It's this, like I work very much spiritually with plants, but I think that we get into this sort of this for that idea. Yeah, and it's there are tendencies, but they're not flat, definitely.
Oh my goodness, absolutely. I think you're making me think about the mycelial networks under the surface of of the earth and surrounding trees and just this. It's so multi dimensional and nuanced, and there's layers and there's, it's, it's, it's so much kind of depth that is available, but what it requires is seeing it. If we see it as such, if we see the turmeric as multi dimensional as we see our stories as multi dimensional as we each other and and all that life brings through us, that if we can have that deepening relationship, that there's an aliveness there, and it's it's just constantly there to grow us stronger.
That's the power of story.
I think so story and turmeric.
That being said, I'll share some of the many, many ways that turmeric does specifically support people. Its tendencies. And there are more that I'm going to share. There are so many, but it helps as an inflammation modulator. It's an antioxidant. It helps heal damage to the intestinal tract mucus membranes. So it's used for treating, treating ulcers. For example, it promotes glutathione production, which is a really important antioxidant that you need for many, many cellular processes in your body. It helps warm stagnant digestion. It promotes bile production from your gallbladder and your liver, it detoxifies the liver itself. It may help reduce fatty liver. So if you start to have fat deposits around your liver, it may help reduce those it's been researched to support heart health, for cancer prevention, to support cancer treatment, for joint health, to improve cognitive health, you can put it on topically for conditions like acne, it's really drying and astringent, and it'll turn your skin bright light bright yellow. Turns everything bright yellow, whatever it touches, it turns bright yellow. But you can put it onto something like acne or psoriasis or eczema, and it will kind of dry it out and and address any topical infection that's happening there. It can the powder can stop bleeding pretty quickly. It's been researched to help prevent Type Two Diabetes, to address menstrual cramps. It just it goes on like there's more than that.
And I love all the learning. I love how much I'm learning about turmeric that I didn't know. That's so fun. You're already doing these things. You didn't even know you were doing these things. I know, I know. I That's really cool. How amazing. Yeah, you
thought you were just helping your joints and lifting weights, and I know,
actually making you a superhuman
and you could paint things with it, if you're into the colors, you can dye fabrics. I love
that. I love that.
Thank you. Thank you for infusing me with so much of turmeric wisdom. It's really cool to hear all all of those things.
Yeah, thank you for bringing it in, definitely
deepening my understanding and appreciation for for this practice.
Yes, that's what, that's what, that's why I want to bring in the herbs into the flow of every conversation. Is it's really cool, normalizing how deep and powerful they are that we think we just just enjoy a cup of tea, or there's something that we just have a resonance with, or we use it for a certain issue in our lives, and there's actually so much happening underneath. Great.
What a great service.
Thank you. Yeah, that's really because it's accessible, it's, it's, it's not, you know, we herbs are,
they're right here,
they're right here, they're, they're, they're in pure form, they're, they're here for us and with us, if we can See it,
yeah, there's such a deep rabbit hole there. But I like it used to be normal to have many, many, many different herbs in every meal or every day. Like as humans, we're, we're evolved to be in just. Seeing lots of herbs all the time, and we've stopped doing that, and there are real nutrient deficiencies and real impacts on our digestion and our hormonal processes and our detox processes by removing that regardless of a specific herb, just by removing that constant input of herbal food as medicine. So yeah, they're here all time. Interesting,
great, great. I love that. Me too. Yeah, thank you.
So if people want to work with you more, how can they do that? And what is currently available,
can come to my website. It's at Ahri golden.com it's A, H, R, I, G, O, L, D, E, N.com, and peruse the story womb. This is the container for my client work, and you can read about what I'm up to and sign up for a discovery call and see if we're a fit. And I work one on one, and I work in groups. Tend not to do usually, my groups are between three and five people, so just keep it intimate. And, yeah, I'm really just fascinated by courage and insight and wisdom and bringing that alive right now, into into my life, and into the my life, the lives of my clients and and to commune around these experiences that that give us strength to go on and uplift others. It's a gift. So I'm I'm excited to be in touch also LinkedIn and Instagram. At Arhi Golden,
and I will post that in the show notes as well so people can click it directly. Is there anything I haven't asked you that you wish I had?
I guess I'll just riff on one thing that I think is pretty interesting about the work as it relates to plants and medicine I I'm a mom of two, and my experience of raising my kids and being present with them and going through all that we go through to to Raise up the plants that are kids. You know, the these radiant souls on this planet that so much of my work with women comes out of this deep curiosity about who my kids were from conception, like I wanted to know who they were, I was fascinated by them, and that that kind of attunement created an environment that was so healing for the part of me that didn't have that. And so the work of podcast series creation with wise leaders and women, there's a through line of fascination and trust and space for your genius to emerge that is a similar way of framing what what it is to be human and to to to assume wisdom, assume that there is something so rich and radiant here, and let's find that together. And let's bring it up. Let's bring it through as medicine for this moment.
Well, I wish that for every single person listening to this, and I hope that those who are ready to step into doing that at another level, feel inspired to reach out to you and start that work.
Well, I appreciate that so much. Thank you for your beautiful questions and work and presence.
Thank you so much for joining me. Ahri, it's been really magical.
Thank you. Thank you. Such an
honor. Thanks for listening to the lettuce loves you. Don't forget to like, rate, and share this podcast so more people can benefit. Your one small action helps us get these reflections on belonging and nourishment to the people who need to hear them. And I appreciate it more than you know. I have more free offerings at Eco. That's eco spiritual education. Ecospiritualeducation.com/freestuff. This podcast provides educational information about traditional edible and medicinal uses of plants. This should never be construed as medical or dietary advice. Always consult with a medical provider before making dietary changes. The music you've been listening to is tu bisfa by Batya Levine, used with permission and a lot of gratitude until next time, remember the lettuce loves you. You belong to the earth, and life really does want To nourish You.
