Wisdom From Lived Experience with Jennifer Winfield Jennifer Winfield

Back in 2016, Two of my American girlfriends shared one of Bethany Webster's blog posts with me. I found her writing mind blowing, to have someone put words to all the ways I had felt over the years was both comforting and validating.

My mother who had died a year earlier and I was struggling with emotional roller coaster I was on. Bethany's work offered a way to slowly unpack all the stories I had in my mind and all the pain I had in my heart and a few years later I signed up for her online course "Healing the Mother Wound."

The course had a huge impact on my life and I began to create healthy boundaries that honoured my individual needs. I also began to develop a deeply loving and compassionate inner mother, the voice I had long to hear throughout my life.

Bethany and I had a rich conversation, we are very comfortable with each other because of the work we have done together. I found it so interesting listening to Bethany's story and how she developed this incredible body of work.

Bethany Webster is a transformational coach, speaker, and writer.

Bethany’s book “Discovering the Inner Mother” was published in 2021 and is the most leant out book in my personal library. 

To find out more about Bethany go to her website: www.bethanywebster.com

You can find her on facebook at "Healing the Mother Wound with Bethany Webster" and on Instagram @themotherwound

 

This week on the Wisdom From Lived Experience podcast I am talking about the painful realisation that I had a mother wound and that it continued to disempower me.

I came across Bethany Webster's work in 2016 and it opened a door to help understand some of the ways I had been feeling about my mother. It came at a challenging time. I had crippling chronic fatigue and my mother had died the previous year. With nothing to lose I continued to lean in to Bethany's work and as I did, my symptoms started to clear and my energy came back.
In this episode you will hear how I struggled with some of my mother's behaviours and how I have been able to repair much of the damage done through Bethany's empowering work.
This was not an easy subject to talk about publicly, and yet there is so much more I would like to say on this subject. I hope you can hear the tenderness in my voice as I share some of my childhood struggles but also my deep love and reverence for my beloved mum.

If you would like to know more about me. Head to my website at www.jenniferwinfield.com or follow me over on instagram at @jennifer__winfield

Immortal Soil emerged out of the "terrible awfulness" that was the pandemic of 2020. No longer enamoured with the lives they were leading in Sydney they decided to use the opportunity to move up to the Northern Rivers.

The boredom from being locked down inspired them to create botanical art installations in unlikely places. Their first creation was inspired by a burnt out car which they filled with bright red blooms sourced from the side of the road. Word travelled fast and before long they were ask to create a satellite event for the Lismore Regional Gallery called "The Dark Lodge."

Both Bob Horan and Selena Murray come from a floristry, and event management background. They were both apprentices in creative fields and that foundation has given them the skills and confidence to expand their creativity in a fearless and imaginative direction.

I first met them both at an event at our local hall and I found them both warm and funny.

A few months later I interviewed them as part of an art installation they had created at Pearces Creek Hall. Their creation was entirely immersive, an enchanting lost world with twists and turns, a huge wing of grasses and an outrageous privet berry monster hovering over the entrance.

A normally reclusive pair, Bob and Selena stepped out and claimed their work by sharing their process with the audience. It was a magical few days and I was delighted when they said "yes" to coming on the podcast to sprinkle some of their wit and wizardry with us all.



To find out more about Immortal Soil you can find them on instagram @immortalsoil.

This week I hopped on an impromptu Zoom call with Kim Deans as part of my research for my next podcast guest Immortal Soil. I decided to record the call as I knew there might be some gems in there that I might want to share.

The truth is it was such an insighful and knowledgeable conversation that I have created an entire episode out of it.

If you, like me, were taught to demonise weeds then prepare to be transformed. Kim shares her vast library of knowledge and wisdom about how why have been programmed to demonise and kill them.
As Kim says " Weeds are our storytellers" and you will find out in the episode why.

Kim Deans runs a business with her husband Angus called Reinventing Agriculture. She supports people who are looking to change the way they manage their land. You can find out more about them at https://www.reinventingagriculture.com.au
and on Instagram @reinventing_agriculture.

If you would like to know about weeds you can download their free pdf here: https://www.reinventingagriculture.com.au/weeds-as-indicators

Winding through the remnants of the Gondwana rainforest you arrive at the base of Wollumbin, a majestic mountain and sacred site for the Bundjalung people of the Northern Rivers area of NSW.



Artist Gabriela Soelkner has lived on the edge of the Wollumbin National Park for 42 years. She and her partner live a very different life, immersed amongst the trees, rocks and creeks that form part of their property.

She creates extraordinary artworks in her studio which tucked in to a rock face on the edge of her property. These paintings are of ancient figures layered with archetypes and wisdom which she has brought to life with paint and collage.



I met her when I first went to Wollumbin and we immediately connected. I am thrilled she agreed to come onto the podcast and share her story with us all.



She will be exhibiting at the Mist Gallery in Cabarita in May, and you can find out more that and see some of her artworks on instagram @gabrielasoelkner.



Mist Gallery: @mistgallery

MArts Precinct: @m.arts.precinct

Australia is a magnificent country.



Within this enormous country there are vast amounts of space. These spaces are filled with beautiful, soundscapes, seascapes, and landscapes. I personally found that through connecting with the wisdom of the Aboriginal people it created this deepening that helped me understand the healing power of reconnecting to country.



There is just so much wisdom held within the land, so much knowledge yet to be tapped into.



In this episode I talk about my own experience reconnecting to country and how it has changed me and I also introduce my next guest, artist Gabriela Soelkner who lives on the only natural henge in the world...Wollumbin.



Wollumbin is a sacred site for the Bundjalung people here in the Northern Rivers. It is currently in the midst of heated debate as elders have requested that people do not climb the mountain, while others feel the opportunity should be available to everyone.



Enjoy this episode and please do leave a review if you enjoyed it.



You can find out more about me at www.jenniferwinfield.com or on instagram @jennifer__winfield