Episode 38

Aug 9

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In this smile provoking conversation with Stuart Adam and Stefanie Cohen, Michaela Carlin leads an exploration of the alchemy of prayer, the power of the heart, and the significance of being present to the suffering we can create through our inner narratives.

Stuart shares about his personal awakening to the consciousness of the heart and its profound impact on his life. He suggests that by bringing our mental stories into the heart we can more easily access the alchemical magic that lies within us. Stefanie, who is Michaela’s collaborator in medicine work and also a client of Stuart’s, offers her own perspectives on what it means to orient more towards the heart.

Stuart guides us through a meditation that helps focus on the vortex of the heart, enabling us to dive deeper into our own awareness and tap into our innate wisdom. He also highlights the significance of stories and agreements in our relationships and the need to cultivate self-worth and learn from our experiences, regardless of their outcomes.

As a healer, Stuart’s facilitation work has included medicines like ayahuasca and kambo as well as subtle plants such as blue lotus and rose. With respect to kambo, Stuart explains how the power of prayer in combination with the power of the medicine can create a deeper healing. He approaches kambo not just as a physical medicine but as a metaphysical movement of energy, capable of clearing the darkness of disease and anxiety.

As a native New Yorker, Stuart’s career in the arts took a turn when he first experienced ceremonial plant medicine. Exploring the esoteric arts, he spent the past 13 years traveling the world, working with different plant medicine lineages – time on the Red Road (Native American Tradition), in Peru with the Shipibo and with the Columbian Tiatas. He served plant medicine for years helping people heal. Now he is sharing his lifelong wisdom with students and clients – working with plant spirits, teaching the Alchemy of Prayer and offering spiritual, shamanic and integration guidance in New York and around the world. He continues to study and deepen his wisdom through devotional practice with elements, plants and the cosmos.

Stefanie’s healing path began in an effort to heal herself from a decades-long struggle with anxiety and depression. After years of being on and off various psychotropic medications, she finally gave up and began seeking help from the natural world. In 2015, Stefanie started working with herbal allies in a ceremonial context and experienced the deep healing and vast intelligence the natural world offers.

Eventually, Stefanie returned to a state of peace and began a deep exploration into her own psyche and the true nature of consciousness. She then started working with meditation and contemplation, exploring the teachings of mystics and wisdom traditions. At the same time, studying and experiencing personally various therapeutic modalities such as Hakomi and Internal Family Systems, in which she holds a Level 1 certification. Stefanie also looked to indigenous teachings: apprenticing to soul work through Vision Quests and land-based practices, learning shamanism with Rose Khalsa and sitting in deep meditation with the moon and the mountain. She holds a certificate from the Synthesis Institute’s Psychedelic Practitioner Training, which offers a new paradigm for mental health care, and has completed the Rainbow Bridges School for Evolutionary Guides.

Stefanie brings humility and humor honesty and compassion, skill and curiosity to her work with clients as she considers it a great honor to be able to work with them in that way.

Episode Highlights

Stuart’s personal awakening to the consciousness of the heart
Bringing our negative narratives down into the heart
Meditation and focusing on the vortex of the heart as key practices to connect with the wisdom and guidance within
The significance of stories and agreements in relationships
Stuart's studies of plants and practices such as ayahuasca, peyote, prayer, and alchemy and how they contribute to his healing work
The difference between shamanism and alchemy
Embracing awareness and conscious choice for personal transformation
The metaphysical movement of energy with the sacred frog medicine, kambo
Uncreating limiting agreements and creating empowering ones
Tapping into the power within the heart for personal awakening and growth

Stuart Adam’s Links