Where does the rubber meet the road when it comes to our spiritual practices? What principles, beliefs, and values underlie our spiritual practices? How might contemplating them more deeply help us orient towards practices that align with the chapter of life we're in?

This is the first installment (hopefully of many more) where I explore the theme of embodied practical spirituality. Our spiritual practices don't exist in a vacuum. They are part of the larger ecosystem of our lives.

How do we begin building bridges between our so-called mundane realities and our spiritual lives? What caused the divide in the first place? How might we begin dissolving the arbitrary divisions and embracing the potential for our daily reality to initiate us?

Drop any questions you may have for me here.

Photo by Andres Siimon via Unsplash.

If you enjoyed this podcast, consider booking a reading with me. I offer astrology, divination, and subtle alchemy sessions.

I also offer a 6-month mentorship container Night Vision.

Listen to & purchase my new song Friends on Bandcamp. You can also listen to it on your favorite streaming platforms.

Try the incredible breathwork and meditation app Open for 30 days free using this special link.

This podcast is hosted, produced, and edited by Jonathan Koe. Theme music is also composed by me! Connect with me through my newsletter, my Instagram @jonathankoeofficial, and my music. For podcast-related inquiries, email me at healingthespiritpodcast@gmail.com.

I've been sitting on this episode for some time.

I've known that the podcast wanted to shapeshift since the beginning of the year, but I didn't know exactly what Healing The Spirit 2.0 will look like so I stayed devoted to the rhythm we've established.

This week, it became clear that the first right move is to pause the weekly contemplations to create space for new pursuits, explorations, and most importantly, experiments.

This summer, we'll be playing with new formats, new rhythms, new approaches.

I invite you to join me in the mystery ride.

If you enjoyed this podcast, consider booking a reading with me. I offer astrology, divination, and subtle alchemy sessions.

I also offer a 6-month mentorship container Night Vision.

Listen to & purchase my new song Friends on Bandcamp. You can also listen to it on your favorite streaming platforms.

Try the incredible breathwork and meditation app Open for 30 days free using this special link.

This podcast is hosted, produced, and edited by Jonathan Koe. Theme music is also composed by me! Connect with me through my newsletter, my Instagram @jonathankoeofficial, and my music. For podcast-related inquiries, email me at healingthespiritpodcast@gmail.com.

How might we approach friendship, art, and spirituality as creative experiments? How do we practice presence in grief? How might we increase our capacity to change our minds and shift our practices?

Halfway through this conversation, Mary Schuch casually said something that stopped my heart in its track, "Just because it's not fun, doesn't mean it's not a gift." That's something I've always admired about artist, creative, and astrologer Mary Schuch – her ability to hold wisdom with humor and to serve truth with irreverence.

Mary and I recorded this conversation at the tail end of Jupiter in Taurus, a period marked by changes and reminders of life's transient nature. We discussed the current states of our relationships with art, how friendship is a practice, and balancing the intensity of life with slowness.

If you can't get enough of our vibe, I recommend that you listen to our podcast "My Life Is Better With You In It"

Mary's bio:

Mary Schuch (she/her) is committed to showing up for the experience of belonging in a human body. In this lifetime, Mary is steadily walking a resonant path and striving to remember the inherent relationality of all beings. Informed by her upbringing as a homeschooled pastor's kid and the eighth of eleven siblings, Mary is reclaiming her right to exploration and education through meditative multidisciplinary living. She is devoted to practices incorporating writing, music, art, breadmaking, astrology, movement, and being outdoors. A beneficial byproduct of years of manual labor, Mary’s reverence for contemplative time has grown through work in gardens, kitchens, on a commercial lobster boat, and an oyster farm. She is originally from the Chicago area and currently lives on an island in Maine.

Connect with Mary on Instagram @maryschuch and book a reading with her.

Resources mentioned:

• Mary and Jonathan's podcast, My Life Is Better With You In It
• Our conversation with Leah Garza and Dana Balicki
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• Amanda Yates Garcia and Beth Pickens "The World Needs Your Art"
• Our first conversation on Healing The Spirit, "Why Are We Obsessed with Cults?"

If you enjoyed this podcast, consider booking a reading with me. I offer astrology, divination, and subtle alchemy sessions.

I also offer a 6-month mentorship container Night Vision.

Listen to & purchase my new song Friends on Bandcamp. You can also listen to it on your favorite streaming platforms.

Try the incredible breathwork and meditation app Open for 30 days free using this special link.

This podcast is hosted, produced, and edited by Jonathan Koe. Theme music is also composed by me! Connect with me through my newsletter, my Instagram @jonathankoeofficial, and my music. For podcast-related inquiries, email me at healingthespiritpodcast@gmail.com.