August 14, 2025 • 37 mins
When her mother was diagnosed with dementia at just 66, Stephanie Banks faced a devastating communication barrier—until an unexpected spiritual breakthrough changed everything. What began as a speech pathologist’s attempt to connect with her mother evolved into a life-altering discovery: the power of intuitive channeling.
In this heartfelt and eye-opening conversation, Stephanie shares:
- How channeling transformed her relationship with her mother before her passing
- The TEDx talk moment her spirit guides predicted—down to forgetting her lines on stage
- Why intuition isn’t a rare gift, but a natural ability we all possess
- How to use heart-brain coherence, creativity, and daily practices to awaken your inner guidance
- The surprising link between imagination and spiritual connection
Whether you’re seeking ways to communicate beyond words, develop your intuitive gifts, or create harmony in your relationships, this episode blends practical wisdom, soulful storytelling, and inspiring tools to help you connect with yourself, others, and the world around you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Go girl.
Okay, she's currently writinganother, stephanie.
Thank you so much for coming onSpiritual Spotlight Series.
I'm so happy you're here.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Thank you for having me, Rachel.
I'm very excited for themeandering conversation we will
have.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I love this so much.
So I love the fact that youtalk about dementia, which is
going to be something that wetalk about here today, because,
as a registered nurse, I used towork in assisted living and we
actually had an Alzheimer's unit, so this is something that's
definitely near and dear to myheart, as it is to yours.
So your journey into channelingbegan as a way to communicate
(00:53):
with your mother during herdementia.
Can you share what theexperience was like and how it
opened the door to yourintuitive abilities?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Yeah, definitely.
So I, like you, have a clinicalbackground clinical background
in a lot of hospital work.
I've been a speech languagepathologist for a couple decades
and I thought that would makeme really well suited to manage
my mom's dementia.
But my mom's dementia startedwhen she was in her 50s and it
(01:20):
was yeah and it wasn't.
Alzheimer's is something calledfrontotemporal dementia and it
really does affect youngerpeople much more frequently than
Alzheimer's.
So I was clinically aware ofwhat to expect and what the
symptomatology would be like,but I was ill prepared in terms
(01:41):
of emotions.
Ill prepared in terms ofemotions, you know, and how to
like maintain our connection,Because with dementia usually
it's a progressive degenerationof the person's ability to
communicate or understandlanguage.
And it was my relationship withmy mother was really falling
(02:02):
apart.
We were frustrated with eachother.
We were frustrated with eachother.
We were not understanding oneanother.
I also had very young childrenat the time, so you can imagine
that my you know, everything waskind of maxed out for me and it
was kind of like there were herbehaviors also required the
same level of attentiveness thatI needed for my really young
kids.
It was hard.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, I had a best friend at the time, who she's
still my best friend.
She's just not in body anymore.
Um, and she was, is a verygifted channel.
She used to um, channel soulsthat were on the planet.
So I could ask her can youchannel my child, can you
channel my mother, can youchannel my dog?
And they were living and here,present physically, and she
(02:51):
would tune into their soul andbring in the most amazing
messages and give me the insightand the guidance I needed to
improve that relationship or tounderstand what was underneath
it.
And so I had her channel my momfor me, and it was.
It changed everything.
My mom's soul was able tocommunicate through my friend
(03:13):
that what's this part of thejourney was really all about for
her and that, even though itlooked a certain way to me in
certain situations, it was notalways that way for her, and I
don't.
It gives me the chills to talkabout it because there's so much
to be learned from the soulperspective.
And I was able to make thechoice how I wanted to the rest
(03:37):
of our relationship to be,because I knew that, you know,
she would pass from dementia andthat she would likely have a
more limited life lifespan.
I suppose she she died at age66, which for our standards is
kind of young, you know?
Yeah, absolutely.
But it changed.
It changed my world and Ithought, if this can do make
(04:02):
this shift for my relationshipwith my mother, what if I
learned to channel for myselfand I could use this in all of
my relationships?
What would that be like?
So I did.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I did it.
I love that so much so you kindof touched on this for a brief
second.
So you've had a fascinatingcareer path from a speech,
language pathologist, birthdoula, lactation consultant and
now an intuitive channel.
How do you see the connectionbetween all of these amazing
roles?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah, oh, they're so totally connected.
So the I came to the speechpathology because I'm such a fan
of language and and connectioncommunication and then, while I
was early in my career as aspeech pathologist, I became
really fascinated with pregnantmommies.
I love that.
Right, Like who doesn't love apregnant mommy.
(04:52):
So I started to.
I found a lactationconsultation training that
because in speech pathology oneof our areas of expertise is
feeding and swallowing, andthat's not just for elderly
people who've had a stroke, it'sfor infants, you know there are
(05:12):
babies who?
are born prematurely or haveneurological disorders, and it
makes the coordination of theirfeeding and swallowing very
difficult.
So I wanted to bridge the gapwith what we do in the hospitals
with bottle feeding andsupporting the mothers who
wanted to breastfeed.
That to me, no brainer right,right, right Absolutely.
So I got trained as a lactationconsultant and then naturally in
(05:36):
the breastfeeding realm.
One would be drawn to thenewborn and the pregnancy realm
and I started to learn aboutwhat women who are birthing face
as their challenges in hospitalenvironments, which that's a
different podcast, honey.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Absolutely yes.
The thing about my ownexperience like oh, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Yes.
So before I ever had children,I kind of really dove into the
information to see what are weup against as women who want to
have a non-interventive birthingexperience I don't say natural
anymore, because all birth isnatural, right, like it's a
natural process, but so they'reconnected that way.
(06:20):
Honestly, the undercurrent inall of this is empowering women
to claim what is there's, toclaim to stay, you know, be in
their genius, to trustthemselves, their bodies, the
beauty and perfection of thebody and and a mother's and, you
know, a parent's connection totheir baby, to their child, and
(06:40):
how to support that.
So that's kind of how they'reall connected for me.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I love that.
So in your TEDx talk you shareyour experience with channeling.
What was the most surprising orprofound moment in your
channeling journey?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Oh, well, let me tell you the most surprising moment
in my TEDx journey.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yes, absolutely Tell me.
I'm excited in my TEDx.
Journey.
Yes, absolutely Tell me I'mexcited.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, this is a story .
So I had, as is my type, apersonality and I would venture
to say perhaps you can connectto that as well I had
overprepared.
You know, I'd really preparedfor my TEDx talk.
There was no way I was going toforget a line or be looked at
as like, oh, she's not ready forthis.
(07:26):
So I'd rehearsed and rehearsed,and rehearsed and I knew my
talk backwards and forwards.
The day before we actually hadthe event, I was laying on my
patio meditating, and I heard myspirit guides say to me you're
going to make that one mistakethat you are most afraid of
(07:47):
making.
And to me that meant I wasgoing to forget my speech, right
, absolutely.
And I said oh hell, no, don'tknow what you're talking about.
Yeah, that's not going to happenbecause, I have rehearsed.
So then I got up.
I really panicked.
I got up I rehearsed some more.
(08:07):
I was like nope, I know what, Iknow what right right, right.
So the next day I go to theevent and I was one of the
earlier segments of speakers andpeople were backstage pacing
and practicing their talks, andI knew my talk so well that I
thought if I practice it more Imight jinx myself.
(08:28):
So I checked in with my guidesand I said should I pay some
practice too, like all theseother people are?
And they said it's not going tomatter.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I know Well, excuse me.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I know.
So I then I started to reallywonder what's going to happen
here, because I'm I have beenpreparing for this for months,
right, just for you know.
So my turn comes and, um, Ishould preface this with saying
there's a part of my talk inwhich I I speak about that best
friend I just told you the onefirst taught me how to channel.
(09:08):
She had just been diagnosed withglioblastoma, which, as you
know, is a very fatal braincancer.
She had just started her.
I think she'd had surgery.
So she was wearing a headscarf.
She was in the audience.
She was there regardless ofwhat she was going through
medically and physically.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Oh, I have chills.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yes, she showed up for me.
She was just like.
I am not missing this.
So she's in the audience at theTED Talk and at the moment in
my speech where I talk about her, I blanked.
Oh my goodness, yeah, Iunderstand now.
(09:48):
Of course that makes sense.
It's highly emotional and I hadfound her in the audience and
saw her face beaming and we weremaking eye contact, but I
blanked and, lucky for me,there's a guy who sits in the
front row with all of ourscripts and so, if you freeze,
he can read you your whisper,your next line.
(10:09):
But I but that's what happenedthe thing that I most feared
happening happened.
I forgot a line.
I needed help it it.
It disrupted the flow, Right,Absolutely.
Yeah, it was like to me.
It was horrible and I had.
It took me a long time to getover that, but now I'm so
(10:30):
grateful for that whole mistakeand also I'm grateful that my
guides told me that was going tohappen, because it's nice to
have a heads up that you'regoing to trip you know on
something and after after thetalk cause, of course, I
recovered.
I got the line and I made itthrough the rest of the speech
and people.
It just lent itself to peoplebeing able to connect even more.
(10:52):
My humanity and myvulnerability were right there
at the surface and people had alot of compassion for that.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I love that.
I love it and it's it's.
It's good that you can lookback on it and say, no, that was
a, that was a good moment, youknow.
It probably also sank youdeeper and entrusting your
guides, your intuitive abilitiesand everything like yeah, yeah,
you're full of it.
No, they weren't.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, they, they were right and and I lived through,
you know like it was worst casescenario and, oh well, so it
already happened.
So I keep going, yeahabsolutely, oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
So I do want to talk about your book.
So writing Joanie Joanie wasdeeply personal and I apologize
if I mispronounce the name.
How did the process of writingthe book shape your own healing
and understanding of soulcommunication?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Well, that book, um, I feel like it wrote itself.
You know, I feel like it wroteitself.
I feel like channeling thatwriting is channeling, it's a
form of connecting to divineenergy.
And I was really clear, and Istill am I don't want to be
known for that book.
I don't want the whole realm ofdementia to be my platform.
(12:02):
It's not it's like a part ofyour journey.
Exactly, it's what birthed me.
My mother's dementia gave methe opportunity to even discover
this world, and so so I'mreally, really grateful for that
.
But the book is very practical,you know like, and it's it's
honestly more from a.
It's not clinical in nature,but it's from a clinical
(12:24):
perspective of if you want tomaintain a joyful relationship
with your loved one who hasdementia.
Don't do this.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Definitely do this.
Yes, it is shocking the thingsthat you need to do when you're
working with somebody that hasdementia, that people just do
not realize we don't come fromthe perspective.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Like, the biggest thing that people tend to do,
myself included, is if someonewho has dementia or any
cognitive challenge says like,let's say it's Saturday now and
they think it's Tuesday, andthey say it's Tuesday and we
want to correct them.
Yes, does it matter?
Really Right, it doesn't matter.
And all of these corrections wemake are communication
(13:09):
breakdowns for them.
Absolutely Right, becausenobody likes to be corrected.
And if someone is convinced oftheir reality, do we need to
like drag them out of it,especially if it's not hurting
anybody?
Right, reality that causes harm, that's one thing, but we're
just talking about littledetails.
So my mom would do things likewe'd walk outside we live in
(13:31):
Florida, it's 95 degrees andshe'd say, oh, I need my sweater
.
And I could have said, mom,it's 95 degrees.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Right, right right.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Don't need a sweater, but I would just go inside the
house and get her the darnsweater, because why risk, you
know, like something we have torepair you know, a communication
breakdown that we'll have torepair.
Just get her the sweater.
She's going to start sweatingand she'll take it off and it'll
be fine.
So it's like a way ofreorienting our minds to what is
(14:01):
the thing I can do to maintainthe communication connection
right now instead of being right.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
I like that.
I like that.
I always.
We were always taught to meetthem where they're at and don't
take them out of their reality,Cause that's going to be
triggered and traumatizing tothem.
I don't need to argue with youabout what day of the week it is
.
Does it really matter?
Like it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Yeah, that's why the title is joining Joni and this
if you want to walk with someonein their journey and and I do
encourage everybody to walk withtheir loved rather than ahead
of them then you want to jointhem.
You want to stay connected, andthat's what the book is about
how to stay connected so that,when their journey is complete,
(14:43):
you don't have regrets.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
I like that.
So you channel messages notonly from spirit guides, but
departed souls, but also animals, trees and Gaia.
What does this kind ofconnection feel like, and how do
these different energiescommunicate with you?
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Well, it feels like love.
Yeah, that's how it feels, andI think all of us know what love
feels like.
It's just this pure, beautiful,nourishing, you know, wave of
energy, and the natural world tome is that you know, animals
are the purest, positive, lovingenergy.
(15:19):
That's why I have four dogs.
The trees, you know, like this,the natural world, we are
nature.
We're not separate from her.
The culture would have usbelieve that, but it's not true.
So spending time in nature iscoming back to our essence and
we can all channel nature.
(15:40):
This isn't unique to me.
The trees will communicate toyou If you stop, if you listen,
if you hug them.
I always encourage people tohug a tree.
So will the animals, the smallcreatures, the big creatures,
your companion animals.
If you connect through yourheart, you'll receive from them,
and that's channeling to me.
(16:00):
So I teach people how to dothis, how to trust in it, and it
does change our lives, ourperspective, how to trust in it,
and it does change our lives,our perspective our health, our
wellbeing all of it, Absolutelyso.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
You emphasize heart, brain coherence in your
teachings.
How can people start toincorporate this practice into
their daily lives?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yes, so you'll want to go to the HeartMath Institute
.
It's heartmathorg.
They have the most brilliantresearchers and scientists that
have proven the vastness of ofthe heart and the energy field
of the heart and theintelligence of the heart.
So we have a culture that'sheavily reliant on the brain as
(16:42):
the most intelligent organ, butactually I would argue no, the
heart is the more intelligent.
Um and so when we havecoherence between brain waves
and heart frequency, um, we, wedon't have any law, you know,
like wasted energy.
We have this beautiful state ofbeing steady, of being calm, of
(17:04):
being centered, of beingconnected and being receptive.
And there HeartMath Instituteteaches what they call a quick
coherence technique, which I cantake you through now if you
want.
Yeah, and this is what I usesometimes before I channel or if
I'm going into a difficultsituation.
It just helps everything tocome back into coherence
(17:30):
situation.
It just helps everything tocome back into coherence.
So what you do is you closeyour eyes and you just connect
to your breath.
So you just breathe, that's it.
And imagine that as you breathein, you're breathing in through
the front of your heart, justimagine that and you are
exhaling out the back of yourheart.
And so, with every in-breath inthrough the front of the heart,
(17:50):
with every out-breath outthrough the back of your heart,
and, if you are able to andwould like to, you can place a
hand or two hands over yourheart and, as you breathe like
this, imagine someone orsomething or some place that you
(18:12):
adore.
It could be a person, it couldbe an animal, it could be your
favorite spot by the river,somewhere outdoors, an ancestor
or loved one, anything, anyonethat you absolutely love, and
then just center your focus onthem and send them this loving
(18:36):
energy that you are feeling andfeel it being beamed back to you
from them.
Feel all the love, all thepeace, all the gratitude and
appreciation for this thing orthis being in your life as you
breathe, and just take a fewmore nice, slow, easy breaths
(19:09):
basking in this gratitude andappreciation and love, and when
you're ready, you can open youreyes.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Oh, that was beautiful.
I love that.
I love that I had this visionabove my heart, like in the back
.
I love that.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Like exhale it Right I know, If we can give the brain
something else to focus onbesides thoughts, right Like and
imagining, breathing throughthe heart, how we don't really
usually imagine that.
So the brain's like, oh, okay,let me try to do that.
So, yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
I love that.
So you teach others how toaccess their own intuitive gifts
.
What is the biggestmisconception that people have
about channeling and intuition?
That only some people can do it.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Most people believe that this is a gift that's only
bestowed upon a select few and Icall BS on that, because we all
of us have intuition and that'sthe place that channeling comes
from and through, is the placeof intuition that's why it's
called intuitive channeling.
And we all have a heart and weall have an imagination, and
(20:31):
those are the three componentsthat are necessary to be a
channel.
And if you want to be a clearchannel and a channel the
highest vibrational lovingfrequency, as I am and as I
teach then you will devoteyourself to practicing that and
to clearing, you know, clearingyourself of the heaviness and
the negativity and even therelationships that don't serve
(20:53):
you anymore.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
So you just brought up a very, very valid point
about this is a practice inorder to remain a clear channel.
Do you happen to have like adaily spiritual hygiene practice
that you can remain a clearchannel?
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Yes, yes, and if I don't do it, I better not be
channeling, because it'snecessary.
It's necessary for me to beable to serve in the way that I
do.
So mine includes time in nature.
Lucky for me, I have a littlebackyard and it is a garden,
it's a food forest my son and Iplanted together.
(21:28):
We have papayas and bananas andmangoes and, like you can
imagine, all the tropical thingsthat would grow are in my
backyard, and vegetables andgreens and things of that nature
too.
So along with that comes wormsand birds and squirrels and mice
(21:49):
, you know all kinds ofbeautiful, wonderful animal
creatures.
And being outdoors allows me torelease all of the dense energy
I've absorbed.
And Mother Earth just helps mewith that.
She just helps me drain thatand she knows how to compost, so
she turns that energy intosomething that's more usable for
(22:10):
her.
And then I just get delightfrom all the life around me and
the way my plants are growingand how perfect nature is and
how much harmony there is in thenatural world.
So that is absolutely crucial.
And then, of course, ameditation practice is essential
.
I'm not a great meditator, Ipretty much suck at it, but I
(22:31):
show up to it nonetheless and Ikeep going.
I have crystals that I use thatreally help me ground and
center and fall here, and, Ibelieve, a high vibrational diet
.
It's important for me, so Ikeep a plant basedbased diet.
Yeah, there's a lot of things.
Whatever brings you health,wellbeing, joy is is, belongs on
(22:53):
your list of bodaciousself-care, and that's what helps
me be a clear channel.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
I love that.
I love that you and your sonhave made this food forest.
That's definitely somethingthat my son and I have talked
about.
I mean, I'm in New York so it'sgoing to be a little difficult
to do, but it is definitely adream of ours, and he also wants
to grow bananas.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
So oh wow.
I don't know if it will grow inNew York Probably not, but I
might have to do it inside, butthat's okay.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I'm willing to try and we're, you know.
But I just I respect that somuch that you are outside in
nature honoring the earth andtaking such joy it sounds like
from the living beings and thatjust it shows how much you're
committed to your craft and alsojust being a conscious, clear
channel.
That's just, it's so important.
(23:40):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Yes so cool thank you it is and definitely grow stuff
with your son because it it hasreally deepened our
relationship.
He's older now so it's kind ofme alone in the garden these
days when he comes to visit.
I mean no, he's not, he stilllives.
You know, he's still a minor,oh you're like, but he's a, is
he?
Speaker 2 (24:00):
a teenager.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I understand.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Yeah, it really.
It was one of the best thingsI've done for our relationship
and we can still connect andsometimes I just drag him out to
the garden.
You will notice these bananas,you will.
You will help me harvest thisand he was like, okay, fine, and
he does delight in it.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Oh, my goodness, that's so cool.
So you mentor clients andself-trust and sole purpose
clarity.
What's one common challengethat people face when trying to
listen to their own inner?
Speaker 1 (24:32):
they question.
This is what they almosteverybody says what if I'm
making this up?
Oh, yes, right, and that islike the threat that they're
making it up.
They feel that if they'remaking it up, that's the problem
, that's the risk, and what Ialways say is honey, we are
(24:53):
making all of this up every day,all the time.
Rachel has made up her podcastand I have made up my career and
I, you know like this is wherethis is the beauty of being
human is the imagination thatwe're blessed with.
Nothing in your room behind you, rachel, or in my room behind
(25:15):
me, has ever been create, couldhave been created, if it wasn't
first imagined, so that there'snothing more real than the
imagination.
So if you say, what if I'mmaking this up?
Be like I'm making this up andhere we go.
So that's, that's.
The biggest stumbling block isthat we've been raised to
(25:37):
discount and discredit ourselvesand and we have been raised to
think that if we, if some thingsimagine, that means it's not
real.
And I'm really pushing theexact opposite, because we can't
come back to self trust if wedon't allow for that generative
and creative aspect of ourselvesto be revealed.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Absolutely.
I like how you kind of put thatthat we imagine like aspect of
ourselves to be revealed.
Absolutely.
I like how you kind of put that, that we imagine like, yeah,
you're right, I thought imaginemy podcast first, my everything
that we do that's such a goodway to put that to like, no,
it's, it was in your heart andin your mind first, and then you
put it to action.
Yes, oh, that's so cool.
I'm having a moment in my mindaction, yes, oh, that's so cool.
(26:23):
So have you ever received amessage through channeling?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
that deeply changed your own perspective or personal
path.
Every day, every single day,I'll be channeling, and I
channel with my eyes closed andI'll be speaking the message,
and then I will stop and go ohmy gosh, that's incredible.
Okay, and then I'll go back tothe message because, for me, I
am always learning.
Spirit is always bringing adeeper sense, a deeper
understanding, a wider lens forus to see things and even with
(26:51):
the many years I've been doingthis and the thousands and
thousands of messages I'vechanneled, I am learning all the
time.
I have a channeling group afterthis podcast and I'm so excited
to see what I'm going to learnfrom these people's ancestors or
from their higher selves orfrom their spirit guides.
It's really, really beautiful,and if you were to ask me to
highlight some of the mostimportant or most profound
(27:15):
things, I'm really bad at doingthis, because they're all
profound to me.
They're all mind-blowingly,heart-openingly profound.
I guess I would want people toknow that we're never alone, and
I know every spiritual teachersays that.
Most of them say that.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
It's so true.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Yes, it's just true.
So talk to the presence with acapital P that's around you.
Ask for the support and theinsight.
You will sense something,Because you're never alone.
You have an entire team ofsupport that really does want
you to have the best, mostcurrent information and insight
and grounding and understanding.
(27:59):
So ask, ask and do some writing.
I find that many people areable to channel really well
through writing.
It's yeah, your, your team ishere.
Your higher self knows what'swhat.
Your soul is always present andit's going to give you as many
opportunities as you need tolearn and grow and expand.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
I love that.
I love that so much I do.
I'm having a moment.
I love this conversation.
So, as someone who bridgesscience and spirituality, how do
you balance the analytical mindwith the intuitive heart?
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Well, this is the challenge, Not so much balancing
the heart but balancing bothsides of the brain, because in
our society we haveoverdeveloped left hemispheric
function, underdeveloped righthemispheric function.
And I'm not saying this likethat.
You know, if you put probes onyour brain you'll see that.
(28:52):
But if you just look around atwho's operating from a deep
intuition, you'll see far fewerthan those that are operating
from cognition, from thinking.
So the left hemisphere, as youknow, is linear thinking,
problem solving, logic,reasoning, and the right
hemisphere is creative,intuitive.
It's our spiritual, where we doour spiritual connection, and
(29:14):
it's receptive.
And so our work is to giveourselves more opportunities to
make that right hemisphere morerobust.
Anything creative, anythingartistic, anything intuitive
music, art, et cetera will tapyou into that, and it really is
(29:34):
the antidote to despair.
Because I wake up every dayknowing that there are millions
of reasons for me to feeldespair.
I feel the suffering of theouter world and what is going on
in our political scheme and allthe things.
I stay aware of this and Icannot let it take me down or
take me out.
(29:55):
So I have to tap into thatright hemisphere regularly, and
there's so many fun andbeautiful, enjoyable ways to do
that.
Lately I've been using coloringbooks.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
That's a great idea, absolutely.
Get back to your inner child.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Yes, and there's nothing hard about it and I get
to stay in the lines, which Ireally do like to stay.
Stay in the line.
But if you have the talent todraw, then draw anything
artistic again dance, music,cooking, is is creative.
So tap into that as often asyou possibly can.
It really does help to balancethat over reliance on the left
(30:32):
hemisphere.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Absolutely.
Oh, that's I like that.
Just draw, just have fun, getback to your playful nature,
like and that's one of thethings that you humor plays a
part in your spiritual practice.
So why do you think it's animportant part of the journey to
have humor in the spiritualpractice?
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Um well, humor just saves my life every day.
Excuse me, if I can't laugh atmyself, then we're all in
trouble and we have to be ableto laugh at ourselves because we
are so weird, like humans, areso weird, odd, strange, you know
, creatures of habit, but thenalso not wanting to be creatures
(31:13):
of habit, and the way wecommunicate, the things that we
do, the patterns we repeat thatwe know don't work and don't
function.
We just have to go to humor.
Humor is our quickestconnection to divine energy.
So bring it, you know, andeverybody has a different sense
of humor.
I don't get a lot of mine fromlike comedy shows, I don't.
(31:35):
It takes a lot for me to findcertain things funny, but plenty
of people do.
So go to those if that's whatgets you getting.
Children always bring humor, Ifind.
So do animals, their antics.
They have the funniest,silliest ways.
I could sit and watch my dogsall day long and just laugh
because they are, they're sofunny.
But this is, it lightens ourheart and instead of being so
(32:00):
mired down by that which feelsdense and heavy, we finding
humor allows for us to kind ofbreak up that, that heavy kind
of encrusted energy, so that wecan go to levity, and that's
where spirit resides.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Absolutely so.
You're currently working onyour second book about your
spiritual journey.
Can you maybe give us a glimpseinto what themes or lessons
you'll be sharing?
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah, this book is actually going to teach people
how to channel for themselves.
Nice, yeah, perfect, exactly I.
It's my.
Aside from channeling forothers, my next greatest delight
is teaching others how tochannel for themselves and
watching their eyes light up asthey connect, as they receive
messages, as they realize oh myGod, I've.
(32:46):
I've been doing this all along.
I just didn't think I couldtrust it.
I just didn't think it was areal thing.
I thought I was making it up.
But now I know I'm making it up.
So this is you know, I want aworld where everybody trusts
their internal guidance, becausewhen we live that way, we are
(33:07):
in harmony with each other, weare in gratitude, we're sharing.
We're growing food.
We're sharing food with eachother.
We're taking care of eachother's children and families.
We're growing food.
We're sharing food with eachother.
We're taking care of eachother's children and families,
we're offering support and thenreciprocity with the planet.
That's the more beautiful worldmy heart knows is possible.
That's what it looks like, andso I want to teach as many
(33:28):
people to channel as I can,because channeling is love and
it's wisdom and it's guidanceand it's insight and it's pure.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
I love that.
So, before I ask your lastquestion, if anyone wants to
learn more about you or I know,you have online courses that
people can take.
You have groups, you haveone-on-one sessions, you have
your book.
What is the best place for themto go to?
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Go to the website soulinsightcom.
Do not Google, search me byname because, believe it or not,
there is another, stephanieBanks, who's an intuitive
channel, not lying.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
That is wild.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
I know, I know.
So make sure, if you want me,that you can go to
soulinsightcom.
Yes, and I'm on social media,as well as Stephanie Intuitive
Channel.
But yeah, isn't that wild.
What are the chances?
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Well, I think it's funny.
If you Google Rachel Garrett,you bring up a Star Trek actress
.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
So obviously that has nothing to do with your field.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Obviously she's in a way working with
extraterrestrials and in thespace.
Okay, yeah, that's true, that'strue, but you're right, it
doesn't.
But she's not your competition,absolutely not.
No, stephanie, two StephanieBanks no, that's that's.
That's awkward.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
She's really great about it.
I I unfortunately have had tocontact her a number of times
and say yikes, this client meantto schedule with me and she's,
you know, she's like no problem,I'll refund it.
We work totally differently,but we do the same work, so it's
all good.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I love that so much.
So for our final question forthose who want to strengthen
their intuition or begin theirown journey into channeling,
what's one simple, practicalstep they can take today.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I would say go back to that heart coherence practice
.
It's so simple, you can do thatin two minutes.
And if you practice itregularly, quite naturally and
without any efforting on yourpart, you will find that you are
more guided, you are morecentered, you are more aware and
(35:36):
intuitive.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
That's great advice.
Stephanie, I want to thank youso much for coming to the
Spiritual Spotlight Series today.
It's been fascinating to speakwith you.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Thank you so much, Rachel.
Go girl.
Okay, she's currently writinganother, stephanie.
Thank you so much for coming onSpiritual Spotlight Series.
I'm so happy you're here.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Thank you for having me, Rachel.
I'm very excited for themeandering conversation we will
have.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I love this so much.
So I love the fact that youtalk about dementia, which is
going to be something that wetalk about here today, because,
as a registered nurse, I used towork in assisted living and we
actually had an Alzheimer's unit, so this is something that's
definitely near and dear to myheart, as it is to yours.
So your journey into channelingbegan as a way to communicate
(00:53):
with your mother during herdementia.
Can you share what theexperience was like and how it
opened the door to yourintuitive abilities?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Yeah, definitely.
So I, like you, have a clinicalbackground clinical background
in a lot of hospital work.
I've been a speech languagepathologist for a couple decades
and I thought that would makeme really well suited to manage
my mom's dementia.
But my mom's dementia startedwhen she was in her 50s and it
(01:20):
was yeah and it wasn't.
Alzheimer's is something calledfrontotemporal dementia and it
really does affect youngerpeople much more frequently than
Alzheimer's.
So I was clinically aware ofwhat to expect and what the
symptomatology would be like,but I was ill prepared in terms
(01:41):
of emotions.
Ill prepared in terms ofemotions, you know, and how to
like maintain our connection,Because with dementia usually
it's a progressive degenerationof the person's ability to
communicate or understandlanguage.
And it was my relationship withmy mother was really falling
(02:02):
apart.
We were frustrated with eachother.
We were frustrated with eachother.
We were not understanding oneanother.
I also had very young childrenat the time, so you can imagine
that my you know, everything waskind of maxed out for me and it
was kind of like there were herbehaviors also required the
same level of attentiveness thatI needed for my really young
kids.
It was hard.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, I had a best friend at the time, who she's
still my best friend.
She's just not in body anymore.
Um, and she was, is a verygifted channel.
She used to um, channel soulsthat were on the planet.
So I could ask her can youchannel my child, can you
channel my mother, can youchannel my dog?
And they were living and here,present physically, and she
(02:51):
would tune into their soul andbring in the most amazing
messages and give me the insightand the guidance I needed to
improve that relationship or tounderstand what was underneath
it.
And so I had her channel my momfor me, and it was.
It changed everything.
My mom's soul was able tocommunicate through my friend
(03:13):
that what's this part of thejourney was really all about for
her and that, even though itlooked a certain way to me in
certain situations, it was notalways that way for her, and I
don't.
It gives me the chills to talkabout it because there's so much
to be learned from the soulperspective.
And I was able to make thechoice how I wanted to the rest
(03:37):
of our relationship to be,because I knew that, you know,
she would pass from dementia andthat she would likely have a
more limited life lifespan.
I suppose she she died at age66, which for our standards is
kind of young, you know?
Yeah, absolutely.
But it changed.
It changed my world and Ithought, if this can do make
(04:02):
this shift for my relationshipwith my mother, what if I
learned to channel for myselfand I could use this in all of
my relationships?
What would that be like?
So I did.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I did it.
I love that so much so you kindof touched on this for a brief
second.
So you've had a fascinatingcareer path from a speech,
language pathologist, birthdoula, lactation consultant and
now an intuitive channel.
How do you see the connectionbetween all of these amazing
roles?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah, oh, they're so totally connected.
So the I came to the speechpathology because I'm such a fan
of language and and connectioncommunication and then, while I
was early in my career as aspeech pathologist, I became
really fascinated with pregnantmommies.
I love that.
Right, Like who doesn't love apregnant mommy.
(04:52):
So I started to.
I found a lactationconsultation training that
because in speech pathology oneof our areas of expertise is
feeding and swallowing, andthat's not just for elderly
people who've had a stroke, it'sfor infants, you know there are
(05:12):
babies who?
are born prematurely or haveneurological disorders, and it
makes the coordination of theirfeeding and swallowing very
difficult.
So I wanted to bridge the gapwith what we do in the hospitals
with bottle feeding andsupporting the mothers who
wanted to breastfeed.
That to me, no brainer right,right, right Absolutely.
So I got trained as a lactationconsultant and then naturally in
(05:36):
the breastfeeding realm.
One would be drawn to thenewborn and the pregnancy realm
and I started to learn aboutwhat women who are birthing face
as their challenges in hospitalenvironments, which that's a
different podcast, honey.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Absolutely yes.
The thing about my ownexperience like oh, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Yes.
So before I ever had children,I kind of really dove into the
information to see what are weup against as women who want to
have a non-interventive birthingexperience I don't say natural
anymore, because all birth isnatural, right, like it's a
natural process, but so they'reconnected that way.
(06:20):
Honestly, the undercurrent inall of this is empowering women
to claim what is there's, toclaim to stay, you know, be in
their genius, to trustthemselves, their bodies, the
beauty and perfection of thebody and and a mother's and, you
know, a parent's connection totheir baby, to their child, and
(06:40):
how to support that.
So that's kind of how they'reall connected for me.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I love that.
So in your TEDx talk you shareyour experience with channeling.
What was the most surprising orprofound moment in your
channeling journey?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Oh, well, let me tell you the most surprising moment
in my TEDx journey.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yes, absolutely Tell me.
I'm excited in my TEDx.
Journey.
Yes, absolutely Tell me I'mexcited.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, this is a story .
So I had, as is my type, apersonality and I would venture
to say perhaps you can connectto that as well I had
overprepared.
You know, I'd really preparedfor my TEDx talk.
There was no way I was going toforget a line or be looked at
as like, oh, she's not ready forthis.
(07:26):
So I'd rehearsed and rehearsed,and rehearsed and I knew my
talk backwards and forwards.
The day before we actually hadthe event, I was laying on my
patio meditating, and I heard myspirit guides say to me you're
going to make that one mistakethat you are most afraid of
(07:47):
making.
And to me that meant I wasgoing to forget my speech, right
, absolutely.
And I said oh hell, no, don'tknow what you're talking about.
Yeah, that's not going to happenbecause, I have rehearsed.
So then I got up.
I really panicked.
I got up I rehearsed some more.
(08:07):
I was like nope, I know what, Iknow what right right, right.
So the next day I go to theevent and I was one of the
earlier segments of speakers andpeople were backstage pacing
and practicing their talks, andI knew my talk so well that I
thought if I practice it more Imight jinx myself.
(08:28):
So I checked in with my guidesand I said should I pay some
practice too, like all theseother people are?
And they said it's not going tomatter.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I know Well, excuse me.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I know.
So I then I started to reallywonder what's going to happen
here, because I'm I have beenpreparing for this for months,
right, just for you know.
So my turn comes and, um, Ishould preface this with saying
there's a part of my talk inwhich I I speak about that best
friend I just told you the onefirst taught me how to channel.
(09:08):
She had just been diagnosed withglioblastoma, which, as you
know, is a very fatal braincancer.
She had just started her.
I think she'd had surgery.
So she was wearing a headscarf.
She was in the audience.
She was there regardless ofwhat she was going through
medically and physically.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Oh, I have chills.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yes, she showed up for me.
She was just like.
I am not missing this.
So she's in the audience at theTED Talk and at the moment in
my speech where I talk about her, I blanked.
Oh my goodness, yeah, Iunderstand now.
(09:48):
Of course that makes sense.
It's highly emotional and I hadfound her in the audience and
saw her face beaming and we weremaking eye contact, but I
blanked and, lucky for me,there's a guy who sits in the
front row with all of ourscripts and so, if you freeze,
he can read you your whisper,your next line.
(10:09):
But I but that's what happenedthe thing that I most feared
happening happened.
I forgot a line.
I needed help it it.
It disrupted the flow, Right,Absolutely.
Yeah, it was like to me.
It was horrible and I had.
It took me a long time to getover that, but now I'm so
(10:30):
grateful for that whole mistakeand also I'm grateful that my
guides told me that was going tohappen, because it's nice to
have a heads up that you'regoing to trip you know on
something and after after thetalk cause, of course, I
recovered.
I got the line and I made itthrough the rest of the speech
and people.
It just lent itself to peoplebeing able to connect even more.
(10:52):
My humanity and myvulnerability were right there
at the surface and people had alot of compassion for that.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I love that.
I love it and it's it's.
It's good that you can lookback on it and say, no, that was
a, that was a good moment, youknow.
It probably also sank youdeeper and entrusting your
guides, your intuitive abilitiesand everything like yeah, yeah,
you're full of it.
No, they weren't.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, they, they were right and and I lived through,
you know like it was worst casescenario and, oh well, so it
already happened.
So I keep going, yeahabsolutely, oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
So I do want to talk about your book.
So writing Joanie Joanie wasdeeply personal and I apologize
if I mispronounce the name.
How did the process of writingthe book shape your own healing
and understanding of soulcommunication?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Well, that book, um, I feel like it wrote itself.
You know, I feel like it wroteitself.
I feel like channeling thatwriting is channeling, it's a
form of connecting to divineenergy.
And I was really clear, and Istill am I don't want to be
known for that book.
I don't want the whole realm ofdementia to be my platform.
(12:02):
It's not it's like a part ofyour journey.
Exactly, it's what birthed me.
My mother's dementia gave methe opportunity to even discover
this world, and so so I'mreally, really grateful for that
.
But the book is very practical,you know like, and it's it's
honestly more from a.
It's not clinical in nature,but it's from a clinical
(12:24):
perspective of if you want tomaintain a joyful relationship
with your loved one who hasdementia.
Don't do this.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Definitely do this.
Yes, it is shocking the thingsthat you need to do when you're
working with somebody that hasdementia, that people just do
not realize we don't come fromthe perspective.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Like, the biggest thing that people tend to do,
myself included, is if someonewho has dementia or any
cognitive challenge says like,let's say it's Saturday now and
they think it's Tuesday, andthey say it's Tuesday and we
want to correct them.
Yes, does it matter?
Really Right, it doesn't matter.
And all of these corrections wemake are communication
(13:09):
breakdowns for them.
Absolutely Right, becausenobody likes to be corrected.
And if someone is convinced oftheir reality, do we need to
like drag them out of it,especially if it's not hurting
anybody?
Right, reality that causes harm, that's one thing, but we're
just talking about littledetails.
So my mom would do things likewe'd walk outside we live in
(13:31):
Florida, it's 95 degrees andshe'd say, oh, I need my sweater
.
And I could have said, mom,it's 95 degrees.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Right, right right.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Don't need a sweater, but I would just go inside the
house and get her the darnsweater, because why risk, you
know, like something we have torepair you know, a communication
breakdown that we'll have torepair.
Just get her the sweater.
She's going to start sweatingand she'll take it off and it'll
be fine.
So it's like a way ofreorienting our minds to what is
(14:01):
the thing I can do to maintainthe communication connection
right now instead of being right.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
I like that.
I like that.
I always.
We were always taught to meetthem where they're at and don't
take them out of their reality,Cause that's going to be
triggered and traumatizing tothem.
I don't need to argue with youabout what day of the week it is
.
Does it really matter?
Like it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Yeah, that's why the title is joining Joni and this
if you want to walk with someonein their journey and and I do
encourage everybody to walk withtheir loved rather than ahead
of them then you want to jointhem.
You want to stay connected, andthat's what the book is about
how to stay connected so that,when their journey is complete,
(14:43):
you don't have regrets.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
I like that.
So you channel messages notonly from spirit guides, but
departed souls, but also animals, trees and Gaia.
What does this kind ofconnection feel like, and how do
these different energiescommunicate with you?
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Well, it feels like love.
Yeah, that's how it feels, andI think all of us know what love
feels like.
It's just this pure, beautiful,nourishing, you know, wave of
energy, and the natural world tome is that you know, animals
are the purest, positive, lovingenergy.
(15:19):
That's why I have four dogs.
The trees, you know, like this,the natural world, we are
nature.
We're not separate from her.
The culture would have usbelieve that, but it's not true.
So spending time in nature iscoming back to our essence and
we can all channel nature.
(15:40):
This isn't unique to me.
The trees will communicate toyou If you stop, if you listen,
if you hug them.
I always encourage people tohug a tree.
So will the animals, the smallcreatures, the big creatures,
your companion animals.
If you connect through yourheart, you'll receive from them,
and that's channeling to me.
(16:00):
So I teach people how to dothis, how to trust in it, and it
does change our lives, ourperspective, how to trust in it,
and it does change our lives,our perspective our health, our
wellbeing all of it, Absolutelyso.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
You emphasize heart, brain coherence in your
teachings.
How can people start toincorporate this practice into
their daily lives?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yes, so you'll want to go to the HeartMath Institute
.
It's heartmathorg.
They have the most brilliantresearchers and scientists that
have proven the vastness of ofthe heart and the energy field
of the heart and theintelligence of the heart.
So we have a culture that'sheavily reliant on the brain as
(16:42):
the most intelligent organ, butactually I would argue no, the
heart is the more intelligent.
Um and so when we havecoherence between brain waves
and heart frequency, um, we, wedon't have any law, you know,
like wasted energy.
We have this beautiful state ofbeing steady, of being calm, of
(17:04):
being centered, of beingconnected and being receptive.
And there HeartMath Instituteteaches what they call a quick
coherence technique, which I cantake you through now if you
want.
Yeah, and this is what I usesometimes before I channel or if
I'm going into a difficultsituation.
It just helps everything tocome back into coherence
(17:30):
situation.
It just helps everything tocome back into coherence.
So what you do is you closeyour eyes and you just connect
to your breath.
So you just breathe, that's it.
And imagine that as you breathein, you're breathing in through
the front of your heart, justimagine that and you are
exhaling out the back of yourheart.
And so, with every in-breath inthrough the front of the heart,
(17:50):
with every out-breath outthrough the back of your heart,
and, if you are able to andwould like to, you can place a
hand or two hands over yourheart and, as you breathe like
this, imagine someone orsomething or some place that you
(18:12):
adore.
It could be a person, it couldbe an animal, it could be your
favorite spot by the river,somewhere outdoors, an ancestor
or loved one, anything, anyonethat you absolutely love, and
then just center your focus onthem and send them this loving
(18:36):
energy that you are feeling andfeel it being beamed back to you
from them.
Feel all the love, all thepeace, all the gratitude and
appreciation for this thing orthis being in your life as you
breathe, and just take a fewmore nice, slow, easy breaths
(19:09):
basking in this gratitude andappreciation and love, and when
you're ready, you can open youreyes.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Oh, that was beautiful.
I love that.
I love that I had this visionabove my heart, like in the back
.
I love that.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Like exhale it Right I know, If we can give the brain
something else to focus onbesides thoughts, right Like and
imagining, breathing throughthe heart, how we don't really
usually imagine that.
So the brain's like, oh, okay,let me try to do that.
So, yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
I love that.
So you teach others how toaccess their own intuitive gifts
.
What is the biggestmisconception that people have
about channeling and intuition?
That only some people can do it.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Most people believe that this is a gift that's only
bestowed upon a select few and Icall BS on that, because we all
of us have intuition and that'sthe place that channeling comes
from and through, is the placeof intuition that's why it's
called intuitive channeling.
And we all have a heart and weall have an imagination, and
(20:31):
those are the three componentsthat are necessary to be a
channel.
And if you want to be a clearchannel and a channel the
highest vibrational lovingfrequency, as I am and as I
teach then you will devoteyourself to practicing that and
to clearing, you know, clearingyourself of the heaviness and
the negativity and even therelationships that don't serve
(20:53):
you anymore.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
So you just brought up a very, very valid point
about this is a practice inorder to remain a clear channel.
Do you happen to have like adaily spiritual hygiene practice
that you can remain a clearchannel?
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Yes, yes, and if I don't do it, I better not be
channeling, because it'snecessary.
It's necessary for me to beable to serve in the way that I
do.
So mine includes time in nature.
Lucky for me, I have a littlebackyard and it is a garden,
it's a food forest my son and Iplanted together.
(21:28):
We have papayas and bananas andmangoes and, like you can
imagine, all the tropical thingsthat would grow are in my
backyard, and vegetables andgreens and things of that nature
too.
So along with that comes wormsand birds and squirrels and mice
(21:49):
, you know all kinds ofbeautiful, wonderful animal
creatures.
And being outdoors allows me torelease all of the dense energy
I've absorbed.
And Mother Earth just helps mewith that.
She just helps me drain thatand she knows how to compost, so
she turns that energy intosomething that's more usable for
(22:10):
her.
And then I just get delightfrom all the life around me and
the way my plants are growingand how perfect nature is and
how much harmony there is in thenatural world.
So that is absolutely crucial.
And then, of course, ameditation practice is essential
.
I'm not a great meditator, Ipretty much suck at it, but I
(22:31):
show up to it nonetheless and Ikeep going.
I have crystals that I use thatreally help me ground and
center and fall here, and, Ibelieve, a high vibrational diet
.
It's important for me, so Ikeep a plant basedbased diet.
Yeah, there's a lot of things.
Whatever brings you health,wellbeing, joy is is, belongs on
(22:53):
your list of bodaciousself-care, and that's what helps
me be a clear channel.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
I love that.
I love that you and your sonhave made this food forest.
That's definitely somethingthat my son and I have talked
about.
I mean, I'm in New York so it'sgoing to be a little difficult
to do, but it is definitely adream of ours, and he also wants
to grow bananas.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
So oh wow.
I don't know if it will grow inNew York Probably not, but I
might have to do it inside, butthat's okay.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I'm willing to try and we're, you know.
But I just I respect that somuch that you are outside in
nature honoring the earth andtaking such joy it sounds like
from the living beings and thatjust it shows how much you're
committed to your craft and alsojust being a conscious, clear
channel.
That's just, it's so important.
(23:40):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Yes so cool thank you it is and definitely grow stuff
with your son because it it hasreally deepened our
relationship.
He's older now so it's kind ofme alone in the garden these
days when he comes to visit.
I mean no, he's not, he stilllives.
You know, he's still a minor,oh you're like, but he's a, is
he?
Speaker 2 (24:00):
a teenager.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I understand.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Yeah, it really.
It was one of the best thingsI've done for our relationship
and we can still connect andsometimes I just drag him out to
the garden.
You will notice these bananas,you will.
You will help me harvest thisand he was like, okay, fine, and
he does delight in it.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Oh, my goodness, that's so cool.
So you mentor clients andself-trust and sole purpose
clarity.
What's one common challengethat people face when trying to
listen to their own inner?
Speaker 1 (24:32):
they question.
This is what they almosteverybody says what if I'm
making this up?
Oh, yes, right, and that islike the threat that they're
making it up.
They feel that if they'remaking it up, that's the problem
, that's the risk, and what Ialways say is honey, we are
(24:53):
making all of this up every day,all the time.
Rachel has made up her podcastand I have made up my career and
I, you know like this is wherethis is the beauty of being
human is the imagination thatwe're blessed with.
Nothing in your room behind you, rachel, or in my room behind
(25:15):
me, has ever been create, couldhave been created, if it wasn't
first imagined, so that there'snothing more real than the
imagination.
So if you say, what if I'mmaking this up?
Be like I'm making this up andhere we go.
So that's, that's.
The biggest stumbling block isthat we've been raised to
(25:37):
discount and discredit ourselvesand and we have been raised to
think that if we, if some thingsimagine, that means it's not
real.
And I'm really pushing theexact opposite, because we can't
come back to self trust if wedon't allow for that generative
and creative aspect of ourselvesto be revealed.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Absolutely.
I like how you kind of put thatthat we imagine like aspect of
ourselves to be revealed.
Absolutely.
I like how you kind of put that, that we imagine like, yeah,
you're right, I thought imaginemy podcast first, my everything
that we do that's such a goodway to put that to like, no,
it's, it was in your heart andin your mind first, and then you
put it to action.
Yes, oh, that's so cool.
I'm having a moment in my mindaction, yes, oh, that's so cool.
(26:23):
So have you ever received amessage through channeling?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
that deeply changed your own perspective or personal
path.
Every day, every single day,I'll be channeling, and I
channel with my eyes closed andI'll be speaking the message,
and then I will stop and go ohmy gosh, that's incredible.
Okay, and then I'll go back tothe message because, for me, I
am always learning.
Spirit is always bringing adeeper sense, a deeper
understanding, a wider lens forus to see things and even with
(26:51):
the many years I've been doingthis and the thousands and
thousands of messages I'vechanneled, I am learning all the
time.
I have a channeling group afterthis podcast and I'm so excited
to see what I'm going to learnfrom these people's ancestors or
from their higher selves orfrom their spirit guides.
It's really, really beautiful,and if you were to ask me to
highlight some of the mostimportant or most profound
(27:15):
things, I'm really bad at doingthis, because they're all
profound to me.
They're all mind-blowingly,heart-openingly profound.
I guess I would want people toknow that we're never alone, and
I know every spiritual teachersays that.
Most of them say that.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
It's so true.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Yes, it's just true.
So talk to the presence with acapital P that's around you.
Ask for the support and theinsight.
You will sense something,Because you're never alone.
You have an entire team ofsupport that really does want
you to have the best, mostcurrent information and insight
and grounding and understanding.
(27:59):
So ask, ask and do some writing.
I find that many people areable to channel really well
through writing.
It's yeah, your, your team ishere.
Your higher self knows what'swhat.
Your soul is always present andit's going to give you as many
opportunities as you need tolearn and grow and expand.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
I love that.
I love that so much I do.
I'm having a moment.
I love this conversation.
So, as someone who bridgesscience and spirituality, how do
you balance the analytical mindwith the intuitive heart?
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Well, this is the challenge, Not so much balancing
the heart but balancing bothsides of the brain, because in
our society we haveoverdeveloped left hemispheric
function, underdeveloped righthemispheric function.
And I'm not saying this likethat.
You know, if you put probes onyour brain you'll see that.
(28:52):
But if you just look around atwho's operating from a deep
intuition, you'll see far fewerthan those that are operating
from cognition, from thinking.
So the left hemisphere, as youknow, is linear thinking,
problem solving, logic,reasoning, and the right
hemisphere is creative,intuitive.
It's our spiritual, where we doour spiritual connection, and
(29:14):
it's receptive.
And so our work is to giveourselves more opportunities to
make that right hemisphere morerobust.
Anything creative, anythingartistic, anything intuitive
music, art, et cetera will tapyou into that, and it really is
(29:34):
the antidote to despair.
Because I wake up every dayknowing that there are millions
of reasons for me to feeldespair.
I feel the suffering of theouter world and what is going on
in our political scheme and allthe things.
I stay aware of this and Icannot let it take me down or
take me out.
(29:55):
So I have to tap into thatright hemisphere regularly, and
there's so many fun andbeautiful, enjoyable ways to do
that.
Lately I've been using coloringbooks.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
That's a great idea, absolutely.
Get back to your inner child.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Yes, and there's nothing hard about it and I get
to stay in the lines, which Ireally do like to stay.
Stay in the line.
But if you have the talent todraw, then draw anything
artistic again dance, music,cooking, is is creative.
So tap into that as often asyou possibly can.
It really does help to balancethat over reliance on the left
(30:32):
hemisphere.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Absolutely.
Oh, that's I like that.
Just draw, just have fun, getback to your playful nature,
like and that's one of thethings that you humor plays a
part in your spiritual practice.
So why do you think it's animportant part of the journey to
have humor in the spiritualpractice?
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Um well, humor just saves my life every day.
Excuse me, if I can't laugh atmyself, then we're all in
trouble and we have to be ableto laugh at ourselves because we
are so weird, like humans, areso weird, odd, strange, you know
, creatures of habit, but thenalso not wanting to be creatures
(31:13):
of habit, and the way wecommunicate, the things that we
do, the patterns we repeat thatwe know don't work and don't
function.
We just have to go to humor.
Humor is our quickestconnection to divine energy.
So bring it, you know, andeverybody has a different sense
of humor.
I don't get a lot of mine fromlike comedy shows, I don't.
(31:35):
It takes a lot for me to findcertain things funny, but plenty
of people do.
So go to those if that's whatgets you getting.
Children always bring humor, Ifind.
So do animals, their antics.
They have the funniest,silliest ways.
I could sit and watch my dogsall day long and just laugh
because they are, they're sofunny.
But this is, it lightens ourheart and instead of being so
(32:00):
mired down by that which feelsdense and heavy, we finding
humor allows for us to kind ofbreak up that, that heavy kind
of encrusted energy, so that wecan go to levity, and that's
where spirit resides.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Absolutely so.
You're currently working onyour second book about your
spiritual journey.
Can you maybe give us a glimpseinto what themes or lessons
you'll be sharing?
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah, this book is actually going to teach people
how to channel for themselves.
Nice, yeah, perfect, exactly I.
It's my.
Aside from channeling forothers, my next greatest delight
is teaching others how tochannel for themselves and
watching their eyes light up asthey connect, as they receive
messages, as they realize oh myGod, I've.
(32:46):
I've been doing this all along.
I just didn't think I couldtrust it.
I just didn't think it was areal thing.
I thought I was making it up.
But now I know I'm making it up.
So this is you know, I want aworld where everybody trusts
their internal guidance, becausewhen we live that way, we are
(33:07):
in harmony with each other, weare in gratitude, we're sharing.
We're growing food.
We're sharing food with eachother.
We're taking care of eachother's children and families.
We're growing food.
We're sharing food with eachother.
We're taking care of eachother's children and families,
we're offering support and thenreciprocity with the planet.
That's the more beautiful worldmy heart knows is possible.
That's what it looks like, andso I want to teach as many
(33:28):
people to channel as I can,because channeling is love and
it's wisdom and it's guidanceand it's insight and it's pure.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
I love that.
So, before I ask your lastquestion, if anyone wants to
learn more about you or I know,you have online courses that
people can take.
You have groups, you haveone-on-one sessions, you have
your book.
What is the best place for themto go to?
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Go to the website soulinsightcom.
Do not Google, search me byname because, believe it or not,
there is another, stephanieBanks, who's an intuitive
channel, not lying.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
That is wild.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
I know, I know.
So make sure, if you want me,that you can go to
soulinsightcom.
Yes, and I'm on social media,as well as Stephanie Intuitive
Channel.
But yeah, isn't that wild.
What are the chances?
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Well, I think it's funny.
If you Google Rachel Garrett,you bring up a Star Trek actress
.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
So obviously that has nothing to do with your field.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Obviously she's in a way working with
extraterrestrials and in thespace.
Okay, yeah, that's true, that'strue, but you're right, it
doesn't.
But she's not your competition,absolutely not.
No, stephanie, two StephanieBanks no, that's that's.
That's awkward.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
She's really great about it.
I I unfortunately have had tocontact her a number of times
and say yikes, this client meantto schedule with me and she's,
you know, she's like no problem,I'll refund it.
We work totally differently,but we do the same work, so it's
all good.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I love that so much.
So for our final question forthose who want to strengthen
their intuition or begin theirown journey into channeling,
what's one simple, practicalstep they can take today.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I would say go back to that heart coherence practice
.
It's so simple, you can do thatin two minutes.
And if you practice itregularly, quite naturally and
without any efforting on yourpart, you will find that you are
more guided, you are morecentered, you are more aware and
(35:36):
intuitive.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
That's great advice.
Stephanie, I want to thank youso much for coming to the
Spiritual Spotlight Series today.
It's been fascinating to speakwith you.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Thank you so much, Rachel.
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