Journey to the Heart of Avalon

What happens when a spiritual journey becomes a physical and emotional crucible? My recent pilgrimage to England's sacred sites opened me in ways I never anticipated, stripping away pretense and bringing me face-to-face with unprocessed emotions.

The magic began in Glastonbury—the heart chakra of the world—where powerful ley lines associated with Archangel Michael and Mary Magdalene converge. At the Heart Gathering Festival, I found kindred spirits whose authentic connections reminded me why I'd been drawn to this mystical landscape. Our sacred sites tour with an extraordinary guide named John challenged me beyond measure. The climb to Glastonbury Tor became a metaphor for my spiritual journey: each painful step up 300+ stairs with an injured knee brought tears and prayers. "I am trying my best," I sobbed to Michael as rain poured down and wind whipped around me. This wasn't the romanticized spiritual experience I'd imagined—it was raw, difficult transformation.

Divine Light Tours: https://www.divinelighttours.com/ 

Avebury's stone circle emanated gentle healing frequencies while Stonehenge delivered an unexpected otherworldly encounter. Standing before one particular stone, I felt my body pulled by what seemed like a gravitational force. My third eye activated intensely while visions of ancient practices flashed behind closed eyelids. Even now, remembering that moment brings back the sensation of connecting with something beyond ordinary reality. Was it alien? A portal to another time? The mystery continues to unfold.

The healing waters of Bath provided perfect balance to these intense experiences, while navigating challenging relationship dynamics throughout the journey revealed important life lessons. This pilgrimage taught me that sometimes our greatest breakthroughs come disguised as breakdowns. I returned home committed to embodying my medicine, confronting my inner critic, and walking my path with greater authenticity.

Have you experienced transformation through travel? I'd love to hear your story. And if you're seeking your own healing journey, connect with me through joyfulshaman.com for personalized guidance and support.

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Naomi@joyfulshaman.com

Thank You So Much For Supporting Me & Energetically…The Collective

Transcript

Welcome Back and England Trip Overview

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome back to the Joyful Shaman Podcast. This is Naomi, your host with the most. And I am so glad to be back with you guys again. As promised, I am going to do the full download of my England retreat. I have just been back on. By the time you hear this, it will be well over a week. So I'm just going to get right into it. So I um was home for about four weeks between San Diego and by the time I left for England. My trip to England was September 10th through the 20th. And um, I may have mentioned it in one of my past episodes that I am um traveling at this time with the co-host uh for Feather Inflame Retreat in New Mexico that's coming up. She had invited me back in April when I was facilitating at her Mexico retreat to travel with her. She said that she had two tickets for the Heart Gathering Festival, which was a festival for healers. And she said, you know, I booked a flight. I booked myself for 10 days in England. Would you want to go with me? And I said, Well, where is it? And she said, Glastonbury. And I said, Yeah. I had been searching and even reached out and was even considering going to two Glastonbury retreats last year for this year. And it just had aligned for me. And I just been like desiring to go. And so when she said that, I was like, I'm in bucket list trip, let's do this. And I was so grateful for her asking me. So I was patiently waiting, May, June, July, August, and here we are, September. Now the end of September. I can't believe it. And here it was. Now, let me tell you that getting to England, booking the flight was kind of a pain in the ass. I'm not gonna lie. Because I've had this dream of being able to cross the pond and going business class or at least first class so that I can be physically comfortable for that amount of time. Now, granted, it's pretty much the same distance from where I live in Florida to like Seattle, but just going the opposite direction. But nonetheless, I wanted my first time experience to almost Europe to be one that was luxurious and comfortable. And so I had been looking at flights back in May, and I should have bought my ticket then, and that was a lesson for me when the prices were pretty good. And business class was about$3,500 direct flight on Virgin um Airlines. And I wanted to do Virgin Airlines because I really wanted to do like either British Airways or Virgin Airlines just to be on point with the theme. And also, I had been doing extensive research on if you're going to buy first-class tickets, what is the best value for the service and the experience that you receive overall? Virgin Atlantic was really high, and of course, British Airways. Well, I paused from buying my ticket, and of course, in June they went up by a thousand dollars. So I was panicking thinking, how am I going to afford this? And so, well, I did what any girl would do that's really gonna do it. I put it on credit using a firm. That way I make monthly payments. And I didn't do the direct flight. I was talking to my friend about it, and she's like, there's gotta be a way where maybe you can get to one of the major airports like Boston or JFK out of New York. And, you know, I was like, yeah, those flights are a lot cheaper. So what did I do? I booked two separate flights to go from Tampa to Miami, Miami to Boston, and then wait a couple hours and do an overnight from Boston to London Heathrow. Right? I was like, wow, I was able to get it back down to$3,500 again. So proud of myself, not proud that I have to take three planes and do 18 hours of total travel when really it's only seven hours. So at the time I was like, I'll deal with it when the time comes, right? And um, my friend had said, you know, I know that this trip is like for the two of us, but why don't we try to make it like a mini retreat? And I was like, okay, yeah, I could totally be down for that. And she was saying, you know, why don't we try to get in some other people and like three people max so that they can cover our expenses? And I'm like, yeah, if I could get my flight covered and the Airbnbs and hotels covered and food covered, like, oh my God, this would be amazing. Absolutely. So we have put together a retreat called Um Whispers of Avalon. And those of you in the UK that live in the countryside, you are so fortunate and lucky because I love the English countryside now. Um, Glastonbury is the heart chakra of the world where the ley lines converge for Archangel Michael, Mary Magdalene. Um, it's very mystical, very fairy-like, very King Arthur and Guinevere, like all of the things, right? And so I wanted to go and experience that. I wanted to go to the sacred sites, I wanted to be in the medicine and in the magic. But I also wanted to bring other people to offset my costs and also to share it with them. Well, we had put the retreat out, and she did a couple of posts on social media, and I was promoting it heavily. Now I knew that this was going to be a higher-end retreat because let's be honest, you know, renting places, the exchange rate between pounds and US dollars is a lot higher for us, and you know, food costs and the cost of tours, taxis, rough. You know, all of that I had been doing research and I'm like, you know, this can't be something that's just$2,000. And if we're gonna bring people here for six days, like it's gotta be well over$3,000. And I had seen other retreat hosts that um are even in the UK that are offering similar retreats out there to Glastonbury. Not only were we doing Glastonbury, but we were going to Bath, we were going to Aveberry, Stonehenge, and then back to London. I was like, this has got to be at least$3,800, almost$4,000. And so my friend was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that sounds good in May. Well, she totally forgot our conversation, was talking to her childhood friend and offered the retreat at well under that price. I'm talking like$2,700. And I was like, oh, yikes. I guess I'm not gonna get my stuff covered. But then again, if no one would have signed up, I still would have gone because it would have been me and my friend, right? But I was still really angry about it because I felt undermined and disrespected because she hadn't talked to me about it. She just said, this is what I did. She's on board, she's coming with us. Now we just maybe need to get to other people. And then that was the last time my friend promoted the retreat. So um, I here I am in no man's land trying to promote a retreat that just it was not meant for other people to come. And I'm glad that it did not happen, and we will get into the why. So fast forward to September, to September 10th, and I'm so excited. I I packed my stuff a week and a half early because I hate packing. I am okay with unpacking after the jet lag has settled, but I hate packing. It gives me so much anxiety, and I get sweaty and I get bent out of shape, and then I overpack, and then I'm just like, oh my God, is it gonna be over 50 pounds? Blah, blah, blah. So I packed like a week and a half in advance. I was totally calm about it, adjusted, added things, took things out, and I was really proud of myself. I was like, wow, this is the first time I actually have my shit together when it comes to traveling, right? And so um, my buddy comes to get me, everything's good, get to the airport, leave from Tampa, get to Miami. We actually got there a little earlier. I got there around 10 a.m. because it's just a puddle jump, really. It's like a 45-minute flight from where I live to Miami. And um, my flight was supposed to leave around like 12:30. Um, and so I get there, it's a little rainy, but not like terrible storms, you know? It's Florida and like the late summer about to be autumn. It's gonna be raining. And we're still in hurricane season. So um I get to Miami, get to my gate, I'm sitting there having my little morning snacks, um, taking all my supplements to reduce jet lag and inflammation that I have. It's a kit called Flight Kit. I know I've talked about this. And um, they they said like the plan might be a little bit delayed because the other flight wasn't here. We have to get the people off and clean it up. And they're like, oh, we'll get you guys on in like an extra 30 minutes. I'm like, no bigs. I'm supposed to be in Boston by like 3:30. You know, grab my bag, recheck in, do all of that. My flight doesn't leave until 8 o'clock. I got plenty of time, right? So we get on the plane actually by 12:30, the original time. We were supposed to leave by like 1.15. Well, they say we're gonna be delayed up like 15, 20 minutes as we're on the plane, because there is some storms and some lightning happening over the plane, and we don't have the go-ahead to actually like go. And so I was like, all right, well, as long as we go, you know, I'll still be okay time-wise, right? Because it's a three and a half hour flight. That turned into an epic nightmare. That 15-minute delay turned into a four and a half hour delay where I am stuck inside of a plane, buckled, I don't know why I kept my seatbelt on, on the tarmac while there was thunder and lightning and rain, and they were not canceling that flight. And we couldn't get off. Legally, they didn't open the door until after three hours. And then the gate agent came and was saying, like, you know, you guys can get off, but you got to get right back on. And if you don't get back on, your luggage will go to Boston because this flight's not canceling right now. And I was like praying that it would, because if they canceled, then they would have to offload our luggage. I could get it, go to a ticketing agent and see if I could fly out of Miami that night straight to Heathrow, bypass Boston, and just go straight to Heathrow. No. We left at a quarter to five, which means that I was arriving at 7:50 p.m. I knew that I was gonna miss my flight to Heathrow, which really upset me because I had my hotel in London, my friends were already en route to London, and I was not there. And so I'm trying to reach them. Everybody's in the air or in different time zones, and I'm like, I'm not making it tomorrow morning to London. I'm in Boston, I'm trying to arrange my flight. Well, very lovely gentleman helped me, and unfortunately, because I had bought a first class ticket and I'm gonna go first class because I paid that money, I couldn't get a first class flight until the following day, the 11th, at 7:20 p.m. So, like almost a whole 24 hours later. So I lost my hotel in London. They wouldn't refund me, so there's$220 gone. And then I had to book a one night stay at a nearby hotel airport and pay an extra$50 so I can check out at 4 p.m. So that was like$320 right there, plus meals. Because it was a weather, considered an act of God, which no, um, they were not gonna give me any meal vouchers and there were no discounts that they could offer for me for the airport hotel, which was the Hilton, which I couldn't stay there because it was$500 that night. It was wild. So I stayed at the little comfort inn and I had a free breakfast. And did I eat my heart out that morning and bring food up to my room so I could have it for lunch and a snack? Because I'm like, dang it, I've spent all this money, I'm getting some free food. So here I am, like just bummed that I've missed out a whole day in London. And I'm like, okay, you're gonna fly out tonight, everything's gonna be fine. And um you'll just get there early Friday morning, like 7 a.m., and you'll just have to hustle it to their hotel and then be ready to leave on the train and go out to the countryside later that afternoon, right? So everything goes well. They put me on a British Airways flight, and man, swanky, oh my goodness. I had the last very true first class seat, and it was five-star service, incredible food. I was so relaxed. I slept, I slept like a baby, actually. Got there energized, ready to rock and roll. And I started to sweat when I got to England because I drank so much tea on the flight. I'm not used to that much caffeine. So it was kicking in, and I was like, oh, I'm ready to go. I'm booking it. So I take the little train, the Heathrow Express, after getting my bag and all of that, and I head down to Paddington Station. And my friends were staying at the Indigo Hotel and they were asleep. They're like, oh man, jet lag. You know, they had gotten there the first night. They went out to dinner, maybe had a little too much to drink, and it was just hitting them. So I was like, all right, I'm just gonna leave my bag here, and I want to go take a brisk walk in Hyde Park and um Kensington Gardens. And I did, and it was so lovely. The weather was incredible, it was like 60 degrees and breezy and sunny, and I was like, yes, thank you, God, because I don't have that in Florida. It's still freaking 90 degrees and storming and humid. So I enjoyed my morning there. They woke up, we got our stuff, we got on the train. That was a bit of a hectic thing, but we got on the train and we went out to the countryside, which took us about an hour and 20 minutes with all the stops. Well, we get to Castle Carrie, um, which is the last stop that you can get to before Glastonbury because there are no direct trains um in Glastonbury. And so um we got a little taxi and headed up to our Airbnb. And it was totally lovely in this sweet little house. Um, and I wasn't prepared that everything in England has so many stairs. Like, you know, our houses here are flat, at least in Florida where I live. It's flat land and it's all single floor. I mean, yes, you can have two-story houses, but the stairs go up, not down. Kitchens are big. Your laundry machines are not in your kitchen, you know. It was a little bit different. There's air conditioning here. Um, but it was all good. Um, my knee was still bugging me. You know, my friend had tried his best to repair my knee, but it just wasn't happening. And I really couldn't get with the program of doing my fast again and, you know, for England. I just, I don't know, I just couldn't do it. And so everything was good. We went to the grocery store. I was worried about having to walk because apparently in Glastonbury, it's very hard to get a taxi at any time you want one because it's so small. But we were able to get dropped off, go to the grocery store, and I was able to call a taxi to bring us back with our groceries. And we kept having to go to little co-op grocery stores and little stores to get food because my friend who had planned this mini retreat with me, it was just me, her, and her childhood friend, um, had decided, like, yeah, I'm not gonna be going out to eat, and I'm just gonna eat at home all the time in the Airbnb. And I was like, what? I'm ready to go out to eat. I'm ready to experience English food, I'm ready to experience ethnic food, I'm ready to experience all that England has to offer me. So that wasn't quite the experience I had signed up for, but I was like, all right, I can vibe with it. You know, I'll save a few bucks. And thank God I did. Right. So um we go to the Heart Gathering Festival. It's absolutely wonderful. Everyone is so like true in their hearts and just wanting to connect. And I went to the Heart Gathering Festival really not knowing who any of the healers were, don't really follow them on social media. I was just like, all right, I'm here for the vibes. Let's let's check it out, you know, who's kooky and who's not. And um, you know, as an American amongst English people and other Europeans, I was just like, you know, I'm grateful to be here in this moment, right? And so um it was wonderful, it was a whole day event. All the speakers came on, it was very organized. I really enjoyed it. I did a lot of meditating, did a lot of singing. It was sweet, felt like church a little bit. Um, and you know, movement, body movement, and just met some really lovely people. And I got to see some of the metaphysical shops. I did go out to eat to one little organic place for lunch. You know, it was pretty good. Um, and I just really enjoyed being in the town. It's very sweet. So after that day, I was like high vibe. And then on that Sunday, we were supposed to do our tour of Glastonbury, of the Abbey, of Chalice Um Wells and Garden, of the White Springs, of the of the tour as well. So I was like super excited about that. And um, you know, we got up, we got up early, and we were ready to rock and roll. Now, I will say the one thing that disappointed me the most about the trip is I really saw my friend and this person that I have a professional relationship with in her true nature. And I'm gonna be honest, I haven't known her that long. You know, us doing the retreat in New Mexico will be about a year technically that we've known each other, but really I've only known her since like April, right? And so I'm traveling with her and I'm seeing her in this light. And my friend is is struggling emotionally, mentally, and and some deeper rooted things. And um, you know, I'm not gonna air her laundry out there or anything like that, but there's uh a lot of wine involved. Yeah. And um just behaviors that come out, not anything super negative, but can be very hurtful. And it was really hard for me to see her treat her childhood friend in a way that would not be okay, and seeing her be very upset and worried about her friend that she's known that she was, you know, since she's 14 years old and they're both 63 now, you know? And I'm in the middle of this and I'm just keeping a strong energetic boundary and just kind of staying in my bubble because I'm like, I'm not gonna get involved. This is not my arena. I'm not here to do this, but be careful. So the day of the tour comes, and we meet our lovely guide and John. If you are hearing this, John of Divine Light Tours, I will put the information in the body of this description. So for those of you that are looking for a spiritual base, ritual, ceremonial base, and historical base tour of Blastonberry, of Apeberry and Stonehenge and other parts of England, you need to work with John at Divine Light Tours. Well, I had been the one to organize everything, and it was absolutely amazing. I was so excited to meet him, this sweet, lovely Irish man. And we met him at the gates of Glastonbury Abbey, you know? And I had told my friend the night before, like, hey, you know, this gentleman is an energy healer, and he's going to be checking into our energy and really tapping into our areas of healing so that he can tailor the tour and our practices to be able to work on that. So that was the first thing he did was check in with us and said, you know, he had scanned the energy and the way that he was intuiting. I knew that he was talking about me first, but he was like, one of you is continuing to go through these cycles, and it's like you're almost like it's like a barrel, but it's hitting all these rocks and it's like moving forward, but also spinning out and getting bumpy, and I'm like, that's me. I'm really trying to move forward, but I'm also creating my own chaos. I'm literally a barrel in the game of Super Mario Brothers, you know. Um, so and then he made some other comments that I felt were from my friend based on the information that she had shared the night before. But it it was one of these things where I'm like, I'm not gonna call her out, but this is my feeling, you know. And so we did the abitir. I learned so much. We did a beautiful opening, you know, circular ritual about honoring the journey, honoring our ancestors, honoring where we came from, and then spinning um in the opposite direction to call in the new, you know, it's a part of shedding and just really standing in the energy of those ley lines. So I really enjoyed the abbey. It did make me sad to know about the history of how badly it was destroyed. Of course, the church does all these things, you know. And it's not that I hate the church or anything, but at that time they did cause a lot of chaos for sure. And then um, we moved on to the Mary Magdalene Chapel, which was beautiful, small, you know, on the history of that as being a hospice center for those on the street to be able to have a place of healing and rest in their final days to die with dignity, you know, beautiful. The chapel we sat in there. I could have meditated in there all day. Incense smelled good, flowers smelled good. I bought a myrrh and frankincense and gold Rolon um oil that, you know, I'm I'm using just to help me find balance. It was really beautiful in there. So I love special places like that. And then we went um and walked to um the Chalice Well and Gardens, which was my absolute favorite place. Um, the energy lay lines of Michael and I believe Mary Magdalene Cross there. Um, so very angelic, very biblical, and I felt it. It and we went to the well and we meditated there, at least I did, for an extended amount of time. And something told me you need to stay here and not go up the tour. And it was starting to drizzle and rain, and I was like, well, I can't really stay here, it's gonna pour, you know. But something told me not to go up to the Glastonbury Tour, which is a very big tower on a very high hill, and it's like the highest part of the town, you can see it, and there's over 300 steps to the very top, and it's not easy. And it is the headquarters of Archangel Michael, where you feel the energy the strongest, and it's meant to be a journey of the subconscious mind. It is difficult and challenging on the body, even in bright, sunny, beautiful weather. It is hard because they're not easy steps, you know, it's long, winding, wide steps that can be really dangerous. Well, it started to rain and pour and high winds, like a storm was rolling in. And even though I had my rain jacket on, we were soaked and it was getting cold. And my knee was really starting to hurt because we had been walking since 10 a.m. until like one o'clock, and like not sitting, not resting, not eating. It was super hard. And we had to climb up this hill, and I'm aware of my body, and I'm aware that I'm very much out of shape, stamina-wise. And I was like, I don't know if I can do this. And John was saying, like, once you start, once you start the labyrinth of the stairs to get up, it's really not good to stop and to turn around. You need to keep moving forward, like it's part of the experience. And I was like, Okay, you can do it, you can do it. I didn't know what to expect. So we go through this big metal gate and we start, and I'm like, Oh, I can't do this. It's starting to rain hard and blow wind hard. And I am like, How can I do this? And he's like, you know, there's there's benches or steps, like take and rest because my knee started to tear. And that's what it felt like. It felt like knives were serrating my knee and my knee was starting to seize up and my legs were starting to seize up because they're like, hello, hi, these shoes we're wearing, it's not meant for this. Hi, we would like to stop now. We would like to get off the ride, we would like to go rest. We would like to go eat, we would like to take a hot shower, we would like to be warm in soft, fuzzy pants and in our bed. Thank you. And I was like, no, so I had to climb up. And the ladies went ahead before me because they were much more agile than me. Of course, John does this frequently, and I couldn't like I thought I couldn't do it. And I was like stopping a lot and I was sobbing and crying and pleading to God and Michael, like, please, I'm trying my best. I am trying my best. I know that I'm not taking care of myself. I'm not good at this, but please, if you have any mercy, protect my knee. Don't let it blow out. Please don't let me hurt myself. I'm in a foreign country on a hill, climbing up to this tower to try to have some kind of spiritual connection. But all I can think about is the searing pain and the fact that my legs are giving out right now. And I would just climb up, like almost dragging my leg, just hoping that that there will be a bench, even in the pouring rain that I can just sit on. And I can barely see because all the hair is blowing in my face, even though I like tightened the hood around my head. It was still really hard. And I would get to a bench and John would be waiting and he's like, You did it. You know, you're almost there, but you know, you got to keep going. And I was like breathing so hard, you know. And I, I'm not gonna lie, John, I was mad at you. I was because I was like, this man doesn't know me. He doesn't know that I was born with a short leg, he doesn't know that my spine is super jacked, doesn't know that my doctor friend said, if you overdo it, you're going to have an accident and it's not gonna be good. And I was just listening to his words in my head and panicking and still trying to go up there because I didn't want to dishonor, you know, mythic lore or culture or anything, but I was like, I'm I have to try my hardest, and you know, I'm gonna keep going, I guess. And so I kept going, and it took me, I think, almost like an hour to get up there, maybe, maybe 45 minutes. I don't know. By the time I got up there, I was so defeated that I was like, thank God I'm not dead. I'm really ready to get down. I would just like to sit here and disassociate. And there was not a lot of space inside of the tower. So there was all these people, and I was just like, I couldn't look at anybody. I just had my head down because I was so angry at myself for being like, Why, why didn't you take care of yourself better so that you can do this, so that you can climb up, so you can be in the medicine of Michael, so that you can appreciate the connection. Instead, you're crying because you want this to be over and you want to go home and you're tired. And we know, but this isn't good. And so I was just so self-critical, which was not good. And I was just like really dealing with some things. So once again, my heart is ripped open even deeper to once again some emotional things that needed to come up that I needed to deal with. So they're like, okay, we got to get going because another storm's rolling in. So I'm like, get me the fuck off this hill, you know? So we're going down, it's dangerous, and then like we're walking down this road to White Springs. And White Springs is a cool place. It is an active temple. You can't take pictures and videos in there. I learned that the hard way. Um, and it was okay, but it just wasn't a vibe for me. Mainly because I got embarrassed, because I got called out. But I just wasn't feeling it, you know. And I think it was just so exhausted. My legs started to shake, my knee was hurting so bad. I was dragging my leg. I was just like, I need to go home. Like, I don't want to be here anymore. Like, I want to go back to the Airbnb. And we still have to walk all the way back and walk uphill. And so we were done with that, you know, and it was beautiful, don't get me wrong. I mean, for what it was, for as much energy as I could. And then I got my second win because I was like, all right, are we done? I would like to go home now. Thank you. Thank you for the tour, John. I need to go home. Thanks. And I like booked it. I booked it home, took a hot shower, took a whole bunch of Tolono on the leaf, and went to bed because I was so zonked. I was so zonked that I was like, I need to wrap my knee. I With my knee brace and and I just need to like not exist for a while. And I woke up and I felt a little bit better, but man, still hurting a lot. And I was thinking, what can I do to better this pain, you know? Because I was crying a lot. I was just so self-deprecating, so like, you can't do this. You're so done with this. Like, it was just bringing up all these things, all these fears, all these worries, all these doubts that I needed to shed and let go of. So that was really my first true test of Archangel Michael, of just like standing in my power and just being like, stop, you need to face these things that you haven't dealt with. And yes, you are in pain. And yes, your pain is making you feel some kind of way. Well, it definitely continued into the wee hours of the morning. I was just like having an existential crisis. And I realized, you know, I'm gonna see if there's a naturopath or somebody here that can help me with some therapies for my knees, some healing, even if it's crystal healing, whatever, because I need help. How am I gonna make it through the rest of this trip? I have a whole week. How am I gonna walk? So it was going online and I saw that there was a frequency medicine center in town. And I'm like, I'm gonna call them in the morning and see by any chance if they can see me tomorrow, because the next day was like our last full day in Glastonbury before we were heading off to Bath. And so I was like, please, please let them have, you know, space. So I was just kind of hanging out the next day. It was a free day. The ladies went shopping. I call them first thing in the morning at 10 a.m. and they took me in at four, and I was so blessed, so blessed. So I was just kind of chilling in the house. But I had recorded this video on social media about like me in the height of my feelings of just coming into these realizations, of coming into the realization of like, I don't want a brick and mortar business. I haven't been dealing with some stuff. I haven't been the best at this, but I'm trying my best in that this place is really testing me. And, you know, I'm really struggling. And I just was being very open and very vulnerable and just saying, like, transformation is hard. You can't avoid it. You can't outwork yourself so that you can't deal with your things. Like, and I'm I need to embody my medicine, you know? And so I went to the Frequency Medicine Center. They did cold laser therapy, which was an amazing godsend because it's what saved my knee. It released all the tension, it activated the ATP, um, the energy and the muscles to repair and heal itself, like on overdrive. All the swelling went down. They put me on a PMF mat that vibrated for 30 minutes. It was incredible, amazing. And I was so grateful for it because we don't have that kind of medicine here where I'm at, you know. Um, it that isn't a thing for me. And it was so inexpensive there. And I was so grateful to the kind ladies that helped me and they were inquiring about me and where I come from. And I had met them at the heart gathering. So that's how I remembered that they, you know, had the frequency medicine place. And so I was really grateful for that. And then I was able to enjoy a little bit of shopping, you know, that afternoon, perusing. And then um, I went to dinner with um our companion, you know, my friend's childhood friend. We went to the Queen's Cup, which was awesome. Loved it. I wanted to go there, totally worth it if you're in Glastonbury, 100%. And I was so glad. And then the next day we get up, we're packed early, ready to go. John comes back to get us because he's taking us to Aveberry and Glastonbury. And I'm glad that there was quite a bit of ride out there because it gave my knee more time to heal. And I did really well. I mean, I had to wear my knee brace the entire time for the rest of the trip to stabilize it, but it's what kept it safe. And I loved Aveberry. Oh my God, I loved Aveberry so much. I could have disappeared and just gotten a little cottage there and just been there forever, honestly. And it was so mystical and magical, the biggest stone circle in the world. Just being around all those stones were incredible. And just really connecting out there with nature and the softness of Aveberry, a lot of heart chakra, throat chakra, third eye chakra out there and root chakra, I felt. So I really needed the healing of the stones and to talk to the stones and touch the stones, to see the beautiful pagan trees where they still hold um hand fasting marriages and special, special rituals and ceremonies, was really special for me, truly. And um after that we went to Stonehenge. And man, Stonehenge, aside from going to Glastonbury, was like the second reason why I was going on this England trip. That was like top of the bucket list. I was like, I'm finally gonna see the stones, right? And I know you can't go up to the stones unless you have one of those special tickets that's uh sunrise or sunset, and they only allow so many people. But we got as close as we could. It wasn't that many people, so it wasn't crowded, and I got a lot of photos and videos, and there was one stone in Stonehenge that did something to me. And I was having an out-of-body experience in real time in the late afternoon, and I'm looking at this stone, and I feel that my entire body is being pulled by like a supersonic magnet, like a gravitational pull is like pulling my body to go over the ropes. That's what it felt like. And I was like, holy moly, my third eye was like on fire, like I was having a splitache, headache, just pressure in my head. And I was just like starting to disassociate. I'm like, oh God, where am I going? Where am I being taken to? It felt like a portal, like not of this world. And so I kept closing my eyes and opening them to be like, wake up, wake up. And when I would close my eyes, I'd see bright flashes of white light and very ancient practices there in the stone. So I was being taken back in time. And I was like, this is alien. This isn't real. This, this is something else. It wasn't scary, but I started to have anxiety because I'm having like this moment where I'm not disassociating, but I'm channeling or I'm having an out-of-body astral projection experience where there's a bunch of strangers and I'm outdoors next to sheep, which the sheep are cute. And um, yeah, there's like lambs and sheep that surround Stonehenge, which I might think they might be the aliens themselves watching us and you know, being like, what do they think about all this? Right. So John has to come and like call me and is like, hey Naomi, we're calling you. It's time to go. We have to move on. We got to get back on the bus to go back to like the museum center. And he's like, You didn't hear us. And I was like, no, I'm having a moment. Holy moly. And like I had to take my eyes off the stone. And even as I'm talking about it, imagining, I'm starting to get that feeling again. So I made just this powerful connection to the stones, right? And in the museum, I bought um a sarsen stone, which is the outer stones, a stone henge, and then I bought a blue stone, which is the inner stones, that actually came from Wales, 180 miles away. These are 50 ton rocks. How the hell did they get those rocks over there? And for what reason, right? How do they do this? This is like thousands of years old, right? So I have a stone. Um, I haven't taken it out of my backpack yet, and I have to bless it, but I'm gonna work with it just to be like, what are you? Are you alien? Are you a connection to another being? You know, so I'm excited about that. So that was incredible. He dropped us off in Bath to our Airbnb. Um, I loved Bath, like, totally loved it. We went during the Jane Austen Festival, which was two weeks, and we kept seeing all these beautiful costumes and people dressed up in the era. I mean, absolutely stunning. And I was like, this is magical. And bath is so lovely. It is so beautiful. I really enjoyed it. Um, the food was incredible, people were friendly. We saw the Roman bath, we did the new thermal bath. Oh my god, that rooftop mineral pool, the sauna, the steam room, the underground pool. Like I was rejuvenated. All of those minerals, like my skin, I look like a baby. I was like bright and happy and glowing. It was incredible. I would totally go back and see more. I wish we had more time. We went to an incredible Italian restaurant there. Delicious. I think it's called Soto Soto. S-O-T-T-O-S-O-T-T-O, if you're in bath. Um, and so after that, you know, we had to bid adieu and get back on the train and go to London. And I was really tired and I hadn't been sleeping well at that place um in the house that we rented in bath because it had four floors and, you know, my knee. And I couldn't bring up my luggage and it was just an awkward house. And I was like, all right, you know. So I get to London, I check into my hotel. I'm glad to be in Kensington. Um, I stayed at the Ampersand Hotel, which is very cute. Um, and I just like crashed for the night. And then I was supposed to meet the ladies for dinner at the Mandarin Oriental um at a place called Dinner that's uh Heston Blumenthal's restaurant. And it was wonderful, beautiful experience, 10 out of 10. We'll do again. And um the next day I was able to really enjoy by myself. I did meet them at the Royal Lancaster Hotel for the breakfast. Eh, I don't think it's worth the hype, to be perfectly honest. Could have probably had a better breakfast elsewhere, but you know, it's what they wanted to do, and I was down for it. And then after that, I spent the early afternoon at the Natural History Museum really enjoying it because I love dinosaurs. I love prehistoric things, I love learning about animals, and oh my god, they have a minerals room and crystals room. And I could have cried if it wasn't for my leg and my knee getting tired. I was like, I could have spent more and more time there going through aisle by aisle, looking in all of the cabinets, seeing all the precious jewels and gemstones. Like it was so special for me. And then I went to Harrod's and bought like$100 worth of chocolate as gifts and um, you know, caught a taxi back to our airport hotel and then, you know, made it back home. No issues, just really long jet lag. Um, but overall, England was incredible. I will definitely go back there and maybe I will collaborate with somebody there to do a retreat 100%, or even go back myself to a retreat out there. 100% I would totally do it. It is my heart's desire to go. If it wasn't for my friend and her problem with mine, you know, and really navigating and being unfortunately in the middle of that energy between herself and her childhood friend. Um, I think it would have been an even more magical trip. But you know what? I am glad I listened to my intuition. I'm glad that I did my tarot card readings. I'm glad that I was prepared because I would have been forewarned that this trip wasn't going to be exactly easy. I was going through the eclipse season. I was going in between the lunar and solar eclipse and the autumn equinox. So, not the best time to travel, honestly, and I probably won't do that again. Um, but it was also like at least you're going in with eyes wide open, you know? So I feel that this trip really opened me up even deeper to letting go of some things, accepting more about myself, and just coming into the realizations of like I need to be more kind, gentle, and loving and really learn to stop with the inner critic. I definitely am back and on the straight and narrow with my diet and getting went right back to the chiropractor to work on my knee. It's feeling a lot better. So I feel like maybe I needed to go and just do some healing out there and release that so that my body could let it go. Um, and as far as the retreats go, yes, we are still struggling to fill the last three spots. And there is a part of me that's like, do we cancel this retreat three weeks out? Because we can't financially sustain it with just two attendees. You know, we need at least five to cover our expenses, to be perfectly honest. And I believe that we can get the last three people, but I also am been really upset with my friend that I traveled with, um, that really hasn't been doing her part. And she owns it. She dropped the ball in promoting New Mexico Retreat. And now she's like, oh my gosh, I'm really stressed out. Like, we're in the last couple of weeks. Can we do this? What are we gonna do? Should we cancel? We can't cancel the Airbnb. They're not gonna give us our money back. I can't lose$7,000. And I'm just like, this is what it is, you know. I feel like I'm putting my heart and soul out there. And I had to really feel my feelings this week. I was in a lot of anger, a lot of pain, jet lag, emotional instability, just looking for some hope, asking God to please send us the right people. I know it's last minute, but please, you know, help us, help us do, you know, our part for it. And and, you know, I at least for me, because I've been promoting it consistently for the last five months, and and I I really want people to come. I really want to share medicine and one of my favorite places. And Taos will be a new place for me, Taos, New Mexico. And so, you know, if you're listening and you're interested in going to New Mexico or if you're in New Mexico and you're the area, you know, reach out, go to the Joyful Shaman website, you'll see upcoming retreats and check out the retreat page. But that's my trip to England. I caught up to where I am now living in life. I am feeling better today enough to do the podcast. And um, you know, before I go to New Mexico, I am gonna podcast about some other things. I want to talk about aliens, I want to talk about otherworldly beings and what I feel about them. And maybe if you're in, if you hear it, you send me your feedback about it too. And I also want to talk about when you're in the in-between space, when the new reality hasn't quite fit in and you're still shedding old things and you're having to grieve through it. And then I want to talk about maybe sacred rage part two, like, you know, how to channel the anger and how to deal with it when you're angry with yourself, you know, when you realize that your rage is towards you and and not to go off into the deep end and stay in the place of like, well, you're just a fuck up, you know? So I'm gonna talk about a couple of things to encourage you guys to just share my thoughts and feelings and to invite a dialogue. But if you are finding this, thank you for hearing this much longer story about England and um you have a purpose and a plan, and there is a reason why you have incarnated into this lifetime and you're not alone. And I hope that maybe my stories, my vulnerability, my emotions can inspire you to activate and heal yourself. And if you need some help along the way, you can actually connect with me online. I do offer online services where you can book a healing session with me and we tailor the service and do some counseling, and I can offer guidance and support and create an experience for you to activate your own healing, to start to process some things, to get some clarity, to undo the chaos, to find balance, to find peace and strengthen yourself energetically. You can find that on my website, joyfulshaman.com. You just looked at my online services and book a session with me. I'd be happy to connect with you wherever you are. And thank you again to John. I know that you challenged me. I enjoyed speaking with you. I hope to work with you again in the in the future, in the near future, for more retreats, or hope to connect with you again, even in my own travels, John. And thank you. And to Archangel Michael, as I always call on you each and every day, as I'm in my office, as my protector and as my guide and as a healer, even though I struggled, you help me and you protect me, and I'm grateful for you. So, friends, be well and I'll see you soon. Satnam.