Healing the Earth : Insights from Dr. Smita Garg

Jim welcomes Dr. Smita Garg back to the podcast, introducing her background from India, her doctorate in education, and her online practice, Kinder Way Healing, which offers modalities such as past life regression, Life Between Lives, spirit releasement, and “meet your guides” sessions. 

Smita explains her hypnotherapy path began with healing her own trauma from tragic losses and near-death experiences, leading her to train with Dr. Brian Weiss, then Dr. Linda Backman (linked to Dr. Michael Newton and the Newton Institute).  She later studied with Holly Meredith Holmes, plus mentorship through Carole Louie and Peter Smith. 

The discussion defines spiritual guides as non-interfering helpers who offer direction while respecting free will. They explore the idea that animals, plants, water, and Earth itself have consciousness. 

 Smita describes receiving guidance to undertake an “earth healing” mission, which led to creating “Healing in Nature” hikes with Green Foothills and Amah Mutsun Chairman Val Lopez, combining meditation, wildlife connection, and education in local preserves.  

Future episodes are planned to discuss Earth Healing on Hawaii and Japan.

00:00 Meet Dr Smita Garg

03:07 Her Hypnotherapy Journey

04:11 Mentors and Training Path

07:22 Online Practice and Services

08:49 What Are Spirit Guides

11:36 Earth as a Living Being

16:42 Mother Earth Calls in COVID

19:51 The Earth Healing Mission

23:40 Healing in Nature Hikes

24:29 Wildlife Encounters and Forest Bathing

26:01 Curated Meditative Hikes

28:23 Wrap Up and Next Episode

Transcript

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 1:45

We're welcoming Dr. Smita Garg today to the podcast. Welcome, Smita

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 1:51

Thank you, Jim. It's wonderful to be back on your podcast

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 1:56

It is. It is wonderful for me as well, and I'm very excited about today's today's episode that we're getting going on and just can't wait to get started. I wanna tell a little bit about you, Smita. For

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 2:10

Please

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 2:10

may- maybe haven't seen any other episodes and haven't really met you before S- Smita is from the country of India, and she came over to the States here a while ago she has a doctorate in education so she's really Dr. Smita Garg. And she also has raised a family here and and is a real participant in our country in a big way. Despite the fact that you have your PhD in education, you also a lot of studies and education in another area, and that is of hypnotherapy. I know that you were torn between which way to go on that and that you got guidance, Spirit that hypnotherapy was the way to go. And so you studied, and I think you s- as I recall, you studied with some pretty prestigious folks. Who did you study with?

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 3:06

Yes. I think I've shared this before on the podcast that for me, the hypnotherapy journey started with wanting to heal my own trauma. And the trauma was associated with the passing of loved ones, tragic passing not what anyone would consider normal by any standards. And then also coming very close to death myself, having a couple of near-death experiences. So it all started with me trying to figure out what was the best way to deal with the trauma of losing loved ones or this fear of death that I had developed. And so Dr. Brian Weiss's work came my way. And so I would say that I started with Dr. Brian Weiss, and then I had the opportunity to actually go and train with him. So he is my mentor, and he trained me in my hypnotherapy practice. And thereafter, as I would do my sessions, I realized that I needed a deeper sort of dive into hypnotherapy because a lot of my clients were not going into past lives per se. They were going into other dimensions. They were going into other realms, and I just had to figure out how to best help them. And then Dr. Linda Backman's work came my way. Dr. Linda Backman is Dr. Michael Newton's student, and she worked with him for a long time, helping him set up the Newton Institute that we all know about. And then she started her own school of hypnotherapy and Life Between Lives process. So I went and trained in the Life Between Lives process with her. And once I was done with that, life started to shift very rapidly, and then COVID happened. And then I had other opportunities to study with other teachers. During COVID, I ended up actually doing a lot of classes, online classes, and just deepening my my studies and my, I just felt like whatever tools I needed to support, this world the people who were dealing with traumas and were coming to me I just wanted to keep polishing the tools I had and then also learning new things. So I joined the HCH Institute here in California and studied with Holly Meredith Holmes, and Holly's very well known as well. And then also during that same time, I came across Carol Lui, who we all know. She's our common friend. And Carol and I met in a Dr. Brian Weiss forum because she also studied with Dr. Brian Weiss. And once I met her, I got involved with the Reincarnation Symposium. And so Carol has also mentored me, and I really I'm so grateful for her presence in my life, really. And through Carol, I met Peter Smith of the Quantum Consciousness Institute in Australia. Now, Peter also ran the Newton Institute for years. And so it's interesting how all these threads came together in s- in a really beautiful braid, I would say. And so I've had the pleasure of and the good fortune of having studied with a lot of wonderful teachers.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 6:59

I can say that you so much to the studies and to your practice a tremendous intelligence and a wonderful kind way about you. And so we're very lucky that you decided to go in this direction. And I have had the benefit of your help on several occasions and it's just a blessed thing. I wanted to mention briefly that you do operate a Kinder Way Healing.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 7:29

That's right

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 7:30

and you do your work through the computer,

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 7:33

Yes, online.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 7:35

online.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 7:36

Yes

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 7:37

and so anybody anywhere in the world can get your help. And

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 7:40

That's right

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 7:41

That's a wonderful thing. And and so that no one should worry about whether they are from California like you or they live somewhere else. It's it's very easy to to get ahold of you.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 7:52

Yes

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 7:53

gonna just read from my notes a little bit

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 7:55

Sure

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 7:56

on, and that is that you, you do the past life regressions, between lives soul regressions, Life progression therapy, deep healing hypnosis therapy, spirit releasement therapy, and meet your guides sessions, which is the one that I had just recently. And so is a wide variety of things that Smitha can help you with if you're interested. I'm very proud to have her here on this podcast because she is tops of the tops. And,

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 8:33

Oh

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 8:33

One aspect that you and I have not talked about here on the podcast, and that I didn't name, which is earth healing,

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 8:42

That's right

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 8:43

w- we're gonna talk about today.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 8:45

Yes I think it's about time.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 8:48

Yes. Before we got going, I wanna talk about two things that are gonna be very important to our talk today. One is about guides,

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 8:57

Yes

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 8:58

In preparing for this interview, you and I have talked about things, and there was a lot of guidance that you got from your guides. Could you share with someone, if they don't know, if they've never heard of a guide before or what that is? Could you explain

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 9:12

yes.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 9:12

what

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 9:13

of course. So in the field of spiritual hypnotherapy but also this world of spiritual existence, I would say we assume that there are beings who are far more wise than we are. We are here to learn. We are here on the Earth plane to learn, and there are wiser beings who may be embodied on Earth or maybe not. But they have been assigned the task of guiding us. So each one of us may have, a set of guides or maybe one prominent guide. It just depends on, your specific situation. Guiding you through your, through the earthly challenges. Because we do meet a lot of challenges here, and sometimes we feel lost and defeated. Sometimes we make reckless choices, and the guides, are present to guide us differently. They cannot interfere in our actions here. So that is up to us. How we act is up to us. But the guide's job is to really send you in a particular direction that they feel would be best for you. And then it's up to us. We have free will. We can choose to take that direction or not. They don't judge us. We are not, told that we are gonna go to hell or whatever. None of that stuff. But they do come from a place of the highest sort of, desire. They desire us to really succeed through the challenges, to get through the challenges in a way that we have moved forward in our learning and our spiritual growth. So

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 11:10

some of us are not aware of our guides, but then there are some people like you who have developed over time the ability to communicate clearly with your guides, to recognize when they're-- what guidance they're giving you, and to communicate your w- questions and thoughts as well. And so that's gonna be a very important part of today's interview. So I want to just cover that a little bit. And the other thing is when we're talking about h- the Earth, I recently took some classes help me understand that animals and water and plants all have spirit. They are all energetic beings.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 11:56

Yes

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 11:56

we walk around, i- we don't learn that in second grade or, in the... It's not taught in the school system here in, in this country. I don't blame it, but it's just not, that's not what we learn when we're in school, is that an animal has a spirit And, so does a plant and so does water. But that is something that is a given in this discussion today Accept that is true and then take a further step, and that is that the Earth itself is a being. And could

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 12:32

Yes.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 12:32

about that a little bit,

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 12:33

Yes, of course. It's I think it's really important we are at that turning point in our existence, our evolution as humans, that if we don't recognize that naturally existing beings like trees and plants and, animals in water have life, then we haven't really learned much about our own existence. In schools, we are also taught about the life cycles. We are taught about how we are interdependent. The trees breathe out oxygen, which we humans need to survive. And we breathe out carbon dioxide, which trees need to survive. So essentially, we are here to assist each other in this business of living. Also science knows and science has said that all life came from water. The human embryo goes through, these stages where initially it looks like a little, egg. Like it could be like a fish actually. It looks very similar to a little fish egg, if I may say so. And then even while the baby is in the mother's womb, the baby's floating in amniotic fluid so I feel like there is something there for us to understand that there's this there's this beautiful connection that we don't pay much attention to, this interdependency between all living beings, to the extent that we've even forgotten that other beings are living, we could not survive without a drop of water. Humanity would die without water, and plants would die without water. So what is it really in water that sustains life? There's something there. So we cannot just brush it aside and think that, "Oh, water is has no life in it. It's a lifeless kind of thing." It's a naturally existing thing which is also very magical. It's the only substance that i- under different temperatures changes shape and can go back to being fluid and go back to being ice and go back to being steam and come back to being fluid. There is no other substance like water. I feel like connecting to w- the consciousness of water, connecting to the consciousness of plants is basically connecting to our own vast consciousness because we are all part of that same consciousness. It's the same consciousness that runs through water, that runs through plants, that runs through humans and all the animals and all the beings in this universe, actually. So coming to Earth being a living being, if we just look at the fact that we survive on the nutrition provided by Mother Earth. Even if I look at the landscape here in California, in wintertime, the hills turn totally brown, and then as spring begins to approach, the grass on the hills start to turn this fresh green color, and then slowly the green begins to turn into gold as summer approaches. It's a magical thing to watch. But how is this happening? How is new grass coming up? How is-- How do plants, how do trees produce fruit every season? Where is this magic coming from? How would this happen if Earth was not a living being, right? Not living, then everything that grows on Earth would be dead. It was during COVID that I started to hear directly from Mother Earth, and she started to talk to me. And she said, people should realize this is the time when our human lives have come to a standstill. This is the time to connect deeper with me and start listening to my heartbeat, and start to understand how we are all connected in this beautiful beautiful environment, that we are born in, actually." Because she do- she's done everything to give us, nutrition, to give us water so we can live and thrive. But then what have we done for her? So this was a question

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 17:33

really, th-there's been humans haven't been very kind to Mother Earth.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 17:39

That's right.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 17:40

Yeah.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 17:41

And so it was during COVID that I really started to ponder over this, that, we become so engulfed in our own life

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 17:52

Yeah

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 17:52

our ambitions and our sort of, this mad drive to just get through, like through our scheduled lives. Go to school, pick up education, get a job. That we never really give ourselves the chance to connect to nature in a deep way or connect to Mother Earth in a deep way. And also we know most kids growing up in urban places, they connect to nature very superficially or people usually connect to Earth in a consumer-provider kind of relationship. And what if we really saw her as our mother?

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 18:36

Yes. I was just talking with someone today about that they didn't like to go to urban areas because of the lack of trees and water and grass and things like that. They... it's, it just w- is devoid of that for the most part.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 18:52

Yes

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 18:53

if a human being is born into a concrete and that, that's what they know about, they don't really... It's hard for them to connect up that. And it's my understanding that you actually got a message from Mother Earth that can you help me out here?"

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 19:11

Yes. Yes. So during 2020, during COVID, I was going out in my backyard a lot and was hearing Mother talk to me. I would hear beautiful bird songs. If people remember, bird songs totally changed during COVID.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 19:31

Oh

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 19:31

And we had situation where we had like deer and, some wildlife actually show up on our streets here. So it was almost like other animals, other living beings found a sort of freedom when the human activity shut down. And in that beautiful space where, you know, the busyness of human life shut down for a while I felt like I could clearly hear messages from Mother Earth and from my guides, and the guides said, "We are gonna move you to a different task from this point onward." And I said what do you mean? No more hypnotherapy?" They said, "No, you can keep doing that on the side, now you're getting on a real mission." And I said, "Okay. I have known that I'm here on a mission, but I thought it was to support people through hypnos- hypnotherapy and, healing work and all of that." And they said, "No, this is going to be very different, and this one is gonna involve you to take on a big challenge." And I said, "Okay what is it?" And they said, "You're gonna go on an earth healing mission." And I said if that's what you want me to do I'm happy to do it, but you have to do the work at showing me the opportunities I don't even understand what earth healing means and where to start."

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 21:01

"That's very nice, guides, that you want me to do this task. I've never heard of that. I don't have any idea of what I'm supposed to do, so you're gonna have to help me out a little bit, right?"

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 21:11

Yes.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 21:12

said to them.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 21:13

Exactly.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 21:14

w- what happened?

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 21:16

So within a few weeks a dear friend of mine, Megan, who was executive director at that time of Green Foothills, which is a local environmental group and they work with a lot of native tribes, Because native tribes have the know-how. They've done this for centuries. They have stewarded the lands here, the nature preserves. They really understand the water cycles. They understand the shifts in nature in a way that none of our scientists do. So a lot of our science community locally is actually now working with the native tribes to unders- better understand how these nature cycles work. So she said the chief of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band," which is a little bit south of where I live Chairman Val Lopez would... Has-- He's made a request." And I said what does he want?" He wants healers to take people out on these nature healing hikes. He feels like everybody e- in every community needs healing. And if you take them out in nature, they can all connect to Mother Nature and Earth. And so he has, specifically requested that we do this." And so she said I'm eager to get this started, but I don't know any healers." And I said what about people from the tribe?" Because I feel a little, not ready, inadequate. I feel like, is it my place because I'm not an indigenous person? And she said, Chairman Lopez said, "Just get any healers who are willing to do this." So she asked me, she offered me a job, and I said this is my guides basically saying, 'Here you go. Here's an opportunity.'" So I clearly saw that the opportunity had arrived, and I needed to step up to it.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 23:25

I often say when I'm hearing about things like this, it's no accident

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 23:30

That's

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 23:30

you connected up with Val Lopez and his--

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 23:33

Yes. Yes.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 23:34

it was meant... You were

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 23:36

Yes

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 23:36

to be there and it worked out. There you are.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 23:39

Yes. Yes. And so we created a really beautiful program called Healing in Nature with Green Foothills support. And for three years we led hikes, curated hikes, To these beautiful nature preserves all around Santa Clara County. And we had people who had never before been to these preserves. Yes these preserves were not even accessible to the local crowd. So those areas were opened up to them thanks to this program, and people... I feel people really got to connect. We were out meditating. We were watching, eagles soar up in the sky. We were watching owls. We came across coyotes. It was just amazing

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 24:29

And some of the animals it seems from talking with you earlier, it seems like those animals responded to your group

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 24:37

They did

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 24:38

to approach in a way

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 24:40

Yes, they did. And actually, sometimes when I led a meditation, we would find that an owl had suddenly arrived from somewhere and sat in the meditation. One time I had three eagles just sitting at a little bit of a distance from me, just sitting there as I was leading a meditation. So I didn't know I was in meditation, but the people present, they noticed. And so we had some really incredible things happen during that time. I basically saw it as my brothers and sisters from other, communities like the animals and trees and birds responding and wanting to connect deeper with us

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 25:29

Yes. Yes. You are giving them an opportunity Join in, really

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 25:33

Yes. Yeah

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 25:35

Yes. That I've long time heard of the saying forest bathing, where that, where people say that when they go into nature, they are healed from being around n- nature and being Yes that. And so this the same thing that you're doing as you're introducing these people to nature and to to our earth, and how wonderful. That must have been so nice for you to

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 26:01

It was wonderful because these hikes were not athletic hikes. They were not like, "Oh, I'm gonna walk five miles today and get to the peak in like under an hour." It wasn't like that at all. It was like, we had a specific time, but these hikes were curated. So my friend Amari who joined me in the healing mission, she and I would go ahead of time, like a few days ahead, and we would explore the area and we would figure out where, which part of the forest, like the Redwood Forest or the nature preserve could use some heart-to-heart, connection with humans where we could stop and meditate. Or we would find an incredible tree that would pass on some messages to us. And so we'd stop and we'd, send a blessing to the tree or we would hug the tree. So this is the type of hikes we did with the group, and so it was an entirely new experience for them to connect to nature in that way.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 27:12

And this is like an education to people of the Earth that Mother Earth is alive and there and welcoming and they can enjoy and get benefit from really benevolent type of a visit with

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 27:29

Yes. We also had docents with us, and

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 27:33

Okay

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 27:34

docents were really knowledgeable about the local flora and fauna. So they would also provide educational, information on the herbs that grow in our area that we would come across during the hikes. Or they would talk about the differences between, redwood trees and sequoias and things like that. So it-- these hikes were very educational, and they were supposed to be slow-paced, unlike the, those, you know, fast athletic hikes

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 28:09

It's not meant to be a physical challenge. It's

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 28:12

Yes.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 28:12

Enrichment

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 28:14

Yes.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 28:14

everybody.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 28:15

Yes.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 28:15

And,

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 28:16

and a deeper enrichment,

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 28:17

yes

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 28:19

kind of enrich- enrichment

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 28:21

Yes. Yes. And, I, I just wanna step back for a second and just think about, here you are Smita Garg, minding your own business, going about helping people with your hypnotherapy and really, you do it very well and you're genuinely helping people. And then you get this message that, "Hey w- we need you to do something else," and that's Earth healing. And the Earth is a huge place,

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 28:52

Yeah

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 28:53

you can't heal the whole Earth from Southern California.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 28:57

Yeah

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 28:57

And so it also involved you touching other parts of the world and being in other parts of the world. And so that is also something that has happened,

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 29:10

Yes

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 29:11

you. And we're gonna need to go over to another episode, because we're out of time on this one and talk about a couple of the areas that you have, Been involved with healing, and that is Hawaii and Japan. And we have some I think, fascinating things to say about those. And if it's okay with you Smita, that we will finish up this one and

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 29:33

Of course.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 29:34

episode.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 29:35

Yes,

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 29:35

great.

squadcaster-0d8h_1_07-02-2026_110819 29:36

perfect to me. Thank you, Jim.

james_1_07-02-2026_140819 29:38

Thank you. Thank you