#4 Healing with Nature: Reconnecting to the Land, Menstrual Cycles, and Plant Medicine with Jo Rockendorfer

What if the key to healing isn’t found in doing more, but in slowing down and remembering the rhythms of the Earth?

In this episode of a healing guide I sit down with Jo Rockendorfer, a Transpersonal Art Therapist, healer, wise woman, and keeper of myth and magic, for a powerful conversation on returning to our natural essence through the cycles of nature.

Together we explore:
 ✨ The wisdom of the medicine wheel and what it can teach us about balance
🌿 How plant medicines like Ayahuasca can reconnect us to spirit the Earth
🎨 Art as a tool for self-inquiry, healing, and expression
🌕 Embracing our menstrual cycles as a source of power and guidance
📖 The magic of myth and story as maps for navigating life’s challenges

Jo shares her deep wisdom on how we can align with the Earth’s cycles, let go of control, and remember who we truly are. This episode is both grounding and expansive, offering practical tools and soulful reflections to support your own healing journey.

The conversation is a beautiful exploration of how healing occurs when we slow down and reconnect to the earth, it’s cycles and medicine- and ultimately back to ourselves.

I hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed being a part of it.

As always if you have any feedback please get in touch via my instagram.

You can find Jo Rockendorfer at:

W:https://www.cantadora.com.au/ 

You can find Leora at:

 IG: A healing guide pod

Resources:

Books:

• Women Who Run with Wolves- Clarissa Pinkola Estes
• SoulCollage- Seena B Frost
• Under the Quandong Tree - Minmia 
• Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer
• The Secret Language of your Body - Inna Segal
• Ancestral Medicine- Daniel Foor

Medicine Wheel resources:

• Compass of the Heart Embodying Medicine Wheel Teachings - Loren Cruden 
• Sandra Ingerman - shift network for her courses and she has many books on earth based practises including Medicine Wheel
• The Medicine wheel discussed in this episode comes from the School of Complementary Medicine, taught by Dr Rafael Locke

People:

• Jo’s Shamanic teacher Puma - Fredy Quispe Singona- Shiftnetwork and https://www.noqankani.com/about 
• Gabrielle Roth, founder of 5 Rhythms Dance
• Dr Margaret Rainbird: Labyrinth creator
• Jane Hardwick Collins - The school of Shamanic Womancraft  for more women’s work in particular the wisdom of the menstrual cycle

Topics:

00:00 Introduction to Jo

01:28 Acknowledging the Ancestors of the land

02:33 Healing the land

06:09 Nature based practices and the Medicine Wheel

10:40 Art as a Tool for Healing

17:29 Understanding and connecting with our Menstrual Cycle

23:30 The Influence of Moon Phases

25:31 Connecting with plant medicines: Ayahuasca

28:39 The 'purge' 

31:53 Advice on working with Ayahuasca 

39:26 The Power of Myths and Archetypes

43:41 Closing Thoughts and Resources