Willow Healing Matters Podcast

In this episode of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani sits down with Lawrence Ellyard, founder of the International Institute for Complementary Therapists (IICT) and creator of the upcoming documentary The New Woo.
Drawing on more than 30 years of experience in spirituality, wellness, Tibetan Buddhism, transpersonal medicine, and human potential, Lawrence shares his extraordinary journey from living in a Buddhist monastery to becoming a global leader in holistic health and consciousness.
Together, Catherine and Lawrence explore what “The New Woo” really means, why more people are embracing spirituality and alternative wellness practices, the importance of presence in an increasingly distracted world, and how compassion, courage, and curiosity can transform both individual lives and collective consciousness.
If you’ve ever felt called to explore deeper meaning, reconnect with yourself, or understand the growing shift toward holistic wellbeing, this conversation offers wisdom, practical insights, and inspiration for your own journey.
✨ In this episode you’ll discover:
• What inspired Lawrence’s path into Tibetan Buddhism and consciousness studies• How a chance encounter led him to live in a Buddhist monastery• The story behind The New Woo documentary• Why holistic wellness is becoming increasingly mainstream• The difference between symptom management and true wellbeing• How compassion and contribution can change the world• The hidden cost of distraction and technology overload• Why presence is one of the greatest spiritual practices available today• How courage creates confidence and personal transformation• The importance of curiosity in spiritual growth and self-discovery
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction00:40 Meet Lawrence Ellyard02:50 Lawrence’s journey into spirituality and Tibetan Buddhism07:20 The story behind The New Woo documentary10:50 Why the world is embracing wellness and consciousness14:05 Prevention versus symptom-based healthcare17:15 Compassion, courage, and curiosity as life principles19:20 Technology, distraction, and being present23:00 The wisdom of self-awareness and inner guidance25:15 Creating change through everyday actions28:35 If Lawrence could heal one thing in the world29:30 Where to connect with Lawrence31:05 Catherine’s favourite ceremonial cacao
🌿 Connect with Lawrence Ellyard
Website: www.lawrenceellyard.com
Instagram: @lawrence_ellyard
IICT: www.myiict.com
🌿 Connect with Catherine Crestani
Website:
https://willowhealing.org
Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowhealingsh
YouTube: https://youtube.com/willowhealingsh
Substack:
📖 Explore My Virtual Obsession
A psychological thriller exploring loneliness, intimacy, technology, and human connection.
Available now:
☕ Support Your Energy with Ceremonial Cacao
Catherine’s favourite cacao for meditation, grounding, ritual, and heart-led practice:
https://creationcacao.com.au/collections/powerful-ceremonial-cacao-at-a-reasonable-price?sca_ref=8943091.vyvJxtUKl7h
💫 If this conversation resonated with you:
✓ Subscribe to Willow Healing Matters✓ Leave a review on your favourite podcast platform✓ Share this episode with someone on their healing journey✓ Comment below with your biggest takeaway
#LawrenceEllyard #TheNewWoo #WillowHealingMatters #Consciousness #SpiritualAwakening #HolisticHealth #Wellness #PersonalGrowth #Mindfulness #TibetanBuddhism #HumanPotential #Spirituality #Meditation #SelfDiscovery #Presence #Compassion #EnergyHealing #AlternativeHealth #HealingJourney #CatherineCrestani


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willowhealing.substack.com/subscribe

How to Speak Up at Work with Confidence | Molly Tschang on Leadership, Communication & Trust
Why do so many talented people stay silent at work?
In this episode of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani sits down with communication expert, leadership consultant, and bestselling author Molly Tschang to explore the powerful skill that can transform careers, workplaces, and relationships: learning how to speak up with confidence.
Drawing from her experience guiding leaders through more than 80 mergers and acquisitions, Molly shares why communication is often the missing link in workplace culture, leadership development, team performance, and personal fulfilment.
Together, Catherine and Molly discuss how to build trust, deliver feedback effectively, overcome fear, develop confidence, navigate difficult conversations, and create environments where everyone feels heard and valued.
Whether you’re a leader, manager, entrepreneur, employee, or someone learning to find your voice, this conversation offers practical wisdom you can apply immediately.
In This Episode
✔ Why people stay silent in the workplace✔ The hidden cost of poor communication✔ How great leaders build trust and psychological safety✔ Speaking up with confidence and compassion✔ Why feedback is one of the greatest gifts you can give✔ Creating healthy workplace cultures✔ The power of courageous conversations✔ How to handle mistakes and failure productively✔ The mindset shift that transforms communication✔ Why your voice matters more than you think
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction00:42 Meet Molly Tschang02:22 Why Molly Created Say It Skillfully06:08 Confidence, Courage & Speaking Up07:56 Building Collaborative Workplace Cultures10:07 Shared Responsibility and Accountability12:22 The Mindset Shift Behind Effective Communication14:00 Why Feedback Is a Gift15:43 Learning Through Failure and Mistakes18:31 Compassion, Leadership & Human Connection20:23 Difficult Conversations at Work22:21 Knowing Your Value in the Workplace23:55 Understanding Your Needs and Communicating Them25:26 What Molly Would Heal in the World26:31 Free Resources from Molly27:57 Final Thoughts
Connect with Molly Tschang
🌐 Website:
https://www.sayitskillfully.com/
🎁 Free Mini Audiobook:https://www.sayitskillfully.com/gift
💼 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollytschang/
🎥 YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@sayitskillfully/playlists
🎙 Say It Skillfully Podcast (Apple):
🎙 Say It Skillfully Podcast (Spotify):
📖 Book:Say It Skillfully – Speak Up. Make Your Words Matter. Win Together.
Connect with Catherine Crestani
🌿 Willow Healing Matters:
https://willowhealing.org
📸 Instagram:https://instagram.com/willowhealingsh
🎥 YouTube:https://youtube.com/willowhealingsh
📝 Substack:
Support Willow Healing Matters
☕ Ceremonial Cacao Catherine Uses:https://creationcacao.com.au/collections/powerful-ceremonial-cacao-at-a-reasonable-price?sca_ref=8943091.vyvJxtUKl7h
📖 Join My Book Obsession:
A reflective reader space exploring intimacy, consciousness, technology, relationships, and the human experience.
Enjoyed This Episode?
👍 Like this video
💬 Share your biggest communication challenge in the comments
🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on personal growth, consciousness, healing, leadership, spirituality, and meaningful living
📤 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear that their voice matters.
#MollyTschang #SayItSkillfully #CommunicationSkills #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #SpeakingUp #ConfidenceAtWork #Leadership #PersonalDevelopment #Feedback #PsychologicalSafety #Teamwork #EmotionalIntelligence #CareerGrowth #BusinessLeadership #DifficultConversations #Trust #SelfLeadership #WillowHealingMatters #CatherineCrestani


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willowhealing.substack.com/subscribe

🌿 What if everything happening in your life is serving your soul’s evolution?
In this powerful episode of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani sits down with Ann Jonas, also known as The Love Messenger, for a deeply transformative conversation about spiritual awakening, soul growth, healing, consciousness, and finding meaning in life’s greatest challenges.
Together, they explore the profound wisdom of the Lotus Path—the understanding that just as the lotus flower grows from the mud, our greatest struggles, traumas, and challenges can become the catalysts for our deepest healing and transformation.
Ann shares her perspective on soul contracts, spiritual evolution, consciousness, gratitude, personal responsibility, intuition, energy healing, and the power of remembering that we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Whether you’re navigating a difficult season, experiencing a spiritual awakening, questioning your life path, or seeking a deeper understanding of your purpose, this conversation offers wisdom, comfort, and a fresh perspective on what it means to be human.
✨ In This Episode We Discuss:
• The meaning of “No Mud, No Lotus”• Why suffering may be serving your soul• Spiritual awakening and consciousness expansion• Soul contracts and choosing your life experiences• Finding gratitude in difficult circumstances• The difference between accountability and blame• Loneliness, self-connection, and healing• How perspective changes your reality• Remembering your power as a sovereign being• Why your mess can become your message• Living from love rather than fear
⏰ Timestamps
00:00 Introduction00:39 Meet Ann Jonas – The Love Messenger01:48 No Mud, No Lotus: Understanding the Lotus Path05:44 Why Nothing Is Ever Truly Wrong08:01 Loneliness, Vulnerability & Self-Connection10:34 Soul Contracts & Alternative Realities12:07 Rewriting Your Story & Personal Transformation14:20 Why We Don’t Compare Trauma16:17 Did You Choose Your Life Challenges?18:35 Synchronicity, Manifestation & Co-Creation20:13 Moving Beyond “Why” Into Growth22:08 You Are More Powerful Than You Know23:05 If You Could Change One Thing In The World...24:01 How To Work With Ann Jonas25:10 Ceremonial Cacao & Final Reflections
💫 About Ann Jonas
Ann Jonas, aka The Love Messenger, is passionate about guiding and supporting those who desire to become more of who they truly are. With decades of experience as a bodyworker, birth doula, intuitive healer, shamanic guide, channel, speaker, workshop facilitator, and published author, Ann supports others in remembering their true nature as spiritual beings having a human experience.
Her purpose is to be part of the evolution of consciousness and to help others recognize that our greatest challenges often become our greatest gifts.
🌐 Connect With Ann Jonas
Website: www.thelotuspath.loveFacebook: www.facebook.com/annthelovemessengerInstagram: www.instagram.com/annthelovemessengerLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annthelovemessengerYouTube: www.youtube.com/@annthelovemessenger
🌿 Connect With Catherine Crestani
Catherine Crestani is an Inner Authority Guide, Spiritual Teacher, and Founder of Willow Healing Matters. Through her work, she supports people in reconnecting with their inner authority, expanding consciousness, and navigating spiritual awakening with grounded wisdom.
Website:
https://willowhealing.org
Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowhealingshYouTube: https://youtube.com/willowhealingshSubstack:
☕ Support Your Energy & Go Deeper
The ceremonial cacao Catherine personally uses for meditation, ritual, grounding, and heart-led practices:
👉 https://creationcacao.com.au/collections/powerful-ceremonial-cacao-at-a-reasonable-price?sca_ref=8943091.vyvJxtUKl7h
👍 If this conversation resonated with you:
✔ Like this video✔ Subscribe to Willow Healing Matters✔ Leave a comment sharing your biggest takeaway✔ Share this episode with someone who needs this message today
✨ Remember: Sometimes the mud is exactly where the lotus begins to bloom.
#AnnJonas #TheLoveMessenger #SpiritualAwakening #SoulContracts #Consciousness #HealingJourney #PersonalGrowth #SpiritualGrowth #EnergyHealing #IntuitiveHealing #TheLotusPath #SelfDiscovery #Transformation #InnerHealing #SpiritualPodcast #WillowHealingMatters #CatherineCrestani #Awakening #SoulPurpose #MindBodySpirit


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willowhealing.substack.com/subscribe

What if the path to healing trauma wasn’t found through forcing, fixing, or reliving the pain - but through movement, embodiment, and reconnecting with your innate worthiness?
In this powerful episode of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani sits down with Jenny C. Cohen - former award-winning performer, somatic movement expert, bestselling author, and host of the globally ranked Dance to Heal podcast.
Together, they explore:✨ Somatic healing and embodiment✨ Healing trauma through movement✨ Reclaiming self-worth and presence✨ The mind-body connection✨ Spiritual healing and consciousness✨ Jenny’s breast cancer journey✨ Nervous system healing and neuro-somatics✨ Soul-led leadership for women 40+✨ Why movement is your birthright
Jenny shares how her journey through performance, competition, illness, and healing ultimately led her to discover the transformative power of movement and embodied healing.
If you’ve been feeling disconnected from yourself, stuck in survival mode, or searching for a more embodied path to healing, this conversation offers profound wisdom and hope.
💛 “You are worthy in this very moment.”
⏰ TIMESTAMPS00:00 – You are already worthy00:19 – Welcome to Willow Healing Matters00:57 – Meet Jenny C. Cohen01:44 – Jenny’s journey from performer to healer02:24 – Breast cancer and the turning point03:30 – Movement as medicine05:10 – Healing trauma through the body08:45 – Somatics, embodiment & nervous system healing13:20 – Why worthiness matters18:40 – Soul-led leadership and authentic presence24:15 – Reclaiming your voice through movement31:05 – Spiritual awakening and embodiment38:40 – Final healing insights and message
🌿 CONNECT WITH JENNY C. COHENWebsite: https://www.jennyccohen.comMovement Work: https://MoveToBloom.com/Instagram: https://instagram.com/jennyccohenLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyccohen/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenny.dance18YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dancetohealpodcast
🌙 CONNECT WITH CATHERINE CRESTANIWebsite: https://willowhealing.orgInstagram: https://instagram.com/willowhealingshYouTube: https://youtube.com/willowhealingshSubstack:
☕ SUPPORT YOUR HEALING JOURNEYCeremonial cacao for meditation, grounding, ritual, and heart-led healing:https://creationcacao.com.au/collections/powerful-ceremonial-cacao-at-a-reasonable-price?sca_ref=8943091.vyvJxtUKl7h
📖 MY BOOK — MY VIRTUAL OBSESSIONA romantic thriller exploring loneliness, technology, fantasy, and reality:https://a.co/d/0dWBttwe
💫 If this episode resonated with you:✔ Subscribe for more healing conversations✔ Like & share with someone on their healing journey✔ Comment your biggest takeaway below✔ Leave a review to help Willow Healing Matters reach more souls
#SomaticHealing #TraumaHealing #Embodiment #Worthiness #SpiritualHealing #MovementHealing #HealingTrauma #NervousSystemHealing #SelfWorth #Consciousness #SoulLedLiving #WomenHealing #SpiritualAwakening #MindBodySoul #WillowHealingMatters #spiritualpodcast #healingpodcast


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willowhealing.substack.com/subscribe

What happens when AI becomes easier than human connection?
In this thought-provoking episode of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani sits down with Chris Rhyss — military veteran, author of The Silence Paradox, health tech founder, and PhD researcher in Human Computer Interaction and AI — to explore the growing relationship between artificial intelligence, consciousness, intuition, mental health, and authentic human connection.
Together, they unpack:✨ Why people are turning to AI for emotional support✨ The loneliness epidemic shaping modern society✨ How AI can support healing — without replacing humanity✨ Discernment, intuition, and trusting your gut✨ The risks of outsourcing critical thinking to technology✨ AI companionship, consciousness, and the future of relationships✨ How to use AI mindfully without losing yourself
This is a balanced and deeply human conversation about technology, sovereignty, authenticity, and what it means to stay connected in a rapidly changing world.
⸻
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Introduction01:40 – Chris’ journey into AI and mental health tech04:10 – The dangers of blindly trusting AI08:20 – Why people are using AI for emotional support10:00 – AI relationships and companionship12:30 – The loneliness epidemic and human connection14:00 – Using AI as a tool, not a replacement for life15:10 – Intuition, spirituality, and discernment18:45 – HeartMath, gut instinct, and decision making20:15 – Why we still need humans21:15 – The movie Her and AI companionship becoming reality23:00 – AI for writing, editing, and creativity26:00 – AI and mental health support29:00 – Quantum computing and the future of AI31:20 – Using AI responsibly and mindfully35:00 – Trusting your intuition in a tech-driven world36:20 – What Chris would heal in the world
⸻
🔗 CONNECT WITH CHRIS RHYSS
💼 LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-rhyss/
📖 The Silence ParadoxExploring why people are increasingly confiding in AI systems and what may be lost when machines begin to feel “safe.”
⸻
🌿 CONNECT WITH CATHERINE CRESTANI
Catherine Crestani is an Inner Authority Guide, spiritual teacher, author, and founder of Willow Healing Matters. Through her work, Catherine supports people in reconnecting with their intuition, expanding consciousness, and navigating healing and spiritual growth with grounded wisdom.
✨ Explore Willow Healing Matters
https://www.willowhealing.org
📚 Read My Virtual Obsession + join My Book ObsessionA psychological and spiritual exploration of intimacy, loneliness, technology, and human connection.
https://www.willowhealing.org
📝 Join the Substack community for deeper reflections, spiritual insights & podcast updates
📸 Follow on Instagramhttps://instagram.com/willowhealingsh
🎥 Subscribe on YouTubehttps://youtube.com/willowhealingsh
⸻
🌿 SUPPORT YOUR ENERGY
☕ Catherine’s favourite ceremonial cacao for grounding, meditation, ritual & heart-led practices:https://creationcacao.com.au/collections/powerful-ceremonial-cacao-at-a-reasonable-price?sca_ref=8943091.vyvJxtUKl7h
⸻
💭 COMMENT BELOW
Do you think AI could ever replace real human connection?Or can technology actually help us reconnect with ourselves and others?
⸻
✨ If this conversation resonated with you:• Like & subscribe to support the podcast• Share this episode with someone navigating technology, consciousness, or personal growth• Leave a comment sharing your thoughts on AI & human connection• Follow Willow Healing Matters for more conversations around healing, spirituality, consciousness & authenticity
⸻
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #HumanConnection #Consciousness #Technology #MentalHealth #Intuition #ChrisRhyss #WillowHealingMatters #Authenticity #Mindfulness #FutureOfAI #Podcast #AIandHumanity #PersonalGrowth #EmotionalWellbeing #TechEthics


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willowhealing.substack.com/subscribe