Willow Healing Matters Podcast

Have you ever felt like you’re failing at meditation because you can’t quiet your mind or sit perfectly still?
In this thought-provoking episode of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani sits down with Will Johnson, radical meditation teacher and author, to explore a different way of approaching meditation—one that honours the body, liberates the breath, and invites genuine awakening.
Together, they discuss why many traditional meditation practices can feel inaccessible in today’s fast-paced world, how breathwork transforms consciousness, the connection between the nervous system and spiritual growth, and why learning to trust your body’s wisdom may be the missing piece in your meditation practice.
Whether you’re new to meditation, struggling with mindfulness, exploring somatic healing, or looking to deepen your spiritual awakening, this conversation offers a refreshing perspective grounded in experience.
🌿 In This Episode
00:00 Introduction to Will Johnson
01:15 Why traditional meditation can feel difficult
02:45 Breathwork vs sitting perfectly still
05:40 The nervous system’s role in meditation
10:15 Trusting your body instead of your mind
13:10 Loneliness, technology & reconnecting with yourself
16:30 Why we avoid feeling our bodies
19:30 Practical meditation tips for beginners
23:30 Finding the meditation practice that’s right for you
25:45 Physical movement and spiritual awakening
27:40 If Will could heal one thing in the world
28:30 Where to find Will Johnson
30:00 Final reflections
About Will Johnson
Will Johnson teaches a radical approach to meditation that awakens the body and liberates the breath. Rather than encouraging rigid stillness, his work invites natural movement, embodied awareness, and breathing that flows through the whole body—creating a direct pathway to expanded consciousness and authentic awakening.
🌐 Website:
https://embodiment.net
📚 Books: Available through Amazon and major booksellers.
Connect with Catherine Crestani
Host of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani is an Inner Authority Guide, spiritual teacher, author, and founder of Willow Healing. Through grounded spirituality, intuitive guidance, and conscious conversations, she helps people reconnect with their inner authority, navigate spiritual awakening, and create lives aligned with peace, purpose, and authentic power.
🌿 Website:
https://willowhealing.org
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowhealingsh
▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@willowhealingsh
📝 Substack:
📖 My Virtual Obsession: https://amzn.asia/d/07lOz3x5
🌿 Support Willow Healing Matters
If this conversation inspired you:
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👍 Like this episode
💬 Share your biggest insight in the comments.
📤 Share this episode with someone who thinks meditation “isn’t for them.”
☕ Ceremonial Cacao Catherine Uses
Perfect for meditation, ritual, grounding and heart-led practices.
👉 https://creationcacao.com.au/collections/powerful-ceremonial-cacao-at-a-reasonable-price?sca_ref=8943091.vyvJxtUKl7h
Keywords
Meditation, Breathwork, Somatic Healing, Embodiment, Mindfulness, Nervous System Regulation, Spiritual Awakening, Consciousness, Body Awareness, Buddhist Meditation, Emotional Healing, Breath Awareness, Trauma Healing, Inner Authority, Catherine Crestani, Will Johnson, Willow Healing Matters
Hashtags
#Meditation #Breathwork #Mindfulness #SomaticHealing #SpiritualAwakening #Embodiment #NervousSystem #Consciousness #Healing #Wellness #WillJohnson #CatherineCrestani #WillowHealingMatters #InnerAuthority #Podcast


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What happens when success no longer feels aligned?
In this inspiring episode of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani sits down with Mikael Avatar, a former Paralympic world record holder who overcame cerebral palsy, survived 45 minutes without oxygen at birth, lived with chronic pain for over 40 years, and made the life-changing decision to leave everything behind in Sweden for Thailand.
Today, Mikael helps high performers stop living behind a performance mask and reconnect with authentic power through The Mikael Avatar Method.
Together, Catherine and Mikael explore what it really means to trust your intuition, embrace uncertainty, leave your comfort zone, and discover the life you were always meant to live.
Whether you’re experiencing burnout, questioning your purpose, navigating a spiritual awakening, or simply feeling stuck, this conversation offers practical wisdom and profound inspiration.
In this episode you’ll discover:
✨ How Mikael became pain-free after decades of chronic pain
✨ Why leaving your comfort zone is essential for transformation
✨ The surprising link between authenticity and healing
✨ How to stop performing for others and start living for yourself
✨ The importance of taking action instead of waiting for certainty
✨ Why purpose is discovered through experience—not overthinking
✨ How to recognise when your soul is calling you in a new direction
✨ The power of positivity, curiosity and trusting your inner guidance
If you’ve ever wondered whether there’s more waiting for you beyond the life you’ve built, this episode is for you.
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:39 Meet Mikael Avatar
01:22 Living with cerebral palsy and 40 years of chronic pain
03:50 Moving to Thailand and becoming pain-free
06:00 Walking away from success to follow intuition
08:00 Why action creates transformation
10:10 The power of trying new paths
11:30 Synchronicity, purpose and following life’s clues
12:00 Discovering his true calling
15:50 Creating space to hear your inner wisdom
17:20 Why money isn’t the real obstacle
18:10 The Mikael Avatar Method explained
20:00 Helping people rediscover who they really are
21:10 Why “You Already Know”
22:00 Asking for guidance isn’t weakness
22:58 If you could heal one thing in the world...
23:35 Where to connect with Mikael
24:45 Final reflections on courage and authenticity
Connect with Mikael Avatar
🌐 Website:
https://mikaelavatar.com
📷 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mikaelavatar/
💼 LinkedIn:https://linkedin.com/in/mikaelavatar
📘 Facebook:https://facebook.com/mikaelavatarstjernvall
🎵 TikTok:@mikaelavatar
About Mikael
Mikael Avatar is a former Paralympic world record holder (long jump, Atlanta 1996) who overcame cerebral palsy, surviving 45 minutes without breath at birth, and more than four decades of chronic pain to live pain-free since 2009. Today he helps high performers remove the performance mask, increase energy, and reconnect with authentic power through The Mikael Avatar Method.
Connect with Catherine Crestani
Host of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani is an Inner Authority Guide, spiritual teacher, author, and founder of Willow Healing Matters. Through her work, Catherine helps people reconnect with their inner authority, deepen spiritual awareness, and navigate personal transformation with grounded wisdom.
🌿 Website:
https://willowhealing.org
📷 Instagram:https://instagram.com/willowhealingsh
🎙️ Podcast:https://willowhealing.org/podcast
▶️ YouTube:https://youtube.com/willowhealingsh
📰 Substack:
📖 My Virtual Obsession:https://amzn.asia/d/07lOz3x5
🌿 Support Willow Healing Matters
☕ Creation Cacao
The ceremonial cacao Catherine drinks for meditation, grounding, ritual and heart-centred living.
👉 https://creationcacao.com.au/collections/powerful-ceremonial-cacao-at-a-reasonable-price?sca_ref=8943091.vyvJxtUKl7h
❤️ If this conversation inspired you:
👍 Like this video
💬 Share your biggest takeaway in the comments
🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on spirituality, healing, consciousness, intuition, personal growth, energy healing and authentic living.
#AuthenticLiving #PersonalGrowth #SpiritualAwakening #Purpose #HealingJourney #Mindset #InnerAuthority #Transformation #CerebralPalsy #ChronicPain #WillowHealingMatters #MikaelAvatar #SelfDiscovery #ConsciousLiving #Podcast


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

Have you ever wondered if babies choose their parents? Can you communicate with your baby before birth? What happens to the soul after miscarriage or abortion? And is it possible that your child has been connected to you long before conception?
In this deeply moving episode of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani is joined by Claudia Rosenhouse Raiken, world-renowned teacher, birth doula, author of Messages From the Womb, and expert in Spirit Baby Communication. Together they explore the spiritual journey of unborn souls, pregnancy, miscarriage, intuition, higher consciousness, and the profound connection between parents and the souls who choose them.
Whether you’re trying to conceive, have experienced pregnancy loss, are a parent, or are simply curious about spirituality and consciousness, this conversation offers compassion, hope, and a completely new perspective on life before birth.
✨ In this episode we discuss:
• Do babies really choose their parents?• Spirit babies and soul contracts• Communicating with babies before birth• Why Claudia believes you’re speaking to a soul—not a baby• Pregnancy, intuition and trusting yourself• Healing after miscarriage• Spiritual perspectives on abortion• Why the same soul often returns• Parenting through higher-self communication• How children mirror our emotions• Connecting with guides, loved ones and ancestors• Living with greater trust, love and purpose
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 Introduction00:38 Meet Claudia Rosenhouse Raiken01:32 Can babies hear us before birth?03:05 Are parents communicating with a baby’s soul?06:20 Supporting mothers through pregnancy08:30 Connecting with a child’s higher self11:00 Guides, spirit communication & intuition15:40 Catherine’s spiritual awakening17:25 Miscarriage from a spiritual perspective20:00 Do spirit babies come back?21:45 Soul contracts and choosing your parents24:00 Choosing happiness as a parent26:10 Parenting without guilt28:40 Children absorb our emotions30:45 Communicating with your child’s higher self32:05 Claudia’s message for humanity33:05 How to connect with Claudia34:40 Final reflections
🌿 Connect with Claudia Rosenhouse Raiken
🌐 Website: www.claudiaraiken.com
📖 Author of Messages From the Womb
📧 Email:thebirthstudio@gmail.com
Instagram:@claudiaraiken
🌿 Connect with Catherine Crestani
Host of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani is an Inner Authority Guide, spiritual teacher, intuitive healer, and founder of Willow Healing Matters. She supports people in reconnecting with their intuition, expanding consciousness, and navigating spiritual awakening with grounded wisdom.
🌐 Website: https://willowhealing.org
📷 Instagram:https://instagram.com/willowhealingsh
🎙️ Podcast:https://willowhealing.org/podcast
▶️ YouTube:https://youtube.com/@willowhealingsh
📰 Substack:
📚 My Virtual Obsession:https://amzn.asia/d/07lOz3x5
🌿 Support Willow Healing Matters
☕ Ceremonial Cacao Catherine Loves
Perfect for meditation, grounding, ritual and heart-led practices.
👉 https://creationcacao.com.au/collections/powerful-ceremonial-cacao-at-a-reasonable-price?sca_ref=8943091.vyvJxtUKl7h
❤️ If this episode touched your heart:
👍 Like this video
💬 Share your thoughts in the comments
🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations exploring spirituality, intuition, consciousness, healing, energy, psychic development and human potential.
📤 Share this episode with someone who may need hope after miscarriage, pregnancy loss, or who wants to deepen their connection with their children.
Hashtags
#SpiritBabies #Pregnancy #MiscarriageHealing #SpiritualAwakening #SoulContracts #ConsciousParenting #Intuition #HigherSelf #MessagesFromTheWomb #WillowHealingMatters #CatherineCrestani #ClaudiaRaiken #EnergyHealing #SpiritualPodcast #Parenting


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

Why do so many people still feel exhausted, inflamed, anxious, or hormonally imbalanced—even when they’re eating well and living a “healthy” lifestyle?
In this episode of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani sits down with Darci Frankel, founder of the Serious Cleanse Method and a practitioner with more than 32 years of experience in Ayurveda, detoxification, and holistic wellness, to uncover the hidden toxic burden affecting modern health.
Together they explore how everyday exposures—from drinking water and household cleaning products to fragrances, seed oils, laundry detergents, and personal care items—may be impacting energy, hormones, metabolism, nervous system regulation, inflammation, and overall wellbeing.
This conversation isn’t about fear—it’s about awareness and empowering you with simple, practical changes that can make a meaningful difference.
In this episode you’ll discover:
✔ Why you may still feel unwell despite “doing everything right”
✔ Hidden toxins found in everyday products
✔ How water quality impacts your health
✔ The connection between detoxification and inflammation
✔ Why seed oils are becoming a major health discussion
✔ Simple low-cost ways to reduce your toxic burden
✔ Ayurveda’s perspective on cleansing and healing
✔ How to become an advocate for your own health
✔ Practical detox strategies anyone can begin today
Whether you’re interested in holistic health, detoxification, Ayurveda, natural living, nervous system healing, functional wellness or simply feeling better in your own body, this episode is packed with practical wisdom.
About Darci Frankel
Darci Frankel is the founder of the Serious Cleanse Method and owner of Hanalei Day Spa on Kauai’s North Shore. For more than 32 years, she has worked in Ayurveda, detoxification, wellness, and helping people better understand the hidden toxic burden affecting modern health.
Darci combines ancient wisdom with practical, real-world strategies to help people support detoxification pathways, nervous system regulation, hormones, energy, metabolism, and overall well-being. Her work focuses on helping people understand why they may still feel off despite “doing everything right.”
She is also known for making complex wellness topics practical, accessible, and easy to understand.
Connect with Darci
🌿 Website:
https://seriouscleanse.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seriouscleanse/
Connect with Catherine Crestani
Host of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani is an Inner Authority Guide, spiritual teacher, author, and founder of Willow Healing Matters. Through grounded spiritual conversations, she helps people reconnect with their inner authority, expand consciousness, and navigate life with greater clarity and purpose.
🌿 Website:
https://willowhealing.org
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowhealingsh
🎥 YouTube: https://youtube.com/willowhealingsh
📝 Substack:
📖 My Virtual Obsession: https://amzn.asia/d/07lOz3x5
🌿 Support Willow Healing Matters
☕ Ceremonial Cacao
The ceremonial cacao Catherine personally drinks for meditation, grounding, ritual and heart-centred practices.
👉 https://creationcacao.com.au/collections/powerful-ceremonial-cacao-at-a-reasonable-price?sca_ref=8943091.vyvJxtUKl7h
📖 My Book Obsession
Join Catherine’s reader community exploring psychology, intimacy, technology, consciousness and her novel My Virtual Obsession.
👉
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:38 Meet Darci Frankel
02:00 Darci’s journey into Ayurveda
05:45 Turning adversity into purpose
09:20 Why detoxification became her life’s work
12:00 Hidden toxins affecting modern health
16:00 Water quality and why filtration matters
19:00 Detoxing your home naturally
24:00 Fragrances, chemicals and indoor air quality
28:00 Seed oils and chronic inflammation
31:45 Becoming your own health advocate
32:15 If Darci could change one thing in the world
33:00 Where to find Darci
34:15 Catherine’s ceremonial cacao recommendation
If you enjoyed this conversation, please Like, Subscribe and Share to help more people discover practical conversations around healing, consciousness and living well.
💬 We’d love to hear from you:
What is one simple change you’ve made to reduce toxins in your daily life?
Leave a comment below.
Hashtags
#Detox #Ayurveda #HolisticHealth #NaturalHealth #Wellness #HiddenToxins #HealthyLiving #SeedOils #WaterFilter #HormoneHealth #NervousSystem #FunctionalMedicine #CleanLiving #Inflammation #WillowHealingMatters #CatherineCrestani #DarciFrankel


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

Are our loved ones really still with us? How do they communicate after they pass? And can everyone develop psychic abilities?
In this thought-provoking episode of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani sits down with internationally respected psychic medium Karen Docherty to explore the realities of mediumship, signs from loved ones in spirit, grief, intuition, and what really happens after we die.
Karen shares her remarkable journey of seeing spirit since childhood, explains why not everyone is meant to become a professional medium, and offers practical guidance on recognising authentic signs from loved ones. Together, Catherine and Karen also discuss spirit guides, paranormal experiences, psychic development, children who see spirits, the ethics of mediumship, and why healing is at the heart of genuine spiritual work.
Whether you’re grieving, curious about the afterlife, or exploring your own intuitive gifts, this conversation offers grounded wisdom, compassion, and practical insights.
In this episode you’ll discover:
✨ What mediumship really is (and what it isn’t)✨ How loved ones communicate after death✨ Common signs from spirit and how to recognise them✨ Can everyone become psychic or a medium?✨ The difference between intuition, psychic ability and mediumship✨ Why children often see spirits✨ Understanding grief from both sides of the veil✨ Spirit guides, synchronicities and trusting your intuition✨ How to approach paranormal experiences without fear✨ Why personal development is essential for spiritual growth
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 Introduction00:39 Meet psychic medium Karen Docherty01:35 Karen’s childhood experiences with spirit04:00 Why children naturally see spirits07:15 Learning to trust yourself as a medium09:20 The biggest lessons from 25 years of mediumship10:45 Do loved ones grieve after they die?13:45 Signs from loved ones in spirit16:00 Coins, birds and other spirit signs19:30 Angry spirits and paranormal experiences25:55 Can everyone become a psychic or medium?29:45 The ethics of mediumship31:40 Karen’s message of hope for humanity32:50 Where to connect with Karen
🌿 Connect with Karen Docherty
🌐 Website:
https://www.karendocherty.com
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/karendochertyspiritmedium
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/mediumkarendocherty
🌿 Connect with Catherine Crestani
Host of Willow Healing Matters, Catherine Crestani is an Inner Authority Guide, spiritual teacher, and founder of Willow Healing Matters. Through her work, Catherine 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/willowhealingsh
🎙️ YouTube:https://youtube.com/willowhealingsh
📰 Substack:
📖 My Virtual Obsessionhttps://amzn.asia/d/07lOz3x5
🌿 Support Willow Healing Matters
☕ Ceremonial CacaoThe cacao Catherine personally drinks for meditation, ritual, grounding and heart-led practices.
👉 https://creationcacao.com.au/collections/powerful-ceremonial-cacao-at-a-reasonable-price?sca_ref=8943091.vyvJxtUKl7h
📖 My Book ObsessionA reflective reader community exploring intimacy, consciousness, psychology and Catherine’s novel My Virtual Obsession.
👉
❤️ If you enjoyed this conversation, please Like, Subscribe and Share. Every interaction helps Willow Healing Matters reach more people seeking grounded spiritual conversations.
Hashtags
#Mediumship #PsychicMedium #Afterlife #SpiritSigns #GriefHealing #SpiritualAwakening #Intuition #SpiritGuides #PsychicDevelopment #LifeAfterDeath #WillowHealingMatters #KarenDocherty #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