Meet me in the field

Today I introduce you to my new friend, Ingrid.

Ingrid and I got to know each other on a Transactional Analysis course that we are still doing. We are on a quest to better understand the dynamics between the Parent, Adult and Child and the games we all play. Quite an interesting modality to add to our people-helping skills.

She holds a Masters Degree in Social Work, specialising in child protection – hence the name of the episode. She works as a Social Worker in private practice, and I liked her instantly. I was excited when she agreed to be our guest.

If you want to find Ingrid and use her services, find her on Facebook. She functions under the LIFE Social Services name. Getting to know her here, I believe she can make a huge contribution in the helping industry.

This is Ingrid’s story. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Hi Everyone

Our guest today is Erik.

Erik is another of my Insight Timer (free meditation app) friends, who have, in the short period that we have known each other, made a big impact on my life.

Erik is not only a Buddhist, who practices Zen, but he applies a principle to his life, which is called Big Mind. It is a fascinating modality which he demonstrates during our chat. Go to Big Mind to learn how to speak TO all the aspects of your being, rather than ABOUT them. I tried to explain it in my own words, but failed miserably, so I rather quote from the website: “Big Mind/Big Heart Zen is a Western Path, Way and Community which aims to assist its followers in manifesting their fullest potential, realizing and actualizing their inherent wisdom and compassion, and living happy and joyful lives filled with love and compassion, free and at home in their own skin. Coming from the synthesis or apex of our absolute and relative nature, it encompasses the yin and yang or complete circle of our humanity. It enables us to own, embody and be empowered by fully awakening aspects or voices within us, from the purest to the darkest. We see that each voice, or “self,” has the capacity to transform from unawakened to awakened, from disowned to owned, immature to mature, unhealthy to health, and that when a voice is either unawakened or disowned it acts out in covert, unhealthy and even pathological ways. Just as all sentient beings are born with the same wisdom and compassion as the awakened ones, all aspects of “self” have this same capacity when awakened.”

As a Swedish person living in South Africa, Erik is on a mission to make a difference and an impact in the world. He is currently doing this through his company, Watobe. Watobe is a free online maths teaching portal, that offers daily free maths lessons on their website. What an amazing initiative! Please visit his website to see what this is all about. In my books, whoever can help a young person to reduce their anxiety about maths, needs to win some sort of prize. Watch this space!

This is Erik’s story. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Hi Everyone

Today, I bring David Joshua into the field for a chat.

David and I have been in contact on the meditation app, Insight Timer, for a while, and have been trying to set up this chat for a few months. I am happy and grateful that he made the time to meet us in the field and for sharing his interesting and inspiring journey with us.

I call David the Awe Cultivator and, right at the end of the chat, you will hear why – it all has to do with the word yugen (this word is supposed to have a weird wavey symbol on top of the u, which I neither know how to make nor know what it is called).

You will hear some strange sound occurrences during this recording. I apologise for this in advance. David and I discussed his consulting work, and we named the companies whom he is doing some work for. We decided, after the recording, that it is better not to mention the companies, so I deleted their names, hence some strange sound phenomena taking place. Don’t worry, it is not you going mad or developing some weird ear infliction, it is me.

This is David’s story. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Hi Everyone

I am thrilled to welcome Natalie on “Meet me in the field”.

We have known each other for a few years, kind of at a distance. But, strangely, since she has been in the UK, we have become close.

She has a hectic work and social schedule, so it took us a while to get the recording set up and done, but I am happy that we did.

Natalie is a warm and loving soul, who has done a lot of work on herself for the past, I don’t know, 15 years, to become the person is today. Although still relatively young, today she knows who she is, what she stands for, what she wants and how to go for it.

I called her The Contributor, because she made a significant change in her life, moving out of the decor and fashion world, into a career where she can contribute to people’s lives on an individual basis. I think she is doing that excellently.

This is Natalie’s story. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

It is a great pleasure to introduce you to my friend Nick.

Nick is one of my favourite people in the whole world to listen to. He is a rabbit hole of information, facts, knowledge, quirks, trivia and authenticity, and I love him for it. I want to, and can, say a lot more about him, but this is a long episode, so I shall allow our chat to do the talking.

If you want to contact Nick as a photographer, find him on his website or on Instagram. For coaching, track him down on Instagram or email him on nick@nickaldridge.co.za.

This podcast is supported by “Orangutans in the field”. The podcast where Merwe and I talk about life stuff, how it impacts our mental health and how we deal with it. Catch this unedited, raw, sometimes hard-hitting and always blatantly honest podcast on Anchor.fm and Iono.fm.

This is Nick’s story. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

I am happy to introduce you to Yule Banda.

I met Yule in the same online men’s group in which I met Jurgens, The Rune Grandmaster (https://www.freddie.org.za/mmitf/2021/08/19/the-rune-grand-master.html) of two episodes ago.

I experienced Yule as someone with a vast amount of serenity and I wanted to find out how he got to that place and how he maintains it. So, I asked him to be our guest on “Meet me in the field” to find answers to these questions and get to know him better.

We meet a man of deep faith, who uses this faith to carry him through tough times and to live a life of standing in service of his fellow man. In his capacity as a Coach, he guides people to understand their free choices and to nurture their natural talent to live full and fulfilling lives.

If you want to find Yule and maybe use his services, log on to his website or find him on his Facebook page.

This podcast is supported by “Orangutans in the field”. The podcast where Merwe and I talk about life stuff, how it impacts our mental health and how we deal with it. Catch this unedited, raw, sometimes hard-hitting and always blatantly honest podcast on Anchor.fm and Iono.fm.

This is Yule’s story. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

I am so blessed to live a life in which I, somehow, end up getting to know some remarkable and fascinating people.

I met Mike as a result of a South African rehabilitation centre seeing a gap in the market in terms of addiction treatment for people for whom engagement in chemsex have become unmanageable. David, the owner of Twin Rivers Rehab in Plettenberg Bay, contacted me and asked if I would be interested in running a chemsex programme for Twin Rivers. Obviously, due to my involvement with Sex Addicts Anonymous and co-facilitating Patrick Carnes sex addiction based treatment groups, he felt I would be a perfect fit. Part of the process of getting this group up and running, was for me to learn more about chemsex. So, in steps chemsex specialist and gay men’s addiction counsellor, Mike Power from London. Having worked in London in gay men’s health clinics and running a chemsex programme at a treatment centre in Thailand, Mike was the perfect master for me to learn from.

Mike and I got along really well. I sensed a deep-seated sense of spirit in him and wanted to know what this is about. So, I asked him to chat to us and here he is.

Mike can be found on his website or email him on mikepowercounselling@gmail.com.

This podcast is supported by “Orangutans in the field”. The podcast where Merwe and I talk about life stuff, how it impacts our mental health and how we deal with it. Catch this unedited, raw, sometimes hard-hitting and always blatantly honest podcast on Anchor.fm and Iono.fm.

This is Mike’s story. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

I am excited to introduce you to Jurgens today. I met Jurgens at the beginning of lockdown 2020 in a men’s group which we both attended online. I have never met him in person, but I felt there was something about him which I found intriguing. I think, what it is that I found interesting, was that Jurgens works in IT, but is also a Reiki practitioner. These two concepts, in my head, don’t necessarily go together, so I wanted to get to know him a bit better. So, I invited him to be our guest.

What happened during out chat truly blew my mind. Jurgens, it turns out, is a Rune Grandmaster of the Armanen runes. In 2005, he joined The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC), also known as the Rosicrucian Order. In 2019 he graduated from The Order of the Knights Runes and is now a Grandmaster. I am intrigued to see if this chat will do the same for your mind as it did for mine. Jurgens has introduced me to concepts of spirituality which I have either only vaguely heard of or never even come across.

During our chat, he referred to the readings of GI Gurdjieff and JG Bennett and the book that changed his life is Miraculous Management by Saul Kuchinsky. I name these here because you may not hear it clearly during the conversation.

As mentioned Jurgens is inter alia a Reiki practitioner, as well as a Trauma/tension Release Exercise (TRE) facilitator. You can find him on Facebook or on his project Facebook page or you can also email him on stuurepos@gmail.com.

This podcast is supported by “Orangutans in the field”. The podcast where Merwe and I talk about life stuff, how it impacts our mental health and how we deal with it. Catch this unedited, raw, sometimes hard-hitting and always blatantly honest podcast on Anchor.fm and Iono.fm.

This is Jurgen’s story. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Our guest today is Tia Boulton.

I honestly cannot think of what to say as an introduction. For me, this conversation is all about feeling and not about putting those feelings into words.

I thoroughly loved the warmth Tia brought into the field during our chat, despite the covid hardship she had to and is still enduring. It is horrific how Tia is stuck in the UK while her loved ones are here in South Africa. I recon her being stuck resonates deeply with me, being stuck in South Africa, while we are supposed to have checked into America in August last year already.

We are confronted with the horrific truth of Covid-19 around every corner, so I think the light and laughter Tia contribute to the field is just what the doctor ordered.

I love how chance meetings can lead to such meaningful meetings in this field of ours. Today is no exception.

I met Lois in a PSASA (Professional Speakers Association of South Africa) chat, where the topic was around hosting a podcast. I asked her to be our guest and she immediately agreed.

I am so happy to introduce Lois Wagner to you. Lois has a deeply personal journey which she shares with us, and I thank her for her vulnerability. I raise my hat to Lois for using her rape as a way to help others on a journey through fear, to forgiveness and ultimately freedom.

I am not going to say a lot more, because I feel her story must be heard first-hand.

Lois can be found in numerous places on the world wide web. She has two websites. One is and the other one is. The second website, Walking without skin, is also the name of Lois’ book, which is available on Amazon. Walking without skin is also the name of her Facebook page. You can also find her on her YouTube channel as well as listen to her talk on TedEx.

Every episode of “Meet me in the field” that I record and put out is close to my heart and incredibly important to me. Today’s episode truly takes a special place.

I have known Mandy for about 25 years now. We have walked strange and interesting paths. From the heydays of flourishing financial markets, market crashes, marriages, divorces, my drug addiction and recovery, to her sudden onset blindness and wounding and steep road of recovery, we have been there for each other. I am aware of how difficult it is for Mandy to share this part of her life path, but we both agree it is not only a tale worth telling, but if we can, through this telling, help one person, then we have done well.

I thank Mandy from the bottom of my heart.

You can listen to Mandy’s first “Meet me in the field” chat here.

We also refer to James and Pierre during our chat. You can catch my chat with James here, while my conversation with Pierre can be listen to by following this link. Both truly inspirational stories and an important part in Mandy’s recovery story.

Please log on to our website. I am not prone to begging, but when a cause is this close to my heart, I do so shamelessly. Please support our #67 Minutes Mandela Day blindfold challenge by clicking here and challenge your friends to join in and donate too. The world needs you.

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It is such a pleasure to welcome Alice, from Surrey in England, to “Meet me in the field”. I have had the pleasure of watching Alice’s spiritual awakening and growth over the past few years and am terribly excited to share her story with you.

This young lady went from a life of alcoholism, drug addiction and anorexia, to graduating from the Royal College of Art earlier this year. She starts her Masters degree in art in September at the same institute. How awesome is that? If you want to see some of her work, please follow her on Instagram at letsgetclayful.

I need to apologise for the sound at stages in the recording. The Zoom link between Cape Town and Surrey wasn’t too great, but we made the best of what we got.

Getting to know today’s guest is surely one of the highlights of my 2021.

I am terribly excited to introduce you to Peta Dukes. Peta is a Craniosacral Therapist/Practitioner, whatever you choose to call her and a Recovery Coach. If you want or need trauma work done or want to know more about your inner child, Peta is your person. I really rate her knowledge and insight.

If you want to contact her, please email her on peta.dukes@gmail.com or WhatsApp (only) her on 079-661-0922.

I relate with Peta on so many levels and the chat got a bit out of hand because of this, so this episode is longer than the current standard one. I am thus not going to say any more and happily introduce Peta to you.

This is the 170th episode of “Meet me in the field” and I am still amazed about the great things that happen when I get a complete stranger behind the microphone and we start talking.

Today, I speak to yet another Insight Timer friend, this time it is Dave from Dudley in the UK. What amazed me about this conversation is how much Dave and I have in common. We both walked a path through addiction, we meditate, we both do intermittent fasting, we do the cold shower at the end of a warm shower-thing, we both stopped eating meat and we both wrote a book. I really found these similarities between us fascinating.

Talk about Dave’s book. He wrote a book called The Awakening of Death, by David E. Jones. It is available on Amazon and theawakeningofdeath is also Dave’s Instagram account. Please follow him.

I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate Dave on his wedding this coming Saturday. I wish the couple a long and happy union.

I am excited to introduce you to Sam Marais, another Insight Timer friend.

Sam was one of the first people I befriended on Insight Timer. It was his profile pic that caught my eye. Since then, we have regularly sent each other messages, thanking each other for meditating together. I obviously had no idea what to expect when we started the recording. How awesome to meet someone whom I have this much in common with. I truly had no idea of the similarities in our lives when I asked Sam to be our guest. All I learnt, after having asked him to join us, is that he teaches yoga.

Sam can be found on his website. He is also very excited to share his Insight timer meditations with us. You can find them here.

I am excited to introduce you to another Insight Timer friend. This time I speak with Lee Griffin.

Lee is a coach who, as stated in her LinkedIn profile, helps “entrepreneurs explore the possibilities and invest their energy, time and resources for maximum return.” She focusses on work/life harmony and coaches how to work smarter and not harder. Her attention to giving back to communities gets me all excited.

Lee and I had a great energy going right from the start of our chat. She is an excellent communicator with a warm personality and a casualness about her which made me feel comfortable immediately.

I love, love, love the story she tells about her childhood church hunting, which begged this episode to be named as it is. I find it fascinating that she calls her ego Margaret and stays engaged with her/it constantly.

I also have a deep respect for her commitment to doing ethical business in line with her morality and am excited to receive my Arise Coffee soon.

You can find Lee on her, in construction phase, website and learn more about Arise coffee go to.

“Meet me in the field” is back after a few weeks’ absence. It is great to be back. From now on “Meet me in the field” will come out every second Thursday instead of every week. Life is just too hectic for me at the moment to get an episode out every week. I started studying toward a Recovery Coach qualification and need about 80 hours of practical to qualify. Something’s gotta give hey?

I am excited to introduce you to Chris, from France. Chris, with his partner Karen, are the founders and owners of Just Go Pink. A company they use to motivate and empower people to live healthier and happier lives.

I met Chis on the meditation app, Insight Timer. This, incidentally, is also how Chris and Karen met.

I speak to Chris about his journey from a mainframe programmer, to a yoga teacher and the use of Ayurvedic therapy in their work.

If you want to know more about Just go Pink, log on to their website. If you want to use their services, they offer all “Meet me in the field” listeners a 50% discount. Just use the code Fredpodcast. What an amazing offer.

“Meet me in the field” is taking still taking a break. Work-life balance has been incredibly difficult. Not only am I beyond blessed with a thriving counselling practice, but I have also taken up studying! I had to take some time away from “Meet me in the field” to meet the study demands.

When “Meet me in the field” returns, it will only be published evert second week for a while.

The next episode is due on 8 April 2021.

“Meet me in the field” is taking still taking a break. Work-life balance has been incredibly difficult. Not only am I beyond blessed with a thriving counselling practice, but I have also taken up studying! I had to take some time away from “Meet me in the field” to meet the study demands.

When “Meet me in the field” returns, it will only be published evert second week for a while.

The next episode is due on 8 April 2021.

“Meet me in the field” is taking a break. Work-life balance has been incredibly difficult. Not only am I beyond blessed with a thriving counselling practice, but I have also taken up studying! I had to take some time away from “Meet me in the field” to meet the study demands.

When “Meet me in the field” returns, it will only be published evert second week for a while.

The next episode is due on 8 April 2021.

Imagine my surprise when I opened my laptop on 16 October 2020 to see an email from Lauren Bryant, the Content and Community Manager for Josh Trent, the founder and CEO of Wellness Force Media, from Texas. She informed me that they heard my podcast with Erica Alison about Holotropic breathwork. They were interested in my work and inquired about Josh being a guest on “Meet me in the field”. Obviously, I immediately did some research on Wellness Force Media, liked what I saw and moved forward on setting up the appointment.

It took us 4 months to make the interview happen, but make it happen, we did.

I am very happy that Josh and I got to do this talk. He had an amazing life up until now, moving from porn and food addiction through three spiritual awakenings to finding Wellness Force Media and doing great work in this strange and interesting world.

If you want to know more about Wellness Force Media, Josh and his work, please find him on his website. While you are there make use of his free offer with regards to his M21 programme.

Meet me in the field is taking a break. I am attending recovery coaching this week for the whole week, the whole day, so there is just no time to edit and put out an episode this week.

A few months ago, I got this email out of the blue from a women who informed me that she is a Holistic Counsellor registered with the same professional body I am. In the email she asks if I will mind terribly if she sends me information about the workshop she was about to launch. I thought this was one of the most well-mannered things ever and immediately agreed.

Over the next few months, I would get mails about workshops that Fé runs and links to videos that she posted. I watched one of the videos and got a warm feeling in my tummy. The women on my screen radiated amazing energy. I hardly followed a word she said, because I was already typing her an invite to be our guest on “Meet me in the field”. I wanted to know what caused Fé van Haght to have such an aura.

I am excited to introduce Fé to you. She is not only a Counsellor, but also a speaker and facilitator and, now I know, also an all round awesome person.

I really liked the time Fé and I spent together and am sure you would too.

If you want to find Fé, visit her website. Her Facebook page and Instagram handle are both also Empowered Practices. Her YouTube channel, on the other hand, is Fé van Haght.

Today we end our international podcast host series with Australian podcast host and business owner Michael Gregory.

I am happy to introduce the host of the Addiction to Freedom podcast and the owner of True Quit. Michael is based outside Sydney in Australia and has a beautifully calm demeanour. His company was formed after Michael’s own struggle to stop smoking. He explains how his philosophically trained mind dug deeper and deeper into the brain mechanism around quitting cigarettes until he found an answer, which he rolled out to great success. He believes his method stops cravings and that it can be used in quitting any addictive substance. I am excited to hear this and really want to take the time to study this more.

He started his podcast recently to spread the word that there is something like freedom from addiction. You can catch Addicted to Freedom on Michael’s website.

It was a great chat that I am sure you will enjoy.

Today we do a one-episode break-away from our international podcast host series to listen to local man, Paul Roux.

Paul has a background in finance and marketing… and in addiction. Now, 9 years into his sober journey, he is combining his financial knowledge with his recovery experience, strength and hope, to bring a message of financial hope and dreams to people in the recovery community, but by all mean not limited to people in recovery.

I find his story very inspirational and think you will too.

Learn more about Paul on his website. While on his site also look at the book Paul features in, called The Addiction Diaries. You can also find him on Facebook if you look for Paul Roux Coaching. You can even email Paul at paul@paulrouxcoaching.com.

This was a Zoom recording. At stages you will hear some sound lags (if that is even a thing – but you will hear what I mean when you hear it). I apologise for that, but it is due to the internet connection.

Today we are hearing the fourth episode of our international podcast host series. We get to know Carine Camara from The Infinite Love podcast.

Carine is originally from New York, but now settled in Lafayette in California in America. She has a vast list of healing qualifications behind her name and use various modalities to facilitate healing and spread love. The most prominent of these are acupuncture, energy medicine, pelvic wellness and intuition. She founded the Pelvic Wellness Centre and does amazing work in, specifically, but not limited to female wellness.

You can find Carine on her website, or on Instagram on carinejcamara and her podcast is on most majour podcast platforms, but I get in on Audry. This is what Audry says about Infinite Love podcast: “Carine Camara’s Podcast Infinite Love is a place to be inspired on emotional/spiritual healing and transformation. We talk about Love as Medicine, and share stories on ways to overcome life’s challenges with love, positivity and kindness. Carine is an intuitive guide, acupuncturist and energy medicine practitioner.”

In the third instalment of our international podcast host series, we meet Hannah Garland from the Your Uncommon Life podcast.

Hannah lives about an hour from Seattle, Washington in the United States. She started thinking of doing a podcast about 2 years ago when she had a miscarriage, but only got around to it a few weeks ago. That just shows that a good idea does not die, and we should never give up on a dream. I grab her podcast on Audry, but she can be heard on all the major podcast platforms. This is the write-up to her podcast: “Encouraging words for busy days, tough seasons, and women who do it all. With a perspective rooted in faith and rounded out with years of working high pressure jobs to amateur fighting and now motherhood, I aim to encourage women to make intentional choices to focus their lives around what matters most to them. I explore topics like hope, vulnerability, identity, and habit formation. I’m on this journey, too, and together, we can figure out how to feel at peace and unburdened.”

Hannah is now a full-time mother to a 7-month-old boy and loves every moment of motherhood. Her podcast is both inspirational, educational and hard-hitting and most of all, although it is aimed at women, men can learn a lot from this offering.

You can learn more about Hannah on her website.

This week we have our second episode in the series of having international podcasters as our guests on “Meet me in the field”. I am excited to introduce Brian Sexton from West Virginia in the dear old US of A to you.

Brian is the host of The Intentional Encourager podcast. In each episode, he listens to inspirational stories told by incredible people who have overcome unbelievable obstacles. They share the greatest lessons they learned and their biggest piece of Intentional Encouragement. You can listen to it on all the most prominent podcast platforms, but here is a link to it on Audry.

Brian is also the writer of a book called People buy from People. The subscript to the book reads: “10 Powerful People Lessons from the Ultimate People Person - My Dad”. While the write-up to the book reads as follows: “Connection is a basic human need. To share a part of one’s innermost self with someone else is a critical component in today’s world. Every society has a need and strong desire to connect virtually, vocally or in person and that need drives all people to have an innate need to connect more deeply and powerfully with those they love, respect or need relationally.”

He is a committed Christian and sings in the group called The Southern Gospel Quartet, but he is also a husband, father and a musician who plays various instruments.

He is quite the multifaceted being and an absolute pleasure to talk with.

This week we start with an exciting 4-week series of podcasts, where I speak with a few overseas podcast hosts. There will be some more episodes in this series over the next few weeks.

Our first guest in this regard is KAren Swain from Sydney, Australia. KAren hosts a podcast called Accentuate the Positive, which can be found on most podcast platforms, but which can probably be best enjoyed on her YouTube channel. KAren is so multitalented that I find it difficult to describe her, so I grabbed some info from her website. She works as a medium/channel, awakener and a teacher of Deliberate Creation. She is also a hypnotist, and writer of two books, which are called Awakened by Death: Stories of Transformation and the second one is called Return to Love: An Extraordinary Tale of Love and Discovery that Death is not the end. Both books are available on Amazon.

I found this chat fascinating and hope you enjoy it too.

Meet me in the field is taking a break. I am trying my utmost to rest - with limited success, I must confess. Your favourite podcast will be back on 14 January 2021. Be prepared for some awesome chats with a lot of other podcasters from around the world.

Meet me in the field is taking a break. I am trying my utmost to rest - with limited success, I must confess. Your favourite podcast will be back on 14 January 2021. Be prepared for some awesome chats with a lot of other podcasters from around the world.

As I recite this Rumi poem, “Meet me in the field”, for at least the 158th time on this podcast, I am getting a whole new meaning from it. The reason is this week’s guest, Renee. Renee and I have known each other for about 11 years now and although I like the socks of this girl, we never had the opportunity to get close and become great friends. After this interview, I can honestly say, that I regret it deeply.

Renee just completed her Honours Degree in Religious Studies at University of South Africa (Unisa), writing her dissertation on the works of the 13th century poet and Sufi mystic, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, or as we know him today, just plain Rumi. For those who do knot know, Rumi wrote the original Persian poem which we today call Meet me in the field and which is the base of this podcast.

Renee is also an amazing singer, which, as you will hear is a significant part of her spiritual journey. You can catch some of her songs on YouTube, just look for Renee Fortune.

I apologise for the terrible sound on my end of this recording. This episode was recorded the day before we moved house, again, and I sat in a completely empty room, unable to find my already packed-away microphone. So, I had to settle for the laptop sound. I hope it does not distract too much from Renee and my awesome chat.

I met Celeste while studying Counselling through the University of South Africa (Unisa). Those of you who know Unisa will know that it is a distant learning institute, which means we do not have much contact with fellow students and lecturers. As part of our course we had to attend one week of lectures every year. It is quite weird, because I felt like a grade one learner that first year. I knew no-one and felt insecure and out of place. But Celeste greeted me as if she’d known me all my life. She has an amazingly warm and loving energy and I felt at home immediately. We saw each other again in our second year of the Advanced Counselling course and have been in touch since then.

I am happy to bring you her story on “Meet me in the field”.

I call her The Wounded Healer, because, as you will hear from our chat, she went through quite a lot of hurt in her life, but she made the brave decision not to be defined by her scars, but to wear them as a sign of her power. She further decided to use the knowledge and experience gained from getting those psychological scars to help others and give back. I strongly believe that, if we have walked a bit of our clients’ path, we are probably better able to hold them in their most difficult moments.

You can find Celeste on her website and on Facebook on her page called Even Greater Counselling. I recommend her.

It fills my heart with joy to bring Dana to you for this episode of “Meet me in the field”.

Dana is one of those strange people whom I don’t really know, yet I have heard of her so often in so many places and from so many people, that I find it strange that I don’t actually know her. I think we met last year at the Recovery Festival for the first time.

Dana is not only, so far, on a 22 year recovery journey of her own, but she is also a Counsellor, both consulting and in her own practice, while she lectures at both SACAP and UCT in addiction-related fields. To give her life more balance she is also a mother, a wife and enjoys to hike.

I am really happy that we managed to bring this interview to you, because not only did I have technical difficulties before the chat, but I also made a huge boo-boo with the recording. Was it not for my Computer Science Professor husband, Jaco, who could figure out how to fix what I broke, we would not have been able to meet Dana in the field today.

My guest this week is Juanita Caprari from Heartworks with Juanita. She calls herself an Intuitive Coach. She helps her clients release blockages that keep them from moving forward. She focusses on a deep conscious level, thereby enabling them to shift their power from previously held limiting patterns, expressing wounds, to living a life that is an expression of the person’s highest potential. Juanita uses various healing modalities in this process. She is also a Yoga Teacher and I know she meditates often, because we run into each other on Insight Timer on a regular basis. You can find her on her website and on Facebook and Instagram under Juanita Caprari.

Juanita is the partner of Volker, The Transformation Facilitator of our episode of 1 August 2019.

I am really excited to introduce Juanita to you. She speaks so beautifully, I can listen to her the whole day.

As you will hear in this episode, I met Russ in the early part of the previous decade. Russ then, was very quiet, reserved and came across as extremely unsure of himself and shy. The Russ I talk with today, seems a completely different person. In this episode of “Meet me in the field”, Russ takes us on his journey from the southern suburbs of Cape Town, through a psychedelic trance, to the confident, self-loving, caring and giving person he has become.

I am always fascinated by social circles and the phenomena of who knows whom and what their connections are based on. In Nico’s case, I have been in awe more than usual. On all social media platforms, I run into Nico. On each platform, he seems to be connected with a different group of people which I am somehow connected to as well. Yet, we have never met. Based on all the platforms we seem mutually connected to, it was clear that I had to chat to Nico on “Meet me in the field” and hear how he fits in where and how he got there. I am so happy that I did. The conversation which follows flowed as easily as a full river and the connection was there right from the start. It is really interesting to hear how Nico came into the healing world and which modalities he practices. I am still keen on doing a Reiki course with him and also want to experience hypnosis with him. If you are interested to find out more about Nico of any of his healing modalities, please connect with him on his website or on Facebook and Instagram under Indigo Spirit Academy.

I am loving the opportunity to introduce you to Shumi Chimombe. A biodanza facilitator, who is hugely passionate about this form of movement. This is what their Facebook page says about biodanza: ``Developed in the 1960’s by Professor Rolando Toro (1924-2010), a Chilean psychologist, anthropologist and poet, Biodanza is now practised in over 20 countries worldwide and continues to evolve and grow. Reduce stress, increase self-confidence, rediscover playfulness and cultivate the art of relating. Regular participation in Biodanza enriches your connection to yourself, others and Life. Everyone can do biodanza, there are no steps to learn, no age limits and no fitness requirements. The facilitator guides participants through the class, but the movement is your own. The process creates a safe and non-judgmental environment. Check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/biodanzacape/about/?ref=page_internal. I met Shumi at a Family Constellation workshop and was immediately attracted to her sense of connectedness. I really liked her and offered her a lift home, where we chatted really nicely. Social media kept us in contact and here is she today.

I am terribly excited to introduce you to my friend, Bryan. He is long overdue for an appearance on “Meet me in the field”. I am happy and grateful that he could join us. Bryan and I met in 2010 and used to see each other often, until I left Cape Town. Thanks to Zoom we ran into each other again during lockdown and it felt like a beautiful reunion. Having worked as a DJ on his own show at some stage in the past, I found this one of the easiest episodes to edit, because Bryan talks effortlessly and clearly. I love his sense of humour and sharp wit.

Meet me in the field is taking a break. Jaco and I moved house the past 4 days and there was absolutely NO TIME to edit an episode. I am looking forward to be on Thursday, 5 November 2020.

Meet me in the field is taking a break. Jaco and I are spending a few days away, with a great friend, on the border of the Kruger National Park. We shall be back on Thursday, 29 October 2020

I have decided to bring a topic very close to my heart to “Meet me in the field” this week. Today we talk about Screen and Social Media Addiction. I believe this addiction is a sitting time bomb and not enough awareness is being raised about it. I have again hooked up with Merwe from “Talking Orangutans”. We recorded an episode on this addiction for “Orangutans in the field” and this week’s “Meet me in the field” episode is that recording. Merwe struggles with marketing and promoting his business on social media. The actual activity is not the problem - it is the feeling he has when he is not on it. What is social media and screen addiction? I again plays the role of the Counsellor and provide guidance and perspective of where to draw the lines between acceptable versus addictive social media usage and screen engagement. Click here to access my screen addiction questionnaire. If you think you or a loved one may be struggling with screen addiction, contact me on freddie.rensburg@gmail.com for help.

Today you meet my new friend Cindy. We talk, not only about her own spiritual journey, but also about two things close to my heart, family constellation and food. I met Cindy at a family constellation day and was gobsmacked by her ability to absorb energy and her response in the constellation field. It was absolutely amazing to see. The family constellation day was run by Volker, The Transformation Facilitator from the episode of 1 August 2019. If you suspect you have any unprocessed family-related issues in your life, I seriously recommend that you attend one of his family constellation workshops. After that day, I had a significant urge to get to know more about Cindy and am happy and grateful to have had that opportunity when we recorded this episode. Just for reference, the Personal Trainer Cindy and I informally discuss before I introduce her and the episode formally begins, is Brad, from Pocket PT. He was our guest on 2 April this year. To know more about Cindy and Nourishmint Coaching, find her on Facebook and on Instagram with the handle Nourishmint Coaching. Please note that she spells the ment of nourishment with an i on both Facebook and Instagram.

This week “Meet me in the field” again visits the “Orangutans in the field” podcast to hear what Merwe and Freddie have to say about friendship. What is real friendship? How do you define it? What are the behaviours of a good friend and how has this changed since our school days when everyone was your friend? How do friendship influence our mental health? Freddie and Merwe discuss these points in this episode of “Orangutans in the Field”. Listen to more Orangutans in the field podcasts here.

I am very excited to bring this you week’s episode of “Meet me in the field”, our spiritual journey podcast. I speak to Ericka Alison. She is a qualified Psychiatric Social Worker, but has not worked in that field for many years. She now mostly works as a Holotropic Breathworker. I have done 2 of her sessions a few years ago and they were amazing. I always had the feeling that Ericka has an interesting journey to share, and I was not disappointed. Ericka takes us from her Afrikaans upbringing in Pretoria, to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), via Cape Town, to a spiritual community in Johannesburg. From there we travel to Hawaii and Israel, to name but a few of the stops on her exciting path. To find Ericka’s on the world wide web and learn more about her go to her website.

As promised 2 weeks ago, today I chat with my new friend, Paul. He is Nicky’s partner, The Film Maker from the previous episode. Paul has a really interesting journey, with many twists and turns, which he shares with us with a good dose of humour and a vast dollop of intellect. I am sure you are going to find him as interesting and entertaining as I did. Learn more about Paul at the following places: His corporate work can be found at. His Life Alignment work is on facebook and his Men’s Work is here.

Meet me in the field is taking a mini-break. Jaco and I are spending a few days away from cell reception and no internet, so I cannot post today. We shall be back on Thursday, 10 September 2020

I met Nicky recently when I did an online course that guides us towards our destiny. Nicky (and her husband, Paul, our guest next week), guided us through the practical work once a week. That was awesome! Nicky is extremely intuitive and beautifully grounded. I am very grateful to have her share her journey with us. She is also a brand-new podcast host. Please check it out. You can find her on Podbean, the name of the podcast is Nixypod. You can also find out more about Nicky and her intuitive work on her Facebook page. She is on Instagram under NickyFelbert and Twitter at @NickyRFelbert. She also has a YouTube channel, which is Nicky Felbert. You can listen and watch Nixypod on this YouTube channel. Learn more about her films on her website.

I have been wanting to have Carl on “Meet me in the field” since I started the podcast. I am very happy to have him as a guest and have to say that it is about bloody time! I met Carl about 10 years ago and wanted to ask him to be our guest, but I always felt he might be too busy and just never plucked up the courage to ask him. As it turns out, Carl is indeed incredibly busy, but happily, or so it seemed, agreed to chat with us.

This episode of “Meet me in the field” is also the second episode of my combined podcast with Merwe, the host of “Talking Orangutans”. We call our combined podcast “Orangutans in the field” and in this episode we talk about the journey of therapy. We discuss issues like how to know if you need therapy and how to choose a therapist once you have made the decision to seek help.

I was talking to my oldest sister, Leata, the other day and afterwards I suddenly realised that she went on her own spiritual journey a few decades ago. Leata met a Greek guy, Spiros, when she was studying to become a Pharmacist at Wits University and converted from Dutch Reformed to Greek Orthodox. This chat is to find out how this conversion of hers worked, how this journey was for her and to find out a bit more about the Greek Orthodox beliefs.

I was honoured to be a guest on the highly popular recovery podcast, called Podcast Recovery. Listen to the episode here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, where the episodes are listed and choose the episode called Freddie R.

• When I Stopped Running, Life Caught Up With Me. Or grab it on Spotify.

Meet me in the field is taking a mini-break. We shall be back on Thursday, 30 July 2020

Meeting Gert was one of those interesting events in my life, which I love and cherish. Well, actually, I have never met him. But, I love getting these messages that reads something along the line of “Hi. I am XYZ. I got your number from ABC. He/she said they think we should talk.” Then the call happens and the next thing you know, I have made a new friend and more often than not, we have another “Meet me in the field” episode.

Gert and I met this way and I am grateful for Michael, The Working Artist from the episode of 21 November 2019, for making this connection happen.

I am not going to say more, I want Gert’s story to do all the talking - and trust me …. it does. But, if you want to learn more about [Gert’s Sober Living facility in Stellenbosch, then please go to] ( https://www.albarosasoberliving.co.za/addiction-step-down-facillity/) or find Albarosa Sober Living on Facebook.

This episode is the launch of a new collaborative podcast between your host, Freddie and Merwe, the host of “Talking Orangutans Podcast”. They talk about topics related to what is going on in their lives and how it influences their mental health. The new podcast is called “Orangutans in the field”.

Do you ever find yourself in a position where you are burned out, resentful and feeling you were not brave enough to express your feelings or thoughts? In this episode, Freddie plays the role of the Counsellor and Merwe that of the patient. Although done in a light way, Merwe is 100% honest and discovers new aspects of his behaviour. Join this podcast and answer the Co-Dependency questionnaire with Merwe.

A while ago I was chatting with my friend Merwe, the host of the awesome podcast, Talking Orangutans. He asked how I feel about being interviewed for “Meet me in the field”. Knowing Merwe, I knew it would be interesting and intense; always up for a challenge, I agreed. As always, Merwe did not disappoint. I love the way his mind works and always enjoy our dark and sick sense of humour when we get together. Be warned, this podcast may offend the sensitive listener. Merwe always asks probing and boundary pushing questions and again proved the saying that there are more questions than answers. Please go check out his Talking Orangutans podcast for examples of how he tackles issues like racism and mental health - without blinking an eye or skipping a beat.

Also keep your eyes and ears open for the launch of our combined podcast, “Orangutans in the field”. We talk about life issues and the effect they have on how we think and feel, loosely related to mental health in general.

Welcome to the fifth and last episode of our “Meet me in the field” journey into Covid-19 lockdown. Today we hear from our healing friends.

Our first guest today is Mia The Nia Ninja from 16 May 2019, which was our 86th episode and one of our most listened to guests ever. Mia is a black belt Nia instructor and a most lovely person. I liked her from the moment we met. Learn more about Mia and Nia by clicking on this link. Our second guest is Leigh The Hypnotherapist from Episode 112, which went live on 5 December 2019. Leigh got into NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and Hypnotherapy after a horse riding accident which caused amnesia, contributing to her losing 9 months of her life. If you want to connect with Leigh, find her on her website. Next up is Janine. She is The Healer of the third episode, which was posted on 28 September. Since the posting of that episode Janine and I got much closer and I have learned to respect her all the more. I have also learnt that she is an amazing and interesting woman. A true healer. She did some Emotional Freedom Tapping (EFT) and Matrix reimprinting treatment on me, with wonderful results. Learn more about Janine and all her healing modalities at Be the grace of serenity. Fourth in line this week is my cousin’s daughter, Karlien, The Second Cousin from 20 June 2019 – our 91st episode. Karlien and I had no contact with each other until about two or three years ago, when we somehow connected on social media. I liked her from the word go and we have since become great friends. She is an Occupational Therapist in private practice – you can find Karlien on her website. Steve is our proverbial “next lady for a shave”. He is The Kundalini Teacher of episode 83 of 25 April 2019. Steve is not only a yoga teacher, but has also now qualified as a Compassionate Enquiry practitioner. I had two session with him so far and highly recommend this new and exciting modality. You can find Steve on his website. Our last healer and the person with the responsibility of closing our Covid-19 lockdown series is Frances episode 124’s The Tension Releaser of 26 March 2020. I have actually known Frances, or maybe, known of Frances, for quite a few years already. I am doing her TRE (Trauma/tension release exercise) classes every few weeks and find it immensely valuable. If you want to reach Frances, go to the Prospect Hill Recovery Practice website.

In this episode we hear from some of my friends and previous guests, whom I think of as spiritual. They are Julie and Michael, in America, and Mandy and Merwe, on two opposite sides of the peninsula in the Western Cape province of South Africa. I heard something interesting in this group of interviews, and maybe it relates to the fluidity of the term, spirituality. Let’s see if you pick up on it too.

Julie is our The Psychic of 12 December 2019. She also wrote a childrens’ book called Angel Messages for Kids. Both are available on Amazon and are worth a read. Mandy is The Buddhist from Episode 18 of 11 January 2018. Mandy gives meaning to her blindness journey through her Eyes2Eyes NGO of which I am a Director. We are trying to raise funds for a confocal microscope or two for the Western Cape, raise awareness to cornea transplants and contribute to the distribution of scleral lenses. You can find Mandy’s business interest at Sunday Girl Studio offering. Please click on the links supplied and help us to make the world a better and more beautiful place to behold. Merwe is our The Doer of Things of Episode 68, which went live on 20 December 2018. Merwe is the host of his own podcast Talking Orangutans, where he just chats to people whom he finds interesting. Micheal is The Seventy-Six Percenter of the 26 July 2018 offering, which was Episode 46.

In this episode, I speak to 3 previous guests who are all scientists. Pierre has his Masters in Chemistry; Wendy is a Museum Curator and Doctor of Archaeology and Jaco is an Associate Professor in Computer Science at Stellenbosch University. I was interested to hear if they were going to be more cranial about lockdown than our artists and religious people. I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

Pierre is The Muso of Episode 30 from 2 April 2018. Wendy, our second guest for today, is a Curator at Iziko Museums and The Scientist from episode 7, which went live on 26 October 2017. She also features in Episode 78 of 28 March 2019 where we chatted about her life as a new mother. Jaco, our last guest in this episode, is my husband. He has featured in many episodes. The first time he was on this podcast was the first episode of Meet me in the field on 17 September 2017, which I plainly called, An Introduction. After that he also featured in the following episodes, if you are interested in catching more of our special kind of banter: The Husband of 30 November 2017, The Husband Speaks Again of 28 March 2018; The Husband Again Again of 2 August 2018; In the episode of 3 January 2019, you can her Jaco interviewing me in an episode called The Host being Interviewed and the last time he featured was in an episode called The Husband on Life Anon of 10 October 2019.

This week “Meet me in the field” continues our journey into Covid-19 lockdown. In this episode, we hear from 6 artists about how they are coping during this challenging time. They range in art forms from photography, through acting and tattooing, to visual/performance art and music. I am excited to present the journeys of Fiona, Wilhelm, Mark, Melissa, David and Marvin to you.

Also have a look at Fiona’s Sober & Sexy site, Mark’s YouTube channel and David’s Facebook page.

For the next five weeks, “Meet me in the field” is running a special Covid-19 journey edition. With Jaco’s prodding, I have gone back to some of our previous guests and asked them about their journey through the Covid-19 period. I have divided the guests into 5 groups. They are the religious people, the artists, the scientists, the spiritual group and the healers. I thought it may be interesting to see how various groupings of people experience this Covid-19 drama. Today we are hearing from 4 people who identify as religious. They are Gigi, Frank, Raymond and Brad. I know that we can learn from each other’s experience, strength and hope and I trust that you will hear something that will give you strength and hope during this period.

Sandra owns and manages Step Away Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre in Port Elizabeth. In this episode of “Meet me in the field”, Sandra takes us on a beautiful journey from a life filled with chaos and despair, to living committed to helping others with addiction problems. I thoroughly enjoyed her openness about her dark days and could identify with a lot of what we chatted about.

I was terribly excited to do this podcast recording. I met Desiree on Twitter and was attracted to her posts, because of her beautiful wild life photographs and our similar take on nature conservation and animal cruelty. She is a wild life and environmental activist and is associated with Green Peace Africa and March for Elephants and Rhinos. Please click the link and help in any way you can.

Nikki and I cannot recall when and where we connected, but two things are certain: One, the connection happened through our passion for helping people with recovery from addiction, and two, we surely DID connect. Nikki works as a Recovery, Business and Life Coach for herself in Agency Coaching Solutions. She is also associated with Ubuntu Academy, a company that does amazing work in the field of addiction coaching. Please visit them to make a difference. You can also find more about what Nikki does by vising the Pocket Rehab Facebook page.

Trudy is another one of my guests whom I have never met in person. We got to know each other when we both got invited by a mutual friend, Marvin-Lee (The Actor, of our episode of 4 January 2018) to take part in the Deepak Chopra 21-day Abundance Meditation. Trudy is an actress and, as you will hear, has a remarkable connection with God, which I am really grateful she has decided to share with us today. Catch Trudy in Die Byl on KykNet and Showmax.

I have never heard of crystal healing until I had my first contact with Siobhan about a year ago. I must be honest, it did tickle my interest, but I cannot say I was committed to learn more about it. I found it a bit up-in-the-air. Then, when I started attending the Men of Heart group and got to learn more about emotional vibrations, my interest in crystal vibrations and thus crystal healing got tweaked. I immediately contacted Siobhan again to arrange this conversation. She agreed to chat to us a long time ago, but we live quite far from each other, so we never got to see each other. It was only due to lockdown and technology, that we could make the chat happen. I hope you find the chat and the topic interesting.

I’ve known Chris for a while, but we do not have much contact these days. So, I was quite excited to speak with him on “Meet me in the field”. I was really interest in hearing how he moved from working in logistics to be a Councillor in the City of Cape Town. I also really wanted to see how his spirituality features in politics. What I got was far more than I bargained for. Chris turned out to be the Forest Gump equal of his “life is a box of chocolates”. The more we chatted the more new dimensions of him came alight. If you are interested in Chris; music, click on this link and listen to one of his songs.

Kurt is a friend of friends. We always used to see each other at social gatherings. One day I swallowed my shyness and chatted to him. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am so grateful for being able to let go of fear these days. It has opened new worlds for me. I was fascinated to hear that Kurt was fundamentally involved with the Oranjezicht City Farm (OZCF) and now in the SA Urban Food & Farming Trust. Have a look at the OZCF website. The Trust does wonderful work in communities all over Cape Town. I wanted to know from Kurt, how he journeyed from America to managing farms at the southern tip of Africa.

Brad and I ran into each other on Twitter. I liked his attitude on there and started paying closer attention to his posts. He posts as @BeBraveSA on Twitter and on Instagram as bmetraining. What I like about him on social media is his no-nonsense, direct approach. He really seems to care about people, but he is not going to entertain their bullshit. He says things as they are, while being respectful and not engaging unnecessarily. I wanted to know more about the person behind these posts and thought you might enjoy him too. So, here he is.

I have actually known Frances, or maybe, known of Frances, for quite a few years already. But, it was only last year, due to The Recovery Festival, that we got to know each other better. I am doing her TRE (Trauma/tension release exercise) classes every few weeks and find it immensely valuable. If you want to reach Frances, go to the Prospect Hill Recovery Practice website.

I met Julie on Facebook. I was intrigued with her posts, which I saw through friends sharing and then befriended her that way. I really enjoyed her posts of her dog, Lunar, and her recovery related posts, especially those around harm reduction, as I know this can be a bit of a controversial topic. Due to my intrigue, I decided to ask her to be our guest and here she is. Julie can be reached on Facebook at Julie Mac Donnell and on Instagram at julesmacdonnell. Her work website is TB HIV Care.

I’ve always liked Charles and enjoyed his openness and frankness about his spirituality. When I met his wife, I realised there is more to this man than what he allows others to see. My intrigued deepened when I saw him with his eldest son. I saw a side of Charles which I wanted to know more about. I found him soft, gentle, patient and incredibly unconditional. But, the final nail in my intrigue coffin was when Charles gave a presentation at the Recovery Festival last year. Here was this soft-spoken and gentle man, always with a shy giggle, confidently sharing his knowledge. It was then that I just knew he had to come and talk with us.

This time I figured out how to do the sound, the only problem was that I forgot to switch my microphone on! The internet connection was quite bad, so I again apologise for the quality.

Monica is an astrologer (I accidentally referred to her as an astronomer in the recording - oops, sorry Monica - my apologies) and the owner of Somaland – a group which offers mushroom retreats. I heard about her many years ago and tried to get her on “Meet me in the field” for a long time, but we kept on missing each other. I am very happy to welcome her as our guest. You can find Monica on the SomaLand Facebook page.

I have been wanting to corner Roland for an interview for a long-long time, but only got around to it now. Whenever I hear Roland speak about spirituality, he always sounds so sure of himself. He speaks with such confidence and authority, that I always wonder where this comes from and how he achieves it. He also has an incredibly serene air around him. I definitely want what he has. So let’s hear how he got it and how we can get it too.

I need to figure out a way to get better sound via Skype. I again apologise for the sound quality. I am running some tests on Sunday and hope to get the sound quality sorted soon. Thanks for enduring it and for your patience.

Frank and I have known each other for many years, we even ended up being neighbours at some stage. I had Frank on my list of people to speak to right from the start, but never got around to asking him. I was quite interested to hear Frank’s journey, because I suspected he was not religious, but I had no idea what his spirituality entails. What I did know was the he would have an opinion and I wanted to hear it. I am very happy that I did. As always I discovered stuff about my guest I never knew and for that reason I love brining you these episodes. This episode was recorded via skype, which means that the sound quality is not great. I apologise for that.

It really excites me when I get to talk to people in far away countries and bring you their amazing spiritual journeys. Today I introduce you to Gigi Langer, from Florida in the USA. Gigi and I met in the e-universe. She is a fellow author of (what sounds like) an amazing book called “50 Ways to Worry Less Now”. If you want a free audio copy of her book, please email her at gigilangerworrylessnow@gmail.com. A softcover version of her book can be purchased on Amazon. Learn more about her on her website.

Meet me in the field is taking a mini-break. We shall be back on Thursday, 13 February 2020

I have known Klara for a few years now, but it is only during the past few months that we are becoming closer. I still find it fascinating, when we sit down in front of the microphone, how the most interesting facts about people come out. I never knew that Klara spent a few years in Russia, that she used to do ballet and played the cello. How awesome is that? This chat went all over the place and can serve as a great guide to the best coffee in Cape Town, movies to watch and books to read. But, by listening to the end, you can also get some beautiful ideas on spirituality.

Maryna is one of those people whose spiritual journey again reminds me of the resilience of the human spirit. She has been through a lot in her life and has come out at the other end with her head held high and in a better place than ever before.

I have asked Laura to be our guest on “Meet me in the field”, firstly, because I want to hear about her journey and secondly, because I want to learn a bit more about the gut-brain connection when it comes to mental health. I am reading a lot of literature on this topic and it is undisputable, that an unhealthy gut, will lead to both mental health and other health problems. Laura is an Iridologist and is associated with the TruWellness Centre at 15 Lourensford Road in Somerset West. Their website is.

We enter the year with a bang! I spoke to Photographer, Robbie for our first episode of 2020. I do not know Robbie very well, but a few weeks ago he shared something, and I just knew I had to have him in the “Meet me in the field” black chair. I am so happy I took the plunge and asked him, because it turned out to be a most special chat. You can find Robbie’s photography on his Facebook page.

Meet me in the field is taking a break. We shall be back on Thursday, 9 January 2020

A while ago I opened my emails and there was an email from this lady in America, her name is Julie. She is an entrepreneur, inventor, author, podcast host, psychic and medical intuitive. The email basically said “Hey, I am Julie. Let’s do a podcast episode”. I looked her up on her website and replied “cool, let’s do it”. Julie is a vastly interesting, multi-talented and quite fascinating being. She is also the writer of a book called Angelic Attendants: What Really Happens As We Transition From This Life Into The Next.

I was introduced to Leigh by Fiona, The Body Talker of episode 87. I really enjoyed our initial chat and wanted her on “Meet me in the field” immediately. Leigh got into NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and Hypnotherapy after a horse riding accident which caused amnesia, contributing to her losing 9 months of her life. If you want to connect with Leigh, find her on her website.

A while ago, I was again invited to be a guest on the “Talking Orangutans Podcast”. You can access all the podcasts here. This time, the invitation was to discuss my new book, Life Anon: A 12-step guide to life. This episode of “Meet me in the field” is the audio extract of that “Talking Orangutans Podcast” episode.

I have know Michael for a few years now and had him on my list of people to speak to right from the start. He comes across quiet and reserved, but that is not the case. I think of him more as a thinker than a speaker. He thinks before he speaks and makes sense when he does say something. Having listened to his chat with Merwe on Talking Orangutans Podcast I realised that I HAD to have him on “Meet me in the field”. So, I took the plunge and asked him. He immediately agreed. Michael is an amazing artist. Have a look here at what he gets up to in his workshop.

Today I am happy to introduce you to an amazing woman. Her name is Keshia Victor. Take note of her name, because she is going to leave a legacy. Keshia was, at the age of 34, diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer and is a remarkable young woman. Keshia is not waiting to die. She is capturing her incredible journey, from diagnosis to now in an inspirational set of YouTube videos, which you can watch here. She also started an inspiring project, called The Happiness Project, which you can read more about here. Keshia is also an animal behaviourist and she continues her work with animals, from her bed, if necessary. She runs a webpage called Cape Town Canines where she gives more details. She is also writing a book about her amazing journey. It is as yet untitled, but contributors to Keshia’s Recovery Fund will all receive an electronic copy. If she does not manage to finish the book before she passes away, a friend will complete it and see to its distribution. Her treatment costs about double her income per month. Please help if you can.

Today I complete my previous reading of the introduction, called “A Note from Freddie” of my latest book, “Life Anon; A 12-step guide to life”. I also read the “Scenario” section as well as a part of Step 1. For those who are interested, you can order your copy from me directly on my website or send me a message on Facebook at either “Meet me in the field” or Freddie Counsellor or Direct Message me on Twitter at @RensburgFreddie or message me on Instagram at Freddie Counsellor. Remember that Freddie is always spelt with an ie at the end. The book costs R300.00. Postage in South Africa is R35 and R100 internationally.

Meet me in the field is taking a break. We shall be back on soon.

I find Pieter’s story about contact with his higher power fascinating. This is a looong episode, so I am not going to waste any time before jumping into it.

It is difficult to ignore someone who seems to have undergone some form of drastic change in their lives. Kathryn is one of these people. We used to work together in the late 90s and early 2000s and lost contact. We then met on Facebook, and it was there, when watching one of her live broadcasts, that I was stunned by her transformation. I just had to find out what happened for her and fortunately she agreed to tell us all about it. She takes us from Cape Town to London. Through multiple traumas and severe illness to complete health and a career in healing. Find Kathryn on Facebook under Kathryn Slabber or join her Complete Wellness Healing with Oils Group on Facebook or look at Aura Flora Holistic Healing.

Please excuse the sound quality. We struggled with the internet on both occasions of trying to do this recording, but got something out that is audible.

Today, I speak with Jaco, my husband - again. In the beginning of our “Meet me in the field journey”, I decided to chat with him every now and then, on a regular basis, to find out from him if he is getting anything from listening to “Meet me in the field”. I actually wanted to see if we are helping him develop a sense of spirituality. But, life goes fast and I have not spoken with him in yonkers. With his intense involvement in the 100th episode celebration of “Meet me in the field” (both the podcast and the celebration was after all his ideas), the Recovery Festival and Life Anon, I wanted to touch base with him to hear his thoughts on specifically Life Anon. This is our chat about Life Anon specifically and a bit about all the other stuff he has been involved in in my life over the past few months. We mentioned our friend Petra during the chat. She is one fascinating woman and you can catch her episode here.

As you know by now, I am quite active on social media and have already made quite a few real live friends already in this way. Today I talk to my new friend, Jonathan, who lives in Mauritius, and who tweets under the handle @AGAS_Mauritius. Jonathan is a problem gambler and alcoholic, who uses twitter, YouTube and his website to raise awareness to addiction, especially in the context of being in Mauritius where there is very limited to no state support for addicts of any kind. In recovery, he calls himself Morpheus. If you are interested, you can also check out the #RecoveryPosse on Twitter. It is trending hugely and is an amazing addiction support community. You will find me there too, my handle is @RensburgFreddie. You can find his amazingly informative website, which stands for Alcohol and Gambling Abstinence Support. He also has a very active YouTubeChannel.

The work of the past year is coming together at The Recovery Festival on Saturday, 28 September 2019. Which means, my work of the past two years is also reaching an end. At the Recovery Festival, I am launching my new book, Life Anon: A 12-step guide to life for non-addicts. In this podcast I talk about my motivation for writing this book and I do two readings from the book. One gives a bit of background on my life and the other is a rather long reading, explaining and giving real life situations of why Life Anon can make all our lives better. Life Anon should be available to purchase by Friday, 4 October 2019. To order, please go to Contact.

It is so weird how life and synchronicity work. I have literally never in my life heard of a Shaman and suddenly within a month, I have met an apprentice Shaman, another person who is just starting to study to become one and a friend who is seeing one. How freaky is that? If you want to know more about what Carmen does and can maybe do for you, find her on her Facebook page Shaman Spirit.

I have known Sanet for many, many years, and have always had a vast amount respect for her. I got to know her as a Clerk at a government department, from where she grew into a top executive at a public listed company and now a business owner. I have always found Sanet’s work, life, play, spirituality balance intriguing and am very happy that she has agreed to be our guest. She seems to have the ability to balance the elements in her life, which I find very challenging in my own life, with relative ease and grace. I trust she will share her secret with us. Click here to find out more about professional Sanet or find her on Instagram at vmcentral.

Today is a VERY special episode. This episode may be equal in importance to the 1st episode. We are celebrating the 100th episode of “Meet me in the field”. The first episode of “Meet me in the field” was posted on my website on 14 September 2017. The statistics of the downloads and our reach will be heard during the podcast. I want to take the time to specifically thank each and everyone who has ever listened to any of the spiritual journeys taken on “Meet me in the field”. I am humbled by your interest and commitment. To celebrate the centennial episode, we rented the hall of the Rotary Club in Somerset West and invited each and every guest we ever had on the podcast, and their loved ones, to join us for snacks and a live recording of the 100th episode. The afternoon was hectic and about 50 people showed up to celebrate with us. Last, but never ever least, I thank all our guests from the bottom of my heart for making “Meet me in the field” possible. Without you, this would be a void.

I am so happy to introduce Raymond to you today. It is really weird how synchronicity works. I thought I saw him at our local shop a while ago, but thought I must be mistaken, as he lives far away from here. But then, I saw a Facebook posting that he is dating a woman up the road from here. That was when I asked him for the chat and he immediately agreed. Then I ran into him the day after the invite and the day before the interview at a CD launch! Freaky. Love it when things like that happens.

I do not know Eebie that well. I met him a few times in fellowship meetings and liked what he shared, so I was wondering about his journey. So, I invited him to talk with us at “Meet me in the field”, and here he is.

Pete and I met about 9 years ago in Cape Town. I became aware of him when he won a talent competition by beating the crap out of his guitar. Although I thought the practice was very odd, it sounded awesome and I was happy that he won. We recently started seeing each other again when he moved to the Helderberg. Being a musician and actor, I thought his story may be interesting, so I invited him to come and tell us about it. Click here to see where you can catch Pete doing improv theatre. In his day job, you can find him here.

Today you have to tolerate me on my own again. I talk about the (hopefully) upcoming Recovery Festival on 28 and 29 September 2019 at The River Club in Observatory. I say hopefully, because as things stand today, we do not have all the funding and partnerships in place to make this most unique event happen. So, listen to this and if you like what you hear, please share and support us. Book your seat.

Volker is another healer whom I initially connected with on Insight Timer. From there we used social media to connect further. Volker truly went on a spiritual journey I am happy and grateful that he has agreed to share it with us for “Meet me in the field”. Volker is a transformation facilitator and founder of Wild at Heart. You can find him at.

I met David a few years ago, but reconnected with him last year when he opened his tattoo studio, Davido Ink. He is a gentle soul, who made the experience of a first tattoo a good lasting memory. I was interested to hear what makes him tick.

I met Wilhelm last year at a retreat. We got along well right from the start and kept in contact during the year. He travels a lot for work, so it is not always easy. When I asked him to be a guest on “Meet me in the field”, he immediately agreed and shared with me what he has been up to in the periods when he went of the grid, so to speak.

Today I again post a chat with my friend Merwe, The Doer of Things, of our episode of 20 December 2019. This is the sound clip of my first chat with him on his podcast, “Talking Orangutans”. We talk about my life in this episode. His podcast can be found on Facebook and YouTube.

Today we are doing things a bit differently. My friend Merwe, The Doer of Things, of our episode of 20 December 2019, has his own podcast. It’s called Talking Orangutans and can be found on Facebook and YouTube. A few months ago, he invited me to talk with him on Talking Orangutans, specifically about addiction. I hope you get something from it.

Karlien and I had no contact with each other until about a year a two ago, when we somehow connected on social media. We eventually met last year for the first time. I liked her immediately and since then we have been building a friendship. She is an Occupational Therapist. Today we discuss her vocation in the context of her spirituality. You can find Karlien on her website.

Melanie has gone through many challenges since she got clean. She did not allow any of this to derail her spiritual journey though. This girl is made of steel on the outside, but is beautifully soft and squishy on the inside. She is doing a lot of work on ending the stigma of addiction as well as on educating the medical fraternity on the disease of addiction. Both things I believe are essential. I tip my hat to this amazing friend of mine. Find her website. Please follow and support her.

David is a founding member of both The Foundation Clinic and U-Act. David lives and operates from Johannesburg. It is thanks to Nikki, a friend of mine and colleague of David, who suggested we get together to do this recoding. We only managed to get together on a Saturday afternoon, after David had been training for U-Act the whole day. I expected him to be exhausted, but his energy and passion were amazing. We met in a restaurant in Kloof Street, so the sound quality is not up to scratch, but we had to work with what we had.

I met Helena as a result of the prompting of our mutual friend Makgati, The Pilgrim in Heels from the episode of 18 April 2019. It was only during my conversation with Helena that I realised she has an addiction history and coaches from a place of true compassion. In Helena, I truly sense a deep spirit and am excited to share her journey with you. You can find Helena here.

I met Fiona because we are both part of a group of healers involved in the Rejuvenate: June Wellness Retreat. She fascinated me when she mentioned her involvement in what I call extreme mountain bike racing. I knew I just had to hear more. Fiona is a Body Talk Practitioner and can be found at https://www.f5bodytalk.co.za/ and on Facebook, just search for F5 Body Talk.

Mia is a black belt Nia instructor and a most lovely person. I liked her from the moment we met. I am excited to share her exciting journey of eloping to get married, life in London, and a bomb explosion in Camps Bay in 1999, with you. Learn more about Nia here.

If you want to know about the Rejuvenate Wellness Retreat we discuss, look here.

I became aware of Desiree-Anne Martin on Facebook as someone in recovery who has published a book. As both these issues are close to my heart, I started becoming more and more aware of her postings and eventually befriended her on Facebook and started stalking her on Instagram. Her Instagram is believe.more.deeply. You can find Desiree-Anne’s book, “We Don’t Talk About It. Ever” ever on takelot.com, Excelusive Books and Amazon. You can find her blog here and her poetry book Believe more deeply book is available from her, contact her on her website.

I am also extremely excited to have Desiree-Anne as my guest at the Recovery Festival. I am launching my new book and she will be doing some readings from her books. To learn more about the Recovery Festival go to here. Tickets are now available. The May early-bird special ends end of May.

This woman is an amazing counsellor and it not just I who say that! She is incredibly intuitive, with vast amount of compassion going around. I know this is my own bias speaking, but in my mind, she is one of a handful of non-addict counsellors who just truly GETS addicts. I am happy to be able to call her my friend.

I met Steve a few years ago and liked him, but we did not see enough of each other to form some form of connection. A few months ago, I spoke to my friend Merwe (Episode 67, The Doer of Things) and he spoke about his yogi friend, Steve. It took us a while to figure out that I know Steve and that it is the same Swiss Steve. Merwe told me about his transformation and suggested that I invite Steve as a guest on “Meet me in the field”. I discovered that I quoted Steve’s website as incorrect in the podcast. I apologise for that. His website is www.recoveryzone.ch.

I still find it freaky to think I made a friend on a meditation app. But, I recon that is modern life. It is amazing how I feel as if I have known Makgathi for a long time. The conversation was also so easy that it sounds like that too. It really feels as if our souls connect somehow.

Astrid is a Chemist from Romania. I got to know her through my friend Wendy, The Scientist from episodes 7 and 78. I really wanted to talk with Astrid, because I enjoy hearing scientists’ view on spirituality. Especially because Astrid works in the wine research field in Stellenbosch, where wine has virtually been elevated to a religion.

Simon is a Life Coach in Cape Town and has done a lot of work on himself, and for his clients, on the concept of self-love. So many of us go through life not really caring for ourselves and, in a way, neglecting ourselves and our own needs. We then struggle to truly love others in a healthy way and ask ourselves why that is the case. The thing is, we cannot love others if you do not love ourselves first. I also spoke with Simon in episode 49

Wendy became a mother in November last year and I was curious to find out how she, as a scientist, experienced the journey of pregnancy and motherhood - so far. My first chat with Wendy can be listened to here too. She is The Scientist of episode seven.

This is a long episode, but worth it. Ruby was the Clinical Director at the rehab facility when I was there. Over the years we kept contact and I am very, very happy that she agreed to chat to me for “Meet me in the field”.

Anne and I started our recovery journeys very close to each other and it fills my heart with warmth and joy to be able to chat to her about her spiritual journey, both before recovery and over the past more than 9 years.

Meet me in the field is suddenly and inexplicably experiencing serious technological problems. We are working on it and will advise you when we will be back on air. I already have some exciting recordings which I cannot wait to share with you, but alas ….

Meet me in the field is taking a break. We shall be back on Thursday, 7 March 2019

This the second time I talk with Matthew for “Meet me in the field”, but it is the first time that you would hear him, because I lost the first recording. Matthew is the writer of a children’s book, Helga’s Big Splash. It is a beautiful book. Get highly recommend that you get your hands on it. He also wrote The Three Wells of Screen Writing. Which is a book that helps writes to smoothly sail around writers block and how to never run out of ideas. Learn more about him and his work. He also hosts his own podcast, called The Three Wells podcast, which is available on Listen Notes.

I met Doug at a business meeting and found the way he thought intriguing. I then ran into him on Facebook and befriended him there. His postings piqued my interest in him even more. So, I wanted to know more about Doug and what makes him tick. Hence, here he is…. See more about Doug’s recovery involvement here: Recovery Direct and Relapse Prevention.

Tanya is one of those people whom I instantly liked. She has a most amazing energy. I was sooo happy when I realised I can contact her and ask her to be our guest. I was even happier when she immediately agreed. I am really looking forward to share this chat with you.

This is really exciting, because, Amanda is starting her own podcast and we agreed to do this talk as part of me showing her a bit about how this whole thing works. I found it interesting to hear how Amanda not only went from the Great Karoo to Silicon Valley, but also how she manoeuvred her way from Amanda to Mandy and back again.

Paul and I connected really well and his journey is well worth exploring with him. Thanks Paul for being with us. This is a long episode. I tried to edit it much shorter, but did not succeed. It is much shorter than the recording though.

I have been watching Jason for a while, wanting to have him as a guest on “Meet me in the field”, and when I was ready he was first working out of town and then he went on leave. I am chuffed to have him on the show and hope that you enjoy his journey with me.

A new year is a good time to reflect and plan. In this podcast and YouTube video, Jaco (The Husband) asks me, Freddie (The Host), a few questions about “Meet me in the field”. We reflect on the past and briefly discuss the future.

In this podcast, and YouTube video, I reflect on 2018 and how it influenced me spiritually. I realised that I obviously forgot a few things, because that is what I do and how I roll. One of the most significant things I forgot was the birth of Jaco and my godchild on 15 November. I am stunned at how much unconditional love I can feel in such a short period of time. Mackenzie Vala Black is here and she is changing my life for the better.

It was when I watched the first episode of Merwe’s podcast (vlog cast) “Talking Orangutan” that I knew I had to have him on “Meet me in the field”. The link to his podcast is on my website. Merwe talks about anything and all things entertaining. We virtually also talk about anything, from Rugby to talking Polish.

What a beautiful afternoon Elke and I spent together. We attended a CODA (Codependents Anonymous) meeting in the morning, then had a lovely healthy lunch, which Elke prepared and then we sat down for this chat, watching the sea and the children playing.

I recently spent a weekend away with Massimo and was intrigued when he collected a bunch of herbs, made a bundle of them and burnt them. It was then when I knew I had to get him on “Meet me in the field” and find out what makes him tick.

I met Jean about 10 years ago and I liked him them and still like him. He is still a dentist, but through Instagram, I got to see his art and it fascinated me thoroughly. I realised there is far more to Jean than him being a dentist who seems to be a really nice guy… and a great artist.

To move seemingly seamlessly from teacher to photographer and environmentalist cannot be easy, but Paul’s keen eye and interest in our impact on the planet made this sound easy and interesting.

I have never met Johan before the day of our recording, but I feel as if I did. I have been following his work on Facebook for a while already and always feel a sense of excitement when I see what they are up to. Johan manages a company called Macassar Pottery. The website address is www.macassarpottery.com. Please pop in there, I saw some lovely stuff. I was excited about recording this podcast, because I know that Johan is doing excellent work in the Macassar community and I wanted to hear more about it.

In Andea I see someone who has a very strong belief-system, but, not unlike Andea herself, she seemed to have a unique take on religion and how she engages with the god of her understanding. Find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/annaprince.expert/

Emile from African Travel Kid and Freddie Counsellor talk about the 12 steps and mental health. Today we discuss days 3 and 4 of step 4 from Freddie’s book, The First Layer. The ebook is available on Amazon.

The reason why I really wanted Petra to talk with us is because I have seen a significant change in her sense of spirituality over the 38 years that I have known her, and not only do I find her journey interesting, but I also find the destination quite fascinating.

When I saw on Facebook that Imke was celebrating her one-year milestone I grabbed the opportunity to invite her come and chat with us at “Meet me in the field”.

Today I am very happy that I pushed to make a friend of Justin. Although he moved away from Somerset West, I enjoy staying in touch with him and keenly follow him on social media. It was when I saw pictures of him in the Okavango Delta that I realised the time has come to pin him down for a “Meet me in the field” chat. It was my own jealousy that made me want to speak with him. With Nature being my higher power, I really wanted to find out if times in nature have an effect on his spiritual life.

Emile from African Travel Kid and Freddie Counsellor talk about the 12 steps and mental health. Today we discuss day 2 of step 4 from Freddie’s book, The First Layer. The ebook is available on Amazon.

Emile from African Travel Kid and Freddie Counsellor talk about the 12 steps and mental health. Today we discuss day 1 of step 4 from Freddie’s book, The First Layer. The ebook is available on Amazon.

Corrie is regarded as one of the top therapists in the field of compulsive sexual behaviour in South Africa. It took me a while to scrape the courage together to ask her to talk with “Meet me in the field”. I am very grateful that she agreed and was seriously looking forward to get to know her a bit a better.

Marius and I only briefly met a few weeks ago at a meeting. Then, a few days later, I got a message for my friend Fiona, The Photographer from episode 5, suggesting that I speak with her friend Marius for “Meet me in the field”. At that stage I did not know if was the same Marius. I was somewhat surprised, yet very grateful, that he agreed to come and talk with us.

Christina and I have been Facebook friends for a long time. It was only when I watched a video she posted that had to do with the question, are you aware of what is in your food, that I started seriously scrolling through her postings and found Trash Talk. Her new (eco awareness Facebook page)[https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=trash%20talk]. When I saw what she was doing there I realised that I needed to get her to come and talk with us.

Luzanne always seems extremely calm, collected and connected. Even once she had her children, I still have the feeling that she is totally on top of everything. I wanted to hear her secret. She is also studying to become a birth-doula.

Emile from African Travel Kid and Freddie Counsellor talk about the 12 steps and mental health. Today we discuss day 3 of step 1 from Freddie’s book, The First Layer. The ebook is available on Amazon.

I am very grateful for Dave, for agreeing to share his experience of the Camino de Santiago with us. This Camino consists of various walking routes to Santiago de Compostela, the town where the body of St. James is. Dave did both the Camino Frances and The Portuguese Way.

Emile from African Travel Kid and Freddie Counsellor talk about the 12 steps and mental health. Today we discuss day 2 of step 1 from Freddie’s book, The First Layer.

Emile from African Travel Kid and Freddie Counsellor talk about the 12 steps and mental health. Today we discuss day 1 of step 1 from Freddie’s book, The First Layer.

What intrigued me right from the start of meeting Frank, was that he refers to himself and as a Christ-Follower and not as a Christian. I knew there and then that “Meet me in the field” needs to hear about his path.

From the first day I met Warren, he left an impression in my soul. I am not sure what it was or how it happened, but I felt a connection with him.

Emile, the owner of African Travel Kid and Freddie talk about their experience of 12-step programs and the impact these fellowships and their teachings have on their lives - and can have on yours.

Charles has this naughty schoolboy smile, which makes you wonder what he is up to. During this episode we are going to hear what makes Charles tick and how that correlates with his sense of spirit.

After having know Simon for about 4 years and not having seen him for a while, I ran into him at a recovery retreat a few weekends ago. I was a very different person than the one I knew previously. This is the story of what happened to Simon.

Today I am talking about what spirituality practically means to me and how I practice it in my daily life.

My husband, Jaco, and I normally try to talk after about every tenth episode, but due to his packed schedule, we only got to talk now. He unfortunately basically had to “binge listen” to ensure that he was close to up to date for this chat.

I am very happy that Michael agreed to talk with us at “Meet me in the field”. I find the parts of his story that I do know incredibly inspiring and trust that you will too. I am excited to hear some of the parts that I do not know yet.

As you might remember, in the last episode, Jaco committed to a meditation routine and to give us feedback on how that has gone. Jaco did not manage to get into a meditation routine, but he did do some meditation. This is his feedback.

Melissa and I chatted as if our lives depended on it and I loved every second of it. She is such an interesting person and incredibly easy to talk with and listen to. She starred in a BBC documentary, called The Addicts’ Symphony. You can find interviews with Melissa about the documentary on the right of the YouTube screen when you go The Addicts’ Symphony - I recommend it.

Lynne has become, in my eyes at least, some form of internet sensation. She writes blogs and is involved on various websites and on YouTube. She seems to have made the world wide web her playground and looks as if she is thoroughly enjoying it. From drug addict and alcoholic to super mom and cyberspace conqueror - here is Lynne’s story.

Yvette and I met on Father’s day in Muizenberg to record this episode. The plan was to find a quiet coffee shop where we could do the recording. That was not meant to be. We could only find space in a bustling restaurant. The sound quality is not good, but I loved the chat.

Douglas is a legend in the recovery community in our area. He has been clean and sober for more than 30 years already and still going strong. I am very happy to be able speak with him.

This sidebar series on meditation is a result of Jaco’s idea to do episodes to help people on how to start meditating. In this episode we discuss his expectations and reservations around meditation.

Rowan is an interesting young man, with a sharp wit and great sense of humour. It was while I was editing our conversation that I again realised how I love a decent conversation with an interesting person.

I call Janet The Survivor, because I am once again amazed to see what we can go through in life and keep on keeping on. Janet is a warrior and I have huge respect for what she is doing at the moment. I find her story hugely inspirational.

This was one of those interviews where I felt a nice rush of excitement, because I got to know Alaister so much better. He is really a unique and interesting person.

When I asked Anthony to speak to me, I started off by making the statement: “So, you are religious?” His reply was something in the line of: “If that is what you want to call it.” I was immediately intrigued. After all, this was a minister who just lead a funeral service using a bible to read from, and he implies that he is not religious…

After a conversation with my husband, I decided to do a few episodes on meditation. The idea is to get a meditation teacher in to come and talk to us about “meditation for beginners”. Giving us pointers on how to start meditating as well as discussing the do’s and don’ts of meditation. I ask questions based on my experience and get clarity on what is okay and what not.

From the day I first saw Alan, in his capacity as a Minister at the Central Methodist Mission on Green Market Square in Cape Town, I liked him. He seemed like a really friendly person and instilled a sense of trust within me. I have never got to know him well at all, but I got a significant sense of what he stands for in life. I wanted to know more and am very happy that he agreed to talk to “Meet me in the field”.

Although Andre has a clear sense of spirituality, he seems to still be in the process of deciding what the god-concept is to him. I love this, because that is what this journey is about and it is exactly what “Meet me in the field” is about.

I asked Reuben in December already to come and chat to us on “Meet me in the field”, but he left for London shortly thereafter to attend to the birth of his baby-girl. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him talking about how his daughter is changing his life and enhancing his sense of spirit.

Denis, unlike the rest of our circle of friends, was always very vocal and expressive when it came to his sense of spirituality. Today I appreciate that about him and am happy that he agreed to share his thoughts and life with us.

I met Janet through my friend, Fiona, who is The Photographer, in episode 5 of “Meet me in the field”. Fiona is also the founder of [Sober of Sexy] (http://soberandsexy.co.za/). I am a twelve step junkie and find it difficult to believe that people get clean and sober and stay that way without working these steps. Janet is a living example of someone who has found an alternative that is working for her and many of her workshop attendees. I specifically took the picture accompanying this episode in Janet’s lounge, as I felt it encapsulates her sense of spirituality perfectly.

When I met Thandi, a few years ago, I was in my late 40s and she was 18. I immediately liked her a lot and felt an immense amount of compassion towards her. We never really connected though. But, thanks to doing service in recovery, we have been seeing each other more. She is such fun to have around and a true inspiration for young people in recovery.

Today, I am happy to introduce to you, my friend, Emile. You will note, at the end of the introduction to the podcast, I mention that “Meet me in the field” is now supported by African Travel Kid. Well, Emile is the owner of this exciting travel company and I am happy to get him here to tell us about his thrilling journey. You can learn more about African Travel Kid here: https://africantravelkid.com/

Pierre and I became friends about 29 years ago, when we were called up to the National Defence Force to defend our country against the terrorist invasion. I may try to be more open-minded, but it will probably take a bit longer to rid myself of my sarcasm. Anyway, one of the most amazing gifts from conscription for me, is that I made life-long friends. Pierre is one of those friends.

I am often told that I talk to many people about their spiritual journeys, but that I have never shared my own path. Although I share snippets of my own story quite often, it was suggested that I do a recording of my own spiritual journey. This is it.

In my husband’s capacity as both fan and critic, but also a devout scientist, I enjoy talking to him to get his feedback on “Meet me in the field” and to hear if it is making some form of spiritual impact on him. This episode is another of our chats in this regard.

I met Lee on a fellowship weekend in July 2016. Despite our many differences, our similarities easily connected and I have been feeling some form of soul connection with him since then. Due to us living quite far apart, we do not see each other often, but we do keep in contact and I love to be able to call him a friend. This is his story.

I am once again fascinated by how little I know about many of my friends’ spiritual journeys. Gail stunned me with some of the details of her story. I am super excited to share her path with you.

Melissa’s mother died last year and she is really stuck in her grieving process. Due to her being in emotional discomfort, I was about to cancel our appointment on the morning of the recording, but I remembered the positive feedback I get from people after our chat and decided that it might actually do her good to talk to me. So I pushed through…

Today I am talking to Chris. He must be one of the most gentle souls I have ever met. I always enjoy his company when we meet. His energy is calming. I find that quite energising. He is doing amazing work on himself and I am very happy and grateful to be able to hear about his spiritual path.

From the day I met AndreCarl I liked him. I am inherently shy and do not talk to anyone very easily, but I admired him from a distance. Yes, I respect him for a being a published writer, highly so, but what really drew my attention was his calm demeanor. I kept on wondering what he did or does to have accomplished such a level of serenity. Today, I am happy to have spoken to him and to find out more about his journey in life.

As a Holistic Counsellor, I was completely fascinated by my conversation with Sam. He has such a cognitive connection with his spirituality and articulates it so intellectually. I kept on thinking that he is not going to relate emotively. But, he surprised me time and again with his deep and real feelings related to what he believes spirituality to be.

I call this episode of “Meet me in the field”, “The Machine”. If you listen to Mark’s story you will see why. This man has endured incredible challenges in his journey of recovery and in spirituality. Yet, he keeps on keeping on and is happy to share his story with us today. I am very grateful for his commitment and wish him good physical and mental health.

For my own peace of mind and sense of security, I box people. Once I know which box they fit into, I find my engagement with them to come easier and more naturally. Mark is my exception to this rule. I find that he does not fit into any of my existing boxes, so he has his own unique box in my psyche, labeled Mark. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. There is a depth and a width to Mark’s spirituality which I found truly fascinating and I loved hearing about his journey. I trust that you will enjoy it too.

My conversation with Nicole brought back many memories, both awful and good. But, what I got out of it the most, was how much we laughed during the recording. It reminded me of the fact that we live spiritually in order to experience freedom and to love ourselves and life - a lesson I think we can take with us on our daily journey.

I repeat this so often that it becomes boring, but I have again learned a vast amount about a friend whom I have known for many years. Mandy has been a dear friend for a long time and it is great to see her getting back to spiritual fitness and settled into her new little piece of heaven. I especially love her two most adorable buddha statues that welcomes one on her porch. It truly feels like one is entering a soul sanctuary when you walk into her home.

I am still fascinated by how much I learn about my guests when I chat to them. Invariably they are people whom I know or think I know. But, I am coming to realise how compartmentalised we live our lives. Knowing something about someone’s sense of spirituality, does not mean that I know how they got there. This is again what I have learned from my chat with Marvin. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to learn more about his journey and in the process getting go know a lot more of the person behind the face.

I see my renewed friendship with Dionne as proof that the twelve step programme works. I follow the steps and do what is suggested. I made an amend to Dionne, as suggested in the ninth step and as a result, I am getting a friend back. During our time apart, both us went through very difficult times, resulting in us having some form of spiritual awakenings. It is her awakening and the path we are on, that Dionne and I are discussing in this episode.

Daniel refers to himself as a spiritual atheist, which is a term that I have not heard before. During our conversation it becomes quite clear that this description suits him perfectly. He knows that walking some form of a spiritual path is imperative to him living contently and he does what he needs to do to walk “this road less travelled” for him to have fulfilled life.

Kirsty believes in nature as her higher source and has, since childhood, spent some quality time out in the open. As a Chef, she was fortunate enough to work in some wonderful places in nature, which helped to strengthen this relationship.

James has quite a unique sense of spirituality. His journey to where he is now took him on many interesting paths, but the ultimate goal of helping people has always played a big part in his life. During the podcast we refer to a blog article I wrote about the media and the expectation they create around beauty. That blog post can be accessed here: Blog.

My husband, Jaco, introduced me to podcasts. Before I met him, I have never even heard of it. It was also his idea that I start “Meet me in the field”. I am very grateful for that. He listens to podcasts constantly and I consequently appreciate his guidance immensely.

I love to hear Anton talk about the difference fatherhood has made to his life and how that features as a significant part of his spirituality. His son is giving him the opportunity to connect with his inner child and providing the space for Anton to play. This is truly beautiful and a gift of recovery.

Craig’s spiritual journey has taken him to many interesting places. He uses these experiences to strengthen his sense of spirituality. He does a lot of written work to process stuff and then uses yoga to access the knowledge that comes to him.

Leandra has truly connected with a deep sense of spirituality through doing yoga. This has taught her a set of principles which she uses effectively in her day-to-day existence.

I call Junior’s podcast The Trusted Servant, because he is probably one of the people I know who is the most committed to helping others. As you will hear in this podcast, he sometimes needs to stand back from service to ensure that he has balance in his life and keeps himself safe in the process.

In a beautifully authentic way, Wendy shares her struggle as an Archaeologist, to find a most needed spiritual path in dealing with her eating disorder.

John’s journey takes him from science to religion and back to science, while holding on to his strong religious beliefs through difficult times. I love his commitment and dedication. I hope you will enjoy it too.

Fiona has, through working strong recovery programs in various fellowships, grown to be become a good friend and confidant for many. She has also developed herself into a known and published photographer in Cape Town, something which she has taken further to develop a brand called Sober and Sexy. I think we are going to get to know her a lot better as she walks this path. I hope so.

I met Jules just over 2 years ago, while she was on holiday in Cape Town. She has in the meantime moved here. We connect on various levels, not only due to our shared journey in recovery, but also due to a shared history of high level hurdling in our youth. I have a huge amount of respect for her tenacity and single-minded determination.

Although I have known Janine for some time already, our paths only recently brought us much closer. I have learnt that she is an amazingly interesting woman. A true healer. She did some Emotional Freedom Tapping and Matrix reimprinting treatment on me, with wonderful results. We refer to this session during our conversation and you can find some blog articles about these session in the blog section of this website Blog and Blog .

Hansie has changed significantly in the 3 years that we have known each other. We discuss what caused this dramatic transformation and reflect on how things were before the change. We also talk about the positive influences in his life and his connection with the sea and silence.

This first episode features a conversation between Freddie and Jaco about the theme of the podcast.