Inner Medicine & Shamanic Awakening | Animal, Plant & Galactic Consciousness - Kerri Hummingbird

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Episode 556 with Kerri Hummingbird felt like a deep return to what the soul already knows. We explored shamanic wisdom in a way that felt grounded, alive, and deeply relevant to what so many people are moving through right now. If you have been feeling the intensity of growth, the pressure of transformation, or the strange sense that life is asking you to evolve faster than your mind can keep up, this episode offers a different way to look at it. 

Kerri Hummingbird is a medicine woman, mother, mentor, and the founder of Inner Medicine Training, a mystery school that carries ancient traditions from the Andes and Himalayas. She is also the host of the Soul Nectar podcast (check out my episode here). Kerri’s work is rooted in a powerful orientation that changed the trajectory of her life, and it can change yours too. She describes it simply, but once you get the hang of it, the shifts can be big. Instead of sorting experiences into good or bad, you learn to ask: what is the medicine in this?

That question alone can open an entirely different doorway. When you start to look at your life through the lens of medicine, even the difficult seasons begin to speak in a new language. Kerri shared how, earlier in her journey, she approached life from the perspective of trying to fix what felt broken. She spoke honestly about years of psychotherapy and the value of self-awareness, voice, and emotional insight. And she also shared the moment she realized that some wounds exist earlier than words. Some parts of us carry experiences that happened before language, or beyond the mind’s ability to narrate. When healing, such as her experience with psychotherapy, stays only in the realm of explanation, it can miss what exists in sensation, emotion, body memory, and the deeper energetic layers of being.

One of the most profound parts of our conversation was her description of shamanic healing through soul retrieval, and what it means to call back lost parts of the self after trauma. We talked about how intense experiences can cause parts of the soul to flee, and how healing can involve bringing those pieces back into wholeness, then supporting the integration process with tenderness and time. There was something both sobering and beautiful in the way Kerri described it, because it honors the reality of pain without defining a person by it. Instead of asking what is wrong with you, it becomes understanding what is trying to return to you.

From there, our conversation expanded into the living intelligence of the Earth, including animal allies and plant consciousness. Kerri described animal archetypes as potent supports that can help the awakening process. We explored how animal allies can bring protection, clarity, instinctual wisdom, heart-opening perspective, and a deeper relationship with truth. In her view, these allies are not separate from the spiritual path. They are part of the path. They are part of the Earth’s way of teaching us how to come back into harmony, see through illusion, and remember our place within a greater web of life.

We also spent time with the idea that many people are waking up into a new relationship with mushrooms, mycelial intelligence, and the subtle networks that move beneath the surface of reality. The mycelial network is such a powerful mirror for consciousness itself. It's all about connectivity, communication, symbiosis, and an intelligence that does not require human permission to exist. Kerri spoke about how certain medicines can help awaken our relationship with that grid of life, and how the Earth has its own pathways for transmitting wisdom if we learn how to receive.

The conversation also touched into bear medicine, because I shared a personal synchronicity I had been experiencing. Bear kept appearing again and again in unexpected ways, almost like a signature in my field. As Kerri and I explored it, the theme that came forward felt like stillness, deep listening, and the kind of strength that does not need to prove itself. Bear can be fierce, yes, but there is also something ancient in bear energy. A sense of grounded presence that can hold intensity without being thrown by it. 

When we talked about plant consciousness, we explored both the common conversation around ayahuasca and the deeper reality that plant medicine is far bigger than one category of experience. Kerri spoke about working respectfully with indigenous lineages, about humility on the path, and about the relationship aspect of learning from plant intelligence. The emphasis was on integration, listening, and receiving what the Earth is offering in a way that supports real transformation.

One of the most striking parts of our discussion was the way Kerri described the relationship between animals, plants, and consciousness itself. She shared that in her understanding, the animal and plant worlds do not relate to life, death, and identity with the same attachment humans tend to carry. Instead of seeing energy as something that gets taken and lost, she described it as movement, transference, and experience. That perspective can be deeply liberating, because it loosens the fear-based grip that says everything is scarce, everything is fragile, everything is a threat. When consciousness is understood as fluid and intelligent, life begins to feel more like participation in a living field than a battle for survival.

This flowed right into a conversation about time, timelines, and the way healing can ripple backward and forward. I shared something I had been reading about quantum experiments and the way observation and intention can influence outcomes, and how that idea seemed to echo through a dream that showed me artwork being cleared and repainted. The symbolism was unmistakable. Something that looked finished was not finished. Something that looked set in stone could be dissolved, cleared, and recreated. In a gentle but powerful way, it suggested that we have more agency than we think, not through force, but through consciousness.

Kerri also spoke about how ancestral healing can shift the present in ways that can feel almost surreal, because you may remember the old pattern while others no longer relate to it the same way. That is a fascinating territory, and it speaks to why so many people feel like reality itself is becoming more responsive. As we move into more conscious creation, the feedback loops tighten. Intention matters more. Integrity matters more. The quality of what we hold in our field matters more. More about that here:

Toward the end of the episode, I asked Kerri about galactic wisdom, because our conversation had been beautifully Earth-centered and I wanted to understand how she relates to broader cosmic intelligence. Her answer was expansive. She framed Earth as a school, with layers of guidance and councils that support evolutionary trajectories, and she described humanity as moving beyond a limited identity into a more multidimensional awareness. Whether you resonate with the language of galactic councils or you simply feel that something larger is guiding the collective shift, the heart of her message was clear. The veil is thinning. We are remembering more of what we are. And with that remembering comes responsibility, because creation becomes more immediate when consciousness becomes more awake.

If you are feeling called into deeper alignment, this episode is a powerful companion. It brings together shamanic teachings, inner healing, Earth intelligence, and the emerging awareness that we are not only physical beings living in linear time. We are consciousness, participating in a living field, being shaped by our choices and also capable of reshaping what we thought was fixed.

If you want to connect directly with Kerri Hummingbird, you can find her at kerrihummingbird.com, where she shares gifts, resources, and ways to step into her Inner Medicine work. Be sure to check out my episode on her Soul Nectar podcast as well.

Thank you for being here with me, and for being part of this ripple of awakening. If this conversation uplifted you, please like, comment, share, and subscribe. Your engagement truly helps high-vibe content reach more people, and it helps this mission of elevating consciousness continue to grow.