'It's kind of like sacred medicine or sacred plant medicine in a way where it meets you where you are, based on your intentions, on your setting, your relationships and everything. Where that space in between is the most powerful piece and it’s us holding the container and guiding people in certain directions. But then, here's the silence: go run with it and see what comes up for you'. - Kamea Chayne, host of the alchemize program and  the Green Dreamer podcast, March 28, 2024, conscient podcast e161This is a special episode of the conscient podcast about Green Dreamer’s alchemize program, which is a ‘10-week audio-based program of daily creative prompts and imagination practices’. This episode features 4 of my fellow course participants: singer and music researcher annais linares, bass player and music researcher Ben Finley, climate educator Barbara Leckie, social innovator and educator Michelle Baldwin and myself in conversation with Kamea Chayne, host of the alchemize program and of the Green Dreamer podcast. I also want to mention that a 6th member of our alchemize circle, educator Dorina Husain, was not able to attend this recording on March 28th, 2024.Our group of 6 alchemize participants met every Saturday morning during the course to discuss what we were experiencing and check in with each other. What you’re about to hear is our exchange with Kamea about our experience with alchemize and how it is, literally, transforming our lives.Now, admittedly, the alchemize program is not specifically about art and the ecological crisis, as per the mandate of this podcast, however, this series of 40 creative exercises integrates all kinds of artistic and cultural practices - storytelling, drawing, soundscape composition, poetry, and much more - and I consider alchemize as a whole, to be a work of art. A work of art that you can come in and out of. A process that invites the participant, the learner, to both grow, and let go. This 55 minute exchange concludes the way we did at every Saturday alchemize circle meeting, with a moment of gratitude and an example of what brought us joy on that day. Please see https://www.greendreamer.com/alchemize for more information on the program. Big thanks to my alchemize circle colleagues, annais, Ben, Barbara, Michelle and Dorina and also warm thanks to Kamea and her team at Green Dreamer for their brilliant, generous and spirited work.Spoiler alert: if you plan to take the alchemize program and prefer not to hear about some of the exercises then please listen to this episode AFTER you do alchemize. If, however, you want to know more about our experience with the course in order to better understand how it works, then listen to it before doing the program,..
*END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on January 9, 2026

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