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In this episode of Lemons & Pineapples, I’m talking about Shamanic Soul Retrieval; one of the most requested sessions I offer, and one of the most powerful ways to reconnect to yourself when you feel lost, disconnected, or like you’re living life on autopilot.

Soul retrieval is about reclaiming the parts of you that got pushed into the background for safety — often in response to trauma (big T or small t). It’s not about “fixing” you. It’s about bringing you back into wholeness.

In this episode, I cover:

• What shamans mean by soul loss (and how it can show up in everyday life)
• Common signs: feeling like you don’t belong, losing joy/creativity, over-functioning, people-pleasing, fear of being seen
• A personal story from my childhood that shaped a long-standing fear of being judged or “looking stupid”
• What happens in a soul retrieval session (journeying, finding the wound + the belief contract, restoring essence)
• Power animals as archetypal allies (including an owl example)
• Why integration is the key — insight alone doesn’t shift your life, action and nurturing do

Ready to work together?

If you’re feeling disconnected from yourself, your voice, or your direction, soul retrieval can be a beautiful way to reconnect with your authenticity and your power.

You can book a free call HERE or book a session directly HERE.
And if you’re in Johannesburg, you’re warmly invited to my Weaving a New Way weekend workshop (14–15 March) - find out more and book HERE.

DM me on Instagram: @EmmaOBrienCoach if you have questions or want to share what landed for you.

If you’re done playing small and ready to lead yourself — you’re in the right place.

I’m Emma O’Brien — Martha Beck trained and certified life coach, HeartMath practitioner, and shamanic healer helping high-achieving women stop second-guessing themselves and finally trust their own voice.

Through nervous system re-calibration, strategic coaching, and deep energetic work, I help you move from self-doubt to self-trust so you can create a life you actually want to be in — no external approval required.

🌀 Want to work together?

Explore the 6-week Nervous System Reset, 1:1 coaching, or Shamanic Soul Retrieval sessions here: emmaobriencoach.com

Questions or ready to chat?

DM me on Instagram @emmaobriencoach
or book a free connection call HERE.

Send a text

The Andean Medicine Wheel: A Powerful Map for Real Change

In this episode of Lemons & Pineapples, I’m sharing one of the most transformative frameworks I use in my own life and with my clients: the Andean Medicine Wheel.

If you’ve ever thought:

• “I know this isn’t working…”
• “I understand why I do this… but I can’t change it.”
• “Why do I keep repeating the same pattern?”

This episode is for you.

The Medicine Wheel offers a grounded, cyclical map for navigating change — working not just at the level of insight, but at the level of the unconscious where our behaviour patterns actually live.

We explore the four directions:

🐍 South – Serpent: What needs shedding? Old stories, inherited patterns, identities you’ve outgrown.
🐆 West – Jaguar: What needs facing? Shadow work, fear, suppressed emotions, truth-telling.
🕊 North – Hummingbird: What perspective is missing? Meaning, wisdom, vision and possibility.
🦅 East – Eagle/Condor: How do we bring the vision into reality? Practical action and aligned embodiment.

This is the framework I’ll be guiding women through at my Weaving a New Way weekend retreat in Johannesburg (14–15 March), and it’s also the foundation of my one-to-one shamanic coaching work.

If you’re ready to stop circling the same story and start creating something new, this episode will give you a map.

Find out more about Weaving A New Way HERE.

Learn more about Shamanic Coaching Sessions HERE.

Book a Discovery Call HERE.

If you’re done playing small and ready to lead yourself — you’re in the right place.

I’m Emma O’Brien — Martha Beck trained and certified life coach, HeartMath practitioner, and shamanic healer helping high-achieving women stop second-guessing themselves and finally trust their own voice.

Through nervous system re-calibration, strategic coaching, and deep energetic work, I help you move from self-doubt to self-trust so you can create a life you actually want to be in — no external approval required.

🌀 Want to work together?

Explore the 6-week Nervous System Reset, 1:1 coaching, or Shamanic Soul Retrieval sessions here: emmaobriencoach.com

Questions or ready to chat?

DM me on Instagram @emmaobriencoach
or book a free connection call HERE.

Send a text

Three years ago, if you’d asked me whether I’d ever call myself a shamanic practitioner, I would have laughed.

And yet here we are.

In this episode, I unpack what shamanism actually is (beyond feathers and smoke), what shamanic journey work involves, and why — despite the mystical language — it’s one of the most practical healing tools I use with clients.

Shamanism is not a religion. It’s not about blind belief. At its heart, it’s a cross-cultural, nature-based philosophy rooted in right relationship — with yourself, with others, and with the living world around you.

And journey work? It’s a way of accessing insight beyond the analytical mind.

I talk about:

• What a shaman actually does (hint: it’s about restoring balance, not being a guru)
• Ordinary vs non-ordinary awareness and why you don’t need to “believe” in anything to benefit
• Why insight alone isn’t enough to change patterns
• How integration is the piece that makes this work powerful
• Soul retrieval and how it maps onto trauma and dissociation
• Power animals as embodied inner resources (yes, even porcupine 🦔)
• Why this work doesn’t re-traumatise you and how it can help reconnect you with lost parts of yourself

I also share a personal example of ancestral belief work that helped me uncover and begin healing a deeply rooted “women are worthless” lineage pattern — something I could not have accessed through intellect alone.

If you keep finding yourself repeating the same patterns…
If you have insight but can’t make change stick…
If you know there’s something deeper running the show…

Journey work may be the missing piece.

Work With Me

If you’d like to experience this work directly:

✨ Shamanic Healing Sessions (60 mins) – guided journey work + integration coaching
✨ Soul Retrieval (90 mins) – deeper ancestral and soul part healing
✨ Power Animal Retrieval (60 mins) – discover and embody your inner resource

You can book HERE.

If you’re in Johannesburg, I’d love to invite you to Weaving a New Way (14–15 March at Windrush Studio), a weekend immersion working with the Andean Medicine Wheel — serpent, jaguar, hummingbird and eagle — to help you shift patterns and make real change take root.

This work is mystical.
It is practical.
And it’s deeply, profoundly human.

Find out more HERE.

If this episode resonates, I’d love to hear from you - send me

If you’re done playing small and ready to lead yourself — you’re in the right place.

I’m Emma O’Brien — Martha Beck trained and certified life coach, HeartMath practitioner, and shamanic healer helping high-achieving women stop second-guessing themselves and finally trust their own voice.

Through nervous system re-calibration, strategic coaching, and deep energetic work, I help you move from self-doubt to self-trust so you can create a life you actually want to be in — no external approval required.

🌀 Want to work together?

Explore the 6-week Nervous System Reset, 1:1 coaching, or Shamanic Soul Retrieval sessions here: emmaobriencoach.com

Questions or ready to chat?

DM me on Instagram @emmaobriencoach
or book a free connection call HERE.