Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello, and welcome to Lead With Heart. I'm your host, Dr. Jesse Hansen. And today, Metamorfinka, the farm of Transformation. Because Lead With Heart is all about amplifying transformation. So let's go check it out.
So Metamorfinga has many different accommodations. However, I'm just going to show you guys a couple of my favorites. La Cascada, if you don't know, as waterfall, one of the most amazing waterfalls in Costa Rica called San Luis Cascara, that is just outside this view. Metamorphinka is also amazing. It's much more homey. You've got your own little kitchen here, nice space here, accommodations for sleeping or upstairs. The best part, of course, is that that brings nature in. San Luis waterfall right there. When you've got a space like this, transformation happens a lot easier. And if you guys aren't familiar, this is a beautiful blue jade plant that I just found on the ground. And just another one of the blessings that comes out of this beautiful, deep nature jungle that we have. And one more accommodation I want to show you guys. Mariposa. I couldn't bring this whole show about transformation without honoring the master of transformation herself, La Mariposa, the butterfly. We are in the OSA in Costa Rica, which is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, which is at the core of Leading with Heart. So what would a retreat center be without a beautiful spa section? Got an infrared sauna, a beautiful jacuzzi, little fire circle here, and a beautiful swimming pool, fully set up. Spring water, it is actually heated, believe it or not. It can get actually a little bit chilly up here on these mountaintops in Costa Rica and just a beautiful sacred space to enjoy yourself today. This is going to be our set where we are going to open up people's hearts and minds, including my own. So I can't wait to make some magic. Stay tuned for more what's coming here on Lead with Heart.
Pura Vida. Live the pure life.
Welcome to Lead with heart. I'm Dr. Jesse Hanson, and today we explore the essence of leadership beyond strategy and status. You're watching now Media Television.
Hello and welcome back to Lead with Heart. I'm your host, Dr. Jesse Hanson, and this is the show where we look at strategy and soul becoming one. And today I find myself still in the beautiful land of Costa Rica at a wonderful place called Metamorfinka, or the Farm of Transformation.
And the main star of the show today is. Is actually this land, this farm. We're going to do something out of the box you caught the last episode where I went deep with Irishapi and Concetta on their story, who they are, how they are as leaders, as parents, as family, and this amazing space they've created. So on today's episode, we're going to dive deeper into what makes this farm so special.
So come with me.
I'm back here with Irishopi and Concheta. Good to see you guys again.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: Good to see you.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: Thank you so much. And yeah, I wanted to take this opportunity. We got to hear the amazing story and. And for me, listening, the most intriguing parts were the ways in which you guys have chosen faith over fear, following your heart and ultimately trust that brought you to. To building this beautiful space.
So the floor is yours. I want you guys to talk to us about what this place means to you, how it's been created, you know, what is. What is the magic in this place for you guys?
[00:03:38] Speaker C: Well, you know, just to orient you and where we are, please. We're in the valley of San Luis, so we have a magnificent, magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean. And then we have the Cascada Moreta behind us, which is dry now because we're in peak of our dry season. But we're encompassed in these two mountain ranges, the valleys of, you know, south of Chiripo. So we get this unbelievable breeze, these clean waters, it's so pristine here.
And we are the only gringos in this neighborhood.
So we feel very privileged to, you know, be assimilating ourselves into Costa Rican
[00:04:11] Speaker A: culture here, which also matches with the stories I remember where you guys have, you know, dedicated yourselves to going into other cultures and understanding about richer cultures. As a gringo as well, I know that our culture often lacks heart and soul, so, yeah, I appreciate that.
[00:04:26] Speaker C: And so everything we did for the build, we wanted to use the elements from the land with respect and try to make all of the housing with natural materials so that people can really feel cocooned. Right. Like all of the designs of the houses, this house is designed like a butterfly with two wings. We have our other cabin. And what's unique about it is, like, inside you'll see we're able to do some of the work here, like with this earth wall because we do a special jungle style adobe house.
So earth wall.
[00:05:04] Speaker B: So yeah, these.
All these houses are natural build, modern build hybrids. It's really the only way to do a natural build like this with multiple stories in this climate.
So this is an earth wall made with adobe that was harvested from right here on the farm.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: And so, right.
[00:05:26] Speaker B: Like it's a. It's a recipe. It's earth. It's straw, rice, husk, cow manure, different natural components, sand, to kind of create almost like an earth crete material.
And so the way that it's built is that you can see that this is completely earth wall. So underneath all this is a layer of. Is a layer of, like, bamboo. And so the bamboo kind of creates this lattice almost like a cage.
So the earth is packed into there, and it, like, fills it up. So then the bamboo creates the structure, and the earth creates the wall and the stability.
And then on top of that, like, this white material, this is all lime plaster. It's plaster paint that we make in house. You just. We take lime from limestone, soak it in water for six weeks, mix it every day, and then after six weeks, it cures, and then we get this wonderful paint.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:06:21] Speaker B: And since it's earth and a natural material, it can be molded into cool designs like these. We. We worked with a builder and a designer who they're the only people in the southern zone who are really known for having mastered this building style, so. And the jungle tech. Yeah, by. By our friends, Deegan Wilcox and Tiffany Refner. Yeah, Tiffany Ruffner Reiner. So this is earth, and then it'll be in a steel or a wood frame, depending on where it is in the house. And then if you look further up, you can see that it's kind of a different texture. So that's actually concrete.
So the house is made up steel, bamboo, concrete, and earth. So it's kind of like 50, 50 modern materials and then natural materials harvested right here from the property.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:07:18] Speaker C: And then all of the wood is harvested from the surrounding forests. You're incentivized in Costa Rica to use teak because it's an invasive, invasive species. And then, like we said, our friends who worked with us, we worked with a carpentero team right out of San Salvador. So again, involving the neighborhood, and that's something we loved about our build team, is that they really foster their community and their team. And so everything, all of the furniture, all of the design was custom created from the local carpenteros. And then you can see in the rooms, we have the accents of bamboo, and on the balconies, there's bamboo. And we tried to do a lot with the bamboo art.
As you can see, like, the view here, looking out into the forest, you can really see how we highlighted the bamboo, because this land is so special because there's bamboo stands all over the place. There's bamboo stands.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Stands like.
[00:08:11] Speaker C: Yeah. We can show you, like, big stalls of bamboo that actually our builder planted 20 years ago.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:08:17] Speaker C: When he was just helping out the last steward before we came into. To support.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: Wow. Wow. So Incredible. Yeah, go ahead.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: So all the bamboo, most of it was harvested right here. Some was harvested from our neighbor, but it all came from this general neighborhood. And so it was. This all. Was all cured right here. We had, like a whole bamboo curing station. We had a wood shop on the property where literally all the furniture, all the woodwork was all built and created right here. And so the bamboo is infused with a material, like a product that's a mixture of boric acid and borax.
And so then that's kind of. They use this. It almost looks like a gun. They put it on both sides and they inject the material into the bamboo, and then the material fills up all the. The cells and the bamboo and makes it as strong as construction steel.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: Wow. So bamboo turned to steel.
That's incredible.
Wow.
[00:09:23] Speaker C: And I mean, our goal for creating all the spaces, not just the homes, but, you know, our. Our ceremonial space, the garden, the walkways, was to work with the nature. We had work with the spaces, work with the wind, so we didn't take any trees down. And we made sure that everything was done in integrity, with the flow of the land and with the plants, because we wanted people to come here and be able to relax their nervous system. And what better way than to be in a room made of earth from things, you know, built from a local team, a team of integrity, and to actually feel like they have the breeze coming in the window, they can see the waterfall, they can see the ocean.
It will be really hard not to relax in these spaces.
[00:10:06] Speaker A: I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it here. And just remembering from our other episode that the new way.
Excuse me, the new way is the old way. I'm appreciating that because you guys are taking from the ancient wisdom of building with earth, building with all natural resources, and yet, obviously, you've built it into something that's very much more modern and
[00:10:26] Speaker C: all the comforts of home in the middle of the remote jungle in Costa Rica.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: And I just Learned, like, at 3200ft above sea level, which is also just
[00:10:36] Speaker B: the amazing at 900 meters. 900 meters, give or take.
[00:10:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Absolutely incredible.
Wow, you guys. No, I just. I mean, I. To everything you're saying, I feel it. It's just. It's so calming here. And it matches this idea of part of the way you Guys are leading with heart is by not only practicing what you preach, but really honoring these ancient ways and letting it be something that is accessible to modern humans. You know, really beautiful. And remind me, so how long ago was this structure built?
[00:11:10] Speaker C: This was one of.
In the first wave. This whole project came in waves, depending on how our life was going.
But this started in 2021, finished in 2022.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: Okay, so it's about four years old and still looks new.
Absolutely amazing. Can we check out downstairs?
[00:11:29] Speaker C: Yeah. We actually. We had a hurricane. Hurricane.
An earthquake.
[00:11:34] Speaker A: Earthquake.
[00:11:35] Speaker C: An earthquake here a couple months ago. And we got to feel, you know, what it is like to live in the jungle. We deal with power outages, we deal with the rain. The earthquake was one that kind of, you know, rocked the structure. But these earth homes are meant to be pretty indestructible.
And, you know, we wanted to collaborate with artists, so we had artists in town that were helping our builders. And he just came here. He knew we were into, you know, Dogon spirituality. So this is his interpretation of kepra, which is like the sign of transformation, the Dogon culture symbology of transformation. Yeah.
[00:12:15] Speaker A: Wow. And how do you say it?
[00:12:17] Speaker C: Kepra.
[00:12:17] Speaker A: Kepra. Wow, that's beautiful. And what do we got going on in here?
[00:12:22] Speaker C: This is just, you know, the living room just. This is, you know, for cozy habitation. We have some of the fabrics we have from Africa here as decoration, and we actually. We made pillows out of them. We had a local team of women who did all of the fabrics for us. They're incredible. And then, you know, all of the other design comes from, like, Costa Rican artists and designers in San Jose.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: And that stained glass up there, what is that?
[00:12:51] Speaker C: Yeah, it is stained glass.
And then you can see the black bamboo from our. The black bamboo stand out here to, like, kind of accent the porch. And then another kind of just beautiful vista view and space to enjoy.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: So, yeah, this is the. The dining area.
Yeah.
Dining tables right there. Yeah.
When we have retreats, then this will be one of the options where people can stay. We can convert the room in here to a two bedroom or a one bedroom. And then during the off season, usually in the US would be summertime, like June to September. We get a lot of families, so lots of families come through, lots of kids.
Our daughter really likes that because then she just gets new playmates, like, every couple of days and.
[00:13:45] Speaker A: Beautiful.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Wow. No, thank you, guys. Obviously, it's absolutely incredible and stunning. And I love you brought up your daughter. And just a reminder that this is, this is a family thing, you know, and that to me is again, so beautiful where I feel the heart coming through. And I've made that reference a lot of times in the show about can we also look at parents as leaders? Right. So thank you guys for leading in this way. Let's head out this way. We got more to, more to learn and see.
And I think after you guys.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: Stay tuned with us here on lead with heart. Dr. Jesse we'll be right back after this break. Stay tuned.
We'll be right back with more insight stories and practices to help you lead from your whole self. This is Lead with Heart on NOW Media Television.
Leadership isn't just about decisions. It's about presence, compassion and courage.
I'm Dr. Jesse Hansen, somatic psychologist and healer. And on Lead with Heart we explore what happens when we lead with awareness, compassion and the body in mind.
From brain health to relational intelligence, from trauma informed leadership to embodied teams, each episode reveals a deeper way to lead.
Lead with Heart is airing now on NowMedia TV. Because the greatest leaders don't just guide people, they awaken them.
And we're back. I'm Dr. Jesse Hanson and you're watching Lead with Heart on Now Media Television. Let's continue embracing leadership with presence and purpose.
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And I am so happy to be back here on Lead with Heart in the middle of the jungle at Metamorfinka. And I'm here with Conchetta.
In this segment, we're going to be taking a little stroll deeper down into the jungle to learn more about how Concheta and his lovely wife Irishapi are bringing their vision to life, how they're leading with Heart and manifesting what they love. And in particular this time we're going to the actual finka part, which means the farm.
And I'm personally curious anything you want to share with us, but especially about how all of your time you spent in these different cultures has impacted not only what you're doing here, but like what it means to you as a man, as a father.
[00:16:34] Speaker B: So for us, whenever we go to different traditional cultures or traditional communities, we see that they one of the things that makes them so strong and kind of so stabilized is their proximity to nature. And it's almost like they live in a way that is harmonized with nature.
They know when it's the right time to plant certain things, when it's the right time to go hunt specific animals.
And they don't do that through Google or ChatGPT.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: They don't use that?
[00:17:12] Speaker B: No, they don't use that. They have it now, but they don't need it for that reason.
But so they are born into a community that is survival depends on nature, and they grow up in nature, so then they know how to kind of listen and communicate with nature.
So when we moved here, a big reason for us moving here, for me, was our ability to grow our own food and show that as a model of living in harmony with the land, of living off of the land.
So here we have a few different things.
[00:17:53] Speaker A: I love what you're saying, man. Just. Yeah, just the proximity to nature. Just when you said that word, it just feels like that's so much of what I know I need it. That's why I came here. And I know that's so much of what so much of us need.
So I appreciate that. And tell us. Yeah, what do we got going on here?
[00:18:06] Speaker B: So this is our outdoor garden. This is where we grow mostly.
All the plants that grow out here are things that can handle the Costa Rican climate, because Costa Rica is a land of extremes. It's either extremely wet or extremely dry. And right now we're in the period where it's extremely dry.
So out here we grow things like root vegetables, tubers, ginger, turmeric, pineapple. I see pina. Yeah, we have pina growing year round.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: I wonder if viewers know, I didn't know this until I moved here, but that you can actually just rip the top off of a pineapple. And here, because it's so fertile, just pop that in the ground and then it grows out and creates the next pineapple.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Like most plants, we propagate them just by sticking a part of them in the ground. Bananas, yuca, which we grow a lot of here, pina, turmeric, ginger, we just. We don't get seeds. We just take apart the plant and stick it in the ground, and then it'll just take off by itself.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: Which, again, sounds a lot like the old way.
[00:19:07] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: Before we thought we had to Google everything.
[00:19:10] Speaker B: And local people here, they have all these different ancestral tricks and know how, like when's the right time to cut bamboo or when it's the last time to plant the Best time to plant something based on the moon, the minguante.
And so they have all these different tips and tricks that we're learning about.
And so the other thing to highlight here is that here we've planted over 1500 fruit trees.
So if you look over here, this is part of our agroforestry project.
We have Guanabana, we have cacao, jackfruit, durian.
Really, anything that would grow here, we planted it. And so this entire area used to just all be pasture, used to be a coffee farm. So there was no food, nothing lived here. And all the time, my neighbors tell me, like, oh, I saw this bird flying towards your thinka, or I saw this animal going towards Urthinka. We haven't seen that bird here in a very, very, very long time. So, like us being here, we wanted to have a degree of reciprocity with the land and with the ecosystem.
So we planted fruit trees knowing that we're not going to be able to eat all of it or even harvest all of it, but that we wanted some to be here, you know, for the wildlife, to bring the wildlife back.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: That's such a beautiful example of, you know. Yeah, you came here, you developed this. It's a blessing to your family. And then the blessing pays back because the animals are coming back, the locals are noticing. Ah. You know, and to me, again, like, my father worked with James Farmer, Cesar Chavez, I think I mentioned earlier, as a part of a social justice warrior tribe. And. And so that's still embedded in me. And that's one of the main things, is the idea of that, regardless of our, you know, skin color and origin story, that we can all work together. And I see you doing that, and that's beautiful. And that's cool that you get that reflection through the animals.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:21:06] Speaker A: What do we got in here?
[00:21:08] Speaker B: This is the greenhouse?
Yep. This is kind of the crown jewel of the property.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:21:18] Speaker B: So this is where we kind of grow more conventional vegetables. A lot of kale, a lot of different lettuces. We have a lot of hot pepper, because everything that we don't eat, we sell to our friend's restaurant, Ceba's in Uvita. And so we pretty much just grow whatever he needs, and he needs a lot of hot pepper.
This plant right there, that's a tobacco plant here we don't spray any pesticides, no fungicides, no chemical fertilizers. And so one of the ways that we control pests is we just plant tobacco in the beds. And so the tobacco, it has natural chemicals Inside of it, nicotine and other alkaloids that pests don't like. Okay, so just it being there is enough to keep certain pests and Plagas away from your garden.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: The only tobacco I see, that's enough to.
[00:22:10] Speaker B: Yeah, right now, we don't have issues with pests or. Or anything like that. Yeah. This is a type of mustard, a lot of kale, arugula.
So all of these beds, all organic. We make all of our own compost in house.
And another important part for us living here was that we didn't want to introduce anything chemical, anything unnatural into the. Into the land. Our goal was to revitalize and reestablish, help reestablish the ecosystem, not just pump a bunch of chemicals into the ecosystem for our own benefit.
[00:22:48] Speaker A: Thank you.
Thank you.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: And there it again. The integration of honoring the ancient way. And there's a way to do it
[00:22:54] Speaker B: takes a little more focus, and sometimes it means that our harvests aren't always the biggest, but we have enough. We have enough for our family, we have enough for our client, and we have enough for our guests when they're here and they come down here and they can harvest things.
We wanted to kind of create that, like, what do we call it in the west? In the modern system, people are disconnected from their food.
It's like you go. You go to the grocery store, you buy food there, and maybe you go to a farmer's market, but you don't see where your food comes from. You don't see it in the ground. It's just a product on a shelf.
So we wanted to kind of create that bridge where you can come here and see, oh, I get to just pick my salad out of the ground.
Oh, plants come from the ground. Plants come. Food comes from nature. We wanted to kind of bridge that. That disconnect that a lot of people from the developed world have.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: That is so awesome.
Wow.
Incredible. Incredible. Yeah. And such a valuable teaching that so many of us need to remember that there's actually a process involved with food, especially organic, real food.
[00:24:05] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:24:06] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:24:07] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:24:07] Speaker A: We got a couple more minutes here before this next break. We want to. Is there.
[00:24:12] Speaker B: Oh, we can go see the goats.
[00:24:13] Speaker A: Yeah. I like. I love animals.
[00:24:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:16] Speaker A: No, again, this is. I'm just so grateful that you're opening up your home and your farm to us, because this is what I believe, at least what more people need to see and realize. Like, it's actually possible to do this in 2026, even for folks like us that grew up in New York and D.C. and, you know, and that was.
[00:24:36] Speaker B: That was really our goal, to showcase a model where. Where it is possible.
And we. We have a lot of land here. Like, it's. This FINCA is almost 27 acres, but just the. This agricultural area. This is maybe less than a hectare. And so you can do a lot just, you know, in your own backyard with just a hectare, just a. A little bit of land. But so it is possible.
[00:24:59] Speaker A: And these guys.
And you get milk from them?
[00:25:02] Speaker B: We do, yeah. These are our goats.
[00:25:05] Speaker A: Hey, buddies.
[00:25:06] Speaker B: These babies are about a month old.
Yeah. She's very friendly. She loves people.
Yeah, she's. She's new here. She's. She's being milked right now.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: Hello.
[00:25:17] Speaker B: That's the little one's mother over there.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.
[00:25:24] Speaker C: Come here.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: Look at this.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: So do you guys end up naming them or.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: Our daughter named these two Little Rosie and Little Rosie.
Yeah. I like to call that white one. I like to call her Precious.
Because when she first came here, I was here doing work in the garden, and they just brought her in.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: And I went and she was kind of tied up, eating grass. And I started walking away, and then I just heard.
I turn around and she's on her. On her lease, just trying to come after me. So I'm like, oh, you're. You're like a house pet.
You're a house pet. So I like to call her Precious.
[00:26:02] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:26:02] Speaker B: And so these are all female. We have a male over there. You want to go see the male?
[00:26:08] Speaker A: I think we are, yeah.
[00:26:10] Speaker B: So we have a male over there. We keep them separated because you know how men can be when there's women around. They can get a little territorial.
[00:26:18] Speaker A: Can they?
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, a little. A little aggressive.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: All species. All species.
[00:26:23] Speaker B: Sometimes.
Sometimes. So we keep the male over there. He has his bachelor pad. And then the ladies get to hang out over here and, you know, graze. This is their grazing area and all that.
[00:26:34] Speaker A: So sweet. So cute. Wow. And I'm just also thinking through as a father as well, and thinking through just what it must mean for your children to be raised here and get this as daily part of life, you know, it's absolutely incredible. And it makes me think back on our last episode of just thinking of everything that you went through to get to this place.
Very beautiful. Very beautiful, man. Thank you for sharing it. We're going to take a break, and when we get back, we're going to continue checking out the magic of what they've created here at Metamorphinka. So stay Tuned to Lead with Heart on NOW Media tv.
We'll be right back with more insight stories and practices to help you be from your whole self. This is Lead with Heart on NOW Media Television.
Leadership isn't just about decisions. It's about presence, compassion and courage.
I'm Dr. Jesse Hanson, somatic psychologist and healer. And on Lead with Heart, we explore what happens when we lead with awareness, compassion and the body in mind.
From brain health to relational intelligence, from trauma informed leadership to embodied teams, each episode reveals a deeper way to lead.
Lead with Heart is airing now on NOW Media tv. Because the greatest leaders don't just guide people. They awaken now.
And we're back. I'm Dr. Jesse Hansen, and you're watching Lead with Heart on Now Media Television. Let's continue embracing leadership with presence and purpose.
Hello and welcome back to Lead with Heart. I'm your host, Dr. Jesse Hanson, and I'm here at Metamorfinka with Irishapi and Conchetta who have built this amazing, amazing space. And in this segment, we're going to take a deeper look at the spa and the. The relationship to how embodiment has to do with conscious leadership. So without further ado, Irishapi, welcome back and tell us where. What's going on here? What's happening?
[00:28:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, the best place to connect with nature's waters is in nature's waters, right in the waterfall in the river. But to have the element of water here, to have the pool, the hot tub and the sauna, we wanted to be able to kind of foster a warm healing environment with the cool breeze. Because heat is such an important element for healing, bringing that warmth to the body, that nurturance, having that experience in the waters is so beautiful and so healing for people.
So, yeah, we created a beautiful heated pool and then we have our infrared.
[00:29:16] Speaker A: Yeah, come show us more of what you got up here.
[00:29:18] Speaker C: We have the infrared sauna and our hot tub overlooking the ocean and the waterfall. Again, you get those views from in here. So, yeah.
[00:29:32] Speaker A: Wow. Yeah, check this out, guys. We got a beautiful infrared sauna right here.
You going to give us a demo?
[00:29:44] Speaker B: Not get all sweaty?
[00:29:45] Speaker C: Oh, let's just speak to it.
[00:29:47] Speaker B: So this is a clear light infrared sauna that we imported piece by piece and we built it when it got here.
It can get up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Wow. 30 minutes. This is a red light therapy machine so that you can get your red light therapy on.
So it's just a really special place to hang out.
Listen to your Tunes.
And then here's the hot tub overlooking the valley. Our neighbor's cow farm is down there. That's where we often buy our milk and cheese that they make. They're very good friends of ours. And you can really, on good days, you can see all the way to the ocean.
When it's the wet season, the waterfalls just gushing and gushing and gushing out.
And it's just a. It's a really nice view. I'd say that when guests come here, people come here. This is where everyone likes to hang out, especially late night.
[00:30:45] Speaker A: Yeah, well, yeah, no, obviously, aesthetically, this is so beautiful, you guys. And as a common theme that keeps coming up in the show is embodiment. And noticing how. Seems to me, from what I'm observing and living in my own life, is that the more we know how to be embodied, which is to say like living in more of a unity with our body, the more we can show up, whether it's as parents, as retreat leaders, as retreat hosts, whatever it is. And so, you know, you mentioned the water. I am cancerian, is my birth sign. So I love the water period. And I also agree fully. It's something about, you know, just soaking in that, immersing in that, pushing ourselves here. And this is something else I think is so awesome about the ancient ways. So I've studied the ancient rituals of all different cultures. And the one main theme I've noticed is embodiment is part of it. Right. Very rarely was it just sitting around talking with ceremony. It was dancing, it was sweat lodges, temazcals sweating. And so not only there's that singular commonality, there's also that awareness that maybe the ancient ones knew something, that enlightenment and freedom don't come from so much comfort and ease as we've all been programmed in our single serving life in the North. And that I know for sure. For me, before I was ever introduced to any kind of plant sacrament ceremony, sweat lodges, fasting for days on end, pushing myself, right? There's something about pushing ourselves in our physical body, 150 degrees, being in that challenge that builds. Call it soul power, call it higher consciousness, call it self, self love. So I just. Yeah, I wonder, does that. Does that resonate with you guys? And that's all part of what's going on here.
[00:32:29] Speaker C: Yes, because our biggest lessons in life have come from the discomfort, have come from the challenges and the suffering. That's. Where is the space for transformation.
So you'll see everything we did is nice, but it's not too Nice. Because there needs to be that element of I'm in the jungle, like I am in nature and a little bit of that discomfort. And because, yes, we have this place for people from the busy cities to come and relax and get into their bodies and, you know, have these sensations of the elements here, like incorporating how we have the fire pit, we have the water, we obviously have the land, and then we have the breeze here, we have all of the elements here. But it's so important, like you said, is that discomfort of like, oh, there's a bug. Oh, maybe I can't check my Instagram, or like, I'm getting too hot, or this place is pushing me past a limit. Because we can't transform without that struggle in the cocoon. Right. Like, we need that discomfort and that's what really allows the human being to thrive.
[00:33:35] Speaker B: Yeah, it's funny, it's like oftentimes guests will be here and they'll be all like, ah. And then they look to their right and there'll be a grasshopper, maybe this long, just looking right at them. And so, yeah, it's the idea. The idea was that, like, this is here and it's very nice, but it's immersed in this wild, natural setting and like this structure, this structure in the yoga sha, this is like a purely bamboo structure. All the supports for this are bamboo, the floor is wood. And like Yarishapi said, here, here we have the fire.
So when our teacher comes here, we'll have like semi nightly talks here where he comes and he shares teachings. We have a fire going.
So we have the water, we have the fire, we have the air, and then we have the earth.
[00:34:25] Speaker A: Yeah, beautiful. Yeah. No, I want to circle back for a sec too. Just. Yeah, this piece, I think this is like a topic we're taking a few more minutes on is delicious discomfort, or even not so delicious discomfort as growth material. And it's something I definitely can relate to as a. I often joke down here. I'm a recovering gringo. I've been here for five years, and I still find all the ways in which sometimes I get frustrated that I can't get Amazon delivered. And, you know, and yet it's. I cannot deny that being here for five years now and continuing to shift my relationship with discomfort, it's helping me grow so much as a human. And I. And I feel at peace. I feel like now when I first moved here, like, oh, my gosh, a bug or a big grasshopper or whatever, or they call them chicharas, the cicadas. Right. And now after, you know, a few years here, like I just touched, I pick them up and I don't get squeamish.
[00:35:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:35:20] Speaker A: And not only that, it feels good. It feels good from the place of my capacities are bigger, but it also feels good from a place of connection, unity, you know, feeling, feeling more oneness. And I think that's a lot of what you guys were highlighting in the first episode we did together was to help people realize, like, we need to come back to this, we need to return back to being more in touch with nature, you know, So I don't know, do you guys now pick up the bugs and, you know, you're not afraid of them or.
[00:35:45] Speaker C: Well, we make a joke sometimes. Pura vita es dura vita. Like the pure life is a hard life because in order to be in harmony with nature and to have that purity and that peace with the insects and the plants, it's hard work. Not only is it hard work to be farming, to be working, to, you know, run businesses, to whatever it is, to then be able to sit back in the hammock at the end of the day, to relax and to have pura vida. And so you have to go through those, you have to go through the
[00:36:14] Speaker A: fire, go through the dura to get the pura.
[00:36:16] Speaker C: You have to go through the dura to get the pura. And so, yeah, I mean, at this point we forget certain things and people from the United States come to visit us and we're kind of like, uh huh. We're like, oh yeah, they're, they're just uncomfortable just from the fact that we're in such raw nature.
[00:36:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, well said, well said.
[00:36:34] Speaker B: Yeah, for, for us, you know, when, when we travel, like what we often see, what I, what I've seen is that we, it's easy for us to forget this coming from the United States or Canada, Europe, some of the more developed or nicer places, but the power going out, sometimes the water going out, a bug and a cockroach or a bug ending up in your morning coffee, or those moments of discomfort for the rest of the world, those aren't moments of discomfort, it's just life.
It's just how most of the world is used to living. Not having things immediately, not having the instant gratification.
And so like we, we love to, you know, hang out with our neighbors, interact with our neighbors, because it's kind of like no matter what happens, they're happy.
Like, oh, okay. Like, yeah, you know, I got in the fender bender, crashed my car, like, oh, the bridge. The bridge went out. I can't. I can't, you know, drive this Puerto Vida. So it's just like. Well, like, we have to deal with these challenges, but then we get to live here in nature.
[00:37:46] Speaker A: Yeah. And we've been so programmed to have everything be quick, easy, simple, and yet most of the world is still just living as this, you know?
[00:37:55] Speaker C: And something I love amongst the leadership of the organizations we work with, with the Dogon, is no matter what they're going through, someone could just die. Their kid could be sick, they could break their toe. You ask them how they're doing, they say, alafia, all good. Everything's all good.
[00:38:09] Speaker A: Alafia.
[00:38:09] Speaker C: Alafia.
[00:38:10] Speaker A: Oh, that's beautiful.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: Everything's all good.
[00:38:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
You know, because the challenges are seen from a traditional standpoint as vital for the becoming of a human being. Whereas in the modern culture, any inconvenience, traffic, your package is delayed, your flight is canceled. It's like, oh, my God, the world is ending. But we understand from the traditional standpoint that the challenges, the hardships, as. As hard as it is to be in them sometimes, you always know you can look back on any of your challenges, any of your biggest losses or griefs or mistakes, mistakes, as something that was so important for your becoming. So there's a different perspective on what discomfort and challenge is, and you're raised to appreciate it and not to catastrophize it.
So that's something that I just always appreciate. No matter. It's the same. It's with Costa Ricans, and it's with, you know, our Africans.
[00:39:02] Speaker B: It's like developing total.
[00:39:05] Speaker C: Total bm. You know, it's like
[00:39:09] Speaker A: singing to my heart. I mean, I just. I believe in this so much. I've seen it for so long, and I. And also, as you're talking, I was remembering ancient Buddhist teachings around attachment and suffering and the higher levels of attachment, the higher levels of suffering. And so much of us are attached to every little thing they're out of. My favorite food at the store. Ah. You know, it's like forgetting that we can actually be growing our own food, as you said, you know, So I love everything you guys are bringing, and this is especially as you kind of collect. Close this off. That is the Lotus. You know what you said, Being able to realize that it is the suffering, it is the hardships that bring forth our greatest group, our greatest growth. So thank you so much, you guys. Again, this is just absolutely incredible. If we can get one last sweep of just how awesome this is, because we are Going to have to take a break here, guys. And in this final segment, we'll be back to keep deeper diving into the wisdom of metamorphinka. So stay tuned here on NOW Media tv.
We'll be right back with more insights, stories and practices to help you lead from your whole self. This is Lead with Heart on NOW Media Television.
Leadership isn't just about decisions. It's about presence, compassion and courage.
I'm Dr. Jesse Hanson, somatic psychologists and healer. And on Lead with Heart we explore what happens when we lead with awareness, compassion and the body in mind.
From brain health to relational intelligence, from trauma informed leadership to embodied teams, each episode reveals a deeper way to lead.
Lead with Heart is airing now on NOW Media tv. Because the greatest leaders don't just guide people, they they awaken them.
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As for now and for today, I am here on Lead with Heart with Irishapi and Concheta. Thank you guys so much for being so generous with your vulnerability, your stories, sharing your beautiful finca with us. The main theme that I am tuning into as we come to our final segment is the new way is the old way. We've said that a few times today, but that's what I'm left with as I've gotten a chance to listen to your guys stories and in particular just thinking, I mean especially, I feel like yours especially highlights this because you had sort of won the game of life. You'd done what we're supposed to do, get a great job at a big marketing company, blah blah, blah, and to have the courage and even though yours didn't go that exact path, you had the normal New York life and you had the courage to be like this is not it. And after now spending the time hearing your stories plus the time getting to deep dive into what you've built here, I just feel like I hope you guys are proud of yourselves because this is no small feat what you've pulled off and the whole thing being guided by your intuition, your courage, your faith.
So More than anything, I just want to acknowledge that. And to me that is definitely leading with heart. And in this final wave, I just wanted to see what, what wisdom do you guys feel like you're walking with now?
You know, that you didn't have?
I guess it would have been 10 years ago or more, you know, and also anything if you're willing to. I know it's vulnerable about your own family, but what is it like raising your kids here and being parents and waking up and realizing, wow, this is where we get to call home.
[00:43:00] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, everything we've done is for the next generation and not just our children, but the whole generation and all the children, but not just that generation, but even like seven generations after us really starting to think about what are we going to be leaving? How do we act as matriarchs and patriarchs now for our line? How do we re instill and re embody those principles that our ancestors held for us and those who hopes and prayers that they had for us? How do we stand up and stand tall and do that for them? Right. And we're so grateful to have teachers like the Dogon who help us guide us back home. But that's essentially all they're doing. You know, as Concetta said, you know, in the last episode is at one point we were all living like this.
So it's more so of a remembering. But us from the modern culture, it's going to be hard for us to truly live that way.
Everything we're doing is so that the children can have it. And I think that's very hard for people in the modern world to think about really things outside themselves and what they're leaving because there's like this concept of yolo. You only live once, but when you're rooted in a family system, you know, you don't because you live through your children and then they live and they live. So really starting to think about, you know, long term thinking. And I mean I'm the daughter of a doctor, so when he hears that I'm using herbs for healing, that I'm home birthing, that I'm raising my children with unpaved roads, like I give him a little bit of an aneurysm, but he has been able to see how I can be healthy, raise my children healthy and he knows there's value in it. And even like the modern medical system can admit, like we don't know everything. And we actually get everything from the
[00:44:47] Speaker A: indigenous systems, all the psychopharmacology, plant based.
[00:44:51] Speaker C: We have to weave the two worlds together, you know, it's essential for us to move forward because if we keep going the way the modern system is taking us, putting us on pharmaceuticals, erasing our forests, poisoning our food, we don't have a chance to survive. So we have to change our thinking from a modern mindset to an indigenous mindset.
[00:45:11] Speaker A: And it starts in the family so powerfully, said Irishopi. And you touched on the multi generational piece of this. And as a therapist, always dealing with multi generational trauma and that's a big thing and obviously it impacts all of us. And yet what I'm loving about today and ending this on an uplifting note is that you're talking about multi generational healing and being conscious that even though, yes, you get to reap the benefits of this as you get to live your adult life here, what you're giving for your children. So I appreciate you acknowledging and reminding us all that it's not all just about us, especially those of us that are actual biological parents. Even more so, we need to think about the future.
In my geekier sides, I do study research and such and I've referenced it a number of times on the show. The Edelman Trust Barometer is a global trust study that's happened the last 25 years for all countries on the whole planet around how their relationship is with leadership in particularly media, government, religion, technology, all these different areas. And no big surprise, last year's results weren't shocking, but they were shocking that they're the worst ever and that we've lost all trust in that. And then the most painful and potent statistic in that study for me as a father was that not only is trust at an all time low for leaders, but the belief and feeling that our younger ones, our offspring, are actually set up for something much worse.
All the way back in history, it always felt like, hey yeah, we're building something better.
And now after I sat with you guys today, I actually am re inspired by that and know you guys are actually building something better. And yet you're right, we need more people to awaken to this or humanity is going to look a lot different the way technology is taking over everything. Right?
And really quick. I'll just close that by saying I'm not at all against technology. In fact, I love it. I love geeking out. I actually co founded mentalhealth.com last year and that's our part of our whole mission is repurpose the technology. Like you said, we've got to learn both. We can't just get Rid of it. But could we start to make it helpful instead of harmful and invade privacy? Let's hope so. Exactly right, Concheta.
[00:47:23] Speaker B: So, yeah, just to wrap up what I was saying about reciprocity.
So one of the ways in which we've kind of been able to go so deep with our teachers who come from radically different cultures than we do, some where there have been situations where we won't even be able to speak the same language as them, is that we show up and yes, we. We show up and we're coming and we're looking for healing. We're looking for this or looking for that. We're looking to bring something home. We come and if we see them working, we go, like, how can we help?
We have these skills, like, what can we do? We see that they.
Oh, they. Maybe they need a well in their village. Maybe they. They need something. They have some project. We go, okay, let's. Let's try to make something happen here.
So then there's, like, that. That give and take, where it's. I guess they're sharing their culture with us, they're sharing their sacred traditions with us. But to say thank you, we go and we help them. And however they can not, not just financially, but with, you know, our sweat, with our hands, our tears with our hands, with our labor. And that's, like, really kind of how that.
That trust and that companionship develops.
[00:48:37] Speaker A: Beautiful. It's so true, the balance of it.
Thank you.
[00:48:42] Speaker C: And coming back, it's like, what's the point of gaining anything if you can't give anything?
And what's the point of having wisdom if you're not giving it to your children, if you're not giving it to your community?
So there's really just that responsibility more so that we feel that because we have been initiated by the Dogon, that now we have the responsibility to teach, we have the responsibility to lead, we have the responsibility to heal. And it's like, yeah, that's where the pride comes.
The pride comes in knowing that I'm representing a culture that has adopted me, and I'm able to touch other people's lives and bring them back to who they are. Like what we were saying, that knowingness, how to be in harmony in their marriage, how to be in harmony with their children, with giving birth, with their diet, with their health, with their mental health, you know, with all of that, having those tools, both very practically and then also in the spiritual realm, you know, it's more of a responsibility.
And I think that's where the Pride comes that I'm living in a way that would make my ancestors proud and I will be able to die in a way that my ancestors will receive me well.
[00:50:00] Speaker A: And that your children and family are proud.
[00:50:03] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:50:04] Speaker A: And that's what I'm left with, guys, as we bring this episode to a close is just to say most of all, thank you again for showing up on this show, but really in life.
And yeah, as I sit with you guys today, I'm just really touched by the connection between you guys and the way you support each other and, you know, ping off of each other and, and help each other rise. And also just imagining like after learning and hearing everything you guys have been through and everything you're doing here and the power of reciprocity. Yeah, just, it must feel nice inside of you, like as who, who you are, how you feel about yourself. It's very different than the person who is upset because the Amazon delivery was a day late and losing their cool. Here you guys are building all of this for yourselves, for your, for your future. And again, to me, it's just the, the epitome of, of leading with heart is to, to go with where is going to really be best. Not just for myself, but for the whole community, the whole tribe, the whole family. So, wow. Again, I, I've just been blown away by what you guys have shared today and so, so touched by getting to see everything. And I hope you viewers have enjoyed this, this story and experience today.
And so before we do wrap, I want to make sure people know how to stay in touch with you guys. So what's the best way to find you?
[00:51:18] Speaker C: Yeah, so the best way to find us is our website, metamorfinca www.metamorfinca f I n c a.com and to learn more about our work with the Dogon and our healing tools and the projects we have in Africa going on, you can go to kebta.org k e b t a h.org or a nhlife.org a n for the healing branch and follow us on Instagram Metamorfinka.
Contact us and we'll be happy to share our space or our knowledge all
[00:51:54] Speaker A: the way as it comes. Yeah, well, thank you guys so, so much. You're a beautiful family, beautiful couple and thanks so much for showing up on Lead with Heart. We are going to wrap here today, guys. Stay tuned for more shows coming up in the future with awesome more sharings, heartfelt stories and lots of wisdom that we can all grow from. So may we all lead with heart Pura vida. Create a beautiful day.
