Shownotes
On the Soul Mirror podcast, hosted by Nazish, Kerri Hummingbird Sami shares a powerful shift—from climbing endlessly to returning inward.
This episode is for anyone feeling the quiet exhaustion of constant striving. Through grounded wisdom and lived experience, Kerri invites you to rethink success, reconnect with your inner rhythm, and discover a more meaningful, soul-led way of living.
About the Guest:
Kerri Hummingbird Sami is a medicine woman, mentor, and founder of Inner Medicine Training. She guides individuals through indigenous wisdom, inner healing, and soul-centered living.
Episode Chapters:
00:00 Introduction & intention of the conversation
02:15 Corporate life vs soul calling
06:40 Leap of faith and personal transformation
12:10 Indigenous wisdom and the “circle” mindset
18:30 Emotional awareness and inner balance
23:45 Letting go of societal expectations
28:10 Returning to self and closing reflections
Key Takeaways:
- Growth isn’t always upward—it can be inward
- Emotional awareness is essential, not optional
- True fulfillment often requires uncomfortable choices
- You don’t need external validation to live your truth
- Life becomes richer when led by the soul, not fear
How to Connect With the Guest:
Website: https://kerrihummingbird.com
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Transcripts
00:00:08 Nazish: Welcome to the podcast where we gently explore the patterns shaping our inner world, the truth waiting beneath them. I am your host, Nasir, and today I'm joined by Carrie Hummingbird Sammy, a medicine woman mentor and founder of Inner Medicine Training, who has spent years guiding people to work on their own wisdom through ancient tradition and deep inner work. We are dividing. We in. We are diving into a beautiful and a powerful idea. Moving from ladder to circle. And what that shift can mean for how we live, grow, and relate to ourselves. Carrie, I'm so glad to have you here.
00:00:53 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Thank you for having me. I'm excited for our conversation.
00:00:58 Nazish: Likewise, before we go ahead, listeners, some statements reflect personal belief and experiences and are presented as individual views, not medical advice. Listeners should consult qualified professionals for medical condition.
00:01:14 Nazish: Yeah. So, Kerry, I'd love to begin with you. Like, was there a moment in your journey, your own journey with the idea of constantly moving forward, stopped feeling true and something deeper started calling you back?
00:01:32 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Yes. I would say, um, I was working in high tech when I first graduated from college. And that environment is very goal oriented. So the idea is to achieve as much as you can and, um, climb the corporate ladder, so to speak, and continue to get more money and more bonuses and more stock, except what you had to do to get all that is kind of soul sucking in my experience. And so I, I right away knew that that was not going to be a long term path for me, but it was a short term path to get someplace that I felt I wanted to go. And I kept trying to make my path open up that I really wanted, which was to be an artist. And I just couldn't seem to make that as lucrative financially, as high tech. And I believe that's of the cultural. The cultural sort of preferences that are geared towards materialism versus artwork, which is more geared towards the soul. And so I was always at this abrasion point, knowing that the environment I was in was not aligned with who I was as a person, but that you had to bring money to have a house and to have. I had two children, two babies, and so I had to provide for them. So there's these compromises I was having to make in order to do that. And it wasn't for a very long time until after I, um, left my first marriage and moved out on my own, that the, my true path began to unfold for me. And it took a leap of faith. It took a lot of leaps of faith to continue to pursue my soul calling. Uh, despite living in a world that prefers material acquisition and wealth.
00:03:47 Nazish: Absolutely. I mean, yes, that is super true. Uh, this you have to keep going. You have to make the ends meet, and you have to put yourself on the track and to just be there for the world.
00:04:05 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Exactly. It's it's what I've learned from working with the indigenous lineages that I work with, um, primarily the Crow Nation in Peru. It's spelled Q apostrophe e r o. They were these really brightly colored rainbow ponchos. And it said that they're descended of, um, people from the Himalayas. So, you know, they, they're all the way over in Peru, in the Andes Mountains. But they really taught me about ayni and right relationship reciprocity and how it's so important to be remembering ourselves as our hearts and souls, and also as a living being who is intended to be a steward of the planet and all of the animals and the plants and the waters and the oceans, everything. We're really here to be stewards of that and to be guided by something bigger than our small self, our personality, something bigger than that. That that's the part of us that wants all the money and the cars and the clothes and the stuff. And when we're guided by the bigger part of us, the soul, what happens is that everything is much more deeply enriching. And it's not as superficial as when we're living our lives from the small self. And so it feels like along the way of my journey, I, I felt so thirsty for something real. And when I finally stumbled upon shamanism and earth spirituality and Toltec wisdom and all of all of my indigenous thought and lineages, I just it just has gotten more and more beautiful, and the garden has been growing and growing and growing. As you said, as I don't give up on it, as I trust that there could be some momentary discomfort. I mean, let's say, you know, I in Silicon Valley, I had been putting away quite a lot of money for my retirement. And when I went out and took the leap of faith into my path, I knew that that was not for retirement. That was for my sole path to sustain me while I built the community that I was intended to build. And so I knew that that was that was there to sustain my transition and to support me until such time as, um, it would have enough, it would have grown enough beauty to attract, you know, enough revenue to support it. So, you know, there's this compromises and choices you've got to make if you stay in the system. But there's different choiceless choices that you make once you leave that actually lead to way more fulfilling life in my perspective. And that's what's happened for me.
00:07:09 Nazish: And, you know, I guess that is what made you grow so much because I think one, when you deal with things, you always come out stronger on the other end.
00:07:20 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: It's true. It's when we avoid our problems or deflect them onto others, or deny them or look the other way, avert our eyes, pretend it's not happening. Then we get worse problems. And and this is what's happened in America, quite frankly. I mean, years ago, we knew that we had an issue. We we knew that we needed to address the inequities in our society. We knew that we needed to really listen to people of color and understand the impact of this system and start dismantling it. And there were many of us that took that seriously. And there was also a segment of the population that resisted and denied it and deflected it. And now we have the consequence of that, and the whole world is paying the price. So there's, um, it's so important when we see that there's an issue in our relationships or in our communities or in our personal lives, or even just within ourselves, that we have to lean into the discomfort and feel all the feelings and let it move through us and then make changes, make changes in our lives, and also learn to have the capacity to be present with other people's perspectives so that we can become more like the circle, rather than this idea of a ladder, because that idea of a ladder has been spread all over the world at this point. And it's a false construct. It's not true. It's a lie. And anything that's a lie eventually crumbles into dust. And that's basically what's happening right now. So we can either actively participate in its dismantling and be empowered through that experience, or we can keep resisting it and then feel like a victim to it. And I really suggest being empowered.
00:09:27 Nazish: I agree. I mean, that is such a beautiful perspective. And it really reframes the whole conversation that we're going to have today. You know, it is so beautiful the way you mentioned everything happening in the world today. Yeah. I mean, that is so intense. It is. It is intense, I agree. So, you know, we have raised to believe like that growth looks like a straight line. More success, more achievement. More progress. But when you reflect on it now, what feels incomplete or even misleading about that idea?
00:10:03 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Well, I mean, in terms of spirituality, people that pursue that idea spiritually, they end up bypassing most of the human experience, and they climb this ladder to some kind of spiritual ascension and then want to hang out only in high vibe all the time. And that's, first of all, exhausting to try to maintain because it's a false construct. And, and it's also just misleading. So what I like about the indigenous teachings from North America is that they talk about the medicine wheel being the healthy, sustainable model for life. And the reason why is because it's a circle, it's a wheel. And there's four quadrants to that wheel. And each of those quadrants represents an aspect of self that is necessary for this human experience. And so one quadrant is the body and the earth element and the south direction. And it's really here to ground us in the present moment inside of our bodies and acknowledge that our bodies are a sacred vessel of this life experience. We need our body in order to be human. It's important. It's not to be overlooked or, you know, forced into terrible, you know, suffering through long hours in front of a computer and things like this. And so the body is very important. And then we move into the west direction, which teaches, teaches us the importance of working with our emotions and our mental constructs, like what we what stories we tell about our emotions and about our lives that creates more emotion. And so we've got to be able to be present, have the capacity to be present with our emotional body and the whole range of emotions, like not just hang out in joy, but also feel grief. Let yourself feel rage, but also feel peace. So there's experiencing the entire spectrum of emotion in the West. And then we move into the north direction, and we're working with the soul and how important the soul is to a beautiful, sustainable life. We've got to allow the soul to lead us synchronistically from experience to experience. And this is why hummingbird is the totem of the of the north. And in our in my community, we also put the element of fire there because our ancestors always gathered by the fire and told stories in the darkest part of the night. And the North is the dark that that womb like cave that we go into to explore the void within us that the soul. And so I love the I love that north direction with our ancestors and our guides. And then when we call in the East, everyone loves the East because that's the Great Spirit, that spirit moving through us. And that's what many people in the New Age spirituality will try to climb the ladder and hang out only with spirit, only with eagle, only in the higher octave. That's that's just one aspect of self. And so when we come back down into the body, we can truly appreciate the majesty of all the senses and the majesty of being able to tell a story that actualizes because of the power of the word and our emotions. How powerful is that? We can co-create what we desire. And so I feel like the world is ready for this teaching now, so that we can come into balance with Mother Nature and with our bodies and our emotions, our minds, our souls and spirit and all of Mother Nature. And we can learn to co-create beauty.
00:14:02 Nazish: We absolutely can. And I think it's almost like we confuse movement with meaning. We keep going, but we rarely pause to ask if we are actually going somewhere that feels like home.
00:14:17 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Exactly. Because, you know, this is also what I love is that, you know, thank goodness for these indigenous lineages that resisted the colonization of the world and they managed to stay on their land. You know, this is such a beautiful gift. The Caro Nation, they stayed on their land. They still live on their ancestral land. And they they were never conquered. They maintained their language and their traditions. They still speak the old words to the mountains. And this is so powerful because they remember that we are living in the Garden of Eden, so to speak. We are living in, quote, heaven. This is Mother Earth. She lets us create anything we desire. And you know, so when we remember that we're already home and we can maybe clean up our room, pick up the dishes, you know, help out, chop wood, carry water, be part of the solution. Love all of our relations. Say a little gratitude for Mother Earth and all that she's provided. Be in gratitude. Be in thanks and and then get curious about all the flowers she's created. You know, each of us being one of those flowers. She's created eight billion plus unique flowers. And she just wants us to be curious about it and get to know each other instead of fighting each other so much so I think that we have to change our creation story, our origin story as a collective to something a little bit more, um, gracious to our planet.
00:16:04 Nazish: I agree. I mean, what are we leaving for our future generations if we are not taking care of the planet?
00:16:12 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Exactly. And that's what happens when we become a, a steward of the earth. I mean, we already are steward of the earth. So I love the Caro Nation that they they were willing to initiate Western folks into their lineage, I think simply to remind us, hey, by the way, we're all stewards of the earth. We're wearing these ponchos to demonstrate that, but y'all are also stewards of the earth. So please remember that and we'll, you know, we'll help you be. Remember by being part of our tradition because we never forgot. And so I'm so grateful that they, you know, they took us in and said, okay, we'll teach you so that we can carry this medicine forward, you know, to other places and other people that maybe this is new information. So we're so grateful because they look seven generations ahead and they, they can see the timelines. And our ancestors could see that too. The, the mystics among our ancestors of the days before it was shunned to have such wisdom. The ancestors in our own lineages also could read the tea leaves, could see the future, and and could plant seeds of new intentions for future generations, and even travel on time to work with our descendants to receive higher consciousness in that moment than what we had all around us. And so this is this is that Partnership with the Circle of Life.
00:17:52 Nazish: Absolutely. And I believe that circle of life is the most beautiful thing that we come close to. Like, you know, we all try to ignore it, but it is so much there and we face it once and we are all like, oh my God, that is the circle of life.
00:18:08 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: It really is. We all have a role to play, to play.
00:18:13 Nazish: I agree, you know. So I want to ask you, like in everyday life, how does this ladder mindset quietly show up? Like in our relationships, in our self-worth, or even in even how we rest?
00:18:28 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Well, I mean, when we're when we're living in a Western culture, it's all about more time, more money and more things. And so you have to. What I had to do on my journey is I had to say, I don't care about the title. I don't care about the money. I don't care about the things I'm going to get exactly what I need to sustain myself from my soul and from Mother Earth. Everything I actually need is going to be there. And sometimes it's not easy to have that perspective, because if you have some debt or credit cards or things like that, you can get stressed out and, you know, be in fear over that. But I've been through such a journey with this, committing to my path. Even when there were dry spells where there really wasn't much money coming in, and I just kept walking the path and trust and faith. And there's times that I've been confronted by that deep fear that I won't survive this somehow. And every single time there's been some grace, there's been just a pathway forward that it's going to work itself out every single time. And I'm still here doing this work. And it's been, you know, this particular community, it's been underway for at least ten years. So, I mean, you just have to keep trusting it, I think, and not believe the fear and, and also let go of any attachments to, you know, proving yourself. Even I had some attachments to proving myself because of course, I made a leap of faith in everybody in my family thought I was completely crazy for walking away from a perfectly good marriage and a perfectly good job and really good income, and spending all my four hundred one K and, you know, so there was so much judgment, you know, about my choices that of course I felt the need to prove myself. And that also turned out to be an impediment to fully living my life. So letting go of all those things as well, I think, and it helps the prosperity to come in as it needs to. And, and it really is like a garden growing. It's just beautiful to witness it and to be in, um, stewardship of it.
00:20:56 Nazish: Yes, that is so true. And I so much agree about the way you talked about the judgment and the way we have to prove ourselves, because I believe we all go through this like we want to do something in our life, but we are so afraid of what people are going to think. How is it going to impact others more than how much it is going to make us feel at peace?
00:21:17 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Exactly. And that's that's where we also practice the four agreements in our community, which is a book by Don Miguel Ruiz, who is, um, was my, my mentors, um, teacher. So I love that book because the second agreement is don't take anything personally. And I wish I'd had that book in third grade because I could have saved myself so much suffering if I just understood what he was teaching. Um, you know, because we're all living our own movie, our own dream of life, and nobody's opinion really matters inside your own dream unless you make it matter. And they're not talking about you anyway. They're talking about themselves. They're only ever speaking from their own dream. So when we realize that we cannot take it so personally when someone judges because they're in the dream of the ladder they're in, the dream of success equals this much money in the bank account and this kind of size house and this car and this clothes and this, you know, and if they're caught in that dream, they're not going to understand the dream of the soul that you're living. Does it make sense?
00:22:39 Nazish: Yes. That is so true. You know, if any one of my listeners who want to connect with you, explore your work and these teachings more deeply. Where is the best place they can find you and connect with you?
00:22:53 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Yes. So all of my books and some also some free gifts, some free healing meditations and things like that are at Carey hummingbird dot com, K e r r I hummingbird dot com. And you can find it all there. All the gifts are under the gifts menu at the top of the website. And yes, I just send everybody love on their journey discovery because this is this is a beautiful, unique opportunity to be exactly who you are and to be guided by your soul on a great adventure. And so take the adventure and just send that wish and blessing to everybody to take the adventure and trust the process and notice what happens. And maybe if we all do that, the world will be a kinder place.
00:23:43 Nazish: Absolutely. I couldn't agree more with you, and I will make sure to include all these details into the show notes. And, you know, if there is one thing that I am going to take away from this beautiful conversation is that you don't have to climb to be worthy. Sometimes the deepest growth happens when you return to yourself.
00:24:03 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Mhm. Exactly. Yep. That's why the circle is also kind of like a spiral, isn't it?
00:24:11 Nazish: Yes, yes, that is a beautiful analogy, you know. Uh, thank you so much for joining us today on this conversation, Kerri. It was an absolutely beautiful conversation. Thank you so much for your insights, such valuable insights and such beautiful honesty.
00:24:27 Kerri Hummingbird Sami: Thank you so much and have a beautiful rest of your evening.
00:24:31 Nazish: Thank you. You too. And dear listeners, if today's conversation stayed with you, let it be. You don't need to rush into change. Just notice where you have been climbing and where you might to be ready to soften. Because life isn't always asking you to move forward. Sometimes it is asking you to come back. Thank you for being here with us on the Soul podcast. Until next time, stay present, stay gentle, and keep listening inward.
