Sandy Steers
Sandy discovered that consciousness shapes healing, then built a life teaching that truth through two eagles watched by hundreds of thousands.
Hear this story
Sandy Steers spent twenty-four years building a life in Big Bear Valley, California, after leaving a computer consulting career in Long Beach. The mountains called to her in a way the city never did. She discovered that when she visited the forest, her body would calm, and when she returned to the LA Basin, the tension would return. It seemed pointless to keep going back and forth, so she sold her company and moved.
In 2012, the Forest Service found a bald eagle chick in a nest less than a mile from Sandy's house. It was the first eaglet ever hatched in Big Bear Valley. Sandy began watching through a spotting scope, taking notes. She became fascinated by how individual the eagles were. Each one had its own personality, its own tricks. The male, Shadow, would place sticks on the female Jackie's back to coax her off the nest so he could take a turn on the eggs. Jackie would scoot her feet in closer and closer under Shadow until she pushed him aside with sheer size. After years of watching, Sandy could almost predict what they would do next. When the pair hatched chicks again, she and Friends of Big Bear Valley installed a nest camera so people could watch them live. Hundreds of thousands of viewers around the world tuned in. People wrote to say the eagles calmed them through illness, through loss, through the noise of difficult times. Some sat beside dying parents and watched together.
Sandy's work in wildlife conservation and her practice of shamanism both rest on the same foundation: listening to nature, respecting everything as alive and individual, and allowing that respect to circle back to yourself. She believes wildlife is who we are. If wildlife is not healthy, there is no way for us to be healthy either. That connection between the natural world and human wellbeing shapes everything she does now.
“We are a lot more powerful than we realize and that we are healthy by nature and our body knows how to heal itself. So if you just start listening to your body, listening to your heart, connecting with the nature that you are, it knows what to do.”
“I would go in my mind and see all the white blood cells in my body and any cancer cell that had escaped from the tumor that was in my breast, any, anything that has escaped, I would go have my white blood cells collect it. And carry it back to the tumor and then seal it off.”
“Wildlife is who we are. We are part of nature, and wildlife, it shows us who we are, you know, how to be. And it's like the ecosystem defines how healthy everything is.”
The hero, today
Sandy discovered that moving to Big Bear Valley calmed her body in a way the city never did, and she realized it made no sense to keep going back and forth between the two places. Watching Jackie and Shadow has taught Sandy that each bald eagle has its own distinct personality, and you can come to know them almost like friends by observing how they behave. Sandy believes that fireworks harm not just wildlife but also humans and the environment, and there are other options like drone shows and laser displays that do not cause that damage. When Sandy faced a breast cancer diagnosis, she worked with the belief systems underneath her illness and discovered she had unconsciously created the disease to escape an unhappy marriage and to give herself permission to feel emotions she had suppressed as a business owner. Sandy uses visualization to work with her body's own healing capacity, and when she later had surgery, the surgeon found the tumor had a clean capsule with no strings attached anywhere else, confirming to Sandy how much power imagination has. Sandy sees shamanism and wildlife conservation as connected because both involve listening to nature, respecting everything as alive, and allowing that respect to circle back to respect for yourself.
Yes. Sandy Steers is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
Sandy discovered that moving to Big Bear Valley calmed her body in a way the city never did, and she realized it made no sense to keep going back and forth between the two places.
Watching Jackie and Shadow has taught Sandy that each bald eagle has its own distinct personality, and you can come to know them almost like friends by observing how they behave.
Sandy believes that fireworks harm not just wildlife but also humans and the environment, and there are other options like drone shows and laser displays that do not cause that damage.
When Sandy faced a breast cancer diagnosis, she worked with the belief systems underneath her illness and discovered she had unconsciously created the disease to escape an unhappy marriage and to give herself permission to feel emotions she had suppressed as a business owner.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 00:01
Welcome to another episode of Animals and Us, where we explore and honor the awesomeness of animals and our relationships with them. Today we're joined by Sandy Steers, the executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley in California. Sandy not only dedicates her life to protecting the wildlife of this stunning mountain region, including a famous pair of bald eagles watched by thousands on webcam, but she's also a healer and shaman with an incredible personal personal journey of resilience and self-healing. Today we'll explore Sandy's passion for wild animals, her relationships with the eagles, and how her work as a healer connects to the natural world. Hello, Sandy, and welcome to Animals and Us.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 00:49
Hi, Natalie, it's, uh, lovely to be here. Thank you very much for having me.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 00:54
Sandy, you have such an interesting story. Let's start with your life before Big Bear Valley. What were you doing in the IT industry and where were you living before Big Bear Valley?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 01:07
Uh, I was living down in the, the Great LA Basin, in Long Beach specifically, and I had a computer consulting company. Before that, I was an analyst for companies that sold computers, and then I started my own consulting company. And we created, back before they had packaged software, we created software packages that were designed specifically for each client. And we, we would design, you know, what they needed in this department and that department, and then pull it all together into a software system that worked just for them. Hmm.
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This conversation includes from long beach to the mountains, what drew her to big bear, a valley surrounded by pine and predators, the first bald eagle chick ever hatched here, why jackie and shadow matter and each eagle has its own way.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 01:48
And from, from that industry, the IT industry, you moved to Big Bear Valley, which would be a very different world. When did you move there, and what, what drew you to Big Bear Valley?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 02:01
Well, I actually moved here 24 years ago. Uh, what drew me here is I'd been up here to visit, and I loved it. So, um, I start— I noticed that whenever I visited, I would, um, like, calm down. I'd take a deep breath on my way up, and it just made me feel relaxed, and I loved it. And And then when I would go back down, I would tense up and, and get all ready for the city life. And it just started seeming crazy to go up and down. And, um, I sold my company and then I needed to have just one place, so I decided I wanted it to be Big Bear. And I'd also faced, um, having a a cancer crisis and did cancer healing, uh, alternative methods. And part of my, part of my healing was to come to Big Bear, and I spent a few weeks of just relaxing and sleeping a lot and walking in the streams and walking on the ground and appreciating the forest. And so I just loved it.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 03:15
Yes, yes, we're going to talk about your, your healing and your self-healing experience a little later on. So you've already touched, touched on what would have initially attracted you to Big Bear. What, what is— there must be other many beautiful natural havens in, in your country. What was special to you about Big Bear Valley?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 03:40
Uh, it's in the mountains. I always dreamed of living in the mountains. It's in the forest. I love the trees. I love trees always. And I liked that Big Bear is in the middle of a national forest, so there are animals roaming around that you don't see in the city, and lots of birds. And, um, and Big Bear gets lots of sunlight, which I love.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 04:05
Can you paint a picture for us? Most of the audience of this podcast are Australian, so can you paint a picture of the of the landscape and the types of wildlife that, that live in Big Bear Valley.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 04:19
Sure. The— well, it's a valley, and in the middle of the valley is a lake. And so everything in the valley kind of surrounds the lake and, and goes around it. There's lots of forest, and most of it is pine trees, and they're tall, they're beautiful. There's other kinds of trees as well, but the majority of it are pine trees. And it's a little bit mountainous around the edges. That's why it's a valley. But, uh, so there's mountains on both sides and places to hike. Um, and the mountains on both sides are all part of the National Forest, so they're not full of houses, they're not full of anything. And you can just go out and really get away from everything. And we have a lot of blue sky here.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 05:10
Mm. So sounds beautiful. And what sort of animals live there?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 05:16
Uh, we have a lot of little things like, uh, squirrels, gray squirrels and ground squirrels and chipmunks. Uh, but we have also black bears and mountain lions and bobcats, um, coyotes, foxes. And lots of birds like owls and hawks and things like that besides the eagles. And it's, um, it's just nice. There's all kinds of birds, lots of birds. And I, I feed the birds, and so it's great to just— if I feel at all bad or anything, I can go to my bird feeders and just sit there and watch, and they cheer me up. Um, yeah. And, you know, in the city we don't get that many birds, but up here we get a lot.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 06:03
Sandy, sounds like a lot of predator animals that you live with. What— is it safe to go out walking in the bush or walking in the forest?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 06:14
It is in general, yes. And I mean, um, I don't know if I'd go in the dark where bobcats might— I mean, where mountain lions might be, but I have seen a mountain lion in the daytime and Mostly they're more afraid of you than— unless you do something to harm them. I know I've had to scare away a bear a couple times and you just— it's— I don't know, it doesn't worry me.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 06:39
So what do you do if you encountered a bear in the day? What do you do to protect yourself?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 06:47
But actually what I did, there was a bear that was at my house when I came home one night, late at night. And I needed to get out to open the garage door and I saw it and it, you know, it went past me, which was fine, but then it, it stopped and turned around and looked at me and I wasn't sure what to do exactly, but my instincts took over and I just, I stepped toward it and raised my arms very big and growled at it and it took off running. You just have to be big, be who you are.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 07:21
Yeah, and be more scary than they are.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 07:24
Uh-huh. Yeah, it was like it didn't know those humans would growl at it. So yeah, yeah, it's headed away.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 07:32
So Sandy, have you been watching— your organization, Friends of Big Bear Valley, have been watching a pair of bald eagles for many years now. Can you tell us about them, about the pair, and how that all began, and why you're watching them with webcams?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 07:51
Sure. It all started when in 2012, actually, the Forest Service discovered that there was a chick in a nest, in a bald eagle nest. And it was, they did a history search and discovered it was the first bald eagle chick ever hatched in Big Bear Valley. And somebody at the Forest Service that showed me where it was, and it was only like less than a mile from my house, and I could go to a parking lot about half a mile away and watch it through a bird spotting scope. And she showed me the eagle so that I could take notes. She, for the Forest Service, she didn't have time to take notes and observe, and she knew I loved animals. And so she, you know, and with Friends of Big Bear Valley, we were focused on eagles a lot and things because we had them visiting here. We just never had one hatch. And so I watched that eagle grow up in that nest, and I was completely fascinated as it bounced around and jumped with its wings up and down and waited for its parents to come and bring food. And that fascination, you know, wanted me to watch more. And the next couple years, their eggs either didn't hatch or the chicks didn't make it. And so then we wanted to know more close up. And so I started working on a way of putting a nest camera on their nest so that we could be able to watch what was really happening instead of just trying to guess from the ground.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 09:26
Why, why these birds, this pair, why are they so special to you and, and to the community, the Big Bear Valley community?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 09:35
Well, to me it's because I watched Jackie grow up and And it turned, and I just got fascinated by the eagles and watching them and knowing how big they are and seeing how they do their life, which is different than you can usually watch animals. So it gave me more information. And for Big Bear Valley, they're excited to have the eagles here. There are always people. We had wintering bald eagles for years. And people would go and help do the eagle counts and things like that. It's just, they're majestic to see. Mm-hmm. And it makes you feel like you've accomplished something by spotting a bald eagle flying in the air. And it, it's just, they're, they're huge compared to the other birds. And so it's beautiful.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 10:25
How do you, you obviously love the bald, bald eagles. How would you describe them? What are some of their attributes that you admire?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 10:34
Well, when they're adults, that white head and tail and the black feathers, they're very distinguished. And it turns out that they actually, that's an evolutionary thing that it makes them be pronounced to the other birds around. So they say, we're here, you better stay away. And the way that they fly is just quite majestic. It's calm. Um, they don't flap like crazy. They soar a lot. And it's, um, it's very freeing, I guess. The feeling is being free and being in the air and just soaring instead of, you know, having to flap all the time or anything else. It's just the way they carry themselves is beautiful.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 11:22
What are some of the things that you've learned about bald eagles from watching them for so many years? And have there been anything that have, anything that have been surprising?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 11:33
Well, a lot of things have been surprising. The first was how individual they are. Each bald eagle that I've watched has its own personality, and you can see it very distinctly how this one behaves differently than that one. And whether it's been the adults or the chicks, all of them have their own personality that's quite distinct. And it's, it's, I guess you feel like you get to know them. And almost like they're a friend because you can almost guess what they might do next. And a lot of times they make me laugh, the things they choose to do, like trying to pull each other off the nest so that the other one, you know, so that they can have their turn on the eggs and chicks. I laugh out loud every time I see it, to see some of their behavior. So it's quite enjoyable.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 12:23
Right. So do both the male and the female sit on the eggs?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 12:28
Both male and female do take care of the eggs and the chicks. They both feed them. And, um, and in this pair, apparently it's not all eagles that do this, but this pair so badly wants to take care of them that they have their own little tricks for getting the other one to stand up so that they can sneak in and get on the eggs and have their turn.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 12:49
Right.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 12:50
And just watching those personality traits is very funny.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 12:54
Yeah. What's an example of, of a, of a trick to remove one of the eggs?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 12:58
Uh, Shadow, the male, will sometimes, he will be, bring a big stick when Jackie's sitting on the eggs, and sometimes he puts the stick on her back and just leaves it there.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 13:09
Right.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 13:10
And so she'll have to stand up. And sometimes he decides that the stick needs to go to the other side of the nest, so he walks right across her back to get to that side. And Jackie, um, will sneak in, and she's— yeah, the females are always bigger than the males, like a third again as big. And the, um, so she will keep scooting her feet in closer and closer underneath Shadow until she just kind of pushes him out of the way, and he has to get up because she's bigger.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 13:43
Yeah, how lovely. Are there any thrists? To this particular pair of eagles?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 13:49
Well, when they're having eggs and chicks, there's always ravens and hawks and owls and other eagles. They're good at keeping the other eagles out of the area. The hawks often have a nest nearby, as do the ravens, so they don't keep them completely out of the whole nesting area, but they keep them away from the nest. And So Jackie and Shadow are always on guard, always making sure there's nobody that can get near the nest. And Jackie stays on the nest all night to protect the eggs.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 14:23
And what is the situation like with, in terms of conservation of the whole species of bald eagles?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 14:31
It's gotten much better. It was very bad in the '60s and early '70s because of DDT. It turns out that that pesticide actually makes it so the eggs on bald eagle eggs don't harden. So when they would lay on the eggs, it would just squash them. So all their breeding and everything was for nothing for a long time because, and as the DDT ran into lakes and streams, then it would get into the fish and the bald eagles eat the fish. And so it would get into them. But when that was outlawed and there were a lot of, a lot of work to rehabilitate the eagles, then they've built back their numbers. They are no longer federally listed as endangered, but they still are in the state of California listed as endangered.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 15:24
Right. And what are their main threats currently?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 15:28
Mostly humans.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 15:29
Yeah.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 15:30
Sadly. And, um, what do humans do with them?
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 15:34
Do they want to shoot, hunt them?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 15:37
They, sometimes they do. It's illegal, but sometimes they do. Oh, or try to get their feathers or things like that. But, but it's also just humans, you know, getting too close and, and scaring away the young or those kinds of things. Uh, fireworks scare them away. Yeah. And that's human caused. Yeah. So there are things like that, just what humans do and how they live their lives.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 16:03
Yeah. What have you noticed that happens with the wildlife after and during fireworks?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 16:10
With the wildlife, they get scared. We've got videos of Jackie and Shadow leaving every year. They leave their roost tree in the middle of it. One time, Jackie, there was still a chick on the nest, and Jackie left the chick on the nest and flew down because she was afraid. And the The chick just kind of went into freeze mode for over half an hour, you know, while the fireworks were going on. And just watching that is, you know, I'm sure that's what happens to lots of wildlife. There's other birds, hawks and things that have babies then. And there's lots of, you know, wildlife like the squirrels and the foxes and the coyotes that have babies then. And it just doesn't make any sense to scare them all.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 16:53
No, no. And there's, I think there's loads of research to show how, how harmful fireworks are to, to wildlife.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 17:01
So I think it's, well, not only to wildlife, it's actually the chemicals are harmful to humans and to the lake water and to the environment. It's harmful to everything. And so it's with, uh, the, the drone shows and the laser shows, there's lots of other things we could do that, that don't, that don't harm anybody.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 17:20
Yes.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 17:20
And it doesn't make sense to keep doing the harmful ones.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 17:23
Yes, absolutely. I think it's about time councils explore the other non-harmful types of light shows, if light shows are a priority.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 17:33
Yeah.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 17:33
What does watching these eagles, how does it impact the public? Because I believe hundreds of thousands of viewers from around the world have been watching these eagles. How do you, what type of feedback do you receive from public?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 17:50
We get lots of amazing feedback with people saying, you know, thank you. These eagles calm me down whenever I was upset. I couldn't wait to check on them in the morning. They made me feel like life had a purpose. It was something positive to watch instead of all the negative news and things like that. So everybody loved that, that it was— they felt like it was something they could turn on and smile and laugh. And it helped people get through illnesses or get through, you know, watch it. Some people sat with a parent that was dying and watched the eagles. And so to them, they treasured that time that they had because the parent was really enjoying watching. And a lot of people have said that watching the eagles made them start watching the wildlife in their own yard. And so they got connected to that and started feeling better just by being connected to their own wildlife. Yeah.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 18:52
Wonderful. One of our team members at Kintsugi Heroes said that she watches— she's been watching the eagles since COVID Did you find— notice a spike in numbers during those COVID years?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 19:05
Yeah, I, I don't know the exact numbers or anything, but there were a lot more people that started watching because people were more at home and had to be doing something.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 19:15
Sandy, why is wildlife conservation so important to you?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 19:21
To me, wildlife is who we are. Uh, we are part of nature, and wildlife, it shows us who we are, you know, how to be. And it's like the ecosystem defines how healthy everything is. So if the wildlife is not healthy, there's no way for us to be healthy. So the wildlife is like the precursor to everything. Yeah. And, and I just think it's very important that we protect it.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 19:55
And what are the main threats of, of wildlife in Big Bear Valley in general? Now we've already, we've, you've already touched on the threats for the eagles, but with the, with the animals in general, it's mostly development.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 20:09
Yeah. When they want to, you know, develop a bunch more houses or something that, especially if it's in an area that's being used by certain wildlife, or if it's in an area that has— we have several endangered plants here in our valley that actually don't exist anywhere else in the world. So when they want to develop something over that, those beautiful plants, and make even less and less of them, or make them disappear completely, it doesn't make any sense.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 20:40
And do you feel that you're— that, that the valley is safe and protected from human development or human overdevelopment?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 20:50
Well, not— that's what we're working on. That's part of what our organization does, is make sure that the developers follow the environmental laws and, and work to evaluate what damage might be done and look at how it can be corrected.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 21:07
So, Sandy, your passion for wildlife conservation is only a part of, of your story. You have another very interesting side, and that is that you are, you are a healer and you are a shaman. Can you tell us what, what a shaman is?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 21:25
Uh, well, a shaman is like an indigenous healer. Mm-hmm. Um, looking at it all from natural ways of doing things, from natural medicines or just working with the energy or transforming how we see things or how we look at the world. Mm-hmm. And, and so it's a whole different kind of Healing from the perspective of healing ourselves on the inside rather than just taking things from the outside. Yes.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 21:55
And you came from, as you mentioned, as you talked about at the start, you, you came from the IT and computer world. So how did you step from that into natural healing and shamanism?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 22:09
Um, when I owned my computer consulting company, I got a diagnosis of breast cancer. And they told me that I had a 25% chance to live if I did everything they said, which included surgery and chemotherapy and radiation. And none of that felt right to me. I had already started my own journey into neuro-linguistic programming and looking at the ways our brain controls what we do and how we think and how that can be changed. And, and so it just, and I'd already started meditating, doing some things like that and connecting myself. So this felt like it was my time to walk my talk. And if I really believed in, in all of these things that I was studying and in, and how much power I have as a being over my own existence, then I needed to prove it to myself if nothing else. That, that I could do this. And so that's what I did, in spite of— I had a lot of people telling me I was crazy. But, um, yeah, I—
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 23:23
as we've shared before, I've also had, had breast cancer, and I do recall vividly that the pressure that I was under to do the particular treatments, a lot of pressure. So I think it must have taken courage for you to step aside from that and heal your own way. Can you tell us about how you actually did it? Because I found this, I find this fascinating.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 23:52
Well, I did a lot of things. I changed completely the way I ate. And, and I had a person who had healed from cancer was my mentor, plus the, the person who taught me NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming. Worked with me a lot. I think I did 2 or 3 sessions a week. And, and so we looked at what my belief systems were in that would create this cancer because all of our belief systems create what we have in our lives.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 24:25
Mm-hmm.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 24:26
So we have a lot more control than people realize. And so, and I discovered that I had a belief system. I had been married at the time and unhappily and wanted to get a divorce, but I had a belief that I didn't— wasn't even aware of that divorce was some horrible thing and it would make me a bad person. And, and, and so I literally had programmed myself to have cancer to get out of that marriage, which is— sounds crazy, but that's how our subconscious mind works sometimes. Yeah. And so when I started changing those beliefs, and I also found that I didn't, I didn't, um, believe that I was allowed to show emotions because I was owner of a company and I had employees and I had, you know, clients. And so I needed to always be strong. And, and so I could actually see in the energy when I was inside myself, um, the Cancer, it get ignited in a big pool of emotions that I had saved up. And I think a lot of people have. A lot of emotions that they've saved up because they think they're not allowed to express them. But that builds up, and the only other way it can come out is physically. So it had to get out somewhere, so it, yeah, chose that way.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 25:44
Um, gosh, I can relate to your story. I'm sure that's why I ended up with breast cancer too. Wow.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 25:51
Yeah, yeah.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 25:52
And Sandy, when we spoke previously, you told me how you imagined— you use your— you used the power of your imagination to help with the healing.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 26:04
Could you tell us? Yes, sure. Um, the— they told me that I should have surgery, and I didn't really want to. It didn't feel right at the time. And I talked to a surgeon who agreed that I didn't have to do it right now. The others had said now or never, don't come back. But she said, you know, if you decide later you want to do I do it. But I said, I just need to do healing. I didn't, did not tell her what I was doing, but I did a visualization that my mentor showed me for gathering. I would go in my mind and see all the white blood cells in my body and any cancer cell that had escaped from the tumor that was in my breast, any, anything that has escaped, I would go have my white blood cells collect it. And carry it back to the tumor and then seal it off. And I did that a few times a day. I would see, do that visualization of everything being, anything that was out of line being carried back into the tumor and sealed off. Yeah. And then when I did choose to have the surgery 6 months later, and it was, it was from a message inside myself, I told myself, um, or heard myself tell me that I could spend 6 more months and I would get completely healed, or I could have surgery now and be finished sooner. And it felt right to do the surgery. And I'm, I'm pretty sure it was so that I would see this message. The, when the surgeon came in after doing the surgery and she agreed with me to only do a lumpectomy and not remove all the lymph nodes and not remove all the other stuff that they usually do.. And, um, and so she, when she, but when she came into the room, the recovery room, she said to me, I'm gonna tell you something that I never tell anybody. And she said, I'm sure I got all the cancer. And she said the reason is because when she cut it open, it popped out like a capsule. There were no strings, no everyth— anything going anywhere else. It just popped out. And so I think I needed to have the surgery so I could see how much those visualizations have an impact on us, how much they really work. Yeah.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 28:20
Oh, how empowering that must have been for you.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 28:24
Yes, really.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 28:25
What a relief. Wow.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 28:27
Yes.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 28:28
Sandy, what do you— how do you respond to the skeptics who would say, oh, shamanism is a lot of nonsense or a lot of, you know, woo-woo?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 28:36
How would you—
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 28:37
how do you respond to those people?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 28:41
Um, well, first I just have compassion for them because They've obviously lost their natural connection to nature and to what's real and to the energy of the universe. And mostly, I, you know, I might try to show them something that shows that there are things that are just energy, like even electricity. We don't see it. So how, why not, you know, why believe in it if you don't see it? And so try to use, you know, logic. That to get them to let go, maybe open up a little bit about there are things that, that our mind can't see, or, and just see where it goes from there. Yes. Yeah.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 29:23
And Sandy, I imagine there's some sort of connection between your shamanism, shamanism, and your wildlife, your love of wildlife conservation. So what, what is that? How can you join the dots? For us?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 29:38
Yes. Well, shamanism focuses on getting messages from nature. And if you see a rabbit, looking for what that rabbit might mean, what message is it bringing you? And looking at everything in nature and certain trees and listening to them and letting all of it bring you messages about your own life and respecting all of it. And because you respect it, you can feel it respect you back, and then you can respect yourself. So it's like this beautiful circle. But I love that the shamanism that I use is Masayuk, which uses stones as a medicine bundle. And you can talk to the stones, you can have them, ask them to do certain things for you. And it just feels magical to be connected to everything as if it's Everything is alive and everything is individual.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 30:36
And Sandy, what would be one final message you'd like to leave with the audience about animals, particularly wild animals?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 30:47
That all of them are doing whatever they, they think they need to do. They're all of the wild animals are living their own pure life. They don't, they aren't doing anything to try to justify anything or make excuses. They just, live every day how they are. And I would love to see people do that. Just live your experience and be who you are and see what comes next.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 31:13
And what final message would you like to share about health and, and wellbeing?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 31:20
That, that we are a lot more powerful than we realize and that we are healthy by nature and our body knows how to heal itself. So if you just start listening to your body, listening to your heart, connecting with the nature that you are, it knows what to do. And just, it's the listening and, um, trusting ourselves is the biggest message.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 31:45
Thank you, Sandy. How can people who might be going through a health, health problem now, or people who would like to connect with you to help to support Big Bear Valley, that the animals, the wildlife at Big Bear Valley. How can people contact you, find you?
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 32:06
Um, they can— well, they can reach out to me through Friends of Big Bear Valley and, um, through our website or info.fobbv@gmail.com. And, and it will be, you know, just say they want to reach me and And my email address to get to me directly is sandy.fobb@gmail.com, and that's probably the best way to reach out and just tell me what, what you're looking for. And, um, yeah, more information.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 32:43
Wonderful. Thank you, Sandy. Thank you very much for your time and sharing us your own personal journey of, of healing and also about the amazing eagles and other wildlife at Big Bear Valley. Thank you very much for your time.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 32:58
No, thank you for having me. It's been an honor to talk to you.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 33:01
Thank you.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 33:02
Follow the sun.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 33:05
Animals and Us is a production of Kintsugi Heroes. Thank you to Xavier Rudd for his permission to use Follow the Sun as our theme music for this series. If you enjoyed this conversation, Share the podcast with a friend and let us know by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to support Kintsugi Heroes and the stories we share, head to kintsugiheroes.com.au and follow the instructions to make a tax-deductible donation. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time.
Sandy Steers (Guest) · 33:45
Brand new song.
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
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