Spirit Sisters - the podcast

We’re gathering around the virtual hearth this month with bestselling Australian author Mary-Lou Stephens.

Mary-Lou and I first connected when I was researching my 2014 book, Love Never Dies. Since then, she’s published four bestselling novels, including her latest, The Hobart Hotel. In this gorgeous dual timeline novel, Mary-Lou takes readers across continents - including to Uruguay, the country of my birth.

Settle in for a rich conversation about writing, of course, but there’s so much more we touch on: how grief “echoes” across time, the benefits of meditation (especially to unlock creativity), the rewards of climbing out of our comfort zone, the spirit of place, and as well as what it means to follow the subtle nudges of intuition, and the healing effects of spiritual experiences.

I loved reconnecting with Mary-Lou to hear about her spiritual experiences and explore how storytelling can be a bridge between the visible and the invisible. Enjoy!

Learn more about Mary-Lou:

https://maryloustephens.com.au/

 

Buy Mary-Lou’s latest novel, The Hobart Hotel: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-hobart-hotel-mary-lou-stephens/book/9781038940346.html

 

Connect with me:

 

Discover Karina's app, Reconnect & Create: https://studio.com/karina

 

Join Karina on Substack: https://kmachado.substack.com/

Email Karina at karina.machado.author@gmail.com

Learn more about Karina at https://karinamachado.com/

Connect with Karina on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarinaMachadoauthor

Connect with Karina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinamachadoauthor/

Find the audio versions of my three books — Spirit Sisters, Where Spirits Dwell and Love Never Dies – (all narrated by me) at Audible: https://www.audible.com.au/author/Karina-Machado/B004O93T9C

 

Show theme music: Mysterious by MusicPond, from Audio Jungle

 

Acknowledgment of Country:
I acknowledge the Dharawal people, Traditional Custodians of the lands in NSW, Australia, where I live and record Spirit Sisters, and I recognise their continuing connection to lands, waters and community. I pay respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to Elders past, present and emerging.

This month on the Spirit Sisters podcast, Carlos Vivas joins us to share the compelling story of his near-death experience and the life changes that followed. Swimming at Panama City Beach in 2015, Carlos was caught in a rip current, before eventually praying for help.

What happened next was nothing short of a miracle …


We also hear about the spiritually transformative experience that followed the rescue, and how Carlos connects this with his earlier healing from cancer as a teenager.


Carlos also reflects on prayer, gratitude, and asking for help in daily life, and he shares other moments where he believes prayer helped him. He emphasises that love, gratitude, and service are central to living well on earth.

 

This is a story to lose yourself in – make sure you grab a tea or coffee and settle in!

 

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Elian Gonzalez rescued by dolphins: https://iol.co.za/news/world/2000-03-27-elian-says-dolphins-saved-his-life/

Carlos’s interview with Anthony Chene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWgh8bRLCRk

Watch Every Soul Knows: https://www.everysoulknows.com/watch

 

Connect with Carlos Vivas:

www.carlosvivas.org

 

Buy Carlos’s book, Help From Heaven:

www.helpfromheaven.org

 

Connect with me:

Discover Karina's app, Reconnect & Create: https://studio.com/karina

Join Karina on Substack: https://kmachado.substack.com/

Email Karina at karina.machado.author@gmail.com

Learn more about Karina at https://karinamachado.com/

Connect with Karina on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarinaMachadoauthor

Connect with Karina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinamachadoauthor/

Find the audio versions of my three books — Spirit Sisters, Where Spirits Dwell and Love Never Dies – (all narrated by me) at Audible: https://www.audible.com.au/author/Karina-Machado/B004O93T9C

 

Show theme music: Mysterious by MusicPond, from Audio Jungle

 

Acknowledgment of Country:
I acknowledge the Dharawal people, Traditional Custodians of the lands where I live and record Spirit Sisters, and I recognise their continuing connection to lands, waters and community. I pay respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to Elders past, present and emerging.

My guest this month on the Spirit Sisters podcast is Rachel Stewart, co-founder of the Instagram page @for11_together, a space that has become a refuge for people navigating grief, love, and ongoing connection with a late loved one.

Like many of the women I’ve had the privilege of speaking with on this podcast, Rachel's motherhood didn’t end with her daughter Kenadie’s passing, it changed form. Rachel’s evolving relationship with Kenadie comes through wondrous signs and synchronicities, and the comfort she received from these encounters inspired Rachel and her husband Shane to launch the For 11 community, which fosters community support and connections beyond loss, encouraging healing through shared experiences.

In our conversation, we explore what it means to remain “together” beyond the veil. We talk about the early days of grief, the first moments of sensing that love was still present, and the ways Kenadie continues to remind her family that she’s with them.

Like so many of the beautiful stories we explore on Spirit Sisters, this conversation invites us to consider that love may not be bound by the limits we once imagined.

 

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Join me and special guests in my first Spirit Sisters Online Retreat:
Gathering Around the Virtual Hearth
May 16, 2026
AEST 10 am – 6 pm
Sessions will be recorded!
Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/gathering-around-the-virtual-hearth-a-one-day-spirit-sisters-online-retreat

Connect with Rachel Stewart:

Rachel and Shane’s Instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/for11_together/

 

The For 11 Community online:

https://for11together.com/

 

Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/AWp2gD1RoyM

 

Connect with me:

Discover Karina's app, Reconnect & Create: https://studio.com/karina

Join Karina on Substack: https://kmachado.substack.com/

Email Karina at karina.machado.author@gmail.com

Learn more about Karina at https://karinamachado.com/

Connect with Karina on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarinaMachadoauthor

Connect with Karina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinamachadoauthor/

Find the audio versions of my three books — Spirit Sisters, Where Spirits Dwell and Love Never Dies – (all narrated by me) at Audible: https://www.audible.com.au/author/Karina-Machado/B004O93T9C

 

Show theme music: Mysterious by MusicPond, from Audio Jungle

 

Acknowledgment of Country:
I acknowledge the Dharawal people, Traditional Custodians of the lands in NSW, Australia, where I live and record Spirit Sisters, and I recognise their continuing connection to lands, waters and community. I pay respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to Elders past, present and emerging.

Welcome to the Spirit Sisters Podcast, where we gather around the virtual hearth to share our life journeys and the spiritual encounters that shape us.

My guest today is Dr. Adam Rizvi—a critical care physician whose personal journey with grief opened the door to experiences his scientific training couldn’t explain. Adam shares many of these astounding moments at the bedside of patients in his beautiful book, Love Does Not Know Death. He recounts some of these in our conversation, which I hope you’ll love.

Adam has come to see death as “an initiation” that can open us to love, to forgiveness, and to eternal connection. Some of the highlights of our conversation include the transformative power of afterlife encounters, about what it means to face death, and about how love doesn’t end when someone dies.

At the end, he shared insights about how love continues and communication continues, that I found extraordinarily beautiful and supportive.

If you’re listening while missing someone you love, you’re especially in my heart, and I hope there’s something nourishing here for you.

 

Connect with Adam and learn more about his book here: https://lovedoesnotknowdeath.com/

Read more of Adam’s writing on Substack: https://adamrizvi.substack.com/

 

Connect with me:

Discover Karina's app, Reconnect & Create: https://studio.com/karina

Join Karina on Substack: https://kmachado.substack.com/

Email Karina at karina.machado.author@gmail.com

Connect with Karina on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarinaMachadoauthor

Connect with Karina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinamachadoauthor/

Find the audio versions of my three books — Spirit Sisters, Where Spirits Dwell and Love Never Dies – (all narrated by me) at Audible: https://www.audible.com.au/author/Karina-Machado/B004O93T9C

 

Show theme music: Mysterious by MusicPond, from Audio Jungle

 

Acknowledgment of Country:
I acknowledge the Dharawal people, Traditional Custodians of the lands in NSW, Australia, where I live and record Spirit Sisters, and I recognise their continuing connection to lands, waters and community. I pay respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to Elders past, present and emerging.

Thank you for tuning into the Spirit Sisters podcast, where we gather around the virtual hearth to share sacred stories about our spiritual and life journeys.

Today, I’m honoured to welcome a very special guest: spiritual teacher and best-selling author Panache Desai. Panache is known worldwide for his heart-centered wisdom and his gift for guiding people back to the truth of who they really are. Through his teachings on presence, authenticity, and vibrational alignment, Panache reminds us that transformation isn’t about becoming someone new, but about remembering our innate wholeness.

In our conversation, Panache shares his perspective of “powerlessness as an entry point into peace” (there’s a profound, personal story he tells about that) and he recounts his “direct experience of God” in 2002 that upended his life and formed the foundation of all of his teachings that followed.

We also explore the ultimate truth about the Light that we are, the beauty and challenge of embracing our true selves, how to cultivate resilience in uncertain times, and how each of us can live more fully aligned with the love at our core… and so much more!

This is a very rich conversation that I feel will yield more with every listen.

Thanks for tuning in!

Connect with Desai at his website and register for his free Call to Calm Meditation Zoom call:

https://www.panachedesai.com/

 

Connect with me:

Discover Karina's app, Reconnect & Create: https://studio.com/karina

 

Join Karina on Substack: https://kmachado.substack.com/

Email Karina at karina.machado.author@gmail.com

Learn more about Karina at https://karinamachado.com/

Connect with Karina on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarinaMachadoauthor

Connect with Karina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinamachadoauthor/

Find the audio versions of my three books — Spirit Sisters, Where Spirits Dwell and Love Never Dies – (all narrated by me) at Audible: https://www.audible.com.au/author/Karina-Machado/B004O93T9C

 

Show theme music: Mysterious by MusicPond, from Audio Jungle

 

Acknowledgment of Country:
I acknowledge the Dharawal people, Traditional Custodians of the lands in NSW, Australia, where I live and record Spirit Sisters, and I recognise their continuing connection to lands, waters and community. I pay respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to Elders past, present and emerging.