With Host Leonie Maritz And Guests Courtney Buckley, Anna Seraffine And Heather Zimmerman @divineascensionco
Spirituality is often framed as positive, expansive, and uplifting, yet this can overlook the role of discomfort, emotion, and accountability within real growth. This episode explores the tension between light and shadow, and how imbalance in either direction can lead to avoidance rather than integration.
The conversation examines spiritual bypassing in its different forms, including the overemphasis on positivity as well as the over-identification with shadow or trauma. Panelists discuss how both can create distortions that limit self-awareness, keeping individuals either disconnected from their experience or overly defined by it. A central focus of this discussion is balance.
Rather than treating light and dark as opposing forces, the panel explores them as parts of a whole, each requiring awareness, responsibility, and discernment. The conversation highlights how spiritual practice can become ungrounded when one is prioritised at the expense of the other. This episode invites a more integrated approach to spirituality, where emotional maturity, clarity, and accountability are part of the work.
The focus is on engaging with both light and shadow in a way that supports grounded development and embodied integrity.
ABOUT OUR PANELISTS
Courtney Buckley
Courtney Buckley supports neurodivergent and highly sensitive individuals in developing safety, clarity, and authentic ways of living. Her work focuses on helping individuals understand their needs, regulate their experience, and build a relationship with themselves that is steady and supportive.
Heather Zimmerman is the founder of Divine Ascension Co., where she integrates behavioural psychology and spiritual practice to support individuals navigating awakening and personal change. With a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Penn State and a Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis from National University, she brings over 20 years of experience across behavioural health, service, and leadership environments.
Her work is informed by both clinical training and intuitive practice, including energy work, Akashic Records, and inner child work. She focuses on supporting empaths and highly sensitive individuals in developing grounded, practical integration rather than surface-level understanding. Through her sessions, programs, and podcast, she brings a structured and accessible approach to complex inner work.
A transformational shamanic healer, coach, and Feng Shui consultant, Anna has supported advanced practitioners and those newly awakening for over two decades. Her work bridges shamanic practice, metaphysical wisdom, and ascension teachings to address both visible and invisible influences shaping a person’s life.
Born intuitive from a lineage of spiritually gifted ancestors, Anna’s path includes lived experience across Buddhist, shamanic, and Hindu cultures in Asia, profound personal trauma, and a defining spiritual transmission in 2011 that birthed her multidimensional modality, Integrated Soul Healing™. Her work supports sovereignty, coherence, and embodied alignment across the soul’s timeline.
Leonie Maritz is a certified Traditional Astrologer, Tarot Reader, Life Coach, and crystal consultant with a BA in Psychology and English. She consults and teaches through her practice, Zodiac Tarot, which focuses on client empowerment, spiritual wellness, and consciousness development. A graduate of Laurie Naughtin’s Sublunar Academy, The Centre of Applied Jungian Studies, UNISA, and Dialogue SA, Leonie brings a grounded, structured, and thoughtful approach to spiritual education. Her areas of expertise include Traditional Natal Astrology, Tarot, Dream Analysis, and Crystals, and she is known for holding conversations with clarity, balance, and respect for diverse perspectives.
The Public Education Panel Series brings together multiple voices to help the wider public understand healing, spirituality, and practice in clear, grounded terms. Each episode focuses on a single theme and invites practitioners to share lived experience, practical examples, and diverse viewpoints so audiences can learn without jargon or gatekeeping.
