Sandie Sedgbeer: The Voice of Conscious Media
Sandie Sedgbeer is a veteran broadcaster, author, media consultant, and professional journalist who cut her teeth in the ultra-competitive world of British newspapers and magazines. Sandie Sedgbeer has interviewed some of the world’s leading thinkers, scientists, celebrities, politicians, educators, and new thought teachers and speakers. She is the author of 6 books published by major international publishing houses and has been a frequent guest on all of Britain’s most popular TV and radio shows. Her books have been translated into several languages. She hosts What is Going OM and The No BS Spiritual Book Club on OMTimes Radio and TV.
An Interview with Sandie Sedgbeer – The Voice of Conscious Media
OMTimes: How did your journey through the world of Conscious and Spiritual broadcasting begin?
Sandie Sedgbeer: I started my career as a journalist in the UK, working as both a staff writer for international magazines and a freelance writer for teen magazines. My interest in metaphysics was always there, but since the subject was considered a bit “out there,” I kept my career and private life separate. Nevertheless, I was fascinated by esoteric subjects and any modality like numerology and astrology that helped one understand oneself.
When I was in my mid 20’s, I was fortunate enough to meet an incredible woman who had such bad asthma that she couldn’t work and instead spent most of her time studying astrology, homeopathy, and Bach flower remedies. To have access to her vast knowledge, experience, and library of esoteric classics was a dream come true. She nurtured my curiosity and encouraged my growing interest in complementary therapies, metaphysics, Consciousness, divination, and the search for “truth,” and to this day, I miss the incredible conversations we used to have. I often wonder whether I would be doing what I am doing today if it hadn’t been for Lillian.
During that time, I wrote several books which were very well received in the UK and led to many appearances on Britain’s most popular TV and radio shows, being interviewed myself, and acquiring a bit of a reputation as a “talking head.”
Once I arrived in California, I was offered the opportunity to launch and manage an online spiritual magazine called PlanetLightworker, another dream come true. I had helped conceive and execute the launch of several print magazines in the UK. So, I was really eager to see how one could do the same on the internet and bring together my interest in metaphysics and spirituality with all the skills and experience I’d gathered over the years working on print Magazines in the UK.
A few years later, the original owner of that magazine, a spiritual teacher and author, launched one of the first Spiritually oriented Internet TV shows and, given my past experience on both sides of the camera and microphone, invited me to conduct guest interviews for the show. That was when I discovered my secret passion as a “shameless sharer” who just loves asking questions and sharing information and people that I feel we can all benefit from.
OMTimes: How were your belief systems formed? (Religion, politics, family, etc.)
Sandie Sedgbeer: My family was not religious. If asked, my mother would say that we were “C of E” (Church of England). I lived in a children’s home with three of my siblings from the age of four to eleven. The “home” was one of several houses on a larger property with a church, small hospital, gymnasium, indoor pool, laundries, and just about everything you would find in a small village. C of E children went to the church on the grounds, while Catholics went to a church outside of the village.
Occasionally, we were allowed to attend a Catholic child’s confirmation. Being exposed to two different churches was a wonderful experience for an inveterate ‘thinker,’ “observer,” and ‘questioner’ like me. I very quickly understood the anomalies. As a result, while I always thought I believed there was some kind of higher intelligence, I never really bought the stories of the various religions. My later dive into metaphysical literature confirmed that orthodox religion was not for me.
OMTimes: Do you have any recollection from your childhood of any episode that steered you towards this path?
Sandie Sedgbeer: Looking back, I can see that there were definitely signs along the way. I was a precocious child in many ways. I don’t recall being taught to read, but I was reading long before I went to school. I used to love observing people and would hide in trees and under tables and listen to what people said and how they behaved. I was very interested in psychology – why people do what they do, say what they say, and behave in certain ways. I intuitively knew when someone’s words or behavior did not match what was really going on inside them. I was obsessed with the library and loved reading Folk Tales from different countries. I believed in faeries, elves, and trolls and spent a lot of time in the fields hoping to meet some of these beings.
While I was very shy, I would often say things and ask questions of adults that they would say were rather odd and advanced for a child of my age. I was always fascinated by the night sky. I would stargaze for as long as I was allowed to, wondering about the stars and the life on other planets, and whether there were people somewhere “up there,” wondering if there were people down here on this planet, wondering if there were people up there, etc. I have no idea where those thoughts came from.
I distinctly remember a strange moment when I was about five or six. I was playing a game of Superman with friends. I had taken my coat off and placed it over my shoulders like a cape. I recall looking down at my lower arm where the sleeve of my blouse met my wrist and being mesmerized by the smooth unlined skin on my wrist and hand, and somehow knowing that it hadn’t always been as smooth and unlined. It was only a fleeting moment, and I didn’t understand it, but the surprise of it stayed with me. Looking back, I can only think that it must have been a deeper, older part of me who had enough experience to appreciate and savor life and youth.
OMTimes: Tell us a little about your Journey into the Spiritual and Conscious Genre.
Sandie Sedgbeer: I think I have largely covered that in my answer to the first question. I would add that although I was an avid reader of every metaphysical book, I could get my hands on, I still approached everything with a degree of skepticism. My criterion was always my gut. I was aware that some books ‘resonated’ with me at some level, and something in me knew they were closer to the truth than others. Still, there was a definite sense of sorting books and information into YES and NO piles going on. But something happened in 1987, which I later realized was the year of the Harmonic Convergence. I didn’t know that then, and I cannot pinpoint the actual timing of the shift within me. But suddenly, I seemed to have a strong knowledge, which hadn’t been so clear before, that what had once been a suspicion had now become a belief. The only way I could describe it is to say that it was as if something that had been ‘out there’ was now ‘in here.’ And I understood, without knowing how I knew this, that I had not been studying to learn in the usual way, to be convinced, but rather I had been looking for information that would help me remember what I already knew.
OMTimes: Have you learned anything from someone critical of you?
Sandie Sedgbeer: Like many people, I need to think carefully about criticism. On the one hand, it can be hard to take and easy to dismiss. But while I might find my ego shrinking or leaping to defend myself in the face of criticism, I know that there is a part of me that wants to know the truth, that strives to be better, and thus cannot shirk from self-inquiry and owning my mistakes. To me, self-knowledge is a necessity. It’s a drive in me, which is why I studied astrology, numerology, human design, gene keys, etc. I don’t want to be the kind of person who is oblivious to their faults. I know there is more to me than the physical. I want to know it all… the physical, the persona I am playing with in this lifetime, the lessons and experiences I chose to have in this form, and everything that is me beyond this form.
And that means putting my big girl pants on and learning from it all.
OMTimes: As one of the big conscious influencers worldwide, not only in the conscious realms but also spiritually and now in the scientific community, how do you evaluate the actual state of Consciousness in our niche?
Sandie Sedgbeer: I think there are many states and levels of Consciousness, and thus we have to accept that every one of us is transitioning from one state to another.
And some of us can spend an awful lot of time moving through that transition. We can get stuck; we can try to leapfrog and bypass some states of mind that feel like they might require a bit more work than we want to give them. I can’t really comment on other people and their states. I do clearly see that many of us do not clearly see… until we do. I see how some teachers are so passionate about sharing what they know that they put their all into it and, later down the road, have so much invested in it that keeps the machinery of living that passion in motion that it has become a driving factor that sometimes requires things from them that they might not have considered doing at the beginning. Some people get seduced by being in the spotlight. Some get seduced by the attention, the adoration, and the projections of their followers. I always find that a little sad because it is a trap that any of us is susceptible to.
I am not, by nature, a patient person, and I don’t suffer fools gladly, so I have to consciously work harder at remembering that we’re all on a journey. Just because I don’t find someone authentic, others are gaining something valuable from them. So, it’s not an easy question to answer. I can be judgmental, and I also know that I am not qualified to sit in judgment.
OMTimes: Do you believe in gurus? Do you have a guru?
Sandie Sedgbeer: I do not believe in gurus, and I do not have one. I do not believe in giving one’s power away to others. I do believe that we all have everything we need within us. It took me a long time to come to that conclusion about myself and to trust my inner guidance. Still, the proof of the pudding lies in the knowledge that my inner guidance never lets me down. I think the time of gurus and teachers is over. I believe we are beyond that now. We are all teachers, and we can all learn from each other. I am a strong advocate of never surrendering one’s sovereignty to anyone. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people I respect, admire, and want to learn from.
I prefer to use the terms ‘mentors’ and ‘guides’ rather than gurus. And I have been very fortunate to have several wonderful mentors and guides.
OMTimes: Do you have a superpower? If so, what is it?
Sandie Sedgbeer: That makes me think back to the five or six-year-old me with my coat buttoned around my neck, flying back from my shoulders as I raced around the playground pretending to be Superman. I think I might have developed a few natural “powers’ that I would put in that category. One is the power of my intuition. Another is the power of my intention. I have tested both to the hilt and have been astonished by what can be achieved when we apply these powers that we all have access to.
OMTimes: Tell us how your gift (superpower) changed you, helped someone, or expanded your horizons.
Sandie Sedgbeer: When I wanted to come to America, I knew that I would have to get a work permit if I wanted to stay for any length of time. Friends in the USA had introduced two possibilities. I had been talking to two CEOs, one in San Diego and one in Tiburon, about two potential jobs. When nothing happened, I gave myself six months to live with my sister on one of the Gulf Islands in BC between Vancouver and Victoria and continue seeking a job in the USA from there.
After a couple of months of rest and relaxation, I went on Monster Board one day to start a serious search when I came across an ad for the potential job in San Diego that I had been investigating. I contacted the CEO and told him I was now in BC. He said he hadn’t been able to get his head around the distance, but now that I was on the same continent if I was prepared to fly at my own expense to San Diego for a meeting, he would be very happy to talk to me.
A few weeks before that, I had been surprised by one of those “books falling off a shelf” in a 2nd handbook store on the island. It was Jose Silva’s The Silver Method of Mind Control. I had, of course, bought and read the book. So, I decided that since I only had four months left on my visa, I had to manifest that job in San Diego, which sounded like a fabulous place to live for a Brit who hated the cold. So I applied myself assiduously to putting Jose Silva’s method into practice.
As still something of a skeptic, I decided that to prove this method to myself, I had to build into my visualization process three unlikely things that would have to happen for me to believe that I was responsible for manifesting a positive outcome.
So, I did. And on the day of the interview, all three of those unlikely things happened in the order that I had placed them. The first was that the CEO would offer me the job that very day. And that he would take care of all the costs involved in getting my work permit. The second was that he would take me to lunch. And the third was that after lunch, he would drive me around San Diego to see my new home. When that happened, I recognized and acknowledged the power of my intention. And have used it many times in the same way since. It’s never failed.
However, there is a caveat.
We all know it–Be careful what you wish for. I was triumphant when those three things happened. I couldn’t wait to call my sister when I was back at the hotel and share my jubilation. Except, when I started telling her, I became aware of this ‘aching pit’ feeling in my gut. Something was not right. I had everything I had hoped for, yet I could feel this nagging sensation telling me this might not be the best thing for me.
And it was right. I started working for the dot com straight away while living in BC and waiting for my work visa. So, by the time I got that and moved to San Diego in January of 1999, I knew that this company and I were not a good fit. I hated the job, and six months later, I left that company and took a job in Manhattan. One positive was that I fell in love with San Diego. I met my spiritual family within a few weeks, and we are all still very close. And I felt for a long time that I was living in my spiritual home. The second positive was that when I was offered the job in Manhattan, but didn’t want to leave San Diego; I now knew what I had to do to have the company in Manhattan agree to let me work from San Diego and commute one week a month to NY.
And, yes, my method worked again.
So, I consider that my secret superpower.
OMTimes: What is the most challenging aspect of being a spiritually conscious individual?
Sandie Sedgbeer: Without a doubt, the most challenging aspect is coping with being a human. We are fallible. We are easily influenced. We have emotions and desires that often get in the way. And once one is spiritually conscious, one can’t help but be aware of this, so one has to be very vigilant about applying self-inquiry whenever one can.
Click here to continue to Page 2 of the interview with Sandie Sedgbeer
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