From Ocean Legacy to Inner Healing: A Conversation with Céline Cousteau

POH Frank: When you look back at your childhood, which started in Los Angeles, was there a specific experience that already planted a seed for the path you’re on today?

Céline: Well, yes, my story does begin in Los Angeles. I left when I was four, so at this point in my life it’s a very small piece that I don’t remember much of. But first of all, growing up in the family that I did exposed me to a lot of what was going on in the world internationally. As a child, it wasn’t about the urgency of saving the environment, it was about adventure and exploration. What I saw was a mother, who was an expedition photographer, taking photographs all around the world. I learned about the places she had gone to through her stories—not just through my grandfather Jacques Cousteau’s public stories, but through that more personal side as well.

Travel, adventure, wellness, connection—none of that begins with one specific moment. It doesn’t have to begin with something absolutely extraordinary. It can starts with the daily and what we might consider mundane.

What are the habits we have at home? How do we learn to interact with the environment? How do we see ourselves in the world? What cultures do we expose ourselves to? Do we go out into nature for our health and well-being, or do we stay indoors? Do we venture out of our comfort zone to expand and explore?
It was an accumulation of all of that for me. To grow up with curiosity as a guide. The entourage I had around me almost made it a natural extension to think that we have this connection with everything.

The work I’m doing now as a guide to Fulfillment within a great team at Unlimited Life where we offer a wholistic approach to well-being/wellness—is really the culmination of many things I have done in my life. I studied psychology because I wanted to understand the human condition. At the time I wasn’t thinking about saving the planet. I was curious: why do people suffer? Why does that suffering show up as debilitating disease, addiction, anger? And as life went on, I wanted to understand the behaviors that destroy the very home we depend on – because it is so self-destructive.

Fast forward about thirty years later, and when you combine an understanding of the human condition with a deeper understanding of what’s happening to our planet, you start to see parallels. And that’s the focus for me now – human wellness and planetary health go hand in hand.

POH Frank: But you started as a documentary filmmaker?

Céline: My work in documentary filmmaking began with my father and a series we did for PBS/KQED, Ocean Adventures. I offered to help with logistics and ended up in front of the camera. Because of my curious nature, I still wanted to understand the humans I was meeting and interviewing – back to psychology. Sitting down and interviewing someone feels very similar to that. Who are you? What motivates you? What do you love? Why do you do what you do? Why does it matter?

Having the opportunity to do that through documentary work, I then felt how much I loved being out in the elements, in nature, in all the various ecosystems and how alive it felt to be challenged in adapting to all the parts of Nature – arctic, jungle, altitude. These field experiences are also deeply about understanding the relationship between humans and nature. My own as well.

POH Frank: You already answered all my questions. Perfect. That was the interview—thank you. (laughs). I didn’t realize how organic this development was—you were always embedded in this world from an early age.

Céline: I had access to it—and I still do. I feel incredibly privileged in the upbringing I had because my mind was open. I wasn’t part of a system or a family with unilateral thinking. The world was something to explore and understand. And fall I love with.

What’s out there? What stories can we tell? As time went on and as my family’s work matured, it became more about what’s happening to our environment because of us—and what we can do. Now it’s taken another step, returning to my original studies and curiosity of human nature and psychology, and adding the elements of wellness. It’s not only about looking outside ourselves and asking what we should do. It’s about going back within ourselves and asking the questions.

We haven’t been paying enough attention to this: the illness of our planet is a reflection of our own illness. If we’re not able to heal and care for our internal ecosystem—if we don’t even understand it—how can we expect to go out into the world and act sustainably, meaningfully, and in a balanced way?

I’m coming back to my psychology studies and to the idea of health and well-being. Not just wellness, and not just external health, but a holistic approach to how we, as humans, actually thrive. Here’s another layer of this. We’re taught a lot that there’s a problem of scarcity: too many humans, not enough land; too many humans, not enough food. But is part of this overconsumption? Is part of it waste? Is part of it how we treat our neighbors?

Is part of it that fear has ingrained in us the belief that we live in a world of scarcity? What if we believed we lived in a world of abundance? Someone stops at my door, and I’ve made dinner for two. They say they’re hungry, and I say, “Oh, there’s plenty of food.” I can go without three or four mouthfuls, and suddenly there’s a meal for another person.

I’m giving you a very basic example that might seem naive—but it’s about shifting our mindset in how we see the world. Which then shifts how we behave. But first we need to feel well within ourselves.

POH Frank: I think, in general, humans—very broadly speaking—spend the first part of life exploring the outside world. And then, after a certain age, the journey turns inward. You start to see how everything is connected. Hopefully, you develop mindfulness and a certain perspective. What are you actually focusing on? Are you focusing on fear-based stories?

Whatever you focus on gets more energized. And I think that’s why we’re in such a crisis—because we’re focusing on the end of the world. Instead, we need to focus on shifting our perspective toward the beauty of the world and then enhancing that beauty, because it’s essential for survival.

When I look at your résumé—you’ve spoken at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum—what keeps you going? What excites you? What sparks your curiosity? Where does your hunger come from?

Céline: I think a lot of it starts with curiosity and care. I’m curious about different places, different people, and different themes. I see the interconnection between so many things and want to understand and share whatever I have learned, is it can help others. I want to reach out further than the obvious audience or project.

Just now, I was on the phone with a collaborator Susan Foster. We’ve co-created a collection of jewelry, BluLagartos

Someone might say, “What does that have to do with anything nature or wellness?” And I say, “Well, people wear jewelry, and jewelry tells stories.”

In this case, it’s a jewelry collection benefitting the National Trust in the Cayman Islands, and the profits support the protection of fragile flora and species like the endemic bleu iguana. Through this collection, we co-designed something that allows us to tell a story that looks different from a documentary, a PSA, a poster— and we reach another audience.

Those elements excite me. They challenge me to communicate differently, to think differently, to consider a new audience and ask: how do I reach them?

Let’s go back to the work I’m doing with Unlimited Life – we have a trifecta approach to wellness with our senior team: Dr Time Cook is our functional doctor and expert in Longevity medicine, Dave Asprey is the founder of the Biohacking movement, and Marc and Craig Keilburger and myself are there on the third component, Fulfillment. This works hand in hand with my work on environmental issues and as a storyteller – because if through our wellness program people life longer, healthier lives, and we can support them to identify and live more meaningful, connected, aligned, and thoughtful lives…this will inevitably work for the benefit of those around them; the family, the community, and even nature itself. The reason is, that when we know how to care for our internal ecosystems (physical, mental, spiritual), we have the awareness to understand that what is outside of us is an extension of us – and so we can create the awareness and ability to care for more than ourselves because we’ve created the space and peace to do so.

So the ask is- if you’re going to live a longer, healthier life, what are you going to do with it? I’m deeply engaged because I see people who are genuinely concerned about their health. And I have the opportunity, while they’re focusing on holistic healthcare, to ask: what are you going to do with this one beautiful life? Let’s find something meaningful, something purpose-driven that brings you joy. This fuels my own joy because I am in service, not only doing something I enjoy, but because I get to witness other humans learn how to thrive.

POH Frank: I saw on your website—Minga Lodge. Are you starting to co-create or co-produce retreats or programming? What is it exactly that you do to bridge your education, your environmental work, and your experience as an explorer—with all your connections to Indigenous communities?

Céline: The work at Minga Lodge is associated with Unlimited Life and because we are immersed in the Ecuadorian Amazon, it is an incredible opportunity to connect with nature – an essential element in our collective healing. I am also co-hosting another retreat there with Dr Tim Cook for an Ecuadorian group led by physiotherapist Gisela Toledo of Spotfix, alongside other practitioners teaching breathwork and cold immersion.

As part of the Unlimited Life membership program, we bring members to Minga Lodge for a week-long retreat. During that time, they go through their full medical reports and we also do deep dives into workshops focused on longevity medicine, biohacking, connection, belonging, and healing.

We work with local practitioners who lead temazcal and cacao ceremonies to tap into ancient practices of healing. There’s a cold plunge, opportunities for deep tissue massage, and a full gym. Essentially, we access all the modalities of potential healing. Plus we are in a container where nature is our ally. There’s truly no effort required to connect with nature—nature is simply always surrounding us and that is true medicine.

By doing this work in the middle of such a powerful and beautiful ecosystem, it changes your internal nervous system. It recalibrates you to a different pace of life. Neurologically, that alone has been shown to support healing. It’s an extraordinary environment for this work.

When we talk about healing—which you mentioned earlier—people often associate wellness with something like a yoga retreat. And that’s wonderful, absolutely helpful, and something I fully support. But when we look at well-being through a more holistic lens, we have to consider all components. Thinking that we’re separate from nature in the healing process is a mistake.

Being able to bring my background in environmental work and exploration into this—bringing wellness workshops into the natural ecosystem and observing what unfolds while we’re there—is incredibly powerful.

POH Frank: Are you also offering the whole spectrum of plant medicine work in the retreats—things like psychedelics?

Céline: I’m not a trained plant medicine holder the way many would define it or perhaps think of such as psilocybin or ayahuasca, though I have trained with cacao as a medicine. I want to honor those who carry the expertise, the knowledge, and the ancestry connected to that work. We work with cacao in Minga, which really shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s much gentler than many of the medicines people seek out, but still very powerful. We hold temazcal ceremonies, which help recalibrate the nervous system. It’s essentially four rounds in a sweat lodge, and symbolizing a rebirth. This practice could be called the original biohacking – the OGB – haha. Many people find sweats very challenging. Though I have worked with plant medicine outside of these retreats, and I’ve seen the profound progress it can bring—for others and for myself- I don’t believe it’s a necessary part of healing unless you are called to it. I would caution the fashion of it all and only seek it if this is true to who you are – in your heart and spirit.

Nature has given us many medicines that we shouldn’t ignore—medicines we’ve denatured and taken for granted. Cacao and coca leaf, in their pure forms. Tobacco, pure, when used in prayer and ceremony. All of these have been deeply misunderstood and abused. Even coffee fits into this conversation in how we have flavored it, modified it, sweetened it like cacao into cocoa–turned into a sugary commercial product for profit.

If we truly look at the healing elements of plants, we’d see that nature is working for us. Time and again, she’s offered us medicines. The real question is: what are we doing with them?

POH Frank: Psychedelics are suddenly trending, and everyone seems to be looking for easy access to healing. I’m curious about your perspective—especially through storytelling and cultural translation. How do you navigate the ethical responsibility that comes with this kind of wisdom? We live in a capitalistic society, and the moment something appears, people jump on it and market it. Sometimes it feels like the sacredness of this work gets lost. How do you deal with bringing a Western mindset into these worlds while explaining such powerful, nature-based healing modalities?

Céline: I studied with a gentleman here in North Carolina who trained with the Paqos, the healers of the Andes in Peru. I completed a healing intensive course with the Eagle Condor Council, and then went to Peru to work directly with the Paqos. We did ceremonies—but when I say ceremonies, I don’t mean plant ceremonies. I mean offerings. Offerings to Pachamama, to the entities embodied in all things around us in nature. We visited sacred sites, sat in prayer, and made offerings to the land and to the water. There’s a concept called Ayni – which means sacred reciprocity. It’s about sacred exchange. That exchange doesn’t have to look equal by Western standards. It is as I give, I receive. That, in itself, is a ceremony.

What I found fascinating is that the Paqos we learned from don’t have a sense of proprietorship over this knowledge. They understand that if this wisdom is meant to travel beyond their borders—beyond their own access and capacity— and others need to help carry it.

Those people are called chakrunas, which translated from Quechua means “bridge people.” I like to think of it as a weaving bridge. We are people who can walk between worlds. People who can translate ideas and thoughts, who can carry understanding from one place to another. That’s where I see my role.  I work with places and people I deeply trust, and who trust me, to serve as a bridge—to help create authentic understanding.

Why do these plant medicines exist? Why does this cosmology exist? How can we better understand our relationship with the natural world and restore a sacred relationship—whether or not plant medicine is involved?

A lot of it comes down to authenticity. If you’re doing this just so you can say you did an ayahuasca retreat, that’s easy now—you can find dozens of places to do that.
But if you take shortcuts, the result will reflect the shortcut. Always.

POH Frank: I think we’re in a similar position, actually. We’re more like storytellers—people who point in different directions. The healing journey is so personal and individual. Certain modalities work for some people and don’t work for others. That’s why I really resonate with this idea of being a bridge builder—saying, “Here’s one path, here’s another path,” and then letting people experience for themselves what resonates. You have to feel it. You have to experience whether something works for you or not.

Céline: Yes,  fully agree. I’m an experiential learner. You can give me a stack of books, and maybe a few things will stick. But if I don’t do it myself—if I’m not in it, if I don’t experience it somatically—it just doesn’t land. Once it does, then I can bring it to others.

POH Frank: It can be challenging to be curious. You go down dark alleys and into dark caves without knowing what you’ll find. Hopefully, you come out wiser, more grown, stronger—and you didn’t disappear in the cave.

Céline: That’s where intention matters. You know this—setting intention is everything. If you go in with the right intention and an honest heart, you’ll get what you need out of it, even if the way there is tough. It may not be what you thought you were going to get. This is also where I feel concern around the capitalist mentality surrounding plant medicine—how it could become a commodity, or be restricted, or vilified. But I still believe that what needs to happen will happen on a global level. As much as fear dominates so much right now, if we let ourselves be dominated by it, then it’s doing exactly what it’s meant to do.

So can we keep dreaming? Can we continue to be a light, to be love? These things actually have a huge impact. In the United States right now there’s something called the Walk for Peace. It’s a group of Buddhist monks who left Texas on foot, walking to Washington, D.C. They didn’t decide to create a big movement and set out to be popular on social media. They simply said, “This is our work.” They’re walking for love. They’re walking for peace. That intention makes the change happen – the attention then follows, the movement grows – because we ALL need more of this, more peace, more love, more authenticity.

They’re now in South Carolina. And everywhere they go, the streets are lined with people offering flowers and kind words. That vibration—that energy—is what creates change. Does it cancel out all the chaos and negativity? Maybe not. But it creates the movement it’s meant to create. What’s happening in the world depends on what we’re paying attention to.

I was in Asheville just over a year ago when hurricane Helene leveled a big area of our town and neighbors’, and people asked me how it looks now. I said, “It depends where you look.” Some neighborhoods look untouched. Others are completely devastated—roofs mangled, warehouses destroyed, homes gone. I think it’s the same everywhere, hurricane or not. Where are we placing our attention? Where are we putting our energy?

I could scroll through negativity all day, or I could follow the Walk for Peace—and every time I do, it genuinely brightens my day. I think, “Oh my God, this feels amazing.” Maybe it’s simple. 

Maybe that’s just one way of getting through the day. Go walk – with intention. Have a kind gesture. Give a longer hug. Say something nice. Slow down. Pause. Smile.

POH Frank: When you raise your vibration through joyful moments, it naturally affects the people around you—your family, the people you’re close to. And because we’re all connected, that higher frequency spreads outward.

It shows up in how you make your next film, how you give your next talk, how you move through the world. Excitement, joy, laughter—these are things we humans really need. And if you can transmit that energy instead of constantly focusing on the idea that this is the end of the world, it makes a difference.

So if you had a crystal ball and looked 20 or 50 years into the future, what would be your wish for humanity? And what would you hope your work contributes to that future?

Céline: I’ll take my work out of it, because what I do is just a small piece of a much bigger puzzle. What I would hope—20, 30, 50 years from now—is that we have more love for each other. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. I’d start with more self-care, because that naturally leads to more care and respect for others.

It would be beautiful if people felt safe. So many people don’t feel safe in their homes, their towns, or their countries—and often with reason. When we feel safe and we don’t live in scarcity or fear, imagine what becomes possible. You step outside and think,

It’s a beautiful day. I feel safe. I’m not scared. I have love. And I have love to give.

I don’t have a formula for how to get there—other than continuing to live the most fulfilled life I can. Because if we’re living fulfilled lives, aren’t we doing something good for everyone?

I move through the world differently. I’m not angry when someone cuts me off (I am working on this! Haha). I’m not upset because a grocery store doesn’t have exactly what I want. I feel content. I have compassion. I have the privilege of doing work I love. I have my health. I have love in my life. And at the end of each day, I can say I’m okay. And if not, I pause. I breathe. I call a friend.

If I can help others feel that way—even in a small way—that’s incredible. Because then they go out and do the same.

We had a woman on one of our trips who told us about reacting completely differently in a stressful situation she would have panicked at before. Simply because her nervous system had recalibrated, because she had tools to stay centered, she didn’t panic. Instead, she thought, Okay, I understand. I think we’ll be fine.

And then think about what that means—she shows up for her kids differently when she gets home. She shows up for her friends and family differently. She feels healthier, less stressed. She sleeps better. Her mind isn’t constantly churning. All because she is showing up for herself.

That’s where change really happens.

POH Frank: Thank you so much for your time—it was a pleasure.