We’re looking forward to introducing you to Shaman Ada trinh. Check out our conversation below.
Shaman Ada, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
One of the biggest misunderstandings about my work in shamanism is that people think it’s about me giving them answers or taking away their problems. In reality, true shamanic work is a path of deepening your relationship with yourself. This is the lesson that has been revealed to me over and over since I began walking this path in 2018.
Many people arrive expecting me to act as a psychic—someone who can tell them their future or resolve their challenges for them. But shamanism is different. It’s the ability to see beyond a single timeline. Some psychics can see what has happened before this moment and what may unfold as a result—a kind of cause-and-effect perspective. In my work, I track into multiple timelines, which allows me to guide people toward their highest, most aligned timeline.
Because life is always shifting and changing, nothing is set in stone—except what you believe to be true. From that space, shamanic work becomes less about prediction and more about transformation. It’s about helping people return to the essence of who they really are. I believe we are all spirit beings inhabiting a human body, and to be spiritual is simply to come home to your true essence.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Ada Trinh, though many know me as Shaman Ada. I carry the ancestral roots of my Vietnamese lineage, guided especially by my late grandfather and the wisdom of my ancestors. My work as a shaman is centered on helping people remember who they truly are—spirit beings having a human experience.
Through sound, voice activation, ceremony, and energy medicine, I guide people to release old patterns, heal deeply, and reconnect with their essence. What makes my work unique is that it bridges ancestral teachings with modern practices, weaving together lineages and traditions from around the world. I often say that I’m not here to “fix” anyone—I’m here to create a sacred space where they can return home to themselves.
My brand, Medicine Bear Temple, was born from this vision. The bear is a sacred symbol in my family—we often call each other “bears”—and in many traditions, the bear carries the medicine of strength, courage, protection, and renewal. It reminds us of the power of retreat and hibernation, and the wisdom that comes from stillness before re-emerging with new life. Medicine Bear Temple is more than a brand; it is a podcast, a school, and a community—both digital and physical—where wisdom is shared, healing is nurtured, and people are invited to awaken their creative genius.
A central part of my work is singing as medicine. I sing with my ancestors, and my voice becomes like a horse—carrying them from the invisible realms into the visible, bringing their healing energy into this world. Through song, I serve as a bridge, allowing their medicine to be felt, heard, and received.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
I was eight years old the first time I visited Vietnam with my mom and little sister. I’d always felt a little different, like there was something about me I couldn’t yet name. I grew up watching Sailor Moon and dreaming of being a superhero — but that summer was the first time I truly felt powerful.
One afternoon during monsoon season, it was pouring rain so hard that my cousins said it might take a whole day or more to clear. We had planned to go to an amusement park, but it seemed impossible. While no one was looking, I slipped outside and sat on the edge of a small shack. The rainwater was streaming down, and I just… connected.
I introduced myself to the rain: ‘Hello rain, my name is Ada. I’m visiting from the States, and I really want to go to the amusement park. I may never get this chance again. Can you please stop raining so I can go? Pretty please. I love you rain. Thank you for hearing my prayers.’
About thirty minutes later, the rain stopped. The skies cleared just enough for us to go to the amusement park. And that evening, when we returned home, the rain began again. As a child, I truly believed the rain had heard me.
As I grew older, I forgot that magic — the magic of true connection. But walking this shamanic path has helped me return to that place. Every raindrop, every brush of wind on your skin, every tree and bird — they are all alive, listening, and speaking to us. We just have to slow down, believe, and trust ourselves to listen to the magic that surrounds us every day.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The biggest fear that held me back in my life was the belief that I wasn’t enough.
I grew up in the South Boston projects in the late 90s, and my family was one of the only Asian families in the neighborhood. It was rough. I didn’t see anyone who looked like me, and I often felt out of place. I remember wishing I had blonde hair and blue eyes. I remember crying in my room after being bullied, asking God: Why did you make me Asian? Why do I have small eyes? Why do I eat food that people call stinky? Why am I so different?
That pain stayed with me for a long time. I spent years hustling, chasing money and success to prove my worth — sacrificing my energy, time, and even my values to feel like I was enough. But the truth I discovered is that I always was. I didn’t need to betray myself to be accepted.
Now I see that our differences are our medicine. If we were all the same, there would be nothing to learn from each other. It’s through our different backgrounds, stories, and struggles that we connect in a deeper way. Today, I know that being “enough” isn’t about working harder or seeking approval. It’s about loving, understanding, and forgiving the parts of me that once felt unworthy. My shadows and my trauma don’t define me—they’ve become the very places where my strength and compassion were born.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I believe that no matter how gifted someone is as a healer or how much power they hold, it doesn’t matter if they lack strong values. Without a moral compass, all the external success in the world means nothing. And I feel this truth even more deeply now, in an age where technology and AI are growing rapidly. It’s our values that bring us back to what really matters.
For me, that always begins with family. Family isn’t perfect—there are conflicts, disagreements, and moments of disconnection. But it’s how we choose to move through those challenges together that matters. What we practice within our families becomes the mirror for how we show up in the world. On a larger scale, I see humanity as one family living together on Mother Earth. From the eyes of the eagle, we are all connected.
I am committed, for however long it takes, to building conscious communities that love, support, and heal one another. This is the mission of Medicine Bear Temple—our podcast, our school, and our community. We are dedicated to connecting healers, wisdom keepers, guides, and mystics with people seeking a safe place to heal and grow. To create peace on Earth, we must walk through the fires of healing—allowing them to burn away the distorted lenses we’ve carried—and we need community to support us in that process.
As a generational Vietnamese shaman, I know my work is not for everyone, but I also know it is essential. My hope is to create spaces where people feel safe, guided, and connected, so together we can uplift humanity and give back to the Earth. This is the vision I’m committed to, no matter how long it takes.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
When I’m gone, I hope the story people tell about me is that I helped them see that life doesn’t have to be so complicated or hard. That life can be simple, and it begins with our inner beliefs.
Through my own healing and many initiations with my ancestors, I’ve come to understand that everything we experience on this planet moves in cycles of time. We each arrived here having already agreed to play this board game of life. The question then becomes: how can we make it easier? The answer is simple, but paradoxical—you intend it. Life will then reflect back to you all the places where you still believe it has to be hard. Those are the opportunities to shift your beliefs and choose differently.
My ancestors have taught me that we are living in a cycle where the Divine Mother within all of us has been asleep—the gentle, kind, patient, loving parts of ourselves. But now, we are entering a great turning point in history: the Great Mother is awakening. She is calling us to be more tender, more compassionate, more supportive of ourselves and one another.
I often say we each carry two dragons inside us—a yang dragon and a yin dragon. For a long time, the yang, or masculine dragon, has dominated, which is why our society feels so burned out and imbalanced. Now, the yin, the feminine dragon, is returning home. It will take time for us to recalibrate our inner systems, but once we do, life begins to feel lighter, softer, and more easeful.
So the story I hope people tell about me is this: that I reminded them of the magic of simplicity, the power of their own beliefs, and the awakening of the Great Mother within us all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shamanada.com
- Instagram: shaman.ada
Image Credits
Vanessa Augustine- Theracollective
Irvin Rivera- Graphics Metropolis
Rachel Madrigal-Twinflame Photo
