Today I had the pleasure of sitting down with Rachel Havekost. Rachel is an author, a storyteller and a coach who has been on my radar for a long time for her ability to balance sharing some of the really raw and sensitive episodes from her life alongside the tools and techniques she’s used to move through them. She does this in a way that feels grounded, hopeful and oftentimes quite beautiful. Rachel recently published a memoir called “Where The River Flows” in which she writes with her trademark honesty and a real human touch about her battles with her Eating Disorder, depression, anxiety, suicidality, sexual trauma, divorce, and grief. She and I had so much to dive into that I totally forgot until the end that she’s one of the few other people I know who’s done the PanAmerican Highway trip down to Argentina, and as it did for me, it played a pivotal role in her life…but we’ll have to save that story for another episode (or check out her memoir, highly recommend).
Some of the topics we went deep on included:
Learning to sit in the not-knowing and finding joy in letting go
The power of sharing - how speaking out creates a space for others to open up
Learning to love the darkest part of yourself
How asking for help is a learnable skill
Why sometimes it’s important to do away with your rituals and just live without always needing to heal
Prioritizing our social health just as much as our mental and physical health
The time Rachel has spent reflecting on and writing about her experiences clearly shows in her ability to tackle these thorny subjects with deep insight and a lot of grace. I really enjoyed this conversation, hope you will too…let’s see where this goes.
Other topics:
Somatic release thru dance
Navigating experiences for which there is no map.
Acceptance does not mean approval
How to fall apart and how to live for those we’ve lost
Rewriting your life story
#5 - Rachel Havekost - Learning To Sit In The Not-Knowing & How To Love The Darkest Part Of Yourself