Dear wonderful people,
I was so touched by the beautiful response I got from so many of you after my last email. Thank you for sharing so much love with me. It felt so good and helps me continue to heal!
After sharing my experience healing from the dreaded “c-word” a few days ago, I am reflecting a lot on how to proceed from here. I have spent the past few months really asking myself what I can do differently, especially in terms of stress management, so I stay cancer-free forever. It’s an interesting experience in noticing the fear that can pop up, and being aware that worrying about something that may or may not happen is exactly the opposite of stress management!
I am being given a perfect opportunity to practice all the tools.
In all seriousness, I actually welcome the opportunity to try and see how I can proceed in a different way in everything I do. For some people, after a life-threatening disease (it feels so weird to call it that) they completely change their lifestyles – their careers, eating, etc. While I have slightly altered my eating (less carbs, less sugar), I really love what I do and want to keep doing it. Teaching, counseling, supporting and guiding people seeking healing and soul growth has been such a blessing in my life. Every time I go on vacation, I often look forward to returning to doing my soul work… being of service really feels good to the soul.
So it doesn’t feel right to stop doing what I’m doing, but just to make some tweaks to how I’m doing it. It’s in each and every moment that I have a choice on how to respond. Will I let something my kids say or do irritate me, and will I create a story around it? Will I let myself work too much again, ignoring that little voice that told me to take a break and do some art?
I have been pausing to really listen to that little voice, my intuition, more and more. This voice is what has guided me through the past 8 months, and what has told me that I’d be okay, that I was meant to survive this (because I wasn’t so sure for a while). It also told me that I’d be helping people somehow who are also reeling from a cancer diagnosis. I really resisted this for a while, as I was so DONE with the world of cancer. But I have heard from a number of people who are also struggling with this, and it’s something I have learned a lot about in all my research and experiences! We will see where that takes me.
Maybe you can relate to this all, whether you have had a serious health issue or not. 2025 has been brutal for so many of us. It’s the year when we *chose* to break some big patterns from this life and many (if not ALL) past lives. We have the tools to do this, and anything that really needed to be cleared once and for all came up to be cleared.
I really love teaching, and I really love new challenges. In 2024, I became a Master Trainer with IACT/IMDHA to teach interested spiritual practitioners to become hypnotherapists. I taught this program for the first time last year, and while planning the curriculum was a lot of work, it was fascinating to do.
During the actual classes, I was so happy to see that the students not only were excited about what they were learning too, but they were healing themselves in the process. (One thing that’s pretty cool is that they offered and received hypnotherapy in almost every class, so they were clearing away blocks, breaking old habits and just feeling better overall!)
I ruminated on if I’m ready to teach again, and I realize that I am so very eager to do something to contribute, and to do something I really enjoy (bringing more joy is crucial). I’ll be sharing more about the program soon, but you can check out the Hypnotherapy Certification Program page now if you like. It will start in mid-February, but there’s an extra incentive for people who sign up by the New Year. What better way to kick off 2026, I figure?
At any rate, another thing I’ll be doing now is really just cutting through the bull&*#t of all the marketing stuff and social media “best practices” that I’ve been taught. I really just want to be real with people, and say it like it is. There’s no other way that feels good to my heart. We are all just humans, after all, doing the best we can in this world. We all have callings and gifts, and some of us are still uncovering what those are. One thing that I know I do NOT want to ever be is an “influencer” or a “guru” of any kind. We do not need any more saviors to give our power away to or to depend on. We are here to save ourselves and we all have what it takes to do that already within ourselves… sometimes we just need to be reminded of how to do that.
If you’re looking for more resources, check out my website for some free (and a few paid) meditations and tools that you might find helpful. Or, there’s always my Tools for the Awakening Soul book that has a ton of stuff in there.
I love you all, and I am so grateful that you’re still here reading what I have to put out there, hoping that it helps someone, somewhere. I am still here, doing what I’ve been put here to do. And just like you, I make mistakes and stumble my way through, trying to learn and improve as I go.
With deep appreciation for you,
Rachel
P.S. The photo here is of Chris and I at brunch at our favorite breakfast place 10 minutes from us here in Maine. The kids stayed with my brother for the weekend, so we had a few days to ourselves. Dim sum in Boston and a long walk in the woods behind our house exploring a marsh and an area we’ve never seen before amongst the snow, deer and turkeys. I am soaking up every moment of treating myself to food I want to eat (healthy but that tastes good!) and savoring the beauty of this amazing place we live in. I am so deeply grateful to be alive on this beautiful Earth!
