As we step into a new year, I’ve been reflecting a lot on what it truly means to heal–not just from trauma, but from the related patterns of pushing, proving, and overriding ourselves in the name of productivity, success, or even “purpose.”
Recently, I reconnected with Christa, a graduate of my Beyond Surviving program. We originally connected around the meaningful work she does as a coach, and we talked about sharing more about that journey here. But in our latest conversation, something even more honest and powerful emerged.
Christa shared that she had decided to take a break from her coaching business this year. Not because the work isn’t meaningful, but because it is emotionally taxing–and she is choosing to honor her capacity, her intuition, and her need for balance. When she told me this, my response was immediate and wholehearted: this is a big win.
This kind of choice doesn’t come from avoidance or failure. It comes from healing. It is the result of learning how to listen to your body, your nervous system, and your inner knowing. It means trusting yourself enough to say no–even to things that once felt like the “right” path.
I invited Christa, only if it felt aligned for her, to write about this pivot as a New Year’s reflection. Not another year of pressing, forcing, and depleting ourselves–but a year oriented toward peace, alignment, and flow.
What she wrote is honest and deeply resonant. I’m so grateful she was willing to share it here:
When I started my journey into healing my digestive issues in my early twenties, I was eager to learn everything I could about health, well-being, and personal development. What began as a personal search for answers slowly turned into something else: I started taking certification courses, not just to understand myself better, but to help others, as well. After completing my Ayurveda certification almost two decades later, I stepped into the role of health counsellor, ready and excited to work with clients.
Looking back now, years later, I can see much more clearly what happened.
What I truly wanted was simple: to help people. I wanted to understand them, support them, guide them in breaking patterns, and help them heal–just as I had done. But very quickly, my days filled up with other things. Creating programs. Building websites. Writing yet another landing page. Designing freebies. Posting on social media. Learning marketing strategies. Trying to “grow my audience.”
This was all well-meant advice from the various business coaches I worked with–and it wasn’t necessarily wrong. But it slowly drained the life out of me.
It was stressful and time-consuming, and the painful irony was that I was hardly coaching anyone. I spent more time thinking about clever Instagram captions than sitting with real people, listening deeply, and doing the work I was actually trained for and loved.
Without really choosing it, I had become a creator-based entrepreneur–something I never aspired to be. At the same time, I was struggling financially, while being promised six-figure outcomes if I just tried harder, created more, and optimized better.
Over those six years, I created program after program. I hired more business coaches. I followed strategies that didn’t fit me, and watched them fail. The process depleted me, chipped away at my confidence, and eventually left me questioning whether I wanted to keep coaching at all.
But I am not quitting coaching.
What I am quitting are fancy program names, endless landing pages, constant posting on Instagram, and the pressure to produce more content, more materials, and more “proof.” I’m quitting doing things just for the gram. I’m quitting the all-consuming stress. I never wanted that life.
This pivot I’m making now–moving away from being a creator-based entrepreneur and back to simply being a coach–isn’t a step backwards. It’s a return–a remembering. This is a choice to honor how I actually work best, not how the industry says I should.
And maybe this journey was never really about building something external at all. Maybe it was my own healing path: a slow return home to myself. Moving through trauma, hardship, and old patterns of pushing, I was finally ready to listen, trust, and honor my own rhythm.
As we move into a new year, I’m not setting intentions around bigger goals or more output. I’m choosing a different orientation, even though I don’t yet know exactly how it will unfold.
Less pressing.
Less forcing.
Less building from depletion.
More listening.
More honesty.
More choosing ease.
I don’t have this all figured out. I’m not claiming that choosing peace automatically makes things easy or clear. What I am doing is experimenting–noticing what feels aligned and what doesn’t, and allowing myself to respond, instead of overriding.
This pivot isn’t a final destination. It’s a practice–one I’m committed to trying and trusting.
Christa is a non-diet Ayurveda health counsellor, intuitive eating coach, and body image coach. With her approach, she helps women release stress, guilt, and anxiety around food and helps them to trust their body’s cues again with compassion and confidence. Originally from the Netherlands, she resides in Vancouver with her wife and two cats and is a graduate of “Beyond Surviving.”
If you are interested in learning more about her work, reach out to her at [email protected].
I hope her words invite you to pause and gently ask: what would it look like to honor yourself more this year?
To flow instead of force!
Rachel
P.S. If you’re ready to take the next step in healing from abuse and would like to explore enrolling in the Beyond Surviving program, start by applying for a Discover Your Genuine Self Session.
Photo by Peter Trones on Unsplash
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