Rooted to Rise
Episode 009 Transcript — Cleaned Version
Introduction
Hi, I’m Kimberly Rash, and this is Rooted to Rise. Thank you so much for being here with me today. I want to say thank you for all your support and all your love. You guys have been incredible, and I’m excited to dive into this week’s episode.
Last week, we talked about healing in the messy middle. We talked about how healing isn’t something that happens after life calms down. It happens while you’re raising children, paying bills, showing up for work, caring for other people, and trying to hold yourself together at the same time. The response to that episode was incredible, because I think so many of us are tired of feeling like we’re failing simply because we’re struggling.
Today I want to take that conversation one step further, because whenever we talk about healing, the next question is usually, “Okay, but how do I actually do that?” That’s what today’s episode is about. I’m sharing some of the healing modalities, practices, and tools that have helped me through my own journey.
This is not medical advice, it is not therapy, and it is definitely not here to make you do something perfectly. These are simply things that have reconnected me to myself after years of survival mode. Some of these may resonate with you, some may not, but the goal isn’t to try everything. The goal is to find one thing that helps you take one step toward healing. So let’s dive in.
Healing Isn’t About Fixing Yourself
Before we talk about the modalities, I think it’s important to remember something. Healing isn’t about becoming a different person. Healing isn’t about fixing what’s broken. Healing is about reconnecting with who you were before life convinced you that you weren’t enough.
For years, I thought healing meant reaching some finish line where I no longer felt sadness, fear, anger, disappointment, or grief. But that’s not healing. Healing is learning how to carry those experiences without letting them define you. It’s learning how to come home to yourself. So let’s talk about some of the things that helped me do exactly that.
Journaling
One thing I really enjoyed doing, and it took me a while to get there because I was anti-journaling for a long time for privacy reasons, was journaling. Before you roll your eyes and think, “Yeah, I’ve tried that,” hear me out. Journaling isn’t about writing beautiful words. It’s about your honesty.
For years, I carried everything in my head, the worries, the resentment, the fears, the conversations I replayed over and over. Journaling gave those thoughts somewhere to go. Sometimes healing starts the moment we stop carrying everything alone.
When you write things down, patterns emerge. You begin to notice what triggers you, what hurts you, what inspires you, and you begin hearing your own voice again. Some days my journal pages are long, and some days it’s one sentence. Both count.
Breathwork
I’m excited because in a few weeks I’m going to have an interview with someone who is a master at breathwork. One thing I didn’t realize for years was how stressed my body actually was. I was constantly living in fight or flight. Many women are. When we’re under chronic stress, our nervous system never gets the message that we’re safe. Breathwork helped change that. Breathing intentionally sends a signal to your body that the danger has passed.
One simple practice is inhaling for four counts, holding for four, and exhaling slowly for six. Nothing fancy, just breathing. It sounds simple because it is, but sometimes the simplest things are the most powerful. When you get into a breathwork class or session, whether group or individual, it is amazing what you feel and what you release. Sometimes I feel absolutely nothing except relaxation. We are given the breath of life by our Creator, and sometimes I think we forget to use it.
Meditation
I used to think meditation meant sitting perfectly still with an empty mind. That idea alone stressed me out. What I learned is that meditation is simply about awareness. It’s creating space between you and your thoughts. Instead of reacting to every fear or worry, you learn to observe it. You realize, “Oh, I’m having anxious thoughts. I am not anxiety.”
For me, meditation often looks like sitting quietly with a cup of coffee, listening to a guided meditation, or going on a walking meditation. I try to get my steps in each morning with one playing. Sometimes it’s simply spending a few minutes being present, which I try to do as soon as I wake up, because stillness can be healing in a world that’s constantly demanding our attention.
When you’re intentional before you even get out of bed, you can take that first moment, close your eyes again, and say, “I’m going to be here today.” Then speak into your life the goodness that’s going to happen before your feet hit the floor, and thank your Creator for the day ahead.
Therapy and Life Coaching
Therapy was one of the gifts I reluctantly gave myself. Even with a psych degree, I thought therapy was just whining, but it’s really not. Sometimes we need someone trained to help us see what we can’t see on our own. A therapist can help us identify patterns, challenge our beliefs, process trauma, and understand ourselves in new ways.
Asking for help is an incredible strength. You don’t need to wait until you’re falling apart. You deserve support simply because you’re human, and we all need it. My own therapy experience was honestly more like life coaching than traditional therapy, and I loved the results. That’s why I now offer life coaching as well. I’m in the process of setting up a website to centralize everything, but if you’d like to meet in person or via Zoom, I do have coaching packages put together.
Group Therapy and Support Groups
If solo therapy isn’t your thing, there are group therapies and support groups. There’s something profoundly healing about realizing you’re not the only one. Trauma tells us that we are alone. Healing reminds us we’re connected. Support groups are a safe space where people understand experiences others may never fully grasp, whether it’s grief, domestic violence, addiction recovery, divorce, caregiving, or chronic illness.
There is power in being witnessed and having other people say, “Me too.” Sometimes healing begins in a supported group where others say, “We got you. We understand.”
Movement
Movement matters because trauma doesn’t just live in your thoughts, it lives in your body. Stress gets stored. Cortisol gets stored. Grief and anger get stored. Movement helps release it. This isn’t about losing weight, it’s about coming back into relationship with your body and watching yourself change.
Walking, stretching, yoga, dancing in your kitchen, whatever feels good to you, movement reminds us that we’re alive. I have a friend who goes to the gym every single day and calls it her therapy. On a hard day she told me, “Kim, I’m going to put my emotions into my muscles.” That’s a powerful way to look at it. There’s real pride in feeling your strength develop.
My own movement doesn’t usually happen in a gym. I work out at home, and mostly I walk. I take long nature walks, including during lunch breaks near the water by my office. Being in nature is what really does it for my soul and my mental health.
Nature
Nature is a great teacher. The garden doesn’t panic because it’s winter. The trees don’t question whether spring is coming. Nature understands seasons, and healing has seasons too. When I feel overwhelmed, getting outside changes everything, the fresh air, the sunshine, the sound of the birds. Nature reminds us that growth is often happening underground long before we can see it.
There’s something to hugging a tree, thanking nature, walking intentionally, and smelling the forest. And for those who aren’t drawn to the woods, the ocean heals just as powerfully. Putting your feet in salt water does you good. Whether it’s the woods or the beach, find the natural space that restores you.
Gratitude
Gratitude doesn’t erase pain. People sometimes misunderstand gratitude and think it means pretending everything is okay. It doesn’t. Gratitude simply helps us notice what is still good. Even during the hardest seasons of my life, there was always something to be grateful for, a friend, a sunset, a meal, a laugh, a prayer. The more we practice gratitude, the more we train our brains to see possibility instead of only our problems.
I created a Rooted to Rise Gratitude Journal, a simple 31 day journal where one side prompts you to remember a time something amazing happened, raising your endorphins and bringing you into a grateful mindset, and the other side is blank for writing what you’re currently grateful for. It’s available on Amazon for $10 to $10.99, and locally at my farm cart.
Creative Expression
Creative expression is one of my favorite healing modalities. Everybody has a different talent, and testing the waters is often the best way to discover what you love. People overlook creative expression as healing all the time, but creating things heals not only the creator, it can heal others through what is made.
Writing, journaling, memoir, painting, photography, and crafting all count. My daughter and I have gotten into crafting together, felting, making Christmas ornaments, tinctures, beeswax wraps, and more. Creativity allows us to express what we can’t always explain. Sometimes healing doesn’t come through words, it comes through creating something beautiful from what we’ve lived through.
Pottery is another one I’m looking forward to trying with a friend using a long held gift certificate. And gardening counts too, turning an ordinary yard into something whimsical and magical is its own form of art and healing.
Closing
As we went over all these things today, I’m sure at some point one modality stood out to you, one thing that made you think, “Maybe I should try that.” Pay attention to that feeling. You don’t need to do all ten, you just need your next step. Release any fear or doubt that you won’t be good at something because you’ve never done it before. You don’t know until you try.
Don’t be afraid to release the fear of trying new things, and rise into the next version of you, because healing doesn’t happen when you find the perfect tool. It happens because you continue showing up for yourself, one breath, one journal entry, one walk, one prayer, one choice at a time.
Root into the truth that healing is possible. Release the pressure to do it perfectly, and rise by taking one small step toward yourself this week. Because you’re not broken, you’re becoming. I’ll see you guys in the next episode.
