We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Karlie Kuehn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Karlie, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
My journey to discovering a deeper level of confidence and self-trust came as a result of going down a path of healing and self-love. When I was just 11 years old, I began to struggle with an eating disorder. Growing up in the world of dance and being socially conditioned as a women to believe that what gave me purpose and made me beautiful was my body led me to fixate on my image and see thin as the ideal. So at a young age I began to obsess over my body image as a point of control. I thought that maybe if I looked a certain way, I would be loved, appreciated, seen and applauded by others. The little girl within me just wanted to be loved, and she didn’t know if she could ever get that if she was herself. By the age of 17, I was dealing with crippling mental and physical health issues. For 6 years I kept my battles internally tucked away. I screamed in silence. However, I was slowly crumbling from the inside out. I fell into a deep state of depression and ill health prior to graduating high school. I realized that I either get help and begin to take care of myself, or I go down with the eating disorder. In a ball of fear and anxiety, I opened up to my parents. And so the journey to healing began. With their support and kindness, I began treatment. In a year, I was able to attend college. However, a couple of years into college, I fell ill once again. The eating disorder came back louder than ever for me to face it and dig out all its roots that laid dormant. It came back for me to truly heal and discover a deeper level of self-love and confidence that was not connected to my body image. When I was 19 years old, I admitted myself back into eating disorder treatment. I chose for myself this time around that I wanted better for myself. In the midst of treatment and working with a team of specialist that I am so grateful for, I discovered the world of mindset and spiritual development. This led me to meditate, journal and experienced a spiritual awakening. Over the course of 3 years, I developed a sense of self-love for the first time ever, self-compassion and the deepest level of confidence I had ever experienced. This came as a result of turning around, meeting myself, letting go of constantly comparing and running to be something I am not, and discovering how beautiful, unique, and magical I am in my own ways. Healing from the eating disorder allowed me to recognize just how powerful I am and that is how I developed my confidence.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My name is Karlie, and I am a Reiki Energy Healing Practitioner and Spiritual Self-Love Coach among many other things! I am passionate about self-love, the connection between mind, body, and soul, meditation, nature and connecting to the earth, and helping others awaken to the light within them. I own a spiritual wellness and coaching online business that I was called to create over a year ago to support spiritually conscious women in embodying self-love, connecting back their intuition, and discovering a deeper level of inner-peace as they walk their unique path. The energy behind my business is grounding and earthy yet divine and cosmic. I began my business as a result of my own healing journey of overcoming an eating disorder, discovering self-love, and awakening spiritually. It was through going on this journey with myself at a very young age that I decided I wanted to create my own business and space that would have supported my younger self. I originally focused my business more on mindset and personal development, however, this past year I went solo backpacking in Southeast Asia, volunteered at a Buddhist Nunnery, spent 4 days in silent meditation, experienced more ways of seeing the world and the human experience, and came back home with the calling to run my business with a more spiritual foundation. I transitioned my business this past spring despite the fear of judgment and what others would think of me for taking on a more spiritual twist to what I do. In making this transition, I have found that I have been able to support way more people and share my gifts to help others heal and rise. In my business, I offer 121 spiritual self-love coaching, virtual reiki energy healing sessions to bring harmony to your chakra system, I have a monthly spiritual support community called “Receive + Rise,” and offer virtual guided meditation sessions. Additionally, I have a podcast where I share insights and wisdom that comes through as I navigate my own path called “Magnetizing Mindset”
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The first thing that has been the most impactful on my journey was learning to be a student to life. Opening up my mind and heart to receiving support and learning from different modalities of healing and seeing the world have benefited me greatly along my path of healing and beginning my own business as a young age. If I were to have closed myself off back when I was struggling with my mental and physical health, there would simply be no way for me to have healed and overcame what I did. It was through trying out different modalities of healing such as meditation, energy healing, breathwork, and being open to listening to the knowledge and wisdom of gurus, therapists and healers that I was able to let go of what was keeping me stuck and in a state of pain. When stay open and become students to life, we allow ourselves the opportunity to continuously learn, grow and evolve. We allow ourselves the opportunity to rise and receive miracles beyond anything we have ever known. Before you enter into a new space, try something new, or begin a conversation with someone, ask yourself “how teachable am I?” Recognize that there is no right or wrong or one correct way to see things.
The second thing that has been the most impactful on my journey of discovering self-love, inner-peace, and healing was learning about and integrating mindfulness and concentration meditation. Understanding the why behind a practice can help your mind get more on board with it. It wasn’t truly until I learned the why behind meditation that I was called to practice it regularly. If you have been curious about meditation but are unsure of why you would practice it, educate yourself on it first. Look into concentration and mindfulness meditation how it can support you and how to practice. Through integrating a daily mindfulness meditation practice, I learned how to connect and be within my body. I learned what it was like to feel certain and emotions and sensations without always thinking or creating narratives about them. Alongside mindfulness meditation, concentration meditation has allowed me to befriend the breath and also concentrate the mind more to sense inner-peace. I used to deal with crazy anxiety and still from time to time experience over-thinking. However, through regularly practicing breath awareness meditation, I have created a safe haven and anchor within the breath. Now when I am experiencing scattered thoughts, I am able to ground myself through taking deep breaths. Creating a regular meditation practice sets you up with strong mental foundations to support you as you navigate the different ebbs and flows of life. To begin your practice begin by understanding the why behind doing it, learn about how to do it maybe by following a guided youtube video to begin, and then create a time in your day that you will always practice. Start small with maybe a 3-5 minute morning meditation practice and then slowly add on more time. The biggest thing is that you stay consistent and be patient. The practice is all about observing the mind and learning about how it works. It takes time to develop new practices and strengthen the minds ability to concentrate. Reflect back after 6 months of regular meditation, and I promise you will see that the way you respond and see life has changed!
The third thing that has been incredibly impactful on my journey to self-love, discovering confidence, and beginning my own business was developing self-trust and strengthening intuition. I began to make it a non-negotiable to no longer doubt or gas-light myself. If there is something I am feeling, desiring, or needing, I validate it. This doesn’t mean that I will always act on it but it means that I listen to myself and I hold space for what I am moving through and experiencing. Through validating myself more and more, in time I slowly built more self-trust and a sense of self-love. I realized that I will always have my back and will take action when I need it. I will reach out to people when I need help, advocate for my needs, and honor my dreams. The more you validate and hold space for yourself, the more you begin to understand yourself and what to do in certain situations. It’s like learning how to understand what a baby who can’t talk yet needs. You have to try different things to see what works and with time you begin to understand certain cues.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was to heal. My dad went down a path of healing when I was 14 years old. He struggled with depression, rage, and anxiety. It was through seeing him evolve, change, and become someone that I consider a best-friend that I saw healing, changing, and pursing my dreams as possible. I learned from his journey that healing and overcoming mental health barriers is not linear. It is challenging and requires commitment. However, it is possible. If you choose that you want better for yourself, it is never too late to right the wrongs, to forgive, to rise above everything you have ever known, and heal generational trauma.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/risewithkarlie
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/risewithkarlie/
Image Credits
Joyce Lanxin Zhao
