We were lucky to catch up with Kara Whitney recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kara, so great to have you on the platform. There’s so much we want to ask you, but let’s start with the topic of self-care. Do you do anything for self-care and if so, do you think it’s had a meaningful impact on your effectiveness?
Self-care is my non-negotiable foundation for living and leading boldly. It’s the practice of building an unshakable inner sanctuary I can return to no matter what happens externally. Self-care has transformed my effectiveness from performative hustle to authentic, grounded service. It’s created an inner alignment the brings greater clarity, presence and wisdom to my decisions and relationships.
For years however, I treated self-care as a luxury. Then I hit a wall of burnout, anxiety and health crises that no amount of hustling could fix. I realized I was trying to build a successful life on a foundation of self-abandonment. My turning point was shifting from self-care as an occasional indulgence to cultivating a daily, loving relationship with every part of myself. From that place, I discovered that the quality of every connection reflects the quality of that relationship with self.
Overall, my self-care is about daily nervous system regulation; nurturing my body, soul and spirit; and holistic integration work that transforms shadow to light. More specifically, it reflects tending to four key relationships with myself.
*Spiritual/Energetic – This is my anchor. I start and end each day in prayer and quiet connection with the Divine to align myself and my intentions with a source of love greater than myself. This grounds my purpose and fills my cup before I serve others.
*Physical: I listen to my body as a wise partner in life. I nourish it with clean foods (no gluten, dairy, soy or refined sugar), exercise regularly and give my body the rest and sleep it needs, as well as the space to release stuck energy. When stress builds, I don’t just push through. I pause. I might take a walk, do a simple breathing exercise or simply lie on the floor for a few minutes. This small investment in calming my nervous system results in greater effectiveness and gives back more time than the chaos of the grind ever could.
*Emotional: I allow myself to feel what’s coming up instead of shutting down. Without fear or judgement, I get curious about how an emotion shows up as a feeling in my body and release it there. I also practice building an emotional set point anchored in happiness and gratitude. A key self-care shift was turning the compassion I give so easily to others toward myself. Effectively regulating my emotions stops reactive, fear-based decisions and makes me less triggerable, enhancing every interaction and relationship.
*Mental: I fiercely protect my inner dialogue. I meditate to quiet the noise, challenge limiting beliefs and keep my focus on what’s possible. This is rooted in favorite affirmations, incantations and language practices. I also challenge myself to broaden my perspective and to continually learn and grow. I choose what I consume, knowing it becomes my inner environment. This discipline ensures my mind serves my spirit and conscious will rather than fears or worries.
The impact? It’s changed everything.
I’ve traded the exhausting mask of having it all together for the genuine confidence that comes from knowing I can handle hard things because I know how to come back to my own center.
In short, I’ve traded burnout for bandwidth and reactivity for responsive wisdom. From this regulated, integrated state, my decision-making is clearer, my creativity flows and my capacity to guide others is deeply grounded. This lifestyle has taught me that true effectiveness isn’t just about time management. It’s about walking the talk from a place of integration and wholeness.
In my experience, self-care is the key to living boldly. It’s actually the most strategic and courageous work I do.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
That journey from self-abandonment to wholeness is exactly why I do the work I do today. I was in a deep abyss of pain and suffering in every area of my life, navigating complex PTSD, generational trauma, near-death experiences, abusive relationships and debilitating health crises. Amid that though, a spark in me knew I was destined for more. With immense tenacity, I sought answers, invested countless hours and resources in mentors, medical/alternative healthcare and deep spiritual work. I know what it’s like to go through the darkest nights of the soul and emerge with greater strength, resilience and love. This quest was, and still is, fueled by an unconditional love for my children and a fierce dedication to breaking cycles of dysfunction — not just for myself, but for my children, my family and how that holds space for a new legacy of wholeness for humanity.
Today, I am a Transformation Coach and Intuitive Guide. I specialize in helping high-achieving women — often mothers and leaders — who, like I was, are facing a major life crisis or the crushing weight of burnout. They are the capable ones who have carried the weight of the world, but their old ways of coping have broken down.
My approach is unique because it addresses the whole person. It’s rooted in the hard-won wisdom that sustainable healing requires integrating all aspects of ourselves – the spiritual/energetic, mental, emotional and physical My work weaves together deep training in modalities like Healing Touch, somatic therapy and energetic healing with the principles of empowerment and life coaching, all informed by two decades of personal transformation.
We don’t just talk about mindset. We work with the entire being — the nervous system, the body, the emotions, the limiting beliefs, and the spiritual disconnect to create safety from the inside out. This holistic fusion is the “secret sauce” that helps people transform in ways they haven’t been able to before.
The most exciting and sacred part of my work is creating a space where clients can finally face the hard stuff that has held them back. I am continually humbled to witness the moment of relief in a client’s voice during a breakthrough. My mission is to guide them from a place of enduring and surviving to unapologetically thriving — to reclaim a deep connection to themselves and their intuition so they can step into their most authentic and empowered lives.
Looking ahead, my focus is on continuing to help clients break free of what’s been holding them back. and honoring the significance of every individual breakthrough as something profoundly sacred for generational healing. It’s the understanding that a woman’s transformation radiates out, breaking generational chains and creating a new blueprint for her family. That’s the greater purpose that fuels this work every day.
Ultimately, I stand as living proof that a different way is possible. That the seemingly impossible is actually possible. You can move through the darkest nights of the soul and emerge not just intact, but with greater perspective, compassion, happiness and gratitude. You can come home to yourself and build a life that is truly, vibrantly alive. My life is a beacon for that hope.
On a lighter note, I believe joy and connection are part of the medicine. My greatest experience and honor is being a mom. I have a lifelong love of dogs — there’s always been a furry friend by my side. When I’m not guiding clients or building new avenues for community healing (like the workshops and programs taking shape for 2026), you’ll likely find me in nature, planning an adventure near or far, spending time with family or friends, cooking, practicing my Spanish, learning something new or dancing in the kitchen. I’ve swam with dolphins and manatees, fed giraffes, gone spelunking, parasailed and jumped out of a 40-foot lava tube in Hawaii — reminders that wonder and courage exist everywhere. To stay in the loop on what’s unfolding, the best place is my email list. Because the next chapter isn’t just about my story; it’s about our collective liberation, rooted in joy, nature and the courage to explore — inside and out.
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?
Looking back, the three most pivotal aspects to my journey were awareness, meaning and nervous system/emotional regulation. The common thread? Fundamentally changing my relationship to my own experience.
1. Becoming aware that I had trauma and how that affected me was huge. It wasn’t about assigning blame or perpetuating victimhood. It became about giving myself permission to grieve the many losses that came with the trauma — loss of safety, a stolen childhood, lost years to survival mode. I had to stop minimizing my pain by comparing it to worse things that could have happened or do happen to others and give myself the grace to fully feel my own experience, including the pathway to forgiveness.
2. I realized my experience of life is dictated not by events, but by the meaning I consciously choose to give them. Yes, there will always be things “wrong” with life. But there are also countless things “right” — moments of beauty, connection and strength. By deliberately focusing my energy and celebration on what is working, on evidence of grace and milestone, I began to cultivate a lived reality of vibrance, gratitude and abundance. This is a practice, not a Pollyanna denial of difficulty.
3. All the awareness in the world means little if your nervous system is in constant threat response. Learning nervous system and emotional regulation was the master key. It meant moving from being hijacked by triggers (fight/flight/freeze/fawn – people pleasing) to becoming the compassionate regulator of my own state of being. This created the inner safety required to live from a place of groundedness and presence.
My advice for anyone at the beginning of this path:
On grieving: Give your pain a voice, but not a throne. Start by simply acknowledging one loss (whether big or small) out loud or in a journal. “I feel sad that I didn’t have X.” Don’t analyze it; just let it be true. This validates your experience without letting it define your entire identity or build a limiting story. Seek a coach, therapist or support group if the grief feels bottomless; you don’t have to do this alone.
On choosing meaning: Practice the art of “The And.” When something hard happens, consciously name two truths: “This situation is challenging and I am capable of handling it.” “I feel disappointed and I can still find one thing to appreciate.” This builds the mental muscle to hold complexity and consciously direct your focus toward empowerment, possibility and hope.
On regulation: Start with the body, not the mind. Your intellect can’t reason with a triggered nervous system. Learn one simple somatic (body sensation) anchor: feel your feet on the floor, place a hand on your heart, and take three slow breaths. Do this daily, not just in crisis. This trains your biology toward safety, making all the other inner work possible.
These three work in concert with each other: Regulation gives you the safety to feel, to respond, to choose. Awareness and feeling (e.g. grieving) opens the way to greater clarity. From that clarity, you can consciously choose meanings that empower and uplift you.
Start where you are, be fiercely gentle with yourself. Trust that tending to these three areas will transform your journey from one of endurance to one of genuine discovery. Remember the famous Chinese proverb, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
There are so many incredible books and resources, but one of the most profound for me is “Power vs Force” by Dr. David Hawkins. This book provides incredible insight on humanity and the nature of people’s behavior. It reshaped my understanding of growth and healing through its “Map of Consciousness” that connects emotions and human attitudes to levels of energetic frequency based on a scale of 1 to 1000.
The critical pivot point is 200, the level of Courage. This separates the lower-frequency energies that drive “Force” (e.g. shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger and pride) from higher-frequency energies of “Power” (e.g. willingness, acceptance, reason, love, joy and peace).
While we all experience a wide range of emotions, we typically have a home state of being or range of frequencies we hover around. Dr. Hawkins suggests that Courage is the critical doorway from a life of negative influence to one of positive influence, which means that our empowerment and ability to live the life of our dreams depends on calibrating our baseline to at least Courage.
Another key point from the book is that force is divisive, draining and requires justification. True power is unifying, effortless and aligned with the flow of life. This illuminated why my old patterns of willpower and control (force) were so exhausting and why the path of inner alignment, surrender and integrity (power) feels more effortless and effective. It validates that nervous system and emotional regulation are foundational. We must lower internal resistance (fear, anger) that keeps us operating through force, so we can access the magnetic quality of true power in order to build the life that we are meant to live.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.karapiercewhitney.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KaraWhitney21
Image Credits
Most photos are courtesy of Illumine Photography.
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