We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dani Waldman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dani, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In the field that I work in, we talk about taking bold risks like leaving the 9-5 job, speaking out boldly, saying goodbye to a relationship or something that feels striking. It’s like this big statement that has to take place. And the big statements are beautiful but I also want to illuminate on the subtle aspects of life that are still very much in the field of risk taking.

When I entered the coaching field, I wanted the big bold statements and big the breakthroughs. It was like receiving a hit of something life-changing in a matter of one session or a meme that I saw on the internet.

My own path in the coaching field, let me back to myself and my community which I often think it can. But after some time, the big statements no longer resonated with me. I saw how much power there was in the nuance of life. I saw that focusing on the subtlety and the mundane, was also beautifully powerful. As I sit here and write this, I also ask myself the question that I often do “why do we need to receive something that feels powerful?” What if, what is, is just enough.

The risk that I’ve taken is asking myself these questions over the last two years. Who does this belief serve and where did it come from? Am I looking at the nuance in this space? How is what I’m doing being part of community? What are my intentions? Lastly, can I honor my own pacing here?

That last question has been a big one for me and the biggest risk. We’re not told to honor our own pacing in decisions and the ways in which we move through life. In fact, there is an underlining sense of urgency. I’ve been on my own path of finding ways to recognize where that urgency exists and ask myself, how might I honor my own pacing here? What would that feel like and look like? Also, in return, how can I honor the pacing of others?

I don’t have an exact date for you of when this happened. But I remember sitting in my small living room in Washington, DC surrounded by candles and a close friend. I had been navigating some deep questions in my personal life. My friend, Lauren, shared that in this moment, I get to honor my own pacing and move through these questions as I need to.

So I take my time. I let myself sit with the questions. I look to nature, I listen and I don’t rush it if it’s not needing to be rushed. I practice this and it’s really hard because I feel that urgency creep in. We all do. But I practice taking a small step back, a breath, a pause. It’s not perfect. I don’t think any of this is meant to be perfect. But I’m in practice with it. For me, this is a big gift we can give ourselves.

Dani, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When asked this question, I share that I spent my 20’s exploring. I wanted to find work that felt impactful and something I could put my passions into. I traveled, had so many different jobs, experiences, relationships… I came into the coaching field in 2016 and while I do have mixed feelings about the coaching field, I will say that the decision to move forward with participating in a coach training program, really did set a launching pad for me to embark on this journey. A few years ago, I begin studying somatic movement and psychedelic integration which is the work I do now.

I work one-on-one with folks who are wanting to explore the inner experience rather than focus on an external result. My methodology questions why we focus as a society on change, needing to be more and having to “fix” ourselves. I come from a place of exploring our own inner landscape so that we can better understand ourselves, how we show up in this world and how we can continue to relate to one another. We learn how to honor our own inner seasons. I do this through the work of somatics and also, I support those who are seeking preparation/integration support with their own psychedelic medicine experiences.

In all of my work, we explore, what’s happening inside the body. I’m proud of myself and the work that I do because it’s constantly evolving, I’m always learning and being in integrity with my work feels pertinent. I’m a messy human trying to navigate life and I know that we can’t do it alone. Community is important. Not transactional but true community.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think when i first got into the work that I’m doing or was in it for a few years, I felt like it needed to be an extension of myself. I thought that I needed to be available, posting on social media all of the time and always giving my community something. But what happens when we experience something in life that requires us to pause our work and we don’t have a team of people that we’ve hired? How does work honor our seasons? How does running a business honor our seasons?

So I’ve spent the last two years, really, taking a lot of spaciousness from my work. It doesn’t mean that I’m not working but it means that this idea of “output” has shifted. I’ve sat with, this is the season that I’m in. Because this idea that we have to keep going and going, isn’t going to work for me and it doesn’t work for any of us because then.. burn out. I also know that most of us (if not all) have experienced burn out and do experience it. I’ve had unlearn what consistency looks and means to me while also, learning that I get to have seasons with my business.

It’s been hard to take this space but also, it’s what I’ve needed.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My dad passed suddenly in 2017. Shortly after that is when I started to explore somatics and movement. I learned how to explore and process emotions in my body. I wish I had given myself more space and time during that time in my life but we all move through grief in our own ways. I think I felt some of that urgency that I referenced earlier, during this time to “be OK”. I learned that it’s OK to not be Ok and it’s OK to experience a variety of emotions especially when it comes to death.

I wouldn’t say that experience made me stronger but I would say that it shifted my life significantly and as my mom said at that time “death does change you”. I don’t think in a bad or good way. But it created a sense of complexity that I didn’t have previously. I had lost loved ones but this was significant for me in a way that I hadn’t experienced before.

Movement was a gift for my grief because it was something I could come back to when I needed to express, cry, scream, laugh and it’s what I come to now in this moment. It’s shifted my world and when I move to explore what’s happening in my body through embodiment movement, I remember all of the times that I cried and danced to grieve my dad and everything else that happens in this wild path of life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://daniautumn.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dani_waldman_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Danielle-Waldman-Coaching-2027792470850840
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellepwaldman/

Image Credits
Maya Oren Photography