We were lucky to catch up with Kendra Adachi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kendra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

When I was in university I found myself declining in vitality in every way. From my physical health to mental and emotional. I was experiencing a lot of inflammation throughout my body resulting in body rashes and ezcema as well as depression and digestive issues. During this time I was also coming to terms with the truth that university and learning in that capacity was just not for me. I was in a space that didn’t align with how I wanted to express and explore my passions. I was also surrounding myself with others who were choosing different lifestyle choices that I knew were not benefiting me. I found an alternative school called Integrate Institute of Nutrition that was taught online and would be a catalyst to my learning and beginning my journey in deepening my relationship with listening to the internal nudges from my body that were telling me that I needed to choose something different. I needed to listen to that wisdom and voice within that is trying to support redirecting me toward what is my truth, and not the truth of others. Fast forward, I chose not to complete university and instead travel the world expanding my knowledge in different cultures and finding more of myself expressed and authentically excited to share what I was passionate about: listening to and revering the ways the body speaks to us. I developed a relationship of deep listening to the ways my body spoke to me with such compassion and curiosity that I used it as a guiding point to what was not aligning or where was I not being honest with myself in my life from career choices to relationships. Truly our body is our ally and even when the body feels great discomfort, especially then, it is the body’s way of trying to speak to us. I began to trust the call to go on my own path of entrepreneurship, make hard decisions around the environments I was entertaining from the people I was surrounding myself with, the behaviours that were not serving me, and the various places and spaces that were just not supporting my unique way of being in the world. I have become a student of psychosomatics and Louis Hay’s work among many other modalities regarding deeply reverent nourishing practices and honouring our bodies wisdom through somatics, embodiment, chef work and more. This has deeply supported my mental health along with my connection to loving the body I get to live in. I support others by guiding them back to this right relationship with their unique body wisdom and the ways their life can be a reflection of their truth when they begin to practice listening and honouring deeply.

Kendra, 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?

I am passionate about what I am today because of the experiences I’ve had both personally and from what I’ve witnessed with depression and having a skewed relationship the body. I personally struggled with severe depression in my late teens and early twenties resulting in medication that left me feeling numb and disconnected. I always knew there was another way to live and I’m grateful for the experiences that reminded me to feel so deeply and to connect to something greater. One day, I was walking home through the river valley in Edmonton where I grew up. I was overwhelemed with sadness and a sense that there was no point. I climbed over the railing of a bridge high above the North Saskathewan River and was about to let go. Suddenly, an overwhelming flood of grief came over me. I started to think about our family dog, Doobie. He was truly my saviour. I thought about him snuffling around looking for me if I were to not make it home. I thought about his sadness and the ways he can also feel glum. For whatever reason, his spirit spoke to mine in that moment more then ever. This led me to think of my parents, my close friends, my loved ones. The sadness and effect I would undoubtedly have if I were to make this choice to leave this life. This sadness was far greater then the depression I was feeling. So I chose to stay. Fast forward a couple of years, I experienced the loss of my first love who took his life. I had that experience first hand, the one that I was aware I would create if I left. It was devastating in every way. His leaving shook our world. All of this had led me to question and explore the choices I was making in my life. From the company I kept, the use of my time and energy, what I was consuming in every way. Instead of heavy drink and drug abuse late into the night, I opted for tea and personal development books, movies with the family, and early mornings to great the day with hugs, yoga, stretching, running. I slowly noticed how much more I wanted to be here, in this life, in my body, as I began to let life in. Began to let others in. And very importantly, the more I expressed and shared how I was feeling, what I was navigating, the more lightness I felt, Like a sigh of relief in my soul. My whole world shifted it seemed. High fiving trees, making genuine connections and friendships. And amazingly to me, my relationship to my body also started to blossom. From having a story that I needed to look a certain way to fit in or be loved, I started to love my home for all she could do for me. For the foods we got to eat that made us feel vibrant, to the music that moves us. This would become a longer journey with deeper nourishment that I am very happy to say, at this moment today, I have the healthiest relationship with my body, her hunger, appetite, and expression. Learning to listen to my body and the ways she speaks through discomfort, rashes, digestive issues, inflammation, and instead of shaming or trying to fix with rigid diets or detoxes, I’ve learned to honour and embrace and slow down the pace of life to really get to the psychosomatic root of what is needed. My emotional states, physical states, mental, spiritual, are all connected and affect one another. Through my personal experiences and eduction on somatics, integrative nutrition, craniosacral therapy, and facilitating MotherCirlces, I have arrived at a place of deep spirtual connection to earth, our bodies, and our calling. I am now a mother to a vibrant and robust 8 month old daughter. Who truly is reworking and deepening my calling in every way. I beleive that the way we support the changes in the world and society that we want to see, such as women accepting and loving themselves and their bodies, supporting the healing of our relationship to food and our hunger, we begin with our connection to our birthright to receive. Reveice all sacred sustenance. And this is mirrored and witnessed by our children. I offer workshops in person and online with this work connecting to body and receiving as well as I hold MotherCircles as taught by one of my teachers Kimberly Anne Johnson. I also private chef for retreats and intimate gatherings where I can also hold workshops and facilitate deep work with women navigating eating disorders. Amont this I hold space for 1-1 clients to traverse everything from re-learning to listen to their body and develop a healthy, healing, connected

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

That I have to do it all alone. I used to pride myself in being a “lone wolf” and would run away from any relationship that would challenge me or call me forward. This, of course, had negative effects on my growth both personally and professionally. If things felt too hard or confronting I would either literally leave the country and travel or give up altogether only to feel that burning sensation of longing and yearning and inevitably would be brought back to work with my passions again. As I started to connect to my sense of safety within myself I started to feel more trusting in my capabilities and what trust felt like in others. Slowly I began to face the confrontations as a means to grow and take ownership of how I am responsible for the ways I experience life. I learned that my past behaviour stemmed from having a lack of worth for myself thinking that I was not worthy to have what was attempting to come to me. As I worked on this within myself I was able to receive the support and growth I knew would help me both professionally and personally.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Authenticiyt, integrity, radical honesty, and honouring your path. It can be easy to compare and question ourselves when others seem to be “far along” or in some way “better”, but the truth is that they are them and getting distracted from the noise takes us away from the spiritual truth that we have been called to create and serve because we feel it. We can all return to that knowing- we are creating and serving what we are because we are meant to, we have felt a call in one form or another. Staying true and devoted to what is your path, clear-sighted, and aligned.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.adachikendra.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adachikendra/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kendra.adachi.3/

Image Credits

Earth Daughters Festival (image one), Laura Darcy (image two), Whitney Tfankedjian (image three + four)