Rachel Gilbertson shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Rachel, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Being Called to Soul Work and the Fear of being “too-woo”?
I started meditating almost two decades ago, but I didn’t talk about it openly because I was afraid of being too “woo-woo.”
Eventually, I openly practiced, discussed, and offered mindfulness programs through my work at an academic institution – before it was cool.
A lot has changed since then and meditation and mindfulness is everywhere as the growing body of scientific research shows the physical, mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual benefits.
This pattern continued through many of the integrative health and healing practices that have been so beneficial to my life, including art and inner child work. A period of secrecy and silence followed by slowly integrating it and shyly sharing it out into the open.
That’s how I thought I’d feel about the work I’m being called to now – soul work through the Akashic Records – the vast etheric container of all knowledge held in a field of unconditional love & an ancient, sacred practice to access soul-level wisdom and divine intelligence.
A fear of being seen as too “woo-woo” sprang up again. However, I saw the pattern this time.
The fear of perceptions holding back something that is profound and powerful.
I recognized the pattern, and followed my own intuition and divine intelligence saying this isn’t something to tip-toe in. Jump in, there’s no time to waste. You’re already ready.
In fact, through my exploration into my Akashic Records, I’ve learned that I’ve been choosing this path in many lifetimes. Accessing and sharing intuitive gifts, even at great cost and great loss.
I’ve come to find that it wasn’t just the fear of being seen as ‘woo-woo’ but a deep and real fear based on times when openly sharing these gifts meant persecution. Some call this the “Witch Wound” where women who have shared healing gifts are hunted.
This year the words, Divine Feminism, kept coming up. This is different from but related to Divine Feminine: The female embodiment of the divine and embracing the soft, sensual side as strength. I didn’t know what Divine Feminism meant to me at the time. Now I do.
In many religious and spiritual traditions, women’s contributions have been erased from the pages of texts and teachings.
Men have been celebrated while women have been scorched.
Their bodies and sacred work burned and buried.
To me, Divine Feminism is about women reclaiming powerful spiritual gifts and living Empowered. Embodied. Enchanted.
To stand in their power, presence, and magic. To live unafraid. To hold the broom and refuse to have anything swept under the rug again.
This time, I’m not waiting to share until science tries to catch up to what our souls already know.
If you feel the fear of being too ‘woo-woo’ and have gifts that you’re afraid to show, let’s talk. I’m here with you on the bridge between the Western Culture and the Woo as I reclaim and share my intuitive gifts.
The world needs what we have – now more than ever.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Rachel Gilbertson—a wellbeing coach, author, and artist. With a Master’s Degree in Education focused on Integrative Therapies & Healing Practices, and more than 18 years of experience, my work centers on helping people access and trust their intuition as they take meaningful steps toward their inner wisdom. I know that I’m here to embody my soul and emit unconditional love by connecting with beings of light so I can be a light that helps others remember their magic.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I’ve always been fascinated by the human experience and have been a deep thinker.
When I was a child, maybe 8 or 9 years old, I remember thinking that as a human, no one will ever fully experience my life or truly understand it. Even if I could tell it in the greatest detail, the experience could never be fully conveyed or felt. This is my life to live and experience.
Even younger, around 4 or 5 years old and throughout much of my childhood, as I was drifting off to sleep, I would have the thought or memory that “I’m not Rachel.” This wasn’t a scary thought—more of a deep reminder that I’m not just this body; I’m a soul. Of course, I never shared this with anyone as a child and only recently began talking about it. It never occurred to me to tell anyone at the time, and later I figured others would just think I was weird.
Another example: when I was around 10 or 11, I remember being in Catholic church wondering who decided when we sat, stood, and knelt. If Jesus was preaching outside on rocks, when did the man-made rules and robes come into play? I also wondered why the same people I saw proclaiming their faith on Sunday were often gossiping about others by Tuesday. Some of it just didn’t add up for me. Again, I never shared these concerns or questions with anyone—I just kept them to myself.
However, now as I continue connecting with my inner child, I’m also reclaiming the wisdom of my younger self. I now believe that we are not just humans with a spirit, but souls with a body, and we’re here to remember that.
I’m intrigued by exploring what inspires our spirits and expands our soul’s expression in our human forms. How our souls speak to us through intuitive nudges, whispers, glimpses and glimmers.
I’m also reclaiming my own intuitive and sacred gifts—many of which have been intentionally stripped from women and replaced with man-made rules through religion and patriarchal systems.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Keep trusting and following your knowing, dear one.
Be curious and follow those inklings and nudges.
The world will want you to look outside of yourself for every answer and outsource your power.
Keep tuning inward because it is powerful.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I recently completed a 100-day Creative Soul Retrieval Project called “Empowered. Embodied. Enchanted: Reclaiming Wisdom, Wellbeing & Wonder.” (Sending my gratitude and big shout out to Sarah Bamford Seidelmann for offering these groups and opportunities for connection and recollection.)
This 100-day project has taken me 180 days. The last 22 entries took me 82 days to complete. This is not because I was behind in any way—I’ve been integrating. I’ve been embodying the lessons into my life. It’s about walking the path. And this project has taken me into places I haven’t explored, untangling thoughts, ideas, patterns, and beliefs that I have long held—and of course, that untangling takes time. I trust the timing.
This project also wants to be a book, so I’m on a path to publishing with my good friend, fellow author, and publisher Heather Wilde of Hezzie Mae.
I saw this quote recently: “I trust the next chapter because I know the author.”
The variation of this quote is most commonly attributed to Mary Morrissey in the form, “I trust the next chapter, because I’m the author.” That’s why I was drawn to it—I love the reminder that we are each writing our own story and making meaning along the way.
It later occurred to me that it also held spiritual significance, as one view is that a higher power already has the story written.
Now I see it as both. The divine is within each of us, and I trust the next chapter because I am in tune with the sacred within me.
I now know how to speak the language of my soul—I hear the whispers, feel the nudges, and see the glimmers of what my soul is here to experience.
This is knowing beyond my human comprehension and only requires my curiosity. I now know the value and power of this knowledge and trust my inner AUTHORity as I step into my story and empowerment.
I no longer outsource my power by begging permission at the pedestal of external approval or validation. I no longer bow down at the altar of productivity, tying my worth to it.
Because I know…
I know that I’m already surrounded and supported by unconditional love inside and out. I know I’m inherently whole, innately worthy, and infinitely wise.
Although there’s no urgency in intuition, I’m no longer waiting until logic lines up to take the first step. I’ve learned by walking this path that intuition leads, logic follows. Only through reflection will the rationale resonate.
Finally, I trust the process and the unfolding.
This isn’t about the before and after; it’s the middle. It’s not the past or future; it’s weaving them into the present.
It’s healing the inner child through imagination, wonderment, and play. It’s permission to be wild and woo-woo, because it’s not weird—it’s our nature.
It’s leaning into the mystery and magic of this moment, following clues of curiosity that will chart the course to a future beyond your wildest dreams. It’s frolicking with enchantment with dazzling delight.
The essence of this project:
Re-membering you’re already whole, re-collecting things you’ve had all along, and re-claiming things that have always been yours:
✨ Your inner wisdom
✨ Your intuition
✨ Your divine intelligence
Living
Empowered.
Embodied.
Enchanted.
This project wants to be integrated, expanded, and embodied. That has led me to forming a community of women also on their own paths to reclaiming their power, presence, peace, and possibilities through Re-Treat Yourself.
If this resonates, please join us!
https://www.artofpresence.org/retreat-yourself
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
I know how intuition works. I’ve been following mine for years, and this is the heart of the work I do: helping others access, trust, and take steps toward their intuition.
Although we all have intuition, we aren’t taught how to listen to it, encouraged to trust it, or supported in taking steps toward it. Following intuition is, ironically, counterintuitive in the context of our Western culture, which wants you to plan, predict, stress, and strive in the name of productivity and under the guise of certainty, safety, and security. Yet the hamster wheel of our culture often leaves us feeling distracted, disconnected, lonely, and burnt out. Our culture tells us we should be on a path, know the next steps, and have it all mapped out. That’s not how intuition works.
When following intuition and inspiration, you only get to see a glimmer of what’s next, and more is revealed only when you take the tiny step toward it with openness and curiosity. Trust is built and the path is forged by following the small sparks of insight, whispers of inner wisdom, and nudges of intuition. It is a meandering path that isn’t always easy and doesn’t immediately make sense, but with a willingness to wander and wonder, it all aligns. You trade the façade of certainty for the calm, confident clarity that comes from trusting yourself and the magic within and around you.
This is the essence of my book: Empowered. Embodied. Enchanted: Reclaiming Wisdom, Wellbeing, and Wonder.
This is also my work in the world as I support others in accessing, trusting, and taking steps toward their intuition. Through my offerings, I sit with people as they slow down to feel the nudges; I hold space for them to drop below the noise so they can hear their inner whispers; and I walk alongside them as they tiptoe toward their knowing, following the breadcrumbs back to themselves.
✨ To be soul-centered, heart-aligned, and rooted in compassion and courage.
✨ To reclaim the calm, confident clarity that comes when you return to your own inner authority.
✨ To trust yourself so deeply that you can meet life’s chaos and challenges with both steadiness and soul.
✨ To remember that you don’t need to search for a missing piece, seek permission, or chase approval as you take steps aligned with your inner wisdom.
Since we’re not taught how to access it, trust ourselves, or take steps in the direction of our deepest knowing, it unveils the paradox: reclaiming ourselves is not a solo endeavor. We need each other.
Self-trust deepens when we see ourselves reflected in others’ stories and when we allow our inner wisdom to be witnessed and affirmed—not replaced—by trusted companions. Parker Palmer writes about creating “safe enough spaces” for the soul—our inner teacher—to emerge through circles of trust.
That’s what I love creating: spaces where you can practice trusting yourself in community, without giving your power away.
So if you’ve been feeling the tug between seeking answers “out there” and knowing you already have what you need “in here,” know this: you have the power to reclaim—
✨ Empowerment in your enoughness.
✨ Embodiment of your wisdom and practice of self-trust.
✨ Enchantment in your curiosities, simple delights, and watching the magic unfold.
Because the world doesn’t need more people chasing validation. The world needs you—especially right now—to be anchored in your own inner wisdom, alive and awake to the power already within you, surrounded by a brave and badass community of collective care.
✨ How might you trust yourself more deeply today?
✨ What would you do if you felt Empowered, Embodied, and Enchanted?
✨ Who are your circles of trust and communities of collective care?
If this resonates, please join us for Re-Treat Yourself!
https://www.artofpresence.org/retreat-yourself
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artofpresence.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art_of_presence_rmg
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-gilbertson-32872b42?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artofpresence.rmg#
Image Credits
Author Photo by Sam Gilbertson.
