Hi everyone! I am so excited about this conversation with my great friend, Cara Kalnow, an ex-corporate tech executive who discovered her calling and passion during a trip to Bali. Cara is the founder of Soul House Chicago, www.soulhousechicago.com.

More about Cara...

Cara is a student of metaphysics, an energy worker, and a teacher.  She offers private Reiki healing sessions in the West Loop and Wicker Park, Reiki Trainings throughout the city of Chicago, and Mindful Vinyasa classes at Bare Feet Power Yoga.  It's her intent to support and educate folks to tap into a reality beyond the 5 senses to access the tools we all hold within us to heal and transform.

Cara’s curiosity beyond the physical started at a young age and led her to pursue an education in Philosophy at Denison University, where she earned her B.A.  With a desire to teach, she continued her studies overseas in Scotland where she earned a Masters of Philosophy from the University of St. Andrews (and also, unsuccessfully, pursued Prince William, a fellow classmate). 

Cara returned home from Scotland with a new job at Google, after declaring "I Google, therefore I am".  While working in the tech industry for 10+ years, an old injury literally forced Cara to seek balance in her life, where she discovered yoga.  It took some time, but eventually, she was hooked and started shifting the scales more toward yoga and mindfulness and less toward conventional structure.

She began studying the subtle energy body in 2018 while on a yoga retreat in Bali.  She spent three months traveling around Asia observing cultures, simplified ways of life, and energy work.  This led Cara to complete her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training through YogaSix in 2018 and kicked off her Reiki education through Atma Biofield Therapeutics, where she completed her Reiki Master Teacher certification in Usui and Karuna Reiki® in 2020.  Her learnings are always evolving -  Cara continues to study spiritual schools of thought, astrology, and intuitive healing techniques, which she blends into her offerings.  

Ever wonder how someone stays sober for what is hopefully the rest of their life? 

1. They work on it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY (one day at a time).
2. They join a community of like-minded people who are committed to DOING THE WORK. In this case, through Alcoholics Anonymous.
3. They have a GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR.
4. They are HUMBLE, knowing that at any time it could be taken away.
5. They live with JOY.

Have you heard that AA is a cult? Yeah, I used to think that too until I woke up on March 21, 2019 and decided I was DONE and that I needed daily help in order to get sober and STAY sober.

Trina is the first person I met at my Thursday night meeting but our first introduction was 2 years prior to me actually making a commitment to getting and staying sober. For inspiration from a woman who was once incredibly low in life (low self-esteem, divorce, and more) to finding JOY, please listen AND share with anyone you know who is struggling with addiction. There is HOPE!

A little over a year ago I recorded an episode for the Air Hug Community with Judy Arazoza. That episode was all about my alcoholism... at the time I was almost 3 years sober but outside of a few friends and family, and my AA (Alcoholics Anonymous( family, I had told NO ONE. I was "in the closet" about my addiction for many reasons but when I was speaking with Judy and she asked if I would share, I threw caution to the wind. I put my big girl panties on and went for it! And then felt sick to my stomach for days, weeks... what would people think of me? Would I lose friends? The very opposite happened. Take a listen and be sure to check out the Air Hug Community Podcast with Judy! She is absolutely amazing!


This episode is not intended to diagnose or treat addiction. And it is not associated with any programs that diagnose or treat addiction.

WELCOME TO SHARING OUT LOUD, a podcast hosted by Heather, a sober woman who got tired of staying silent about her alcoholism and sobriety, and frankly, everything else in life. A woman who spent so much of her life being told she was "too much," "too aggressive," "too loud," and, "too polarizing," that she never allowed herself to be 100% true to who she was, until now. She decided it was time to start SHARING OUT LOUD, and when she did, everything changed.

The SHARING OUT LOUD podcast features a wide range of guests from sober women, to health and fitness experts, to post-partum depression, menopause, and who knows what else! Take a listen, you won't be disappointed.

xoxo,
Heather