What is your name & location?
Rachelle Knowles Atlanta, GA
How do you help people heal?
By anchoring in their body and connecting to their breath through movement and meditative practices.
What type of benefits does your method of healing provide?
I believe that we’re here, in this time and moment, to not only enjoy being in our bodies, but to experience true liberation through our bodies. To me, liberation feels like untangling all of the layers of tension and contraction that we hold from our own lives and our ancestors as well. So that’s what I do my best to provide (whether or not people know it :) - an opportunity to let people be in their bodies while ushering in a new possibility of how they experience themselves.
When did you realize that you wanted to heal people/why did you start?
This is a good question! I was asked this years ago in a deep spiritual experience where a master was channeling his teacher. In cycles, he would lead us into meditation and then pull us out and ask a few of us in the group questions - I was one of the few. He looked at me pointedly and asked “Why do you want to be a healer?" I had no idea how to answer this question then and can’t say that I have much more of a pointed answer now haha I don’t think I knew anything about anything when I started yoga over a decade ago; I just knew that something was missing. I just do my best to continue to walk the path that offers me healing and share it in the best way I can. I do this because I know how much the practices have helped me and I believe that all people deserve to feel free and be more of who they are (how I define healing).
How does your personal healing journey reflect in how you hold space for others?
I do my best to give as much space as possible. I am a slow processor and need a lot of time, which is why I try and share in that way. On the flip side, I can see pattens easily and often receive information that comes with a sense of urgency and I know that I can sometimes get a bit overzealous in how I share. Only because it feels so potent! So when appropriate, I do my best to encourage and share from a place of inquiry so the other person can be their own guide.
Why is what you do so important?
I would say the tools of embodiment are important because we’re humans on the earth and we move through the world with our bodies. So, why not figure out how to do it with the most joy and ease as possible?
What is your inspiration to continue doing what you are doing? What is the fuel that keeps you going?
The belief that we can all heal ourselves and that learning that will be the key to compassionate change, truly.
How does it make you feel when you are helping people heal?
Anchored and on purpose.
What are your visions &/or goals?
These are always changing :) Currently, I’m spending a lot of time learning about navigating our trauma and somatics. I’m working to integrate these into more workshops for students and teachers of yoga and other movement modalities. I’m also creating opportunities for me to dig deep outside of the standard asana class with series based on yoga philosophy; I just wrapped a series on the Bhagavad Gita and it was *so* life giving that I can’t wait to do more.
Tell us a fun fact about what it is that you do or something people may not know about you.
Fun fact: I truly don’t remember teaching my first yoga class. Or the first 20 for that matter. I was so nervous that I would black out or something; the only thing I remember is how sweaty I would be after, not from moving, just from sheer anxiety! Ha Teaching was *really* hard for me in the beginning. It’s hard now too, just in different ways.
In one sentence, what is your message to the world?
This is also my message to myself: Move from your joy.
Is there is anything else that you would like to share about yourself or what it is that you do?
I’m grateful every day to do what I do and I know that what I’m doing is providing healing for my lineage. At the moment, that’s what matters most. Thank you for creating this space, Jaz!