Work + Rest with Kate Kavanaugh
About the Episode
When is rest actually a kind of work? Can too much healing be too much of a good thing? Is the earth a mirror of our individual pain, and is our pain a mirror of the Earth’s? Is grief a kind of “compost” necessary for us to integrate what we’ve been through, and to create “richer soil” in our own lives? Does nature want us to heal, and would we heal if we did nothing but simply rest?
Well, turns out that there’s nothing “simple” about rest. Or, maybe it’s simple, but not easy.
Episode Details
About Kate (she/her)
Kate Kavanaugh is trying to figure out what it means to lay the groundwork. For herself, for human health and ecosystem health alike, for farmers, for the next generation, and beyond. After many years as a vegetarian, Kate’s health began to decline precipitously. She turned to meat for answers and found an entire world of curiosity before her. She noticed that through holistic management, farmers were working to restore ecosystems and grasslands with the help of ruminants. This seemed intimately connected to her own health journey and—curious to help restore the Western grasslands she called home through regeneratively raised meat—she opened a whole-animal butcher shop, Western Daughters, with her now-husband in 2013. As customers poured in seeking nutrient-dense foods to heal their bodies, Kate began to deepen her own journey toward health outside of the allopathic medical model and went back to school for nutrition therapy.
Blending her knowledge of regenerative agriculture, nutrition, anthropology, health, and biology, Kate is now in the midst of yet another life change spurred on by meat. She moved to a farm where she grows almost all of her own food, lives with the rhythms of nature, and explores the question of what it means to lay the groundwork through her podcast—the Ground Work Podcast. When she’s not exploring the intersections of human and ecosystem health, you can find her playing with goats in the sunshine.
What We Discuss
Too much healing becoming too much of a good thing.
Spiritual and mental journeys often being a mirror for your physical journey.
The earth as a mirror of our individual pain and vice versa.
Allowing healing to sometimes be passive—letting it happen rather than making it happen.
Reclaiming your self-sovereignty when you’ve been outsourcing your healing to others.
Healing as a birthright—nature *wants* to heal, and humans are part of nature.
Our dental journeys, including dental cavitations, airway work, and sleep issues.
…and so much more.
Sources Mentioned
Episode Transcript
Coming soon, hopefully! Would you be willing to help? Email me at brandi@thisplusthat.com!
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Find Kate Online
Ground Work Podcast
Ground Work Collective
Western Daughters
Personal Instagram
Ground Work Instagram
Western Daughters Instagram
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Credits
Podcast management and production by The Podcast Babes. All of my music is provided by the in-house musicians at Slip.stream.
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