Mental Health Champions: Why & How Catherine Duncan Of Learning to Live Is Helping To Champion Mental Wellness

An Interview With Eden Gold

Grow Your Trust — I mindfully tune into living in the moment, then accepting the moment, which of course can be challenging when life is difficult. Then I can listen to the guidance that is always within me. Listening with the ear of my heart, I receive a lot of guidance: clairvoyance or seeing; clairaudience or hearing; and clairsentience or feeling. I focus on my breath and feel my life energy moving up and down my body. I feel deep trust, a knowing that I am on the right path.

As a part of our series about Mental Health Champions helping to promote mental wellness, I had the pleasure to interview Catherine Duncan.

Catherine Duncan, MA, BCC is an Integrative Spiritual Consultant and author of Everyday Awakening. She has worked extensively in the areas of chronic illness, life transitions, grief, and loss. Catherine is an ordained minister, chaplain, spiritual director, and trained in a range of healing modalities. She served for many years as a hospice chaplain, and now owns her own practice, Learning To Live.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?

I grew up the youngest of six kids in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My father epitomized the American way back in the 50’s coming from a low-income family and through the GI Bill served in the Army, got a college education, and through good fortune started a local business that grew and flourished and supported a big family.

At 11 years old, my life changed overnight, when I was suddenly ill and diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer. I was given a 20 percent chance to live, and I started intensive treatments. I quickly felt like I was living on a tightrope between life and death. No one talked with me about what was happening. My mother would say, “You will be fine,” which was comforting, but there was no sense of reality of what I was living through.

Faith had meant nothing to me up until that point in my life. Out of nowhere, I started to pray to live to be 20. I told no one I was praying. Not long after praying this feeling of deep peace poured through my body and took my breath away. A knowing came through me that I was going to live. I was not alone.

This started me on my journey contemplating life and why I am alive to this day. My book, Everyday Awakening, is the result of this lifelong quest to understand life.

You are currently leading an initiative that is helping to promote mental wellness. Can you tell us a bit more specifically about what you are trying to address?

We can all choose to awaken, to live from our heart and soul, and feel the preciousness of life right now. It is easy to live on autopilot where our mind is running us. My mission is to help people open into life, and not have to wait until the end of their lives, or a crisis, or upheaval, to realize what it means to be alive.

My book, Everyday Awakening, is a road map on how we can all live a full, vibrant life right now.

As an integrative spiritual consultant, I have a private practice, Learning To Live, where I provide emotional and spiritual support to people living with chronic health conditions and many people who are feeling a deep desire to live more fully.

I share insights on how everyone can grow and cultivate peace, ease, grounding in our daily life and live a regulated, rich, joyful life in my private practice and as a public speaker.

How are you choosing to live your life? Feeling vibrantly alive is possible for all of us.

Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?

I had another near-death experience in my thirties while white water rafting in Costa Rica on a company trip. I went overboard and almost drowned. Again, I felt a light wash over me and a peaceful feeling that I would be ok.

After that, I knew the corporate path was not for me. I went back to school and became a hospice chaplain, companioning thousands of people as they died. Those near-death experiences truly helped me understand what it means to be alive.

I companioned many patients in their final hours. I would watch them awaken and say to me, “So this is what it means to be alive?!” and then they died. A deep peace and love emanated from them in their final days and hours.

We can choose to awaken and feel the preciousness of life right now. It is a choice, and it is a daily practice.

Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest them. They don’t get up and just do it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and do it? What was that final trigger?

I am also a mystic and during my time as a hospice chaplain, have seen spirits leave their human bodies. As a mystic, I receive a lot of guidance. I had a vision of my book ten years before I started to write it. I even told my husband and young children that I would write a book and their response was, “Okay.” I had a deep knowing within that I would write a book.

When the pandemic hit, my private practice went online. We lived a very isolated life because my husband has a rare heart condition and is on high levels of immunosuppressant drugs. My evenings opened up and I felt a pushing, a nudging, to start writing. After meditating every night, I would sit down at my computer around 9:00 p.m. and write until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning. My book poured out of me. I couldn’t stop writing!

My book, Everyday Awakening, came into the world with the message we can all choose to awaken right now.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?

Many times in my private sessions with clients, I have witnessed clients share with me that they feel a numbness, an emptiness, a longing within and unrest.

In my first visit with Joe, he talked about his highly successful corporate job, his travels, and his lucrative income. He worked nonstop and only occasionally enjoyed a beer with colleagues. He had been married for a few years and then divorced. His focus was on his career, money, and recognition. But something was missing. Joe had contacted me for an integrative counseling session because he felt a gnawing sense of loneliness and emptiness. He said he was feeling depressed and numb.

“I don’t know if I can keep living like this,” he said. “I feel little to nothing. All I do is work. Is this really what life is all about?”

The more we talked, the more I sensed that Joe had been living almost exclusively in his mind.

“You also have a heart and a soul, and they’re yearning to open,” I told him.

Then I led Joe in a five-minute breathing exercise. Afterward his eyes welled up with tears. “I am here,” he said. “I haven’t felt peace like this in so long.” He buried his head in his hands and cried.

There was a notable opening in his being and it was magical to witness. His life changed and he opened and felt into the richness of his life.

I have witnessed many people have this kind of opening, sense of deep aliveness in my private practice. It is rich, rewarding, and soul shaping to walk with people as they open into their heart and soul.

None of us can be successful without some help along the way. Did you have mentors or cheerleaders who helped you to succeed? Can you tell us a story about their influence?

My biggest mentor on my path has been a well-known healer named Michael Isaacson. I have worked with him for over 24 years. He sees me sometimes before I see myself.

I am a mystic, and very intuitive. Michael has been a guide on my path offering a new lens, a new thought, a new way to work with energy, that has been soul shaping and life-changing.

As a mystic I see spirits regularly. One night during my chaplain work at our level one trauma hospital, a patient with severe blood loss. There was nothing to be done and he went into shock. I provided a healing presence and love to this young man and his family. He died before my shift ended.

I arrived home at midnight and went straight to bed. In the middle of the night, I awakened and saw a large golden angel hovering over my body. It went straight through my body. I wasn’t scared, surprisingly. It actually felt like a blessing.

I told Michael about my experience. Michael helped me uncover what happened: the angel of the man who died that night came to me to thank me and bless me.

Michael has been a sounding board with me through many mystical experiences I have had over the last two decades. He is a gentle, kindhearted, deeply spiritual guide.

According to Mental Health America’s report, over 44 million Americans have a mental health condition. Yet there’s still a stigma about mental illness. Can you share a few reasons you think this is so?

There is a stigma on mental illness for two reasons: lack of knowledge and fear. Beliefs and behaviors of people with mental health conditions are often not understood and perceived as a threat.

Many people perceive mental health issues as a sign of weakness and thus do not seek out help and support.

A lot more education is needed for people to learn that having a mental health condition is okay. Messages on how to self-regulate and lower your stress and anxiety levels and live a well-balanced, healthy life are starting to pop up in the United States but these messages and education needs to become mainstream in our schools and culture.

In your experience, what should a) individuals b) society, and c) the government do to better support people suffering from mental illness?

Individuals:

We need to choose to want to live a richer, fuller life. We can all heal amidst living through great upheaval and trauma. Deciding to do deep healing and working with a skilled therapist or alternative healer is a good first step. And, learning how to self-regulate and calm your nervous system through breath, meditation, body movements, and other practices, is a great start to bring more peace and ease into your life.

Many people choose to distract themselves or numb themselves with drugs or food or unhealthy people to avoid facing their health condition. It takes a lot of strength and courage to stay open and choose to look inward to heal.

Society:

Living a healthy life and focusing on your well-being starts with us as individuals, and this filters into organizations, companies, and nonprofits. Can the American way that focuses on being better, faster, and richer shift to being holistic, grounded, and love centered?

Society needs to promote the golden rule and kindness instead of bullying and mean-spirited behavior.

Government:

In America, we need to put our money where our mouth is and make mental health services and education a priority.

Mental health services need to be available to everyone regardless of health insurance coverage.

What are your 5 strategies you use to promote your own well-being and mental wellness? If you can, please give a story or example for each.

1. Come Back to the Present Moment — I believe we can live multi- dimensionally and have our anchor in the present moment and use our mind when we need to. It is a conscious choice and daily practice. I feel grounded in the present moment every day. If I get off track and something starts to consume my mind, like a worry, fear, or rumination, I practice the 4 key neuroplasticity steps: (1) Name the unrest, (2) Name the feeling arising, (3) Feel the feeling, and then (4) Grow the good.

2. Connect with Something Greater — For me it is a grounding in God, my angels, spirits guides that I feel all around me. I receive a lot of guidance daily and see spirits every day. If I have an experience of feeling a little off, I just say, “Be with me, help me, fill me with your love and light,” and this feeling of deep peace flows through my body. But you don’t have to call it God. There are many ways to feel spiritual and that you are a part of something greater.

3. Grow Your Trust — I mindfully tune into living in the moment, then accepting the moment, which of course can be challenging when life is difficult. Then I can listen to the guidance that is always within me. Listening with the ear of my heart, I receive a lot of guidance: clairvoyance or seeing; clairaudience or hearing; and clairsentience or feeling. I focus on my breath and feel my life energy moving up and down my body. I feel deep trust, a knowing that I am on the right path.

4. Embody love — Love is the greatest healer. I witnessed this with thousands of people I walked with at end of life as a chaplain. Love was all that mattered. I have learned this deeply from companioning five family members who died. Practicing gratitude every morning before I get out of bed sets the tone for my day. When I wake up, the first thing I do is think about what I am grateful for and then I feel the love and thankfulness coursing through my body. Love, gratitude, and peace are the highest vibrational energies we can feel in our bodies.

5. Hold Openness — Go with the flow. Don’t grasp at life but let life flow through you. Live one day at a time. One exercise I practice every day and have for over 20 years is working with energy. I consciously set up my energy boundaries because I am very empathic and sensitive. I say silently, “I send 90 percent love to everyone and everything today and I take in 10 percent.” I say this a few times and I can feel my energy boundaries set up and I feel a lot of spaciousness and breathing room that grounds me throughout my day.

What are your favorite books, podcasts, or resources that inspire you to be a mental health champion?

I have been reading self-help, spiritual books since I was a young teenager.

Some of my favorite must-read books are:

• A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson
• Polishing the Mirror by Ram Dass
• The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
• The Power is Within by Louise Hay

There are terrific apps now to guide us in breathing and meditating. One of my favorites is Headspace.

Listening to Eckhart Tolle and his short talks on YouTube are always inspiring, thought provoking, and soul shaping.

If you could tell other people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?

We can only love another to the extent we love ourselves. We can only accept another to the extent we accept ourselves. All healing starts with us and doing our deep inner work. Healing is holistic — through mind, body and spirit — and it takes courage to look inward and choose to heal. Every one of us can heal, open and grow. We are either choosing to heal and awaken or we are subconsciously choosing not to. What are you choosing?

How can our readers follow you online?

Catherineduncan.org

Instagram — Catherineduncanmabcc

Facebook — Learning to Live

LinkedIn — Catherine Duncan, MA, BCC

TikTok — Catherine Duncanmabcc

YouTube — Catherine Duncanmabcc

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!

About The Interviewer: Eden Gold, is a youth speaker, keynote speaker, founder of the online program Life After High School, and host of the Real Life Adulting Podcast. Being America’s rising force for positive change, Eden is a catalyst for change in shaping the future of education. With a lifelong mission of impacting the lives of 1 billion young adults, Eden serves as a practical guide, aiding young adults in honing their self-confidence, challenging societal conventions, and crafting a strategic roadmap towards the fulfilling lives they envision.

Do you need a dynamic speaker, or want to learn more about Eden’s programs? Click here: https://bit.ly/EdenGold