RAWW Podcast
Welcome to the Rad Active Waterwomen (RAWW) Podcast. I am Sarah Freeman, I am a Waterwoman, life, and swim coach, and activist for women. I am building empowering communities for Waterwomen to connect, heal, and thrive as their authentic selves.
This podcast is a space of stories of Waterwomen around the globe sharing their journey as Waterwomen. Anywhere from swimmers, wild swimmers, surfers, sailors, free divers, open water swimmers, ice swimmers, women who like to dip their toes in the water, and Waterwomen with a disability or who are moving through an illness.
Waterwomen all have something in common, they love the water! Every guest has a story to share of their journey to who they are today. Some Waterwomen guests will have a cause behind their love for the water, some will have a healing journey to share, some will have a story of moving through fears, and so much more!
I can guarantee one thing! After listening to the RAWW Podcast you will want to be in, on, or around water.
There is something very special about the community of Waterwomen and I cannot wait to share their stories with you!
Find me on Instagram
@sarahfreemancoaching and my website at sarahfreemancoaching.com
RAWW Podcast
RAW Podcast: Wellness, Life Tips, and Adventure with Anastasia
Ever wondered what it takes to run your own wellness business coupled with an insatiable love for nature and trail running? Well, meet Anastasia, a Life Design Coach whose story connects her curiosity to who she is today. With a zest for connecting with people and her infectious love for adventure, she gives us a peek into her exhilarating life, from river plunges to sunrise hikes and the autonomy of running her own business, A Healthy Journey.
But Anastasia's dream goes beyond just wellness. She's on a mission to empower women by creating a ripple effect - sharing her discoveries, fostering a vibrant community of strong women, and emphasizing the power of owning one's voice. As she reevaluates her business for a broader impact, she gives a shout-out to influential women such as Valerie Atkinson in her life.
RAW Podcast is taking a short break, but we'll be back in January, ready to enrich your podcast experience with new guests, inspiring stories, and new ideas. So, keep exploring and stay connected!
To connect with Anastasia:
https://ahealthyjourney.ca/
https://www.instagram.com/anastasiahendryanto/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiahendryanto/
With love,
Sarah Freeman
Hello everyone and welcome back to Raw Podcast. This is your first episode You're listening to. Welcome and thanks for being here. I am super excited, as I always am, to introduce so many incredible women and women that identify as women. But today I have the beautiful Anastasia, and she came into my life quite a while ago and she's just like a ray of sunshine and she I know Anastasia, you'll tell me in a minute, but like I can't exactly remember what it was where we met and maybe you won't remember, but I just remember connecting with you really well and it's been through the chamber things and it's been outside of that world too, and Anastasia just has so much to share and she's just a joy to be around. So, anastasia, welcome to Raw Podcast. Thank you for being here. Well, thanks for having me, sarah. No problem, do you remember the moment that we met?
Speaker 2:I was just rocking my brain and I'm sure it was a chamber event, I feel like it was.
Speaker 1:It must have been. Maybe it was like the. I wonder if it was like the original Smart Start or something you could have been.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I definitely met you through Smart Start program.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, well anyways, thank you for being on Raw Podcast, and can you tell everybody that's listening right now, anastasia, who you are? Who are you?
Speaker 2:Sure, I'm a life and wellness coach and I have my own business called the Healthy Journey, and I'm also, like a nature lover, a simplicity lover and a trail runner. I'm a mom and I just love spending a ton of time outside and meeting new people, building relationships and having fun.
Speaker 1:I feel that about you. You love to connect with people, and I think that's part of the reason why we connected, too, being out in the outdoors, and Anastasia and I both braved up going into the river doing full plunges right.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Which was. That was an amazing experience, but you're a runner too. You love the outdoors and you're a runner, yeah. I really love trail running, yeah, and you've done some events that come up and yeah, and sometimes it's like a surprise All of a sudden I say, oh my goodness, anastasia did that. That's amazing. So you've had a good season. What kind of runs have you done right there this season?
Speaker 2:I've been training a little bit longer. I did a 25K in Nipica back at the end of May. It's just such a beautiful place, it's one of my favorite spots to run. And I also did a half pint up in Golden in September and that was my first multi-day event where you run Friday, saturday and Sunday and I did it with a few girlfriends to celebrate our big birthdays a lot of fun. And then I also have done a little bit of hiking. I did my first sunrise hike with a friend in August and it was just spectacular up at Hauling. So I'm always just looking for new things that I haven't tried before and just follow my I guess my curiosity to see what it would be like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, that Hauling, that sounds amazing. I've seen a couple of people doing that. You must have to get up pretty early. What time did you get up to do that?
Speaker 2:Well, I did it actually the early September, so we needed to get up around 4.35. Yeah, that's early enough, but in the summer it would be so bad, right so. Yeah, it's warmer, but if you were to go, say, tomorrow sunrises, like what, around 8 o'clock or so or just after 8, you wouldn't have to get up that early.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. So, anastasia, where did it all start for you, like your business? Where did it all come to life for you? How did you bring it to reality?
Speaker 2:Well, I've been in the wellness industry a really long time. I've always been like helping people with their energy and their health, whether it was through movement or nutrition, and I've decided that I really love working for myself. I really love the autonomy of having my own business and having the flexibility and the lifestyle of being an entrepreneur. So over the years I've had a few businesses I've been a personal trainer and I've been a holistic nutritionist and my latest creation is my life and wellness coaching. So I'm focusing on mindset. I think I'm just really curious about human potential and why are we here? What motivates us and like, why do we do what we do? I'm just fascinated by the psychology of human behavior and optimizing our health so that we can just live with vitality and joy and have fun and be connected with nature and with each other and see what's possible.
Speaker 1:I love that, that human potential. Do you ever find that you pull anything out of like when you're running for yourself, like that gets infused into your business?
Speaker 2:Yes, definitely. I know I can do hard things, like when I'm doing longer runs or more challenging elevation, that I can be okay with discomfort, that it doesn't mean that something's wrong. I can still listen to my body and be smart about my training and my racing but it's okay to be uncomfortable and to be challenged and that that's part of growth. So that really comes into my work with my clients and knowing that life has lots of ups and downs and different seasons and it's just part of the adventure and part of the journey.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I think, as an athlete, you're an athlete, I'm an athlete. You like land, I like water. There's so much to be said about what we learn as an athlete in our sport that you can take into your business right. There's so much learning for everybody. So, yeah, thanks for answering that. So the next question what is your story that you hold close to your heart in Estesia? A story that connects you to who you are as a red, active woman today?
Speaker 2:What story connects?
Speaker 1:me.
Speaker 2:That's a great question. I say it comes back to that curiosity of what's possible and really looking at my values Like part of my story. I used to live in Calgary for over 25 years and I felt really I don't know disconnected. I spent a lot of time driving and traffic and my weekends out in the mountains. I was able to take some time and realize that my life didn't really reflect all of my values. So I was able to flip it and move out to Canmore so I could spend more time outside and less time in my car, just stuck in traffic and commuting.
Speaker 2:So that's my story of it's possible to make big changes and it doesn't have to be really hard. You just need to know your why and to know that it's possible, even if you don't know what all the steps are when you're thinking about it, that you can just take one step and then another step and if you're coming from your values, you'll know it will feel right and yeah. So I guess one of my biggest stories would be my move from big city life out to the small town of Canmore with my family.
Speaker 1:I love that. It's a great story, and so I'm quite sure there's women that are listening to this right now thinking, wow, I wish I could do that. And so what was the key? What was the thing that sparked you to do that? Was it because you just were like I don't know, it was like in a city and you just you love the mountains. Like what was that spark?
Speaker 2:Well, the spark came from. It was actually during the pandemic, so I was spending a lot more time at home and even just outside in the city, and I quickly became a bit bored and realizing that it just it didn't feel healthy Like I knew, like my health is one of my top values. So I thought, well, what could that look like if I didn't hear like the buzz of traffic and like smell the pollution? And the city smells? And we just started asking, well, if we could live anywhere, like be playful, where would we want to live? And my husband and I were both working from home at the time so we realized, hey, like we have flexibility this is why we do what we do we could take advantage of this flexibility and so yeah, we just started like trying to be playful and look at our options.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. I love that how you like, found the playfulness in it and I'm sure, like there's some women and whoever's listening that would like to take the sleep. So I say I challenge you to find that playfulness and that spark to get you here. I have heard stories from other people, actually quite recently, moving here, whereas I thought it was always the opposite people moving out right, but finding that peace and that you know well, you love the mountains, so why not live here? Let's, let's make those steps, let's make it happen, and they can be really hard, like they can be scary steps. So one degree at a time, right, so that's amazing. Thanks for sharing that, anastasia. Very brave. And look at you now, this community around you and this goodness around you that you've created and your family, right.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I'm so grateful that we took the risk and yeah, and just went with what was we would be fun and what would be, yeah, just follow our curiosity.
Speaker 1:I love that. Follow your curiosity. So next question what is your one wish for women that are listening right now to carry into their future as a rod active woman?
Speaker 2:My one wish is for women to put themselves on the top of their their to do list, to prioritize their desires and their needs to I. I often see women they're strong, they're resourceful, they're smart and they look after everyone else and they are kind of left with I don't know leftovers. And yeah, my wish is for women to use their gifts and do meaningful work, like whatever lights them up in and think of what, yeah, what lights them up first and that way it fills their cups, so that they're giving from an overflowing cup instead of an empty cup.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. And do you like, how, like I know what that, I know what that feels like, but like, if there's people out there, women out there right now listening, and they're like, well, how do I get there? How do you, how do you know, when you know, like, do you get like an intuition, like what is it that you know that when it lights you up, what happens to you? That's my question is.
Speaker 2:Hmm, what happens to me when I feel lit up? I feel like an excitement. So I know, when I'm kind of waking up excited about my day, that I have some things sprinkled in that are just for me but bring me joy or allow me to connect with myself and also with others, because that's one of my values. For me, like a morning routine is really important, like I think giving to myself first thing in the morning, before you know other demands arise, is a way to fill my cup and feel grounded so I can notice what's going on, instead of just like kind of living an autopilot, and that, even though that go go busyness that we can just slip into.
Speaker 1:I love that. It's like it's taking time for yourself, but I like how you get that excitement and it's like people that are listening.
Speaker 2:It's like what is it for you?
Speaker 1:what happens to you inside your body or your mind or like you know, I don't know for me, I got this rush of like excitement and I'm like it's instant for me and it's like I have to act on it or I don't if it's not, but it's just, it's so interesting. Do you ever find? I love those moments when you actually are fully activated and it's like it feels like it's pure joy?
Speaker 1:So it's just like a hack. Yes, yeah, totally. Oh goodness, it gives me goosebumps thinking about that, because you know the hack guesses don't necessarily come along like every day Not for me but I think that's okay though. Yeah, okay, we could talk about this for a while. If you want this, let's move on to our next question. So what is your one ripple effect that you would create? Or maybe it's something you're already creating a misdacia for women out in the communities and beyond, or yeah?
Speaker 2:Well, I feel like whenever I discover something fun or interesting or helpful, I'm always sharing, like if I discover a great fitness class or a great podcast or a book recommendation, or I'm reading something and I just want to share it with other women. I love that, that's how I'd say the kind of ripple effect, like if I'm excited about it. I'm pretty sure other women would be excited too, like the looking or the searching, and give them, like the fast track, into something fun or joyful or helpful and energizing.
Speaker 1:I love that, so Anastasia loves to share things.
Speaker 2:I know that firsthand, especially books.
Speaker 1:I know you're the person I need to ask more often about books, but I just loaded up on a couple new ones. I'll tell you how well, they are after I read them. Maybe you've already read them, but I love reading.
Speaker 1:Yes, I never used to be like a reader. It kind of comes and goes in waves, but right now I'm like I don't know. Some fascinating reads out there right now. So, as a Rad, active woman, how would you like to own your voice in communities beyond even more and maybe this is something you're already doing, anastasia, and if you want to share that?
Speaker 2:Well, I want to say I'd like to be more visible and share my message of putting yourself first and giving from a full cup and using your gifts and having fun, that it isn't just about being productive and measuring your worth with how much money you make or how many results you produce. So, yeah, I'd like to meet more women and make new connections and also deepen the connections I already have. I'd love to do some collaborations and just build a community. I just envision a strong, vibrant community, kind of like a sisterhood that I've just kind of been thinking about.
Speaker 1:So, if you're thinking about this, is this something that you're going to bring into reality?
Speaker 2:Spoken from a true coach. Yes, I'm actually just reevaluating like the direction of my business and how can I have a bigger impact and, more importantly, what would be fun, what would light me up and just be naturally energizing that I could spread it out. So, yeah, I'm still in the brainstorming phases of creating like a women's circle or sisterhood. I just think there's a real need for connection and support for women to lift each other up. So, yeah, it's in the works.
Speaker 1:I love it. Well, I can't wait to hear what it is when you get there. But let it marinate and, as you know as a coach, just like, yeah, you don't need to rush this right. Goodness will come into that and one day they'll be like oh, I know what this is, but you're on the right track and I can't wait to hear what that is, anastasia, and hopefully be a part of that as well. Last question Can you give a shout out to one red act of woman in your life, and why?
Speaker 2:Oh, there's so many I've I'm going to do a shout out to for Valerie Atkinson. Valerie's had a real impact on my life this past year and she is just so generous with her time and also sharing her her gift of using the cacao plant like as plant medicine and really just facilitating deeper conversations with women in the community and really brings a groundedness and I also watch her share that with her clients in the community and it's very inspiring to see her tap into her wisdom and step into a leadership role and tap and also grow with like tapping to her spirituality. And, yeah, I find her work and also her energy very, very inspiring.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no-transcript. That's amazing. Yeah, valerie is an incredible woman, that's for sure. You hit it right on the nail there. Anastasia, thank you so much for being on Raw Podcast and yeah, it's been an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you everyone for listening to Raw Podcast and thank you, anastasia, for being such a wonderful guest, for sharing your story and your wisdom and your heart. I have left some details in the show notes and how to reach out to Anastasia. Go on over there, dive over there, immerse yourself into that and follow her on Instagram as well. All the links will be in the show notes. Thank you everybody for supporting Raw Podcast. We will be back in I'm going to say probably in the new year, in January. We're taking a little bit of a pause to marinate in all the goodness right now and to take a break. So we'll be back in January with some new guests and new ideas, as I take a break in Australia for a bit. So thanks everybody for your support. Go and listen to all the other podcasts if you haven't yet, and I can't wait to share so much goodness with you in 2024. Have a fantastic couple of months and we'll catch you in the new year. Thanks everybody.