Episode 29: How to hold space for yourself with Heather Plett

Heather Plett’s work is about holding space, for ourselves and for others. After years of work as a coach and writer, in March 2015 Heather wrote a blog post about what she learned about holding space by witnessing the palliative care nurse who supported her mom in her final days on earth.

This post went crazy viral. Read by millions of people and translated into many different languages, Heather turned inward to claim her work. Now she holds space for people’s growth, grief, healing, learning, and transformation. Heathers retreats, workshops and training programmes are consistently booked out. Her writing on the subject of holding space has appeared in Harvard Business Review and quoted in multiple books as well as curriculum for nurses, hospice care workers, yoga teachers, facilitators, and military chaplains.

Heather and I chat about how to hold space for ourselves: for the parts of us we struggle to be with, for our shame, grief and loss. How to ask for what you need in relationships and how to take care of yourself when it feels like the world is on fire.