84. Clara Hughes: Learning to Breathe

Elite Canadian athlete Clara Hughes is the only person in history to have won multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The six-time medalist powered through pain to achieve extraordinary success—with profound consequences for her body and mind. A catastrophic knee injury coincided with menopausal hot flashes and dizzying mood swings, forcing her into stillness and depression. Finding little support through traditional avenues, Clara turned to psychedelic-assisted therapy; thus began a trip to the roots of long-buried inner pain, and back to herself. Grab a cup of coffee and spend your Sunday with this Canadian icon as she shares her healing journey with vulnerability and humour in this candid conversation with Joanna Cheek.

Presented in partnership with Simon & Schuster Canada.

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Joanna Cheek

JOANNA CHEEK, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist, psychotherapist trained in dozens of modalities, researcher, meditation teacher, journalist, and clinical professor at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine. She co-created the national-award-winning MindSpace Collective, which offers workshops that have taught effective mental health strategies to tens of thousands of community members and physicians who, like everyone else, experience the mental health symptoms that arise from living in a disordered world.

Clara Hughes

CLARA HUGHES became the only athlete to win multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Games. She is a member of the Order of Manitoba and an officer of the Order of Canada, has received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, and was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. Clara was Canada’s flag bearer for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Clara lives with her husband, Peter, on Vancouver Island.