Hi! I’m Linda Raven.
I offer personal radical life coaching and workshops on Embodied Liberation for rebels who are feeling stuck in their lives and want to experience a life with more meaning. I support them in getting curious about what has held them back previously and invite them to take small steps towards transformation.
I believe that you are awesome and have incredible gifts to offer the world. Dysfunction in society (ie. unchecked capitalism, colonization, etc) disconnected us from each other, the Earth and the wisdom in our own bodies. We can rebuild these connections through deliberate practices. This process can be deep, complicated and difficult. Just as with house cleaning, sometimes it gets messier before it gets clearer. We need to go through the muck, before we get to the clarity. When we give ourselves compassion, we understand that we have really good reasons for doing what we are doing, even if our choices now seem out of line with what we say we want. Once we compassionately understand what we are doing now, we can do even better.
How I got here:
I have always wanted to make the world a better place and make myself a better person. I’m a systemic thinker so I was always looking for the root cause of global issues (poverty, war, etc). But it never occurred to me to question the root cause of my own insecurities, my not enoughness.
When I graduated from college, I got a stable, fairly high paying job because that’s what responsible intelligent adults do. Or so I believed at the time. But the work had no meaning for me. So I went searching for meaningful work and in the process witnessed firsthand the impacts of global inequality. This led me to question why global capital behaves as it does (and why the people who control it behave as they do). I was like a 4 year old, “But why are they greedy?” “But why do they force other people to work in inhumane conditions so they can make lots of money?” “But why?” Why? Why? Why?
Eventually, I landed a job teaching a social justice-oriented study abroad program in Namibia. I started teaching yoga in my free time. I was intrigued by the idea of also offering personal development workshops. But it always felt “off” to me that social justice and my personal improvement and mindful movement practices were in separate circles that never intersected.
Radical Life Coaching Emerges
I decided that there must be a way that these 3 things which did not feel separate to me at all could be brought together. Linda Raven Coaching was born. Well, okay, maybe it wasn’t quite that simple. It took a few iterations. Being an anti-capitalist entrepreneur isn’t easy. Learning how to run a business without perpetuating oppressive tactics took some time and a lot of self reflection. Honestly, it also took me a while to own my counter-cultural approach. At first, I tried to pretend I was a main stream coach, but just with this social justice and embodiment background. Bit by bit, I owned my uniqueness more and more. Until finally… Linda Raven Coaching was really born.
I truly enjoy inviting my clients to experience their awesomeness, see the structural oppression which may be preventing them from owning their awesomeness and make the shift in their bodies which allows them to express their awesomeness into the world.
This story in the South Bend Tribune describes my life path beautifuly and succinctly.
In this delghtful interview with Jamila Blue of the Conscious Michiana Podcast I go into more details about my background and how it led me to where I am now.
My Experience
- Certified Community Coach from Leadership that Works
- 10 years experience in experiential, feminist, critical pedagogies
- Master of Arts in International Development and Social Change from Clark University
- Advanced training in Coaching for Self-Leadership (adaptation of Internal Family Systems for the Coaching Profession)
- Curious and constantly learning about more ways to move and be present in my body
- Numerous short courses on trauma, somatic healing, coaching, yoga, personal development, social justice, permaculture, restorative justice, and more
Fun facts about me
- Lived and/or worked in 5 different countries and visited more than 25 countries
- She/her pronouns
- Born and raised on unceded Potawatomi/Miami land (known as South Bend, IN, USA)
- Currently on unceded Potawatomi/Miami land
- Particularly influenced by: Anjali Nath of Liberation Spring, Andrea Ranae Johnson, Adebayo Akomolafe, Resmaa Menakem, Charles Eisenstein, Staci Haines and the many, many inspiring change-makers and activists I was fortunate to introduce to my students in Namibia and South Africa especially: Lucelle Campbell, Visolela Namises, Xola Skosana, Alan Storey, Molefi Mataboge, Herbert Jauch, Linda Baumann, and Dale McKinley.
- Inspired by sunsets, trees, possibilities, fruit, movement, purple, love, discomfort, gravity, spinach, survivors, and you.
- Pet peeves include: spiritual bypassing (always focusing on the positive and ignoring oppressive realities and especially our complicity in perpetuating oppression), nonconsensual advice giving, injustice, and climate change.
What next?
- Schedule a free introductory coaching session.
- Get to know more about me and my thoughts on the blog.
- Get in touch! Tell me more about you!
Radical (ˈra-di-kəl):
1 : of, relating to, or proceeding from a root
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