204 | Where Healing Meets Human Rights: Consent, Reiki, Privilege, and the Practice of Being Alive with Nadine Donselaar

In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by Nadine Donselaar, Human Rights lawyer, Reiki and Kriya Yoga teacher, women’s mentor, and author of Your Journey to Consent: A Practical Guide to Understand, Prevent, and Heal from Sexual Violence. This conversation moves through the tender, layered intersections of consent, sexual violence, gender-based violence, holistic healing, human rights, privilege, and the everyday practice of being fully alive. Nadine brings such a unique lens to this work, blending her background in law and human rights with embodied healing practices like Reiki, womb work, meditation, ritual, and energy healing.Together, we explore what it means to heal without turning healing into another endless self-improvement project. Nadine shares how her own experience with sexual violence, EMDR therapy, energy work, and writing her book shaped the way she supports women in reconnecting with their bodies, desires, boundaries, and inner truth. We talk about the difference between trying to become “better” and learning how to become more fully yourself — not as a new spiritual persona, but as a grounded, living, breathing human being in your real, everyday life.At its heart, this episode is a conversation about choosing life after survival. It’s about laughing louder, dancing more freely, asking harder questions, healing in relationship, and remembering that personal liberation and collective care are deeply connected. If you’ve ever wondered how energy work, embodied healing, human rights, consent, and everyday aliveness all belong in the same conversation, this episode is for you.In this episode, we explore:How Nadine’s personal experience with sexual violence shaped her path into healing, human rights law, Reiki, Kriya Yoga, womb work, and women’s mentorshipThe difference between healing as a path back to yourself and healing as another endless self-improvement projectWhy “becoming more of yourself” is often less about understanding everything and more about feeling, expressing, and livingHow trauma can live in the body, even after the mind has made sense of what happenedThe role of Reiki, energy healing, womb practices, meditation, ritual, and Kriya Yoga in reconnecting with the bodyWhat it means to choose aliveness, joy, desire, and beauty after seasons of survivalThe intersection of personal healing and collective responsibilityThe importance of knowing your values, standards, boundaries, and responsibilities as a practitioner or leaderHow colonialism, exploitation, lineage, and privilege show up in spiritual and wellness spacesHow consent begins with understanding your own yes, no, and maybeThe complexity of accountability, enablement, harm, repair, and community dynamics after sexual violenceThe power of women gathering, sharing stories, dancing, listening, and being witnessedHow to begin again after a hard season with softness, honesty, support, and joyBe sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode!Connect with Nadine:Learn more about Nadine’s work: nadinedonselaar.comBuy Nadine’s book, Your Journey to Consent: A Practical Guide to Understand, Prevent, and Heal from Sexual Violence: AmazonWork with Nadine: Explore her 1:1 offeringsConnect with Nadine on Instagram: @nadine.donselaarFollow Your Journey to Consent on Instagram: @your.journey.to.consentRead Nadine’s writing on Substack: A Blessing in DisguiseConnect with Emily:Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!Resources and Links:Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More