#65: Rachel Nguyen
"I’d like to see a quieter world. It currently feels like we’re just trying to talk over ourselves all the time."
#65: Rachel Nguyen (@thatschic)
Location: Mount Shasta, CA
Astrology: Sagittarius/Taurus/Libra
Rachel (@thatschic) is my favorite on-again, off-again YouTuber. From blogging through college to launching her channel in the 2010s, hers is a story of trusting one’s vision and knowing when to let go (or, as she said in her 33 Mantras: Being tip of the tongue, not on the nose).
These days, she’s decidedly less online, living out of her van and quietly building her world (more on that below). Watch her lecture, “Journey Back to Self,” here.
What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?
Aliveness, when the cells of your whole existence are awake. Your consciousness, your body, your spirit, your mind. I believe we are all equipped with the intuitive knowing of what we need but it’s often overridden by what we ‘must do.’ Truly the ability to be still with oneself, while rejecting the impulse to consume, is, I think, a healthy foundation.
How would you describe your current lifestyle?
It’s a lot I’m experimenting with. They fall into a few themes: following charm, precision in simplicity, home as a spell. I currently move around a lot and reside mostly in nature. A divine love has also entered my life and I’ve been dreaming it up with him in new places and spaces. I don’t actively work right now, but I still create every day. Hoping to actually produce something outside of my little world, but for now, I’m enjoying building it.
It’s a lot I’m experimenting with: following charm, precision in simplicity, home as a spell.
How do you start and end your days?
With massage. Lymphs in the morning. Muscle release in the evening on a ball. It used to be journaling for me, and while I do miss this habit, I just find myself less in my head and more in my body these days.
Can you recall a moment when you became more aware of your health, or your relationship to it changed?
My first awakening happened quite young when my dad was diagnosed with diabetes. Our entire household shifted from processed foods to whole foods. But aren’t we always becoming aware of our bodies as they evolve over time? I feel more womanly now. I cherish eroticism of self. I yearn. I use my body as a vessel for joy. I’m somatically attuned to how my body feels and what it needs, like to an annoying fault.
What’s your relationship to self-healing?
This past year feels like my peak self-healing arc, where I did a deep dive into sovereignty, self-reliance... Maybe I’m wrong, but an actively healing person generally feels like a steady, sovereign being. Like they’re not enmeshed in other people’s idea of them nor internalizing external influences; they’re just at peace with themselves. That’s what I strive for, especially in the relationship I have with myself.
Do you work with any practitioners, texts, or modalities on a regular basis?
I don’t really have access to that kind of consistency on the road, so I’m not currently. But I have my own practices involving bakti yoga, pranayama, chanting, meditation. I also play a lot — play is one of the most healing modalities and it’s widely accessible at all times.
How do you reset?
I kinda see it like a perpetual journey back to self, evoking all practices to shake off what isn’t mine. I’m so grateful to learn how to access living in nature. Being amongst pristine, elder trees on a soft forest floor, cooking meals over a fire, resets me from societal grime and back to my primitive humanity.
Keep trusting your instincts and listen to your intuition when it pings. Take it seriously.
When do you feel the most nourished?
It’s one thing when I’m taking care of myself, as I typically do a pretty good job at, and it amplifies when I feel taken care of by someone else. Shared experiences of nourishment are peak.
What types of foods are you typically drawn towards? Do you have a favorite meal?
This summer I’ve been obsessed with hydration. Going for more fruits, naturally slippery foods like sea moss, Chinese dessert soup, okra, aloe…feels like it’s coating my insides like a good moisturizing oil. Otherwise, I really love when my food feels alive. I had this epiphany that it’s like devout food for the fairy realm; foods that keep you light and airy. So nothing is really cooked down in my ideal meal beside a slice of seed/nut toast, add avocado for fat, sauerkraut for probiotics, beans out of the pan for protein, chia/flax seed overnight oats with yogurt for inner slip, fresh fruit for vitamins and hydration, and a coconut matcha for an energetic treat.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Keep trusting your instincts and listen to your intuition when it pings.
To the person reading this?
Keep trusting your instincts and listen to your intuition when it pings. Take it seriously.
What would you like to see or create more of in the world?
I’d like to see less people creating and more people listening to themselves. I’d like to see a quieter world. It currently feels like we’re just trying to talk over ourselves all the time.
More from Rachel:
Spiral Deeper Podcast: Rachel Nguyen on the Creative Process, Intuition, Play, and Living Artistically
ilovecreatives Video Creator Course
OMG okay. Tuning in now. Dream guest Forreal.