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A PRESCRIPTION FOR PASSION, DEDICATION, AND ADVENTURE. SO HOW DOES THIS CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST

AND ENTREPRENEUR DO IT ALL WITH STYLE AND GRACE? SHE ATTRIBUTES IT TO HER ‘SECRET WEAPON’: HER MINDFULNESS PRACTICES.

DR. KAITLYN GOLDSMITH

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST & ESVEDRA WELLNESS APP FOUNDER

I have a passion for women’s health and empowering women through education.

For Dr. Kaitlyn Goldsmith, every day looks different! She wears many hats with her thriving clinical practice in womens’ sexual health, teaching Human Sexuality at UBC, and running a team for her new app – EsVedra Wellness.

Kaitlyn believes that health is not only about the physical domain. “Our health is about the physical, emotional, and spiritual. I truly believe that to be our healthiest selves, we must prioritize all of these domains,” she shares. As a yoga instructor, Kaitlyn has found that yoga along with meditation has been paramount on her journey toward health and wellness. Her passion for encouraging others to think holistically when it comes to health led her to create the EsVedra Wellness app in 2020. Through EsVedra, she has brought a community of wellness practitioners from around the globe together to share affordable, accessible, and authentic digital wellness through meditations, podcasts, and video interviews.

Like everyone, there are struggles in life and with so much on her plate, Kaitlyn has adopted a mission for herself. As a self-defined ‘classic Type A personality’, she shares that she has sometimes felt that she’s constantly pushing herself to work harder to bring her plans and visions to life. “Although being goal-oriented and driven is not a bad thing, I am working on letting go and allowing things to flow a bit more. Looking back on my life so far, I am realizing that every struggle, problem, and rejection has led me to something bigger and better than I had imagined for myself. I’m working on embracing and welcoming experiences as they come with an attitude of gratitude and faith in what life has in store for me.”

On any given day, you’ll usually find Kaitlyn seeing patients, teaching, or meeting with the EsVedra team to work on content creation, event design, and virtual reality design. When she’s not working, she loves to try out new restaurants in Vancouver where she lives with her husband, Brendan. She also enjoys a nice glass of sparkling wine, her yoga practice and reading. “

I hope that other women see me as a teammate in lifting each other up, breaking through barriers, and shattering glass ceilings. I truly believe there is room for all of us to succeed and we are all in this together.

Q: What inspired you to become a doctor and why the specific

field that you’re in?

I actually did not know what I wanted to study when I started university and considered everything from Dentist to Art Historian to Lawyer. However, when I took my first psychology course, I knew I had found my passion. I chose to focus on women’s health specifically because I have a passion for feminist advocacy and I see the historical challenges women have faced and continue to face when it comes to health equity and particularly sexual health equity. I am passionate about educating and empowering women to take ownership of their health and I truly believe that strong, healthy, empowered women will change the world.

Q: What do you love most about what you do? Every day, I feel so privileged to hear about some of the most intimate details of people’s lives and to be a support during difficult times. I love empowering my patients with knowledge and skills and watching them do the work to improve their own lives. I am inspired by my patients every day and I’m so grateful to have such a rewarding career.

Q: What is a common factor that you see inhibiting

women’s sexual health?

I think that a major factor negatively impacting women’s sexual health (and everyone’s sexual health for that matter!), is lack of education. I always say that it seems like sex is everywhere and nowhere at once – we see it on TV and in movies and through lots of jokes and remarks in conversation, but when was the last time someone spoke frankly and honestly about sexual health? For most of us, not often. This is particularly the case for women, who tend to have very few conversations about sexual desire, fantasies, and pleasure. On top of that, it seems we are all expected to “just know” everything about sexuality. Talk about unreasonable expectations! I believe that education is at the foundation of improving women’s sexual health and I encourage women to treat sex like any other skill – if you want to learn about it, dedicate some time to read or watch videos about women’s sexuality. See a few of my book recommendations on the next page!

Q: What are some of your favorite rituals or practices that you feel

contribute to your sexual health?

When it comes to sexual health, I believe in a holistic approach. This means taking care of yourself mind, body, and spirit. I find that many of us (myself included!) spend most of the time “in our heads”. When it comes to sexuality, we need to practice being in our bodies and in the moment. Practices that help move me from “doing” to “being”, such as mindfulness meditation, dance, and music help me practice this.

Dr. Kaitlyn’s reading list

Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski The Guide to Getting it On by Paul Joannides Tell Me What You Want by Justin Lehmiller

The Defining Decade by Meg Jay The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer

What do you think is under-rated?

I think virtual reality is under-rated. VR is something that many people have some experience with, but the general population is not socialized to using it yet (or even exposed to it…yet!). However, I think the possibilities are so exciting – imagine traveling to exotic spiritual destinations and being guided through traditional wellness practices from the comfort of your home!

Q: What has this “new normal” of 2020-now meant for your life? It’s been a wild 12 months, that’s for sure! In terms of my business, everything has moved online, which has meant lots of Zoom meetings and lots of seeing patients over video calls. Despite the “Zoom fatigue”, I think a few good things have come from working online – people have become even more comfortable connecting and building communities virtually, which has been a huge positive for the EsVedra community. I have had meetings with people from around the world who I might never have reached out to if I hadn’t become so used to using technology to connect. I have definitely struggled to keep up my workout routine this year and I miss dancing the night away with my girlfriends!

Q: Soundtrack to your life these days? Ariana Grande every day!

Q: What are a few of your must-have items? I am all about shoes – a great pair of shoes is a fashion essential for every outfit! I am also obsessed with perfume and my current favorite is Rose Prick by Tom Ford. (I get compliments every time I wear it!) I absolutely love diffusing essential oils in my home and love the scent “into the trees” by Saje.

Q: What’s your personal fashion and style philosophy? For me, fashion is all about expressing your inner truth and how you want to be seen. This is different for everyone, but for me, I love classic, elegant, and girly styles that are feminine and polished. And again, my favourite part of an outfit is the shoes – fabulous shoes automatically upgrade an outfit and express so much about someone’s personality! Q: What makes you come alive? When people come together for a common goal. I am so moved and inspired by incredible communities creating big changes and lifting each other up.

Q: What things about yourself do you feel make you relatable? I prefer to listen rather than speak. I’m usually the one asking all the questions in the conversation – I find people so interesting! Everybody has a story and I love to hear different perspectives and opinions. I also sometimes struggle with what to bring up in a conversation, especially when meeting new people. I remind myself that the best strategy is to ask questions – interesting people are interested in people.

my secret weapon

Like so many of us, I live a busy life and sometimes feel like I’m in a perpetual state of “information overload”. I find myself trying to be more efficient by thinking ahead about tasks I need to complete and anticipating problems before they even arise.

This habit can take me out of the moment and make me feel overwhelmed. Practicing mindfulness means getting back in touch with my experience in the present moment and being a nonjudgmental observer of my thoughts, rather than getting swept up in them. When I practice this consistently, my stress levels and irritability are much lower.

The Story of EsVedra

EsVedra was born in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, in response to a lack of affordable, accessible, and authentic digital wellness. I wanted to find a way to connect everyone to the people on the ground in spiritual communities like Tulum. This is how EsVedra was born. Today, EsVedra is a community of wellness practitioners from around the world and we are growing every day. The app is currently available on the app store and we are testing a beta version as we speak. Next, we are working on exciting new developments at the cutting edge of technology and wellness, developing immersive virtual reality experiences! We believe that the future of wellness is rooted in authentic practices and immersive wellness experiences. EsVedra is building that world one meditation, podcast, and retreat at a time.

Q: How can someone get the most out of this app? Many people find that starting with a short meditation in the morning is a good way to begin a wellness practice. Some people start building a practice from once per week and work their way up to once per day. Research has shown that mindfulness and meditation can have significant positive outcomes on emotional well-being and physical health. Although it can be challenging to begin a new practice, it is never too late to start and no amount is too small to start with!

Q: How do you personally use EsVedra in your daily life? It depends how I am feeling! Some mornings I start my day with an energizing meditation. Other days I can’t sleep, and I listen to a calming meditation. And some days, I just want to take a break and listen to the advice and experiences of other amazing human beings, so I tune in to a podcast. There is a guided journey available for any time of day and any mood you might be in.

What are a few of your favorites to check out right now?

One of my favourite contributors to EsVedra is Ashley Wray of the Mala Collective - she created a Meditation Energy Reset Series that I just tried last week and I felt so refreshed and centered after completing it. I also really enjoyed a great podcast by Maja Savic on seeking new opportunities - it’s so hard to choose, we have new content uploaded every week and our creators really have unique and inspiring stories and journeys to share with you.

Tell us about the Blog!

Our blog is run by an incredible group of undergraduate students who research and summarize the benefits of holistic wellness practices. The blog is about bringing what is old and new together: science-backed research meets spiritual wisdom/knowledge that humans have known for hundreds of years. Q: Tell us more about your team! Sometimes I cannot believe how fast we are growing. I have an amazing team of 7 incredible female tech innovators, designing immersive online events and building a global community of holistic wellness practitioners. I can’t wait to share more in the coming months about the new team I am building to create EsVedra’s virtual reality experiences. We are very excited for what we believe is the future of wellness - authentic, community-based, immersive, journeys and experiences.

Q: Tell us about the Ambassador and Creator Opportunities. Our ambassadors are your bridge into wellness communities in cities around the world! If you were to fly down to Tulum for example, and wanted to experience a traditional healing practice while in Tulum, EsVedra’s Ambassador Bojana is there to connect you with the local creators in our community there.

Q:

TAP

for more about EsVedra Wellness Photo: Alyssa Dawson Our Creators are the heart of EsVedra - Q: they are medicine women, yogis, spiritual leaders, and healers from local communities around the world. They are passionate about sharing their knowledge and practices with you and the world to help us all grow and thrive.

If you want to share your practices and knowledge with the world, you can email us at hello@esvedra.ca