The Crucible:Conversations for the Curious

Hamish (00:49)
Hi everybody, today we are chatting with Rikke and she is one of my great friends. I've known her for three years now. We met on a Mastermind with Jack Canfield and I've asked her to come along because she's got a remarkable story. So hi Rikke, tell us a little bit about you and your awakening.

Rikke Ludvigsen (01:07)
Thank you Hamish for allowing me to tell my story here on your podcast. A little bit about me. I am a social worker, a trauma therapist, specialist in creating safety for children

young people working with their families and healing trauma. And I've been doing that in my business for 13 years now. And this is actually a part of my awakening process.

Because when I was in 2018, I've been an independent social worker and trauma therapist and specialist in this field, training a lot of professionals around Denmark. And in 2018, I was...

in a very good place in life. I felt that I still remember that I really had the sense of being free in so many ways. I was a single woman living the best life.

I had a fantastic job, like my business was going so good. I was financially well in so many ways. I felt really felt safe and free to express myself and live the best life that I could. And so the summer of 2018 was just a really fantastic time.

And at that time I was also settled, you know, I was also looking into becoming a mom because I was, I was approved for adoption, a single mom adoption. And I was kind of settled into, you know, keeping, working less. I've been working really hard for many years and in a very difficult field with so much pain and suffering and trauma and...

violence and neglect and I loved it and I really felt it was meaningful and helpful and important for me to do this but it was also time at that time was I felt that I could settle and you know invest a little bit more in my own life and looking into becoming a mom myself and maybe...

slow down a little bit work wise and all was well. And then I saw a documentary and I still remember the night when I was sitting here and I read with that, you know, good feeling and it was a summer night and I love summers in Copenhagen and it was, yeah. And.

And I saw a British documentary on the Rohingya refugees in Myanmar.

and the genocide called, I think it's called the killing fields of Myanmar. And it was the British documentaries that done this documentary, I think about maybe only eight or nine months, very shortly after the genocide and from the refugee camp in Bangladesh called Cox's Bazar.

And it was, you know, I was sitting in my couch watching it and there was something happening while I was watching this documentary that I never experienced before because it's not that I haven't seen, you know, and it's, as I told you, my work life has been full of, you know, I've been in the midst of so much suffering and I'm used to dealing with it.

And I've also not looked away from genocide and all the other things that's happening out in the world. I'm really good at, you know, dealing with it and acknowledging it instead of looking away. And also, you know, considering to support nonprofits and, you know, do what I can to actually make a difference in the world. But when I was watching this...

documentary, I watched it from a different perspective than I'd ever done before. It was like with eyes wide open and my heart just was blowing up wide open because I was listening and it was particularly the women's eyes.

that was telling about the horrific things that they have been put through and I don't want to, you know, go into much detail about it here, but it was like the sexual violence that you use, that is used in war, as a weapon of war. It was like, have their babies thrown into burning houses and, you know, it was so horrific.

and they were sitting there with their eyes all dead, they were still alive, they were in a refugee camp but their eyes were dead and the children that they were holding they were also like, you know, living dead. And I was, you know, there was also, you know...

mentally about what they have experienced and that was horrific too but it was the women's eyes actually and the children in their arms that really made it you know did something where I felt my heart was just opening up and I was like I want to do something for this I want to you know I want to do something with it and I was I just couldn't let it go.

And I was sitting there in my couch and feeling all, you know, so happy and well and everything was good before I saw this. And I was just sitting with my eyes, like tears just running down my eyes and the compassion for these people. It was like so immense. And I thought to myself, but what can I do about it? I was, you know.

What can I do? I'm sitting here and what can I do? So, and it wouldn't, so, you know, it was a 50 minutes, maybe an hour, and then it was over, but it put an everlasting impression on me. I still, you know, and after that, I considered, I, you know, I just kept.

returning to, but what can I do about it? I just couldn't let it go. My soul had actually been really awakened for what was next in my life. And this is now, that was in the summer of 2018 and now we're in the summer of 2024.

And I can tell you that in many ways I'm still living here in Copenhagen, the same apartment, the same couch, everything in many ways is the same, but also completely turned around and different than it was in this back six years ago. And...

everything even though I'm also well I've been come I'm turned 50 now and I was 44 back then but it's also a completely different person than I used to be because of this one documentary that was that was somehow the call that my soul needed to yeah to hear.

So I think I've heard the cry of the women of the world that's so vulnerable. And that's where I...

I started to listen to that voice that says, what can I do about it? And while I was, you know...

I was actually realising that creating safety for, you know, my specialty is actually to create safety in unsafe environments. Hmm, you know, so what I do professionally is actually something that could be helpful for these women. So I create safety in unsafe environments and these...

and I healed trauma and you know it was the dead eyes and the dead, you know, living dead bodies, that was trauma. And that was also something that I could do about, something about. And so I suddenly realised that professionally I was actually, I had the skills to do something about it, but then what? So after...

I had this inner dialogue with myself and I realised, well, actually that's something that I know something about and I can do something about professionally because that's what I do every day. But it's more with the focus on children and young people creating safety for children and young people. But what if I could use that to help create safety for women? That would also help the children. And in that sense, it would be same thing.

but it would just have a different perspective or a different take on it. So I started to investigate, but how is the situation on safety for women around the world? And what about, you know, refugee camps? That's where I started. I started to look into how is the situation in Cox's Bazaar as a refugee camp? And I realised that even though the, you know, the women is...

supposed to be safe in refugee camps. What I've heard from people being in refugee camps is that the women are so vulnerable and exposed to rape and sexual violence still, so they don't dare to go to the bathrooms if they're here in the night and get a lot of physical illnesses from this.

and they don't dare to leave their children because what's going to happen? So even though they're supposed to be in a safe environment, it's not. And so I got more fuel on that, you know, intention of actually want to do something about it. And...

And I also realised that...

This was not just, it was not...

The safety for women around the world was not just for women in refugee camps. Because when I started to look into all the details about statistics and the situation of women around the world in general, I was really shocked. Because here I was in Copenhagen. I couldn't be in a better position. I was...

I'm a Scandinavian woman, well educated, got a, you know, as I said, a very good business, successful in this sense. I'm free in every way. I didn't have, I didn't even have family at that point, so I was actually in so many ways. Had so much freedom.

and the sense of safety. I'm living in one of the most safe areas in Copenhagen and set my life up in a very safe way. So I couldn't be more privileged. And as a privileged, and I must say it's like as a privileged white woman, Scandinavian, welfare system, some of the most safe places, I felt that I needed to use that privilege.

to support other women in other countries in a way that was meaningful.

there was a sense of responsibility of not to use my privilege to try to change them.

the circumstances for women in general. And that was like, wow, but what am I gonna do about that? It kind of just turned bigger and bigger and bigger. And I was like.

Well, but what you know, hey, I'm supposed to be a mom. I'm, you know, I was supposed to work less. sorry, it's my AirPods. I was supposed to work less and enjoy life more and not work as much. And, you know, and I was turning into, you know, supposed to be a mom and care for my own life and my own child and, you know, all these things. And then suddenly this huge vision and mission.

appeared in and I didn't know what to do about it. At first I was like overwhelmed by it and I was like and then it first it started like small rings in the water of thoughts and considerations that just wouldn't let go but then suddenly it just kicked in really.

that this is not this is yeah.

This is here for good. It's not gonna go away. I need to take it seriously. And then something happened, you know, then the inner process that like the really big awakening. I'm sorry, they keep dropping.

then the crisis really kicked in.

and I because

I think.

What happened when I, like, when I look back, what activated the crisis was,

that suddenly I didn't feel that the freedom that I felt before, I kind of felt that my life was... It was like the shirt was too small. Suddenly, you know, when you have a shirt on and it's not, you know...

it's too small and you just don't feel comfortable in it anymore and it's like and that's how it started it was like well everything all the things that I used to just you know enjoy and think was the right thing for me and it started to just not feel right anymore in the same way and I guess that was the call for something different that and something bigger and something

Yeah, like my soul mission somehow that was calling on me big time there. So what normally felt comfortable and good and I was happy and well and everything and safe, I just didn't feel like, you know, no, it's not, I don't fit into my life anymore.

yeah I guess that was it you know I don't fit into my life now it's really I don't fit into my life anymore and when you don't do that you know when you expand like this in such a short time because it was a really short time it was over like the summer it was it was it turned everything upside down and I just had to go with the flow suddenly and I was like what is it that's not fitting but you know

What is it? That, you know, I used to be, you know, I was so pleased a month ago, like two months ago. What's happening to me? It was really what's happening to me? I was so good, you know, I was so settled and now I'm so now I'm rumbling. And what is this rumble all about? And it was and there was so many things that came up and it's been so and it's actually been a six year years process.

of of cleansing all the things and looking into all the things that wasn't working for me anymore. It's been a one it's been a six years process of taking everything up looking at every thing every relations every work task that I used to you know enjoy every

and so many, everything has been up to consideration, been looking into it and thinking what is right for me now and what do I need to leave behind in order to do what I'm here to do.

Because I couldn't, that was a really big step up and I couldn't continue doing what I used to do if I wanted to fulfill that mission and mission that I had. And one of the things that I used to do was that...

Even though I did have a successful business and even though I did a lot of training and I put myself out there, there was a part of me that was plain small.

And because here in Denmark we have this saying that, you know, it's really that we shouldn't think that we are somebody. Don't think you are somebody. You know, that's, you know, and I guess maybe we have a particular say in law that we call it, that's in our culture.

not so helpful. Yeah. And we...

And that was a part of me that was, you know, as a part of my cultural background that kept me down and kept me not expressing myself and expressing myself fully and also not taking, you know, believing that I could and I should take it any further than where I was.

at the time of my big awakening. And so I had to look really deep into myself about...

what was what was both my own

trauma and my own collective trauma. Looking into it in an intergenerational trauma in my family. In so many ways to see what was it actually that was keeping me afraid of leaving out my full potential.

And that has been some kind of a process.

Hamish (22:08)
One hour TV completely changes your world. I mean that's...

That's quite scary, isn't it? You've got this job, this career, helping, nurturing, supporting, and then suddenly the universe goes, here's a little seed. And in that case, that hour it's grown and you've gone, everything I've done is fine, safe, helpful, but just in Denmark and now the world. I mean, that's just spectacular. And...

Rikke Ludvigsen (22:15)
Yeah.

Hamish (22:40)
I love what you said about the fact that then you had to just reassess everything. Just everything. Am I doing this right? Am I doing this? What about this? Just everything. Yeah.

Rikke Ludvigsen (22:46)
Just everything, yeah, just everything. Well, just a small thing, yeah, everything.

Hamish (22:56)
I think that's what an awakening is, isn't it? It is an opportunity to reassess our lives in every single way. We are creative. Now you can create the world however you want it and you've got that vision. And it's just a case of doing that and checking in everything and what's valuable for you and what's not, what's out of date. I think that's an incredible story.

Rikke Ludvigsen (23:07)
Mm.

Thank you.

Hamish (23:26)
So how did you question everything? What did you do to sort of look at that bit of your life and that bit of your life and go, you know, how did you process the changes?

Rikke Ludvigsen (23:41)
I think what happened was that I needed to...

I needed to take one step at a time, one realization at a time. And that's where it's been a really intense process. But it's also been, when I look back, I somehow can see that it's been a structured process. Really interesting to see how everything.

just somehow had its own organic life, taking one step at a time. It was like feeling that...

Yeah.

being in flow of what was the next thing to look at to move forward. And so it's been looking into...

How?

I guess.

As I see it, it's like the...

all the barriers that was in me to use my voice and express myself freely because I wasn't free at that point, I realised I was free in so many other ways but of speaking my voice authentically as who I am.

with no

inner critic or with no inner barrier of being afraid of being of the response and you know.

So I guess that was what it was all about.

And then one step at a time look into what kind of beliefs I had most importantly. What kind of beliefs I had about myself, about other people, you know, or life.

relationships, you know.

and understanding it from my background also and let's see what have I learned and that's where the intergenerational and cultural and collective trauma comes in. So what have I learned about being a human being that wasn't right?

because we are worthy of love and belonging as who we are. I knew that intellectually and I was working for that in so many rights but having a women's worth organisation that as I created I started to call it a women's right organisation or a self help.

Hamish (26:25)
Mm.

Rikke Ludvigsen (26:42)
a help organisation or whatever you call it in English, but I realised that it was actually a women's worth organisation because, you know, this was what I found in myself was that I too, as a woman, even though I was a free Scandinavian white woman, I too was suppressed and I too was...

not feeling worthy of belonging as who I was. Like completely. And it wasn't true.

But it was the imprint, it was the impact my life had had so far. And I guess that was not an impact on, I guess that's what all human beings are actually struggling with

Hamish (27:34)
absolutely right there. I think it doesn't matter where you're from, you've still got that self -worth or lack of self -worth. And it is intergenerational. Your parents, my parents teach me something from their beliefs and it goes back and back. Unless your parents change the way they pass knowledge on, you're being taught by your grandparents or great -grandparents.

Rikke Ludvigsen (28:02)
Exactly.

Hamish (28:03)
In my case, that's Victorian. They were fairly staunch, narrow -minded lot, and that has reflected in my upbringing. As you said, you've had to look at everything and said, is that right? Is that right? Is that right? Is that right? And then it's just like, no, I am worthy. Love isn't transactional. That's not the way to do things. That's important to me. And I think...

the awakenings allow us to...

see the world, see how culture upbringing just is and it isn't necessarily right for us now.

Rikke Ludvigsen (28:45)
No, exactly. And I also feel that the process has also been so... In so many ways I have found self -compassion. It has been a journey of self -compassion, looking at it and thinking, now I understand why I'm struggling with this. But, you know, and it's okay. You're okay. You know, one step at a time. And...

at the same time feeling a lot of compassion with my parents and my family and my humanity as such. Also, we're just a project of generation after generation and the culture wherever we're based around the world. We can't see...

us not being influenced by the culture. And there's a lot of beautiful things about cultural things, but there's also this other impact that we have, as I said, that has helped us survive. I see it as a, you know, also as a trauma therapist, I also see all these things as very important things of surviving.

and also being, you know, keeping us together to create the best.

possibility of survival as a collective and also as individuals. So when I see these things in myself, when I'm like, damn, why did you do that? And I was like, well, that's my best survivor. You know, that's that too. And I help other people see that the same way is that we are so great survivors here, human beings. And, but we are so much more. So when we are our

Hamish (30:27)
Yeah.

Rikke Ludvigsen (30:42)
you know, our most well regulated...

you know, version of ourselves, you know, we're so much, we're so different from the survivors that we also develop, right? So actually, but acknowledging that both live, you know, they're both here and is a part of me and I'm okay with that. And I'm still, you know, I am still worthy of belonging also when I become a lion.

and I am not the best version of me. Yeah. And so I so there's been so much healing in this, like taking taking that inner critic, you know, looking at the journey that I had in the last six years is also like really holding, you know, holding my inner critic in in in the hand and looking, listening to what it's saying. And then.

you know, have a conversation with it to soften its voice. So it's not so today I have it's it's kind of silent now. I used to be my worst, own worst inner critic. And today,

It's not a critical voice. It's more about the pain of learning. It's more about understanding what I need to learn, but not being hard on myself anymore.

And I guess that was on the other side is that, the other side of this process was actually finding my own worth, you know, acknowledging my own worth. And then from there, I can actually help other people really find their own worth. And I guess that's what it takes to have a, you know, a nonprofit organisation for working for women's worth organisation is that I need to, I need to not...

I say not just be a privileged person in so many ways but I have to own it myself. What I want to bring to the world I need to be the living, you know, living...

Maybe I would say I need to be in integrity with my voice and the voice I'm here to raise now. So it's been a struggle also with the organisation, like creating a nonprofit organisation. So it turned out that I created a... I still got my business Safe Children, but then I...

I created this non -profit organisation Sister Power International and it was where I thought that I was going to go international and I thought you know it took me to India. I have a great partner in India and I was you know because everybody's I got the advice that refugee camps is not the first best place for you to start because you're talking about safety and that's actually the

country's responsibility, like the government's responsibility. So if you come out and say that it's not safe, you are not going to be able to do any work. And there's a lot of organisation working there anyway. But someone said to me, you look into India. And I was like, India? I never wanted to go to India. That's a funny thing. It's like...

my god, not India! Because my whole life I've been like, no, that's for me! And a lot of people have said to me, you would love India. I'm like, nah, don't think so. For me, you know, yeah. But it turned out that I was, you know, going to India. Suddenly I saw myself on a plane to India.

Hamish (34:52)
Hmm.

Rikke Ludvigsen (34:56)
visiting my partner out there, Sister Lucy and her organisation that makes the most beautiful work and that I really want to support more.

and I just felt so happy even though I just lost my grandma a month before when I left or a couple of weeks before I left for India and that was in 2020 I just felt so happy out there I just felt wow this is a part of the bigger you know the bigger plan for me and then I came back and then Covid hit

and I couldn't move for several years and I was like what? You know, I was stuck back in the back in the shit that wasn't you know suiting me anymore.

And I started my nonprofit in January 2020. So from 2018 to 2020, that was one and a half years. It was the struggling and it was finding out what am I going to do about it and how am I going to have two businesses now and becoming a mom and do it. At one point I thought that I didn't want to

bring along my other business that I would just want to leave everything back in Denmark because you know it was only the bigger international vision that I was going so in that was a part of actually going one step and taking one thing at a time that just didn't feel right anymore and look at it and seeing what is it about it that's not feeling right or maybe I can this well this part actually do feel right and then okay I'm gonna do more of this but I'm gonna leave this behind.

And then at one point I was just thinking, my whole business I'm gonna close it and I'm gonna do only my non -profit. But that wasn't, it turned out that that wasn't right either. But I was ready, the interesting thing was that I was ready to leave everything. I was ready to leave Copenhagen and go to India, even consider going to India for six months or two.

to start the projects and just leave COVID. I was ready to let go of everything. And that's where it turned into a really interesting process of looking into it. Now, I'll keep this one because that's actually really important. So fast forward to COVID situation and the lockdown.

And I just came home the night before, I came in from Mumbai the night before Denmark was shut down, the lockdown. And I was like, I work on divine timing. And then right after the whole adoption situation came up and I had to make a decision the week after the lockdown.

I was contacted by the authorities and I had to make a decision whether I would become a mum for one or if I wanted to...

if I wanted to.

do what I'm here to do. And that was the, that was the, I guess if you have a.

I think I've had many dark nights of the soul throughout my life where it's really where I needed to take some serious decisions and you know that has changed my life but if there is one dark night of the soul I guess that was right there. When I had to make a decision whether I...

would go into a process of adopting a child that would need me 100 % for the rest of my life. Or at least the child's life.

Or if I should, yeah, as I say, do what I'm here to do. And that was, if I thought that I was in a crisis up to, you know, looking into all the things and, you know, turning my life around, slowly, slowly turning my around.

Hamish (39:28)
What a choice.

Rikke Ludvigsen (39:46)
That was like an earthquake that just sent me off into air.

the most intense crisis that I've ever been in my life.

And I decided that I would go with Soul Mission . And I needed to know with myself that night when I had to really take that, make that decision.

I am...

I knew that I had to be a hundred percent.

clear on that, that I would never, that I shouldn't be able to look back and regret it.

It was a door closing and another one opening up full time that I would never ever consider regretting because it had to be that clear.

And it has been. I never look back and regret it. I've always known that I made the right decision for me and for my...

what are the changes that I want to create in the world.

Hamish (41:30)
How did you manage to reconcile that?

Rikke Ludvigsen (41:35)
I thought.

If.

If you...

It was like kind of breaking, you know. I felt that something in me just... you know, and I guess that was... but it wasn't. It just felt like that. And by the pain, the amount of pain that my body suddenly should hold.

and i guess because

It was so clear in me that I made the right decision for me.

and for the child, not least the child, because I knew that if I had to let go of not working with other children still, like violence prevention and protection of children and healing trauma and women and children and what I do.

If I couldn't do that anymore, I would be frustrated. I would be out of my, you know, I wouldn't be able to become the best mom. I had the potential because I'm a professional and I know everything about what that child needed to, the care that it needed to have. And that's why we were matched. But I wouldn't become the best mom.

because there would be a part of me that would always miss, that couldn't let go of the children and women and what I'm here for.

So one way or the other, all the things that I've learned about nervous system reaction as a traumatist and crisis and everything, I used on myself. Every tip and technique and trick and knowledge and everything I've used on myself.

to heal that overwhelming experience, overwhelming pain.

coming from that choice.

So it's been again like understanding that I did the right thing for who I am. It wouldn't have been the right thing for other people, but you know, you have to be able to make the choices from again who you are and not what other people expect of you or what would be right for other people. And luckily I created a safety plan for myself. I work with safety plans for...

children so I created a safety plan for myself for people that love me and support me and they all help me in that moment saying hey.

You do what's right for you. So if you know, I get emotional.

because it was so beautiful to actually have that.

support and I'm also a very privileged person being on love and supported.

for who I am. And I could take that in and also as a part of the healing of being worthy of love and belonging.

that one thing is that what we learn about ourselves and start believing that we're not worthy of love and longing as we are and there's a lot of reasons why we get that imprint on us as human being but it was not true because and I was so showed at that right at that time. So during the process of healing I had all the

all the love and support that I needed and I had COVID, you know, that actually I was in...

My business was shut down because I couldn't do anything. So I couldn't do anything of what I normally did. I was stuck in a situation where all I could do was actually care for myself and take all in all the love and support in that I got from family and friends.

Hamish (46:13)
I think that is that is beautiful and

you are, your job is helping and supporting people, then you get the help and support that you want. And then everything leading up to that choice, that watching that clip, watching that video, that choice, and then saying, do I want to give all my love to one person?

where I will not be satisfied or will I close that door in that part of my life, which must have been so hard to go with your vision and your hearts, your soul's wish, your purpose. I mean, just take my hat off to you. That is incredibly amazing, incredibly hard, but what a choice. And then COVID gave you that support system. It's almost like the universe said, right.

Rikke Ludvigsen (46:38)
Yeah.

Thank you.

Hamish (47:04)
This little bit, there's the next bit. There's the fork in the road and you went that way. And here's everything you need to do it. So now there's no more COVID. Yeah, staggering. Absolutely staggering.

Rikke Ludvigsen (47:12)
Mm.

And it's been a...

Yeah, it's been...

Tough is a mild word. But what I've learned from it is that, you know, I can sit here and I can be vulnerable and I can share it with you and I can put, you know, I don't mind also sharing the tears publicly.

now it's you know being out in a in a podcast with you and I guess that's what it's all taught me these last you know is that showing up as who I am with what I have to offer and what I you know what I'm full of is also being vulnerable and you know

being okay with being vulnerable, being okay with showing up and and and letting people into the more difficult more struggling or the difficult struggling vulnerable part of my history and my

my life today too, because that's life. And that's where...

That's life and that's humanity, right?

And I have a message to the world and I have a message and I have a lot of social workers and professionals, family therapists that I'm working with and I am their supervisor and I talk about vulnerability of being able to share. I've just written a book where the part of it is about vulnerability and again if I shouldn't be able to do it and show that it's okay to be.

then I shouldn't speak of it, right? So everything that I, everything that is, that's included in my message to the world, both in my non -profit Women's Worth organisation and the book that I've just written that's coming out here in June on children and safety for children and trauma healing, you know.

I have, through this process, I have been able, you know...

The lesson that I had to learn was actually to live it myself before I could speak it, like internationally, like publicly, like in a much bigger, around the scale.

and you know when I look back at it and I'm here today where I feel greater than ever before it's it's you know I've just turned 50 and I had had the biggest celebration and I feel greater even much more greater than I did in 2018 because I am aligned

I am so aligned with myself and with everything that's in my life and with... with...

The higher.

meaning of my life and all the higher purpose of my life and the divine timing that I've seen when I look retrospectively at it and I see the divine timing of everything that was in these six years that had me land where I am today I just get blown away that's a completely

the podcast because I could tell like hours and hours and hours about you know what I've seen, how it's just... man!

Was this why this was, you know, every was this why that was happening? So I could, you know, get to here. And now I'm, you know, and now I feel.

that, you know, somehow.

reborn completely.

Hamish (51:55)
I think you've mentioned two things there which are

that are incredibly important in that awakening. It definitely is that introspection. So stopping and then joining those dots, looking back and going, hmm, that makes sense. And that and that and that. That's incredibly important through this process, isn't it? And then the other thing, you've, you've surrendered an outcome, you've, you've realised you can't do the child and

Rikke Ludvigsen (52:16)
Mm -hmm.

Hamish (52:25)
your vision. So you've had to surrender that you've had to surrender certain things. And in that surrendering and going, okay, universe, okay, whatever is happening process, and going with it. That's where the changes come. And you've said you're happier now you're more fulfilled now that you're aligned, which is what it has to be. You know, it's, but you've you've stopped and you've looked, you've looked back.

You've given yourself that time to do that. Another question I want to ask you is, what do you do as part of a practice to allow yourself to look at what's going on around you? What do you do as tools have you got to manage just this whole process?

Rikke Ludvigsen (53:12)
I think.

I do have a regular morning practice that I do every morning and to align and to be so and to let go of everything that is not needed anymore. And so I have a spiritual practice that is very much based on the...

Inca Vistam I use some cleansing tools that I got from the Andean traditions and I love that. And I'm grounding myself and I'm aligning myself before I get out of bed. And because then I can...

you know see things with fresh eyes when I get out into the world right so leaving trying to cleanse all that's no longer necessary for me and I'm ready to release to step out into the world with open eyes and and as much as aligned as I can be and then I look I guess I'm a

I'm an observer to look for alignments every day. So I see and that's just what I've done for so many years. I can't help it. Is that, there's a message to me over there that's coming. That's not, you know, I don't take anything as a coincidence. I listen very carefully about who I meet.

what they say that is aligned with where I'm heading or where I'm away from. And I use it intentionally every day to adjust and align throughout the day. So if I use my intuition very much, so if I get an inspiration to do something, I'll follow it today. I didn't do that 2018. I was very good at it.

but I didn't do it every time. Today I know that it's, you know, fully aligned also means follow that intuition when it gets there. Yeah. And so I, and then I see what's coming back. okay. This is what I needed to learn. And so I have a learning mindset and I've always had that.

I think one of the most important things that I do every day besides aligning myself before I go out of bed and you know do my morning practice is that I am...

look out for signs of synchronicity. I take them very seriously. I read, you know, in my outer world I kind of get the information that I need to assess whether I should go in this direction, in that direction. So every time I set my intentions to something I will get

you know, people saying something to me that would be like, okay, interesting, because I just had this thought, or I just had this conversation with someone about something and now he's telling me this, or she's telling me, you know, I must listen to this. And so I take everything seriously in some way as a sign of where to go next or what not to do, what to do and what not to do.

So in that sense I see myself very much in like it's a it's a it's a cooperation of creating my life as the best version of my life. And so besides looking out for signs I also use my intuition a lot. Right? So...

So before this situation, I always had a very good intuition, but what I've learned from this process the last six years is that it should be every time that I hear my inner voice tell me something, I should listen and do it.

or not do it. And what I've been, I have been, it's always been, it can be very difficult to, when it comes to your own life, to know whether it's an intuition or if it's a wish or if it's a want or it's, you know. But this process has actually helped me to be very clear on when it's my intuition that tells me where to go and what to do. And I have learned to trust it completely.

Hamish (58:03)
Hmm.

Rikke Ludvigsen (58:33)
And this is about trust, right? Because I used to be, you know, control and, you know, actually understanding that it's very difficult to control the outcome of your life if you're not trust your instinct and your intuition and you actually go with what feels right for you and what your intuition tells you you should do. That's where actually the control is, but we try to...

control our lives in so many other ways. And I have seen that this process has also been a very, a protest of coming into like full faithful living compared to control of against itself. So that's a very important lesson that I've learned is that really go, dare to do that. And then,

I.

When there's something that I want, I always be very clear about it. Set an intention to manifest it and to then make sure that I act on it too. But I don't run for it. I more set the intention saying, this is what I want now. This is what I would, this is.

This is my intention to create to, for example, a book contract. This is where I'm heading now. And I leave it. But I then use my ability to be in flow and look out for synchronicity and use my intuition and all these things to actually get there easily.

Hamish (1:00:07)
Mm -hmm.

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:00:21)
and then life becomes really fun.

Yeah, so that's why, you know, going through life every day, that's what I'm, you know, curious about, you know, how to be, how to use myself as the creator of my life intentionally. And being aware when I create something unintentionally. And then I'm like, you know, I take full responsibility for my life. I guess that's something that I also...

now is yeah 100 % aligned with.

also the choice that I had you know you know the time where I had to choose from you know where I had to choose to become a mom or not. I have recently looked back and looked at it and said my god.

This was how it was supposed to happen. Because I wouldn't have been able to give up on that dream of becoming a mom and that wish of becoming a mom if it hasn't been this intense. And...

painful and clear that that was the choice that I was up against. If I had just...

it would have been a too big thing and I would always have known if I've done it not so clearly as I did this time I would have had that door open if it was the right choice to follow and go to do my work in India and stop the process of not knowing what would come out of it, you know. So I had to...

I had to have this experience, concrete experience, to be this clear about it.

and find peace with that and understanding that this too was something that was so...

important for my...

for my greater good.

That was mind -blowing. And then I knew that I was finally here. That I could... That now I'm ready to let go of the process that I've been in. And actually say that now this is here now and now I'm looking forward. And the past is no longer, in many ways, it's no longer interfering.

not my childhood, not my youth, not the past four years. I can be in the here and now in a...

in a completely different way than what I used to.

So I guess there were so many gifts that I've been showing that it was worth the while going through the process but I didn't, you know... But I've been screaming and crying and shouting and being, you know... What the hell is this happening? You know, being all... You know that? How you can get to that point where you just... Yeah.

Hamish (1:03:57)
Yep.

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:04:01)
And there's always been this trust that, okay, it is for my greater good, but it was first when it kind of settled that I completely took it in and it felt 100 % and I saw the greater bigger. Then I could let go. And I know.

that all is well and that I remind myself every day all is well even though it doesn't look, even though it doesn't appear that way sometimes in the outer world.

Hamish (1:04:33)
Thank you. That was a remarkable story. And Rikke, I just take my hat off to you again, what you've been through and the grace that you've gone through with that just to make sense of it. And then coming on here and sharing it because I've, yeah, I can feel that. What the is going on? I don't understand the tears, the rage, the bloody knuckles from the walls, all that kind of stuff.

is no sense at the time. It is frustrating. It is scary. It is very scary. People don't understand. Family members say, why are you doing that? Just stay small. Stay, stay who you used to be. and you've gone no, there is, there is value in what I'm doing. I believe in myself. I believe in myself. You know, you've, you've had to, and you've been given gift after gift. And I think, I think what you're doing is remarkable. And I'm really,

Really appreciate you being on the show and just sharing everything that you've experienced.

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:05:38)
I'm very happy to be able to share it with you, Hamish , it's been a fantastic experience to share it with you and your audience, but also to...

Hopefully, maybe it, you know, my motto, my motto is, remember there's hope for healing. And so maybe provide a little bit of hope that for people who's going through processes similar to mine, is that actually there is a meaning to it. And there is light at the end of the tunnel. And it is a redirection.

for the greater good, for the higher vision and the higher purpose and you know it doesn't feel comfortable and it doesn't feel good at all while it's there but it's there there is reason to it there's there's reason in the madness and there is the meaning and all is well and i guess you know i'm sitting here and saying

create a movement of women supporting women internationally. I would never have thought that I was able to do that. But I... and I still haven't done it. But I'm absolutely sure that I'm not letting go of that vision. So I guess no matter what...

what people might have, the call that they have heard, you know.

I remember Jack Canfield saying to me once, or saying out to us, saying, you're not given a bigger vision than when you can get out into the world. So I guess that's an important, well for me, an important message to people who might watch this and listen to it. And to know that if you see it, you can do it.

Otherwise you wouldn't get it, you know? It's like... They land in the... The visions land in the right... The visions, whatever it is, they land in the right hands.

Hamish (1:07:57)
Yeah, absolutely.

Rikke, thank you for that. Now, where can people find out more about you? You've mentioned your book, give us a title, tell us a bit more, a little bit about that and then where we can find you.

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:08:14)
book is coming out the 21st of June and it's Routledge that published it and it's called A Professional's Guide to Working with Vulnerable and Traumatized Children, The Healing Circle. So that's a professional book and maybe people have asked me if you could gain any knowledge as in you know...

ordinary person not into the child protection field about to know about trauma and development and I guess you can but it is written for professionals and I have my Sister Power International has a home page that says Sister Power International, SisterPower .org. Yeah.

and it's written in English so you can actually go and have a look and see what we're doing. And then I've also got a safe children, a business called Safe Children. And yeah, so that's the one based in Denmark. But I'm also going international with that now, with my book coming out and with the requests from around the

Hamish (1:09:32)
where can people find you on social media?

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:09:35)
you can find me, you can find my Safe Children on Safe Children International, also Safe Children on Facebook.

also my name, you can find me with my name on LinkedIn and on Facebook and also, and I connect with people there too, individually. So, and on Instagram, it's just the R and then Ludvigsen.

Hamish (1:10:03)
And Rikke, there is one last question. What is the superpower that you got from your awakening?

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:10:08)
hmm wow I love that question if I should choose only one because I got so many muscles from it I think but I I guess it would be

Hamish (1:10:18)
Only one!

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:10:27)
compassion / self compassion.

Hamish (1:10:30)
Wonderful. Yep. Very, very powerful. I love that.

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:10:34)
Yeah, I think that would be.

That would be it.

Hamish (1:10:38)
Rikke, thank you ever so much for being on the show for your time, your enthusiasm, your...

compassion and just allowing people to understand that yeah, an awakening isn't always easy. It may be incredibly tough, but you know you've made the right choice.

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:10:57)
Can I have two? Sorry, can I have two? Because I like double up, no, hope.

Hamish (1:11:01)
Go on, give me another one. Yeah.

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:11:06)
You know, my motto is really hope for healing, right? Remember there is hope for healing.

Hamish (1:11:14)
Rikke, thank you ever so much for everything today. That's been a fantastic show. There's been so much to think about. So many, so many key words you've dropped in there, but so much wisdom and compassion and gentleness in that process that is ultimately overwhelming unless you are able to be intentional, full of grace, and as you said, compassionate. So thank you.

Rikke Ludvigsen (1:11:39)
You're welcome. Thank you for having me.