I might look like a superhuman, but I'm a human first. Olympic medals, mental struggles and radical compassion with Karsta Lowe

Welcome to episode 206 with Karsta Lowe, who is an Olympian and professional volley ball player who was a member of the United States women's national team that won bronze medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Karsta has played volley ball, at the highest level, all over the world, winning multiple titles and medals along the way. 

But throughout her career she was also struggling with anxiety, depression and OCD which would later lead to an eating disorder and suicidal thoughts.

In this episode I chat to Karsta about how both her mental struggles and international career progressed and intertwined.

We chat about her childhood experiences with mental health issues and about how these were complicated further by the loss of her father at a young age.

We also chat about going to the Olympics and the struggles she faced off the court, how all of this led to Karsta getting help and what that help looked like for her.

And we chat about life after professional sport, the different types of grief, learning to be gentle and how life changes when you accept radical compassion.

The idea of a lifelong athlete being at the Olympic Games, on the way to winning a medal, but also completely falling apart at the same time, just goes to show that you never know what someone might be going through, despite how strong they look on the outside.

You can connect with Karsta on social media @karstalowe

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Thanks for listening!