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Learning to Breathe
From Clara Hughes, the six-time Olympic medalist, celebrated humanitarian, and bestselling author of Open Heart, Open Mind: A story of healing and transformation in midlife.
As an elite athlete—the only person who has won multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games—Clara Hughes thrived on powering through pain, with profound consequences for her body and mind. Following her retirement from sport, the mantra ‘‘movement as medicine’’ fueled her public advocacy for mental health and her personal healing journey. However, Clara’s attraction to extremes grueling months-long hikes and bike-packing trips began to take a toll. In 2021, a catastrophic knee injury coincided with menopausal hot flashes and dizzying mood swings, forcing her into stillness, and her depression, kept at bay for years, loomed larger than ever.
How do you move forward when the body you’ve always relied on doesn’t bounce back like it used to, when you feel like a stranger to yourself, and the punishing voice in your head won’t stop? Clara sought help through traditional avenues, but after realizing how little support there is for people in menopause, she turned to a different kind of medicine. Enter the world of psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Through guided experiences—some hilarious, some alarming, and some mind-expanding—Clara begins a winding trip back to herself, and to a deeper awareness of the roots of the inner pain she’d suppressed through sport. Along the way, she forges new relationships; begins the work of repairing old ones; and faces long-held fears.
Learning to Breathe is a vulnerable, funny, wise and fascinating memoir about one human’s healing journey, the terrors and joys of midlife change, and the potential for new beginnings at any stage.
As an elite athlete—the only person who has won multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games—Clara Hughes thrived on powering through pain, with profound consequences for her body and mind. Following her retirement from sport, the mantra ‘‘movement as medicine’’ fueled her public advocacy for mental health and her personal healing journey. However, Clara’s attraction to extremes grueling months-long hikes and bike-packing trips began to take a toll. In 2021, a catastrophic knee injury coincided with menopausal hot flashes and dizzying mood swings, forcing her into stillness, and her depression, kept at bay for years, loomed larger than ever.
How do you move forward when the body you’ve always relied on doesn’t bounce back like it used to, when you feel like a stranger to yourself, and the punishing voice in your head won’t stop? Clara sought help through traditional avenues, but after realizing how little support there is for people in menopause, she turned to a different kind of medicine. Enter the world of psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Through guided experiences—some hilarious, some alarming, and some mind-expanding—Clara begins a winding trip back to herself, and to a deeper awareness of the roots of the inner pain she’d suppressed through sport. Along the way, she forges new relationships; begins the work of repairing old ones; and faces long-held fears.
Learning to Breathe is a vulnerable, funny, wise and fascinating memoir about one human’s healing journey, the terrors and joys of midlife change, and the potential for new beginnings at any stage.
Audible Audio
Published October 13, 2026
About the author
Clara Hughes
11 books40 followersSix-time Olympic medalist Clara Hughes became the only athlete to win multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Games. She is a member of the Order of Manitoba and an officer of the Order of Canada, has received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, and was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. Hughes is the national spokesperson for Bell Canada’s Let’s Talk initiative, a campaign dedicated to breaking down the stigma of mental health. In 2014, she was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross, which recognizes those whose outstanding personal commitment has brought honour to Canada. She lives with her husband, Peter, in Canmore, Alberta, and continues to enjoy bike touring and hiking.
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October 24, 2026
A brutally honest and open account of Clara's post-Olympics journey in her early 50s trying to uncover the childhood trauma she'd been repressing and work on her mental health through a newfound love of hiking and guided psychedelic-assisted therapy as menopause rocks her body in new ways. At times funny but always relatable and raw, this was a new side of Clara she's never shared before and while I'm not the biggest believer in some of the more spiritual and psychedelic drugs she found healing using, I'm glad they worked for her. The book covers some sensitive topics like childhood molestation, rape, drug and alcohol use, depression and more. Great on audio narrated by the author herself too and definitely a standout for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.
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