For years, Canadians watched Clara Hughes push past her limits—on the bike, on the ice, and onto the Olympic podium. But in midlife, the six-time Olympic medalist faced a challenge that demanded something unfamiliar: slowing down.
In Learning to Breathe, the bestselling author of Open Heart, Open Mind shares a vulnerable, funny, and deeply personal story about what happens when the body you’ve always relied on begins to change—and you have to find a new way forward.
After retiring from elite sport, Clara embraced “movement as medicine,” taking on months-long hikes and bike-packing adventures. Then, in 2021, a catastrophic knee injury coincided with menopausal hot flashes, dizzying mood swings, and the return of depression. Forced into stillness, she began to confront the pain she’d spent a lifetime outrunning.
What followed was a winding journey toward healing. Finding little support for people navigating menopause, Clara sought new approaches, including psychedelic-assisted therapy. With candor and humour, she recounts guided experiences that were sometimes hilarious, sometimes alarming, and ultimately opened the door to a deeper understanding of herself. Along the way, she built new relationships, began repairing old ones, and reconsidered what it means to be strong.
For book clubs, Learning to Breathe offers plenty to talk about: the pressure women feel to push through discomfort, the silence surrounding menopause, the relationship between achievement and identity, and the possibility of beginning again. It invites readers to reflect on their own turning points—and the support, connection, and compassion that helped them through.
Whether you remember cheering Clara across the finish line or recognize yourself in the uncertainties of midlife, this memoir offers an intimate encounter with a Canadian icon learning to meet herself anew.
Make Learning to Breathe your next book club read. Available now.
