Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions of child sexual abuse, family and domestic violence, alcoholism, childhood trauma, and cultural identity. We acknowledge that these topics may be triggering for our First Nations & Torres Strait Islander Peoples and for anyone with lived experience. If this brings up anything for you please turn this episode off.
Some stories begin in places children should never have to navigate. In this conversation, Mel sits down with Kalka Mitchell - a trainer, mentor, and cultural healing practitioner whose life has been shaped by both profound hardship and extraordinary reclamation.
Kalka opens up about growing up in a home defined by strict Jehovah’s Witness beliefs, an alcoholic and abusive father, and the emotional and spiritual confinement that came with that environment. He shares what it meant to be a young boy trying to make sense of violence, control, and a cultural identity that was deliberately kept from him.
His path to healing didn’t arrive all at once - it emerged through movement. First through bodybuilding, then Muay Thai, where discipline, physical strength, and self‑respect began to take root. Those practices became stepping stones toward something deeper: a pull back to Country, to the Aboriginal culture he was disconnected from as a child.
Kalka talks about the moment he realised he needed to return home, not just geographically, but spiritually. Through cultural learning, community connection, and modalities like Holographic Kinetics, he began to awaken parts of himself that had been silenced. What followed was a profound sense of belonging, identity, and purpose.
Today, through initiatives like Deadly Trainers, Kalka channels his lived experience into empowering others, helping people reconnect with culture, strengthen their bodies, and heal their spirits.
This episode is a raw, powerful exploration of survival, reclamation, and the deep transformation that occurs when a man finally finds his people, his story, and his place in the world.
Kalka Mitchell (@switch_body_transformation) • Instagram photos and videos
Kalka Mitchell - switchbodytransformation.com.au | LinkedIn
Holographic Kinetics | Official Site | Clearing Trauma | Authorised Practitioners and Courses
On behalf of the Hair Therapist we acknowledge the Turrbal and Jagera people, the traditional custodians of the land on which this podcast is produced.
The topics in this podcast are of general nature, we are not licensed professionals, so if any of the content brings up anything for you, please turn it off and reach out for support:
Lifeline Australia - 13 11 14 - Crisis Support. Suicide Prevention.
13YARN - Call 13 92 76 | 24 /7 Crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
Home | 1800RESPECT National Domestic and Sexual Violence Counselling Service
Kids Helpline | Phone Counselling Service | 1800 55 1800
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CREDITS:
Host: Melissa Alsemgeest
Guest: Kalka Mitchell
Editor: Robert Alsemgeest
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