The Heart & Soul Of Rachel Hunter

Rachel Hunter may be an international superstar, but that hasn’t immunised her against the struggles of loss and grief. So when she discovered a spiritual peace in India, it was something of a revelation – one that has inspired her, she tells Emma Clifton, to help others find their own path of contentment.

- Emma Clifton

Rachel Hunter was on a rooftop in India when she got a text from a good friend asking “How are you?” Nine times out of 10, that’s an easy question. But this was the exception.

Rachel was on a rooftop in India because she was completing a yoga course in the mountain-edged city of Rishikesh, where soul searchers and yogis unite, where the Beatles did their famous ashram stint, where the river Ganges flows fresh from the Himalayas, and pilgrims meet every sunset to deliver offerings to the Gods.

She was on a rooftop in India because she was grieving the death of her beloved mother, while also thinking about what the next half of her own life was going to look like as she stared down the last two years of her 40s. And even though she was revelling in the gruelling physical and emotional work filling her days there, every once in a while she would be hit by one ever-pervasive thought: “What the hell am I doing here?”

Three months later, approximately 12,400km from that rooftop, Rachel is still wrapped in her Rishikesh experience. Literally. She turns up to our interview at an Auckland café swathed in a vibrant purple shawl from Rajasthan and a long string of beads. She also smells really, really good, prompting me to ask – as non-creepily as possible – what perfume she has on. “I’m wearing India right now, that’s what’s happening,” she deadpans. “A lot of rose and sandalwood.”