Episode 168: Kyle Harder

Kyle Harder was born in Kenya to missionary parents and lived there on and off until the age of fifteen, immersed early in cultures where spirituality, community, and daily life were deeply intertwined. After moving to the Detroit area for high school, he attended the University of Michigan, majoring in Social Anthropology, where his interest in belief systems, ritual, and how humans create meaning deepened.

After college, Kyle moved to Pittsburgh and spent years working with teens in the dependency and delinquency system, including at a shelter for girls removed from their homes by Children and Youth Services. Alongside becoming a father, he experienced the profound loss of an infant son. In the years that followed, he developed an addiction to alcohol and ultimately entered inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation. After treatment, he became a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, beginning a long-term commitment to recovery.

Today, Kyle has fourteen years of sobriety. He is also the proud father of a daughter who is currently a senior at Colorado State University. Raised in a deeply faithful Christian household, his spiritual path has included seasons of faith, doubt, agnosticism, and atheism. In 2023, he traveled to New Hampshire to study Vedic meditation with George Peterson, and over the past two years his spirituality has evolved toward Eastern and Vedic traditions. Through that work, he was introduced to breathwork, trained as a facilitator in New Mexico, and in 2024 began guiding breathwork healing sessions. Kyle also serves on the boards of Prevention Point Pittsburgh, Artspiration, and the Pittsburgh Recovery Walk, supporting healing, creativity, and recovery in his community.