“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Mary Oliver
Imagine: What if you asked yourself this question each morning when you awoke?
Would you say: Today I will struggle with food and my body's natural appetite! Today, I will look in the mirror and dislike what I see! Today I will spend countless hours obsessing about my body and how it “should” look. Today, I shall spend countless joyless hours at the gym, punishing my body so that it can be just like “culture” says that it should. Today I am going to mentally beat myself up for not being “enough” of anything. Today I will live the life that society suggests instead of honoring my true wishes.
The truth is that we, women, most likely do this every day. It may not be conscious, but we do it. We step out of bed and our thoughts put us on a roller coaster of despair, lack, loneliness, and pain. We spend so much of our life, and our daily energy, on things that keep us small, that actually keep us from living. The age old question "What is the purpose of life?" I am pretty damn sure we were not given this body to hate. We were not given this life to go to war with one self.
I believe we were given this life to Live! Wholeheartedly. Lovingly. Boldly. Authentically. Imperfectly. And-that is why I have chosen to do this work. We are each a miraculous and powerful gift. We have been given the gift of life, but we also have a gift to give to others.
It took me 12 years working in the mainstream medical world as a pharmacist to realize that I am not here to disempower people or keep them small and unhealthy. I am here to remind people that we all have the ability and privilege to be healthy. Healthy not only in body, but in mind and soul as well. Our traditional medicine practices tell patients that they are sick, and broken. They are given the impression that they need someone else to “fix” them, something else to make them happy. This is disempowering, this is taking life from the living. Isn’t medicine suppose to give life? To heal life?
We are taught to eat less and exercise more. If that worked then we wouldn't have such a high rate of obesity and disease in this country. We know that strategy doesn't work, and it can be extremely confusing to know what the right approach to health is.
Through my own personal journey I have discovered something more powerful then traditional medicine, it's something innate within each and everyone us.
How my approach is different:
I combine the best strategies of nutrition science and eating psychology.
I focus on what is right for your body and your personal style. As we work together in this way, eating and health issues become a place of exploration. Instead of seeing such challenges as the enemy, they become opportunities for growth and self-improvement. We move away from push and dis-ease into a place of ease and nourishment.
A bit about Health Coaching:
As a heath coach I look beyond what we have perceived as the culprit of disease (or dis-ease). So often food is where we point our finger, labeling it the problem. Our relationship with food is a symptom. Most often it is asking us to look deeper. A coach guides a client to re-examine the relationship with food and body, dives deeper into the behaviors and beliefs, and lastly shines a light on the aspects of life that have been overlooked or forgotten. By doing this work a health coach empowers people to take back their lives, to live fully, and to truly heal.
Mind-Body Nutrition:
The founder for the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, Marc David, often said "The biology* of the body is a reflection of the biology of the mind." Said a different way,
"The biology of the body is always mirroring the experience of the soul”
In other words our thoughts and beliefs are so powerful that they can have an actual impact on how our bodies function. It can affect the health of our cells, that comprise our organs, which make up our body as a whole! By living in the story that our bodies aren’t good enough the way that they are, or that the food we eat will make us fat, it truly puts the body into a response so that those beliefs will become truth! Our minds become the attacker and the attacked. The body therefore goes into stress, releasing hormones in response to the stress (fight, flight, freeze). This has an effect on the body's ability to fight disease, gain muscle, lose fat, properly digest food, and the list goes on.
So, if our minds are so powerful, why is that we don't harness this power for good. For love, nourishment, contentment, acceptance, and dare I say joy?
I see the work that I do as a dance between the masculine and feminine. Masculine is the science. The direct path that moves from symptom to diagnosis. It has a starting point and an end point, and gets there via a straight line. The Feminine is softer, less sure, more curious, more open, and less liner.
Mind= medicine, masculine, science, direct, rigid, controlled
Body= food, feminine, playful, soft, open, curious
Soul= the bridge between
When I speak of the soul I am referring to that innate place within each of us. It is the intuition, the true essence of who you are. It isn’t the minds idea of self. It isn’t the physical body (and all the sensations that it experiences). It is the place where we experience life. It is our core. From this core there are deep desires, visions, dreams, and beliefs that are not influenced by family, social media, or culture. A coach creates a space for you to reconnect with that true essence. To feel into life. To be able to witness your thoughts, feel your emotions and listen to the body. It is from this place, the soul, that healing occurs. This is why this is called Soulful Medicine.
Come with me, Let me show you how we can work together
““Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
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