My journey to becoming a holistic health coach

The first day the pandemic got real for me was in March of this past year. We were notified by the school that the kids would not be returning for an undetermined amount of time, my godmother died of cancer, I was out of a job, and my on the side photography would probably not be in demand in the near future. It was not a good day.

The strange thing is that sometimes we need something not so subtle, but of pandemic size proportions to move us into action. I had been meaning to, sort of, thinking about my next step for the past 6 months. There just never seemed to be time between 3 kids seemingly needing me all the time. Plus, at the the end of the night I was tired. Netflix and wine seemed like a much better choice and I could just keep doing what I was doing for now.

I had been ready to move on from mostly staying home with my kids and having a side hustle. It also really bothered me that when we went to get a home loan for a project I found out the my value was $1. It is not a great feeling to find out that the worth of what you have dedicated the last 8 years of your life is a whopping $1. I also still felt like I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grow up.

I had just wrapped up my 230 hour yoga training knowing I didn’t want to be a full time yoga teacher. I explained to my therapist I somehow wanted to be a therapist, personal trainer, yoga instructor, nutritionist, chef, and eco something. How do I do that?

I had looked up health coaching multiple times over the years, but I frankly didn’t think I was qualified. I have a history with depression, an eating disorder, insomnia and I am not the epitome of physical perfection. You can read more about my wellness journey here. Yet, I kept coming back to it. I would click on the links for the various schools, poke around, and then come up with some reason that it probably couldn’t work out.

I was feeling very trapped by having my 3 kids home with me during a time when I was just about to have a bit of freedom. The baby was turning one. The two big kids were about to be in school all day. My husband and I had even dared to book a trip for a long weekend without our children for the first time ever. The spring weather was cold and gloomy and distance learning was a disaster of a sh** show. I was being screamed at for hours a day to get almost nothing accomplished.

It was on one of those nights, with a glass of wine in hand, that I saw the Institute for Integrative Nutrition pop up yet again. Instead of thinking of all the reasons that health coaching couldn’t work I thought of all the reasons it could. For whatever reason I hit the signed up button. I had no idea how I was going to pay the tuition, where I would actually find time to study for the 12 month certification, and of course I thought that the 6 month version was probably a better idea!

From the very first class I knew immediately I had made the right decision and I was going to be really good at this BECAUSE of the crooked path my health had taken. Therapy was an invaluable tool, but I found myself frustrated once I had worked through the big issues to then be wondering - How do I apply that in my real life this week? There were so many times on my health journey that I wish I would have known about a health coach. The steady and personalized support would have gotten me so much further than my flailing about trying to figure it all out on my own.

I love learning about health, wellness, the brain, and cooking, and yoga, and moving my body and just about every thread I pull on in these areas. We are such unique individuals and what health looks like for each and everyone of us is different. What we want from our health and bodies is different. What we have going on in our lives is different. There is no one right answer.

Often as women we are SO good at showing up for everyone else in our lives and we put ourselves toward the bottom of the list again and again. I have been there. I have given my family my all and then was completely overwhelmed, underwhelmed, and exhausted at the end of the day.

If there is space between where you are and where you want to be I am here to support you. If you aren’t sure where to start , what to do first and the garage is a total disaster, oh and wasn’t I supposed to reschedule that Doctors appointment for my kid, and what is the password to log into school work, and what was the name of that workout class you wanted to try online, and seriously what is for dinner?! If you are feeling overwhelmed, underwhelmed, and exhausted. I am here for you.

This is an unbelievably difficult time. There are a lot of people looking at you to lead from a place of strength. Your health & wellness matter. You matter. You show up and give the best of you to everyone else. I am here for you. That is why I became a health coach.

All you need is that little nudge to take your first step. You can reach out to me and we can set up a time to chat for a free health consult and you can learn more about how I can support you.