I believe we are born with our genetics, but it is our choice as to how those genetics are expressed. What does that mean? We are all born with our genetic code already written – it’s what gave us our physical appearance, and it also plays a part in our tendencies towards slimness or being overweight, as well as the likelihood of developing a variety of diseases in our lifetimes. However, by making the healthiest choices available to us, we have the power to rewrite our future and make it one that is healthy and free of pain and disease.
My work as a health coach is definitely about making changes in the present so that you start feeling better mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically, lose weight, reduce stress, and feel more rested starting now. The choices you make based on your learnings through health coaching will have an impact on your health for the rest of your life too – improving your genetic expression one choice at a time.
I believe wellness breaks down into these areas:
Relationships
Relationships top my list. The people you interact with on a daily basis – your partner, family, colleagues and friends – all have a tremendous impact on the way you feel. The way you feel has a tremendous impact on all other areas of wellness. Are your relationships life nurturing or are they life depleting? Pay special attention to those life nurturing relationships and give them the loving attention they need to grow and flourish. Look honestly at the life depleting relationships you are in. Are there courageous conversations you can have to help these relationships become more life nurturing? Or is it time to end these relationships to make room for something better?
Career
You spend a significant portion of your waking hours working, so having a job you love in a life nurturing environment is incredibly important. I’m not suggesting to give your notice tomorrow and throw it all away to take up your life-long dream of becoming a watercolor painter. What do you love about your job? What do you wish could be different about it? What do you need to do to stop wishing and start making those differences a reality? Taking the steps necessary to make sure you love going to work every day will go a long way in ensuring you are healthy now and into the future.
Spirituality
Spirit is All-That-Is, and I believe we all need to have some sort of relationship with Spirit. Whether you choose to be involved with a religious faith or have developed your own spiritual practice, being connected to Spirit is an important part of life. It gives you a heightened sense of purpose and some semblance of understanding of what this life is all about anyway.
Physical Activity
I will never tell you to go to the gym, unless you reveal a secret passion for running on a treadmill. We all need to be active and even if we are currently getting some exercise, odds are our bodies could use more. I believe that physical activity should be something you enjoy, not something you *should* do. Discovering the activities you love to do and that are best suited to your body ensures that you’ll get out and do something regularly.
Food
You’ll notice that food comes last in my list. I definitely believe that the kind and quality of food that you are eating is a key component to your overall health and wellness BUT, it is only one component. I’m fond of saying ‘you can eat all the broccoli in the world, but it won’t make you happy’ and I truly believe this. I believe we should eat mostly whole plant foods – vegetables, whole grains, fruits, beans, dried peas and lentils – and some meat and dairy, also as close to their whole food state as possible. I also believe that we need to feel a sense of joy and satisfaction in the other areas of our lives to make the commitment to this way of eating successful. That’s why food is the last thing on my list.
When it comes to food, I don’t believe in deprivation, restriction, elimination, or any of those other scary words that mean I can’t ever eat my favorite (insert the treat you are secretly addicted to here). As we do our best to create the healthy and happy lifestyle we want and learn about the impact of different foods on our bodies, it is my experience that we naturally begin to make healthier food choices and those unhealthy options are crowded out and simply disappear from our diets on their own.
