Mindset

Together we explore the fear based thoughts you may hold that are creating the limiting mindsets that are holding you back. We reframe and shift them into empowering mindsets that help you live according to your values.

Mindfulness

Learn how to be a non-judgmental, detached observer of your passing thoughts and emotions without getting engulfed in their stories so you can stay the course of your new habits.

Movement

Learn strategies to keep moving forward and through challenges, working WITH them rather waiting for a perfect time or continuously avoiding. See how engaging in desired daily small actions through imperfect life circumstances creates powerful habits that in turn produce those impactful leaps forward thanks to momentum that continues to propel you forward. Momentum can then feel omuch more effortless!

I’m a life coach certified in areas of wellness, lifestyle, health and mindfulness and trained in tools and modalities such as ACT informed coaching, mindfulness, NLP, CBT informed coaching, DBT informed coaching, motivational interviewing, somatic experiencing (SE) informed coaching, internal family systems informed coaching, and trauma informed coaching. I also draw on 20 years of past nursing experience supporting people and families faced with difficult life, relationship and health challenges - as well as on work supporting expectant, birthing and post partum women in my work as a doula and pregnancy/postpartum specialized personal trainer and yoga teacher. In addition, my current work as a certified personal trainer and corrective exercise specialist helps me see the importance of mindset shifts and powerful habits on both physical and mental health.

Many of my clients are going through life transitions such as relationship challenges, a new relationship, a divorce, new parenthood, parenting teens, blended families, perimenopause and menopause, health challenges, stress of new medical diagnosis, caring for a spouse or parent with dementia, career changes or young adults needing to find their life purpose and direction. I am honoured to be chosen to hold what they share with me with respect and care and to gently and compassionately guide them to their inner strength and wisdom while giving them the structure and accountability to find the answers they seek and make changes they desire.

On a personal level, I have been diagnosed with two rare, serious conditions with management but no cure as of yet (one autoimmune and the other one genetic) that affect the liver and lungs: PSC (Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis) and AATD (Alpha-1-Antitrypsin Deficiency). My tendency would be to cope with OCD like thoughts and behaviour patterns. As such, I practise on a daily basis staying in the present moment, allowing thoughts to be there without following their unhelpful stories and continuing the actions dictated by my values. I personally get to experience the power of creating mindsets that serve one’s purpose as well as the change and strength that is generated when working with challenges and moving through them - creating that momentum that produces ease and freedom.

During coaching sessions, we will explore/discover your values and how they relate to a state of holistic wellness. As a team, we will bring to light the challenges that you face in living a values based life, co-create SMART goals and strategies to help you move in the directions where you would want to go. We will unearth your personal strengths and yexplore ways to travel the road between intentions and consistent actions. One of the biggest tools we will work with is mindfulness - understanding and practicing the skill of differentiating between being aware of something and purposefully paying attention and immersing yourself in something. In time you will become more and more skilled at taking ownership of this choice and immersing yourself in the here and now of the experiences that give you meaning, that help you live joyfully and healthfully rather than following the stories of rumination. We will practice not needing everything to be perfect in order to keep moving forward, and see that unhelpful distractions and self defeating thoughts can simply be acknowledged without following their stories that can lead to dark rabbit holes, farther from your goals. Whether while working, exercising, practicing a hobby, cooking, eating, or being in relationships with others, we will work towards really feeling life “with gusto” in the present moment- truly savoring it!

WHY MENTAL FITNESS?

Why refer to “mental fitness” in the title of this section of life coaching and wellness coaching? You may have heard this term lately and it refers to the idea that the brain is a muscle like other muscles in the body. If we were not aware of “back health” - we could sit all day without breaks or stretching, we would throw weights around at the gym without using proper form - and then we might wonder why our back is sore and unable to support us as it should in daily movements. Often we are not aware that we have more of a say in the functioning of our brains than we think. We don’t have to think that we are victims of our mental noise and let it direct our life choices and our relationships. We have so many thoughts each day but we do not need to believe and follow every thought that crosses our brains. We need a good framework of powerful mindsets such as the idea that instead of life happening “to us” (as my coaching instructor often quoted) it happens “for us”. We can get to choose to practice the habit of engaging in the actions of the thoughts that serve us and in the opposite actions of those thoughts that don’t. Practicing allowing thoughts that don’t speak our truth alone, simply mindfully observing and mentally dismissing them, but then engaging in opposite actions to those thoughts - actions that align with our values - is daily “mental fitness training”. Nurturing mindsets that help us grow, identifying and reframing limiting beliefs - this is “mental fitness training”. Committing to habits of daily physical movement that help produce healthy brain chemistry, enough rest, sleep and recovery, nourishing our body with adequate delicious energy giving food, hydrating….this is all “mental fitness training”. We sometimes feel scared of our own brains, we can feel victims of it - but we have power to steer it in the right directions and to create the meaningful life that follows our purpose. We must remember that times have changed, and our knowledge of the level of neuroplasticity that our brains are capable of keeps expanding! Our daily mental fitness training can literally begin to rewire our brain. Habits and attitudes that at first feel difficult, in time begin to happen with ease. We “can do hard things” - and with the right structures and systems in place these things can become mental habits that become part of our wiring.

Email me at ownyourhealthfitness@gmail.com for a free discovery call!