I grew up in a toxic and unhealthy family that was riddled with abuse and mental health issues. This led to the development of Disordered Eating habits at 11 years old until my mid 20’s. (I still have to do routine checkins with myself to stay on the right mindset and track.) I also spent a generous portion of my adult life running full speed ahead day by day, neglecting my self care and not respecting my own boundaries. I pushed and pushed until my adrenals gave out and my entire digestive system went haywire. I lost half my hair; my skin was erupting in painful cystic acne that would last months at a time; I was so fatigued and exhausted I couldn’t see straight; my belly was so consistently bloated people would ask how far along in my pregnancy I was (I have never been pregnant!); I developed SIBO and SIFO, Leaky Gut, Candida Overgrowth, and intense food sensitivities.
I started going through Perimenopause at 33 and have experienced the usual and unpleasant symptoms including bloating, constipation, hot flashes, brain fog, memory loss, fatigue, osteopenia, loss of libido, weight gain, insomnia, and some serious irritability now and then! It took over 8 years of living with these symptoms before I could get a doctor to agree to test my hormones. I felt unheard and unsupported as I was misdiagnosed and treated for Hypothyroidism. After the medication made my thyroid overproduce and go into Hyperthyroidism, my lovely new doctor helped me to wean off the medication. My hormones went through an immense spiral in a very short few months! Now as I approach my mid 40’s I am smack dab in the throws of Menopause and navigating it with compassion. (most of the time!) You can read more about my full health story here.
But, that doesn’t mean I am not continuing to improve! I dove into Yoga Teacher Training many years ago and I believe that, coupled with talk therapy, Buddhist Meditation Sanghas, and learning to say no to people, were some of the tools on my healing journey. I was able to get to the root of my health issues and was able to nurture the imbalances in my digestive system using foods, stress management techniques, complete lifestyle changes amongst other useful resources. And I only feel better as every day goes by!
Through the decades long process of my own healing journey I have been fortunate enough to learn a lot; from elimination diets and autoimmune protocols, to meditation and breathing techniques. I attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and I am also a Yoga and Meditation teacher. I am still a dedicated student, continuing to learn and educate myself. I love that I will never know “enough” or “it all”. In fact, most of my wisdom comes from the women I am working with.
The most important thing I learned is to never give up! There is always a reset button.
Everyone of course! (Sorry for stating the obvious.) Who is right for one on one coaching with me? Well, that is a different story! I love to work with motivated women who are transitioning through the midlife years, who are looking to thrive and kick aging in the you know what! This is going to look differently for most of us and is why I LOVE working with women who are my peers.
Some of the things I love to navigate through are:
We look at all the aspects of your lifestyle and nutrition and create an individualized action plan that suites each woman, based on your specific wellness goals. I use this holistic approach to not only bring balance to the health of your digestive system, hormones, and physical body, but also to the other aspects of your daily life. (**psst they are usually always connected.)
