Hey friends! Has 2020 been a trainwreck or what? While I imagine everyone’s experience and what they’ve been doing to stay sane the last 3 months is quite varied, I thought I’d take a moment to clue you in on a little bit about what has been happening for me, and some exciting things in the pipeline.
Personally, when the shutdown first began I was feeling vacation level chill vibes. I was sleeping better, worked out every day, felt more relaxed than I’d felt in ages without having a nagging schedule to keep to. I also began to feel out some things I truly want in my life now and in the future. I’ve been going to a therapist for over a year now (which is SO HELPFUL AND YOU SHOULD DO IT TOO), to learn about who I am and where I come from to make me…well…me. The vacation vibes ended around late June when I started getting antsy for a shake up. And the soul searching picked up and is now starting to carve a path that I always wanted to be on, but couldn’t find a way to jump on the moving train, ya know? I had to quit my massage therapy job, and the wellness center I worked in closed permanently this summer. Those who follow me on Instagram may have seen my attempts to put myself out there a little more boldly back in the spring to see if my food love could pan out in some entreprneurial way. (I’m not ready to write that off yet, but I am definitely still self conscious about selfies and vlogs!) But mostly I’ve come full circle to realize how much I just love helping people! And inspiring people to do better because they’ll feel better. And when they feel better, I feel so happy. And that is why I threw caution into the wind and decided to enroll in the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy, through the Institute of Functional Medicine. Technically I received a health coach certification from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition back in 2006, but truth be told, I’ve never felt completely competent in my coaching skills. When I went to IIN, I was there for the biology and the interest in dietary theories and how and why they may or may not work and the coaching theories were of less interest at the time. I am a natural teacher, but I don’t always think I’ve been the best coach. And I think that’s because I never really took a good hard look at my inner most pieces. I healed my eczema and drastically reduced my anxiety and moderate depression through the principles of functional medicine, but I didn’t heal my perfectionism, or peel back the layers to find the root of my lack of self confidence, and I certainly never reached that crowning achievement of self love. I’m really working on these things now, and I think it will be a game changer in the kind of coach I can be in the future for you.
So things to note is that therapy and coaching are not one in the same. Therapy is more about unearthing and healing the past. Coaching is more about creating a road map for attaining future goals, getting past hurdles, and acknowleding the influence the past may have on those hurdles. Wellness coaching is about creating new healthy habits you’ll be able to stick to for the long term based on a variety of psychological theories. I chose the FMCA because of its relationship with IFM and because of my long history of using functional medicine (largely nutrition and lifestyle changes) in my own life and with clients with much success. I also chose it because after this 12 month course, I will be eligible to sit for the national board exam for health coaches. Not all coaching certifications are rigorous enough to qualify for that. And it’s looking like the future of health coaching is going to be big, so big that insurance is supposedly going to start covering it, most likely for those with the national board exam under their belt. Another reason for my choosing this program.
While I definitely still want to share so much delicious and healthy food with you, I hope that you’ll join me on this coaching journey as well, as I discover even more about my brain’s inner workings and develop ways to help clients say yes to a more consistent vegetable and mindfulness routine for the long haul.
If you are interested in signing up to receive updates about new things I have going on (like when I decide to start creating a coaching program, or go back to massage therapy), please shoot me an email at caitlin@graterhealth.com, so I can begin compiling an email list.
I look forward to serving you and advocating for your health for many years to come!