Thursday, March 24, 2011

127 Hours....or at least 24

Wow, I watched the movie 127 hours last night. It blew me away. Not so much the story but Aron's character - as in moral fiber. Caught in desperate measures, this man thinks about what he needs to successfully get out of his situation. He tries to save himself a number of times, then asks the universe for hardware, lengths of rope and 8 burly men. In between he suffers delirium and recalls happy memories and treasured moments with loved ones.

For anyone not familiar with the movie, it's about a mountain climber whose hand gets caught under a boulder and he chooses to cut off his own hand in order to save himself. He was caught for 127 hours. The story was widely acclaimed and, as appropriate, Aron appeared on many talk shows and became famous.

How many of us, caught in that situation - or any other - would spend the time wallowing in self-pity? How many hours would you wile away in "shouldas"?

What I really wonder, though, is how many followed this story with zeal and then when the excitement died down, went to the next story? How many of us look for that next miraculous story rather than living in our own story?

Each of us has miracles. Maybe not as dramatic as Aron's. Yet instead of living our lives, completely present, we look for distractions - that great story, the remarkable event, even the fun saga. How many were enthralled with Susan Boyle's singing? How many tuned in to see where Matt was dancing today? How many spend hours in YouTube or forwarding emails?

What if you spent 24 hours completely with yourself?

What would be the story there?

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Becoming a Holistic Health Practitioner

"How can I do what you're doing?"
"I've always thought about helping people"
"I want to do the kind of work you do"

If I had a dollar for everyone who made one of those comments....I could retire! But I wouldn't because I love my work. What I don't love is people who walk one way and talk another.

Would you trust a heart surgeon who did it on the side?
Would you trust a dentist who fixed fillings for a hobby?

Why trust your health to someone who is not invested in it full time?

These people are comfortable asking me because they know me, personally, and know my work. Interestingly several of them have approached me about being clients and not followed through. In some cases the money wasn't there (how much does it cost to NOT address your health issues?) in other cases they were simply not ready to commit to changing their habits.

If you're not ready to change, how can you teach others?

Worse yet...I just read ANOTHER ad for a school which trains "holistic health coaches" -- it's such a great program because --
* You don’t need to be a fitness expert
* You don’t need to be a medical expert
* You don’t need to be a nutritional expert
* You don’t need to be fit from day one

H-E-L-L-O -- you're going to coach people to health but you don't need to be fit or to have expertise? My grandparents would call those who practice this shysters. I think in today's world it's called MLM. LOL.

The four core values of this company are:
* Commit and deliver on your promises.
* Treat people with respect and be courageously forthright.
* Take initiative to improve everything.
* Work with passion, enthusiasm, and common sense.

These are great values. I bet they make great salespeople. And surely that's part of a nutrition business, but personally, I'd rather work with someone who knows about nutrition and who has had the experience of changing their diet and reaping benefits.

In order to stay current, I read a ton of books. I'm nearing the end of one now about someone who took an ugly raw food journey. He followed people who did NOT know about nutrition. And nearly ruined his health. He DID ruin his teeth and now has more than 30 fillings. Yikes!

When I trained as a Life Coach, the first part of the program was to be coached. For six months. I had to make the changes in my life and to experience being a client.

I've received so many inquiries about becoming a Holistic Health Coach, I am seriously considering creating a curriculum. I've already spoken to the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. They would consider endorsing it and certifying my graduates.

If you are thinking of becoming a Holistic Health Practitioner...please ask yourself, first, are you willing to embrace a holistic lifestyle? It's okay to define what that means for you - it doesn't have to be all raw. However, I think it should come close to the kind of lifestyle or nutrition coaching you plan to offer your clients.

I sure wouldn't want to learn skiing from a yogini (who doesn't ski).
I wouldn't want to learn how to drive from someone who doesn't drive.

Please don't teach or learn nutrition from someone who doesn't eat well and isn't fit even if he/she does work with passion, enthusiasm, and common sense.