ENTREPRENEUR & MINDFUL THERAPIST
Dr. Chris Willard
While meditating as a monk in remote jungle huts for 12 to 14 hours a day, William developed a fascination with how people living fully engaged modern lives could experience the life-changing benefits of meditation. This calling led him to leave the monastery, study psychology, and develop the SkillfulMeans approach to complete wellbeing.
STORY OF OUR TEACHER
Heather’s Approach
to Whole Body Health
Integrating mindfulness into your weight-loss and health journey
People often think about restriction and pushing themselves with diets and exercise when they are trying to create a healthier body that they feel good about.
The irony with this sort of diet mentality is that it’s encouraging us to judge our body and what we eat and to treat ourselves badly anytime we “cheat.” The result is we are likely feeling worse about ourselves and our bodies in the process.
This is why it’s so important to develop compassion and understanding so we can create a more loving relationship with our bodies while we’re balancing our gut, losing weight, and feeling healthier day by day.
Here’s how I realized this for myself:
As a mom of two with 50+ pounds to lose after each of my pregnancies, and after years of struggling with digestive health problems, I have personally experienced the frustration of carrying stubborn weight and not feeling like myself for years on end.
I tried various diets but these only contributed to me losing trust in knowing what to eat and how to listen to my body – and ultimately did not help me lose the weight or heal my digestive health problems for good.
My own health journey is the reason I got my masters in public health, became a certified health coach and why I wrote and published a book about the microbiome in 2018, called A Gut Feeling with Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.
After learning about our microbiome, also called the “gut brain” – the living ecosystem that exists within our bodies responsible for so many important things – I figured out a method that works not only for me but also for my health coaching clients struggling with stubborn weight retention, digestive system imbalances, blood sugar highs and lows, and inflammatory conditions.
I’ve learned we cannot pin our brain against our body in our attempts to eat better and create better habits, we must learn to work with our gut brain, rather than against it, because our gut quite LITERALLY has a mind of its own.
Hear about William’s personal journey in this
Boundless Body Podcast episode.
Courses
The Growing Up Mindful Program
Sharing mindfulness with kids
WITH DR. CHRIS WILLARD
One-On-One Guidance
And Support
Heather’s Approach
to Weight Loss and Whole Body Health
As a certified integrative health coach, Heather uses a combination of motivational coaching, holistic health techniques and her expertise in the microbiome, to create a collaborative approach with her clients focused on achieving specific health goals and developing more personal well-being.
She specializes in working with clients looking to lose weight, reduce fatigue, improve self-esteem, reduce inflammation, reduce anxiety, improve mood and reduce other physical symptoms attributing or resulting from chronic illness.
Community
Check out William’s ongoing community of support by joining his weekly free class Insight Hour. Insight Hour is an open drop-in community class from SkillfulMeans led by William Jackson PsyD Psychologist and former Buddhist monk.
In this weekly class, we practice mindfulness-based meditation together, explore relationship dynamics and habits that help us become more mindful. The relaxed atmosphere of the class includes meditation practice, conversations and scientific and traditional teachings.
All are welcome to join. At SkillfulMeans we are welcoming of all sexualities, genres, races, religious backgrounds, and unique visions of wellbeing.Let me know if you have any questions about these. Thanks!
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