Although I've always been interested in all things beauty (what girl hasn't?), my path to health and nutrition has been a rocky one. At 25, you could not convince me that "salad" wasn't a dirty word, and exercise was not even in the picture. In fact, I approached all my meals with one simple question: "How can I make this cheesier?" Unsurprisingly, weight began to pile on, as did my gastrointestinal problems.
Fast forward three years, two ulcers and countless filled prescriptions for Prevacid. Now not only was my body in bad shape, so was my mind. I was was chronically unhappy, uncomfortable in my body, and stuck in what I felt was a dead-end job. At a loss for ideas, I did the only thing that seemed possible at that time: I quit. I quit my job, I quit my former life, and I set off on a pilgrimage to find what made me happy. I decided to start my adventure at a yoga retreat — after never having done yoga a day in my life. Goodness knows I needed some exercise, and I figured it would be a good place to open my mind to receive the experiences I was about to encounter. That yoga retreat, simply put, changed my life.
In the midst of meditation, contortion and paradise (did I mention the retreat was in the Bahamas?), I was treated to a lecture by Dr. John Douillard, a specialist in Ayurveda, who spoke about the mind-gut connection, or how your digestion affects your mood. Mind. Blown. It was, as Oprah would say, an aha moment for me, and it sent me down a rabbit hole of changing the way I eat and move, and learning all I can about maintaining a healthy mind and body. Today, I am a student at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and I look forward to earning my certification as a Holistic Health Coach this July and spreading the message of health and wellness to the masses.
In the meantime, let's talk natural beauty!
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