Over the last fifteen years I have done all of these things. I traded running and biking for walking and yoga. I’ve traveled all around the United States, Europe, and Central America; joined and led several medical missions to Guatemala; and hablo un poco de espanol. I’ve taken lessons in surfing, salsa dancing, guitar, and drawing. I met my best friend and soulmate in a yoga class and we are now happily married. And I’ve grown emotionally and spiritually – thanks to therapy, yoga, meditation, finding a spiritual home, and some wonderful friends – both old and new.

As I write this, I’m now in my late fifties, and I feel better than ever! I’m still tweaking my fitness routine, still trying new things, and still growing emotionally and spiritually. I’m truly enjoying getting older (and hopefully wiser!) and I plan to continue to enjoy my life to the fullest extent possible for as long as possible.

I’m also planning the next step in my professional life, which is retiring from anesthesia and becoming an integrative health and wellness coach.

Integrative health and wellness coaching is how I want to help others.

An important part of my journey was developing my yoga practice and becoming a certified yoga instructor. Studying yoga led to learning more about meditation and mindfulness, and today these practices are two of the pillars of my day-to-day well-being. I was inspired to learn how to share these powerful practices with patients, colleagues, family, and friends and this led me to becoming board-certified as an advanced practice holistic nurse. Holistic nursing then opened my eyes to the wide variety of powerful healing and spiritually enriching interventions available, including healing touch, aromatherapy, emotional freedom technique, and nurse coaching. I have continued to study these and other mind-body practices and interventions, including them in my life and learning how to share them with others. I am now board-certified as a Health and Wellness Coach by the NBWHC.

Why integrative health and wellness coaching?

I am now dedicated to inspiring, guiding, and helping others who want to improve and maintain their well-being: thriving with better and more sustained physical and mental health; having more energy; flourishing in school, work, or retirement; experiencing more spiritual fulfillment; and enjoying healthier relationships.

Taking care of yourself and your well-being can definitely be challenging at times, especially as you get older, but it’s the most important thing you can do to make your life, as well as the lives of those around you, better. The well-being of everyone and everything around you depends first on how well you care for yourself.

Integrative health and wellness coaching begins with the belief that you know yourself and your strengths better than anyone else does, and that you are in control of your wellness and your well-being. Integrative health and wellness coaching supports you in taking charge of your well-being and developing and maintaining that well-being through all stages of life and all stages of change.

You can do this, but you don’t have to do it alone.

As your integrative health and wellness coach, I will work alongside you – helping you, supporting you, challenging you, and championing you as you create your vision of your own wellness and well-being.

As your integrative health and wellness coach, we’ll work together – starting from where you are, and helping you get where you want to be – whether that is preparing for surgery, dealing with a new diagnosis, improving your health and fitness, or just tweaking your wellness routine.

I also understand the processes and implications of common chronic diseases and how crippling they can be when left untreated. I understand that most primary care providers would like to spend more time with patients providing education and planning ways to achieve better health, but don’t have the time or resources to do either. I can help bridge the communication and relationship gap between provider and patient by helping the patient achieve health literacy, feel empowered, and become an active participant in their own care.