You’re very diverse in the Wellness Industry with titles ranging from Certified Holistic Health Practitioner, Certified Life Coach, Certified Lifestyle Educator, Certified Energy Leadership Master Practitioner, and Eating Psychology and Mind-Body Nutrition Expert. What inspired you to start Thriving Lifestyle?
As fancy as these titles can appear, I must say that the most valuable training I’ve received was through my own personal journey of self-discovery and overcoming an eating disorder. Transforming my own life and relationship with myself was really the inspiration. In fact, I now see the eating disorder as a blessing rather than something awful that I should feel shameful about. I learned that my bulimia was just a symptom of something deeper going on that was screaming for my attention. It allowed me to discover how disconnected I was from my true self and that for most of my life, I depended on others to make me feel secure and good about myself. As a result, I became really skilled at people pleasing and being liked. Deep down, my biggest fear was being judged and not accepted.
During my healing journey, I ended up seeking support from many experts and practitioners, both conventional and unconventional. It was through the introduction to holistic nutrition and working with a Life/Spiritual Coach that helped me to heal and transform my life. Naturally, I became passionate about helping others create a healthy relationship with food and foster self-love and self-awareness, which is how my company was born.
That’s amazing you were able to create something unique to help others throughout your journey Karla. Your focus is on overall Holistic Health so catering to your mind, body and soul as a whole as opposed to just focusing on food. What does Holistic Living mean to you and how has it changed you?
To me, Holistic Living is having the awareness that all areas of your life are connected and looking at how all of these parts affect the whole. For example, if you’re having relationship challenges, chances are that other areas of your life will be affected too. Some people may end up overeating to help cope with the emotional stress or lose motivation to exercise. Holistic Living is also about honoring the fact that we’re “whole beings” rather than having a fragmented perception, which tends to make us feel disconnected and “broken”.
I know from discovering this you really dove into the learning process of Holistic Nutrition. Tell us a bit about how you decided to turn your personal discovery into the learning aspect?
After being introduced to Holistic Nutrition by my Chiropractor while still living in Toronto, I was immediately drawn to wanting to learn more. At the time, he was teaching at CCNM (Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine) and informed me that they offer classes on Holistic Nutrition. I immediately signed up, and I loved every minute of the experience. Seeing food as something more than just calories and nutrients felt so empowering and liberating to me. Plus, the mind and body approach made total sense.
Through my Chiropractor, I also met my Life/Spiritual Coach. She played an instrumental role in helping me connect and embrace my true self and to realize that all that I needed to overcome my eating disorder was already within me.
As a result of my passion for Holistic Nutrition and first hand experience of the transformational benefits that Life Coaching can offer, I decided to go back to school to get formally trained as a Holistic Health Practitioner and a few years later, as a Life Coach.
When I first started my business, I was mainly focusing on nutrition with my clients. However, it was frustrating, since I could only help them get so far. Regardless of what the nutritional challenge is that someone has, it’s never really just about the food. By integrating Life Coaching with Holistic Nutrition, my clients have been able to experience quicker and more transformational results that they’re able to sustain.
I love how everything just tied together so nicely! You said that the results your clients now experience are quicker, what types of transformations have you seen within these women?
Besides the Health and Wellness transformations that they typically experience, the type of transformation I’m really talking about is the kind that comes from the inside out. It’s this sense of peace and vitality that they radiate from reconnecting with and honouring their most authentic self. Their self-confidence; self-worth tends to dramatically increase. Many even look physically different (often more youthful!) just from the glow that they have.
It’s quite an intimate relationship that I have with my clients, and it’s so rewarding to be able to witness them transform before my very eyes.
Tell me about your services. What are you about and how do you serve your clients?
My approach is all about honoring my client’s individuality. Therefore, the one-on-one coaching program that I offer is custom designed. My whole approach is “from the inside out," rather than seeing clients as “broken," I see and treat them as “whole” beings. I help them realize that whatever challenges they have are simply powerful messengers of something deeper that is calling their attention. I help them gain self-trust so that they can reconnect with their body wisdom and relax more in life. Plus, I’m a big believer that their journey should be fun and pleasurable! I never give them action items that they’ll dread or feel like they “have to do” instead of what they “want to do." It’s always about honouring their agenda, and the relationship we have is more like a collaborative partnership.
You have a community called Thriving Women Connect. Tell us about this and how was this community created?
I’m very excited about Thriving Women Connect! This is my passion project! My vision is to help women all over the world gain self-awareness and foster self-love through connecting with themselves as well as with other like-minded women.
All members of my free community are invited to partake in a monthly challenge that I announce every first of the month through my e-newsletter. They have the entire month to implement the proposed action item, which is typically related to wellness, self-care and self-development. I also created a private Facebook group where the women are encouraged to post and support each other. I made it private so that it can be a safe place where they can freely share their challenges and successes. My web designer and I are currently working on a creating a website just for this community, which will include tons of resources to further support the women. Very excited for this so stay tuned!
Check out Karla's Challenge of the Month below!
That's amazing of you to start up! I think it's important to have positive people around for support so the private group is great. Now, in your introduction video to “Thriving Women Connect” you talk about true confidence and happiness. What is true confidence and how do we create happiness from within?
Creating happiness from within is the understanding that no one but YOU can truly make you happy. Happiness is a choice in how you see your world. Collectively as a society, we’ve been conditioned to look for happiness outside of ourselves. We tend to depend on others and our outer circumstances to make us feel happy. That’s not sustainable happiness, since it’s impossible to have full control of anything or anyone but ourselves. This approach causes us to constantly feel hungry for happiness or fear losing it since we never know how long it’s going to last.
I teach my clients that when they can learn to take responsibility for the power that they have to choose their thoughts which ends up creating their emotions. This is when sustainable happiness becomes accessible. It involves a lot of commitment and inner work, however, the benefits are priceless.
You really couldn’t have said it better! If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands! [Laughs] This seems to be a common theme in relationships, always looking to the other for joy. What Is your take on this and advice to give for those who want a fulfilled and happy partnership?
The first step is to view and acknowledge yourself and your significant other as whole beings. Let go of any belief that someone else can make you feel more “complete” or is your “other/better half”. Also, it’s really not fair to place your happiness in someone else’s hands. That’s a huge responsibility and a lot of pressure for the other person to fulfill. When both individuals can learn to take responsibility for their own happiness, a truly thriving relationship can foster. Plus, as a result of all of this, you release the fear of “losing” a part of yourself.
Wow, that's like music to my ears Karla. This interview has been a pleasure and I know our readers have gotten fabulous tips and insight of how to live a Thriving Lifestyle. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me!
Be sure to check out Karla's services on her website and "Like" her on Facebook. Stay connected and find out more of her new passion project, "Thriving Women Connect." Also, be sure to subscribe to our blog for updates and insights on everything Divalicious!
Love what you read? If you'd like an Exclusive Feature of your very own to highlight you and your business contact me - julia@divagirlfitness.com. I'm an ocean full of questions so let's chat!
Until next week Divas! ;)
By: Julia Gallo xox
No comments:
Post a Comment