Written by: Sanchia Veale, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Are you curious about Health Coaching and whether you could benefit from it? Let's explore the ins and outs of this service and the reasons why you may consider seeking a coach.
Acute illness is the body's way of fighting off viruses and bacteria naturally; it is a condition that comes on rapidly, gets treated, and the person heals in the prescribed time. Chronic illness, however, is something entirely different. These ongoing diseases can last many years, resulting in death for some patients. There is more and more evidence to prove that chronic diseases are lifestyle-related; poor diets, lack of exercise, the overconsumption of alcohol, and the use of tobacco are just a few of the examples of factors that contribute to long-term ill health. Chronic diseases, also called non-com-municable diseases (NCDs), are responsible for around 40 million deaths a year globally, about 70% of all deaths worldwide. These deaths are mainly due to cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and hypertension, as the top few, and sadly in most cases, can be prevented. We may be living longer, but those last 10 - 15 years, in some cases, are sickly years filled with disease and pain and absolutely no quality of life. It is a fact that we live in a time of instant gratification and that, for the most part, people want instant rewards without considering their long-term effects on their health. Take, for example, smoking; at the time of that craving, all you can think about is that fix. We are all fully aware of the long-term side effects, such as emphysema and lung disease, but the satisfaction of the quick fix now far outweighs the diagnosis down the line, even though we know that it is most likely where we will end up! Sometimes, it takes a traumatic turn for us to decide to make the necessary changes in our lives; for some, that is too late. But for most of us, it is not; we must remember that we control our lives and how we choose to live them. Do we want our last years filled with disease and pain, or do we want nature to take its natural course and live to a ripe old age filled with life and energy? This is where Health Coaching comes in. A Health Coach practices precisely the same way a Life or Business Coach would but is trained to specialize in all Health, Nutrition, and Wellness aspects. As Health Coaches, we have trained in the understanding that no two people are the same, and so we have been equipped to help our clients through the process of getting to the root causes of why they have created the habits that they have developed and what they need to do to change those habits. It is no longer about mindlessly going through the motions but taking action. People are generally averse to taking action as it represents the unknown; it takes them out of their comfort zone, but this is where it becomes interesting because the philosophy behind Health Coaching is that the brain with the problem already has the solution to that problem, all it requires to realize that solution is the right environment, effective questioning, accountability, support, encouragement, education and last but not least, time. Health Coaches have an armoury of tools they can use to help a client reach those solutions, and because no two clients are the same, there is no set rule on how the coaching process works except to say that the client and their needs lead it. Health Coaches are equipped with a skill set that can determine different personality types, social styles, and learning styles and can tailor their coaching process to suit each client. There is no bigger reward for me as a Health Coach than seeing the long-lasting changes we see in clients once they have adopted new habits and are relishing in the benefits of those changes. I took on this role because I have an inherent need to help people, see society free itself from the grip of significant industries like pharmaceutical and food companies, and take back control of their health. Seeing my clients empower themselves and feel like they are once again in charge gives me immense pleasure and gives my clients back their health and, in many cases, their family, friends, and a future full of opportunity. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to heal people and dreamed of becoming a doctor someday. Sadly, this wasn’t to be, and I have lived with the regret ever since. Over the years, though, nutrition and natural health have become my absolute passion, and I have poured over and read up on the matter extensively. If you ask my family what my preferred reading or hobby would be, they would tell you it was precisely this.
Hippocrates, who became known as the founder of medicine and was regarded as the greatest doctor of his time, coined the phrase, ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food, ’for me, this talks to every ounce of my being. Hippocrates also firmly believed that you cannot treat only part of a person by just treating the body; you have to treat the whole person, including the mind and soul, another aspect of health I feel strongly about and the core of Health Coaching.
I am an example of why you need to treat the whole person. Specific physical ailments will not heal until you reach the source of the problem, which is predominantly emotional, psychological, or spiritual. But you need to support the physical while you are healing the rest, and the best way to do that is through the nutrition you put into your body. And I am not just talking about food. Health is a lifestyle, a puzzle of pieces that fit together to make a whole: nutrition, exercise, rest, family and friends, spiritual and emotional health, all of which need to be nurtured.
So, with this in mind, I leave you with this question again: what do you want your later years to look like, sick and full of pain, probably even bound to a chair or a bed, or would you prefer them to be filled with health and vitality?
Visit my website for more info!
Sanchia Veale, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Sanchia Veale is a qualified Health Coach through the zest4life academy in the United Kingdom – Health Coaches Academy. Sanchia's life experiences have made her realise what a desperate need there is for what Health Coaches have to offer. Her passion is to empower people to take back control of their health and create balance in their lives through education, guidance and support. It has become her core belief that in order to truly do that people need to go back to basics, they need to go back to healing holistically; body, mind and soul. Treat the source and not the symptom.
