My year at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition
- Marisa Sim
- May 7, 2015
- 3 min read
It is graduation time! :)
A year ago, I never thought that I would be a certified holistic health coach. Since the beginning of 2014, I have been searching for an online nutrition course to suit my husband and I's way of life which requires us to travel. One day I was on Facebook and I noticed that a girlfriend of mine living in the US had "Liked" a page- Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). I was curious so I went on their Facebook page to check it out and that led me to their website. I remember getting all excited as I continued to do research on the school and their successful graduates.
I also wanted to check if the school is really credible and worth the money so I read a few online reviews and saw a couple of YouTube reviews on the year-long course. I have to admit, after listening to one of the graduates comments and review, it gave me the confidence to sign up with IIN. After toying with the idea for about two weeks, I finally committed to sign up for their May 2014 intake.
Once the course started, it was full steam ahead! I was sinking my teeth into all the information and materials the school provided and where it would lead me. I look forward to every Monday afternoon when I could download the next module! From dietary theories, coaching, nutrition, marketing, finance, business- I was thoroughly enjoying being back at school again! What I love about the school is that it teaches us that we need to look at a person as a whole to help coach them better. We need to look at their areas of their life- relationships, career, physical activity and spirituality before we look at what our clients eats- a term that our school's founder Joshua Rosenthal calls those areas our "Primary Foods". And the term "Secondary Foods" as the food we actually eat.
Integrative Nutrition health coaches are encouraged to ask questions like:
"Do you have a healthy work life balance?"
"How does spirituality play apart in your life?"
"Do they have a support system around them?"
As the weeks when by, I felt myself slowly transforming. I come to realize that all my life, I was trying to fit into society when I am meant to fit out. I was getting more comfortable fitting out of society. In one of my bi-weekly coaching calls, my appointed coach Whitney Harris, asked us who our target market is and I had no freaking clue! She guided my coaching group through a very simple exercise to determine who we wanted to work with.
Now it is clearer to me that I want to coach women in their early 30s who are sick and tired of fitting in and want to live their authentic lives fitting out. I felt really empowered when I had to stand up and say it out loud, as suggested by Whitney.
What does it mean to live their true authentic lives? To me, it means to be honest to oneself and take time for self-love. To feel good from the inside out. We all are in pursuit for a balanced life through eating nourishing food, pampering oneself, moving daily, connecting with people and spending time in nature. Sometimes it feels hard to juggle all areas of our lives but it is possible to find balance and it starts with you.
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