Wellness coaching is a supportive, personalized conversation about someones lifestyle, habits and health related goals.  What is shared in a session stays private, and a good coach listens more than they speak.  A wellness coach is not there to tell you what to do but partners with you to clarify what you want to change and why.goes here

Someone open to change who wants personalized support and is ready to take action steps to improve their well-being. You don’t have to be in a “bad place” to benefit from coaching, just open to improvement and personal growth.

Wellness coaches are trained in behavior change, motivation, and health related topics.

While many certifications exist, there is a national board certification for health and wellness coaches (NBHWC) that has partnered with the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), creating a standard for training, education and assessment of coaches.

Rachel holds this credential along with CHES (certified health education specialist) and a masters 's degree in health education and wellness coaching. 

Benefits include:

• Personalized guidance

• improved health habits

• enhanced mental well-being

• goal achievement

• increased self awareness

• better work-life balance

• improved physical fitness

• stress management

• accountability and support

• boosted confidence and empowerment

• preventative health care

• improved relationship with self and others

• sustainable lifestyle changes.

Wellness coaching and therapy are related but distinct fields. The short answer is that in therapy you will spend more time talking about the past, and in coaching you will spend more time talking about the future. 

Here’s the long answer:

• Wellness coaching helps individuals achieve health-related goals by engineering behaviors, therapy addresses mental health and deeper psychological issues. 

• Wellness coaches provide guidance and accountability to develop action plans and improve well-being, therapists help clients understand and process thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. 

• Wellness coaches empower clients to take positive action for their own health and create sustainable habits, therapists improve mental health by addressing deeper psychological issues.

For some therapy is needed first to process and then coaching to help change behavior, for others the work they start doing in coaching opens them up for therapy. Everyone is different and can generally benefit from both therapy and coaching. 

Depending on individual needs, someone might work with a wellness coach and a therapist simultaneously to complement both approaches. With your consent, your therapist and your coach can talk and work together to support you. 

Wellness can be defined simply as “actively caring for yourself to influence well-being.” Wellness is influenced by behaviors, belief systems, personal identity, and value systems. Wellness looks different for everyone and requires intentional self-care. 

Mindfulness is orienting attention to the present moment non-judgmentally.  It is the state of mind that helps us observe and notice what’s happening without assessing, analyzing, or reacting. 

Benefits include:

• Reduced stress (lowered blood pressure)

• enhanced focus and concentration

• emotional regulation

• increased self awareness,

• enhanced relationships

• better sleep quality

• increased resilience

• improved decision making

• reduce burnout

• enhanced creativity

Embodiment practices are when we spend time tuning into our bodies experience through present-moment sensations.  These can be sensations associated with exteroception (our five senses, or how we perceive our external environment), interoception (internal physiological sensations like hunger/fullness, heart rate, immune system, and sensations associated with emotions), and proprioception (our relationship to gravity, where we are in space, sense of balance, needed force for a task, etc.)

Practices include:

• sensory awareness

• intuitive eating

• mindful movement

• breathwork

• body scans

• walking meditations

• self-massage

• vocal embodiment.

Participating in embodiment practices is a form of mindfulness and helps improves mind-body integration. 

It is different for everyone, and evolves as trust is built with your wellness guide. We always start with a check-in to ground and discover what is needed that day.  After that, sessions can be a fully guided movement practice, other experiential wellness practices, coaching, or a combination.

That is entirely up to you. Some clients want a guided session one week and then a coaching session the next week. Some clients want a monthly tune-up with a little of both. Embodied Wellness Sessions can be your chance to receive support as you check in with yourself.

For clients working on specific goals or trying to actively improve their mind-body relationship, weekly or bi-weekly sessions are recommended.

They happen in person at Terra Care in Sugarhouse or virtually over Zoom. It’s helpful to be in a private space where you don’t feel watched or overheard.