Disclaimer: It is important to note that wellness coaching isn’t the same as services offered by specialists such as nutritionists, psychologists, personal trainers, etc. A coach can provide general guidance, education, and support related to health and wellness. They can help clients set goals, develop action plans to achieve those goals, and identify obstacles and strategies to overcome them. However, it is important to note that a health and wellness coach cannot diagnose or treat medical conditions, prescribe medications, offer specific dietary advice for medical conditions, or provide psychotherapy or counseling.
Most of us know what we should be doing in order to lead a longer, healthier life. It’s no secret that eating right, exercising regularly, practicing mindfulness, and prioritizing sleep are all critical when it comes to creating a well-rounded health and wellness routine. However, it can be difficult to take the steps needed to create a sustainable routine and make informed decisions when daily stressors seem to be constantly getting in the way. Careers, families, emergencies, unexpected illness, and the other responsibilities of a normal daily life, can all serve as serious roadblocks on the road to living your healthiest. Sometimes, we simply can’t take care of ourselves as well as we know we should, and need external support to get on the right track – that’s where wellness coaching comes in!
What is a wellness coach?
To put it simply, a wellness coach is an individual who aids clients in setting and achieving their big picture wellness goals, typically surrounding physical and emotional health. The coach’s role is one of accountability partner, not director, in exploring goals for growth and development. These goals may include stress management, working on a fitness routine, and developing strategies for improving sleep. While specific goals can vary depending on the individual, a common goal amongst nearly all clients of wellness coaching is finding the motivation to make a change and sticking with it. Using concepts drawn from psychology, behavior change, and life coaching fields, wellness coaches offer a holistic approach that can be appealing to individuals who want to make sustainable changes that address all aspects of their wellbeing. Together, the wellness coach and the client will examine the client’s current habits, and identify areas that could benefit from improvement or change. From there, a wellness coach will help brainstorm solutions, troubleshoot potential obstacles, and create actionable plans to improve upon these areas. A wellness coach’s goal is to make you feel a priority in your own health and wellness needs. Wellness coaches are in the unique position of having an outside perspective on what specifically is preventing the client from thriving mentally, physically, and emotionally, and then give them the support and tools to create sustainable change.
What specifically can wellness coaches help me with?
Clients might decide to engage in wellness coaching for a plethora of reasons, many of which overlap and impact one another. While this is not an exhaustive list, issues that clients may seek wellness coaching for may include:
- Prioritizing self-care
- Improving sleep habits
- Mindfulness and meditation
- Reducing stress
- Eating a healthier diet
- Developing an exercise plan that fits your lifestyle
- Achieving a better work/life balance
- Improving interpersonal relationships
- Practicing a positive mindset
How can wellness coaching be valuable for my life?
While implementing healthy habits into your daily routine is a great place to start, true wellness really comes down to the process of making ongoing choices that will make your life healthier and more fulfilling in order to achieve longevity and happiness. A wellness coach’s job is to support their client in the process of making these choices; not just by telling them what to do, but by examining the client’s relationship with the choices themselves. Wellness coaches aim to create a safe environment for an individual to examine their habits, and empower the individual to make changes based on their knowledge and expertise. For example: suppose someone wants to improve their work-life balance. They might try to take a break from work once a week to engage in a relaxing activity, like reading a book or going for a walk. However, a wellness coach can help them delve deeper into why they struggle to achieve balance and identify what is causing the imbalance in the first place. Together, they can come up with strategies to prioritize their time and responsibilities, set boundaries, and create habits that foster a healthier work-life balance. This can lead to lasting, positive changes that improve their overall well-being.
Discovering the value of wellness coaches: how can investing in them improve my well-being?
If the idea of a wellness coach seems excessive, we get it – these days, it can be hard to sift through the constant bombardment of products, services, and jargon within the wellness sphere. But if you have tried again and again to make lifestyle changes and something just isn’t working, a wellness coach might just be the thing you need to take that important step toward a healthier life.
Believe us, we know that making lasting change can be hard, especially in a society that doesn’t exactly set us up for success in maintaining a healthy lifestyle – prioritizing work over sleep, sedentary lifestyles that come from sitting at a desk all day, and just existing in a stressful world is having a negative impact on all of us, and leading to dire consequences. In the United States, 70 million people report suffering from sleep problems, Only 24% of Americans meet the daily exercise recommendations set by the CDC, and 31 million Americans over the age of 50 are considered to be sedentary. And in 2022, 76% of adults said they have experienced health impacts due to stress, including headache, fatigue, feeling nervous or anxious, and/or feeling depressed or sad. All of these factors can have a serious impact on the length and quality of our lives, but wellness coaches are useful in achieving sustainable lifestyle changes in order to live longer, healthier lives.
The Takeaway…
There is value in taking care of yourself in order to be able to do the things you want to do, support the people you want to support, and participate in the way you want to participate. Now that we’ve given you the lowdown on wellness coaching, take a minute to think about habits that you have that may be impacting your life in a negative way. Have you tried to make changes, and just can’t seem to find the motivation to stick with your goals for more than a week or two at a time? Or does the weight of the world seem to make it too difficult to even fathom the possibility of change? If your answers to these questions are yes, or if these situations sound familiar to you, wellness coaching can help you live the life you want to live.
For more information about “wellness” and what it really means, you can go check out our Why Wellness blog post here.