A little bit about me . . .
I started out my journey to life coaching as a "health nut." My family thought I was a bit odd. Growing up in rural Manitoba in the '80's was an unlikely place to find a teenage vegetarian. As a big proponent of social justice and environmental causes I didn't have much of an audience either. But I have always loved to listen. I loved (and still do) finding out what is truly important to people and what makes them shine.
Following my interest in physical well being, my first career was in the health field as a dental hygienist. I loved helping people improve their oral health and I loved developing trusting relationships with my patients.
I never actually saw myself as a life coach. As I mentioned, I’ve always been more interested in physical health. All my life I studied the interaction between nutrition, exercise, vitality and beauty. Yep – beauty. I was very obsessed with my body and weight as a teenager and throughout my 20's. It’s one of the reasons I deeply understand the trap that we fall prey to from the fitness, fashion and exercise industries. Everyone wants us to feel unhappy with ourselves so that we will continue to buy their products. While I got really sick of that, I felt powerless to change it.
When my marriage and career ended at the same time, I knew it was time to look at what I truly wanted to do with my life. It was time to start living for me. Going back to university gave me a wonderful opportunity to do just that. Finishing university I thought I would head into teaching but it was my mother's diagnosis and death that brought me to where I am now.
Besides the shock I felt at her death, I was very confused about how this could have happened. This led me to study the interaction between our thoughts, lifestyle and physical health. While I knew that physical fitness and nutrition were very important, I began to realize that another sort of fitness was equally important in supporting overall well being. That was something I have labelled emotional fitness. This is often the missing link in many people's lives that leads them either away or towards happiness depending on whether they have gotten to know their feelings and released the past.
My Philosophy
We are more than just our physical selves. We are a complex web of past and present, hopes and dreams, all absorbed into this moment. We need to extricate ourselves from the problems of the past to be present in what is happening now and move forward more fully into the future.
I believe we can realize our dreams. I believe we can overcome struggle and adversity. It's really all about conditionning our inner world to create the outer world we want. Life doesn't have to be complicated. We can have our cake and eat it too. Often all that is required is a shift in our thoughts and emotions. They are the real creators of our experience so I always start there whenever I am helping people to embark on change. Change doesn't have to be scary. It just needs to be supported. I look forward to helping you create the changes you want for yourself in your life.
I wish each of you the fullest and most joyous expression of your lives possible. We are destined to succeed. We just have to get past the belief system that says we aren't. Once you are aligned, mentally, physically and emotionally, everything is possible! Happy living and namaste.
Cheryl Laird