What Working with Me is Really Like
It can be hard to know what working with an integrative coach is like and in order to help some shed some light on the process, I am sharing a guest blog from one of my clients (and friends) on what his Christine Jayne Wellness journey was like. While each person’s journey will be a little different and customized to their unique needs and wants, I hope that this gives you a sense of what you can expect and the types of things we can work on. I appreciate all of my clients and love working with people to help them achieve their unique goals. All you need is an open mind and willingness to change!
I wanted to take a moment and provide some honest insight into my own personal CJW experience. When Chrissy, who (full disclosure) is one of my oldest and best friends, approached me and asked if I was interested in working with her, I was honestly a little hesitant and cynical at first about the idea. While I was very proud of her for launching her own business, and more importantly, kicking off her new journey to genuinely help people improve their lives, I simply didn’t think I would be a good fit nor did I think this type of help was something that would benefit me in my life. However, I agreed to make a commitment and, more importantly, go into the process with an open mind.
A little backstory, I have been very active my entire life – I played two sports at the collegiate level, I have run marathons, half iron mans, I ski, surf, golf, bike and spend as much time as I can outdoors. While most of my life I never struggled with motivation to go to the gym or stay fit, as I enter the second half of my fourth decade, that motivation has certainly subsided and my metabolism (I love to eat!) , energy levels and recovery time have eroded. Because of this realization, it was my goal at the outset with CJW to focus on discipline and putting together a plan that would last not just the few months of working with her, but longer term.
I realized very quickly that Chrissy isn’t just focused on diet and exercise, but her holistic approach includes understanding and adapting how those two aspects, along with mindfulness, relationships, employment, stress, quality of life, etc. can contribute to the way you actually live your life - and most importantly, how certain adjustments and corrections can be made to have a positive impact and allow yourself to actually live life in a more fulfilling way. With Chrissy’s help, I have been able to increase my awareness, formulate a plan, and truly begin to live a life of reliable sustainability that makes me feel so much healthier and more energetic.
Here are some of my key takeaways from my first, and certainly not last, CJW experience:
- Grocery shopping: Chrissy has helped me fully understand that my food choices all begin at the grocery store. On top of evaluating and recording my regular eating schedule and consumption choices, she took me to Whole Foods and showed me how to be a healthy consumer (work the perimeter!). This was extremely helpful to someone who is intimidated by cooking and has historically found it much more convenient and pleasing to simply eat out!
- Lift weights: Being a college athlete, I spent a lot of my earlier life in the iron paradise. Since college, and because I was pretty burnt out from so many years in the gym, I had a tendency to do more aerobic exercises outside such as running and biking. Since getting back into the gym as part of my CJW plan, I have learned that there is simply no better way (for me) to maintain fervent energy levels, body function and longer term physical health.
- Breath work: One of Chrissy’s best recommendations to me, and something that I can tell will surely be a long term component of my life, is breath work. She introduced me to box breathing first, and then meditation, and then eventually reiki and breath work. At first, I thought it was voodoo, and then, after some practice, an open mind, and some work (they call it breath WORK for a reason) it has certainly widened my outlook and changed my life.
- Healthy snacking: There is simply no better way (for me) to maintain metabolism and promote consumption control at meal time than eating smaller, healthier snacks throughout the day. While I love breakfast, I don’t often eat it on a daily basis and by dinner time I am often starving. Snacking on healthy options throughout the day helps me maintain a nourishing and controlled appetite.
- Varying exercise routine: Back in my earlier baseball and football days, I used to adhere to a strict routine and schedule of workouts, etc. Chrissy always emphasizes mixing up my activities – mix in a gym session and tomorrow do hot yoga (sweat keeps you cool!) and make it more fun. At this point in life, it doesn’t matter so much what type of exercise I do as long as it gets my heart rate up, I’m breaking a sweat and doing it consistently. The variation can keep it fun, different and engaging. This perspective and approach has helped me maintain a more loyal and reliable schedule of activities.
- Weekdays versus Weekends: One of Chrissy’s important points to me from the outset was that you don’t have to torture yourself in perpetuity to achieve results and improve your health and wellness. And, if you do, it likely won’t work a la most dieting programs out there. With Chrissy’s help, I made an effort and came up with a plan to minimize some of my vices and it allowed me to be able to still enjoy my life but also make progress toward my goals. A few examples of this include only drinking alcohol on the weekends and enjoying but limiting that one larger and possibly unhealthier meal to one day per week. Bottom line, it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing endeavor, and when it is, it usually isn’t sustainable. Moreover, if you backtrack over the weekend, it’s okay, and allow yourself a few days at the beginning of the week to recover and get back on track.
It is my sincere hope that some of these tips, insights, and learned experiences from my curated CJW program will entice you to spend the time and make a commitment to allowing Chrissy to help improve your life. I truly appreciated Chrissy’s longer term goal of creating sustainable habits and realistic goals while also opening my eyes to new experiences. Discipline is a challenging beast and providing tools and experiences to keep me on track has been such a great addition to my life and has provided me an incredible platform of knowledge and experience along the way.
-Jack B.
