Sustainable Wellness: Integrative Health & Wellness Coaching

Hi there. My name is Jill Kadesh and I am here today with integrative health and wellness coach Jen O' Conor and we have a lot to talk about. So, we're just going to jump right in. Um, thank you so much for being here, Jen. This is really exciting. Um, I really want to do more of this stuff. So, you're like you're breaking the seal here. This is awesome. So what I would love to start out with just to give people a lay of the land is um what does it actually mean to be an integrative health and wellness coach and is coach different from like care provider? >> Yeah, those are great questions and and thanks so much for having me here. It's uh really exciting to be here and to talk about >> this um yeah this this path and this work. And so to answer your question, so yes, I'm an integrative health and wellness coach and I'm also a medical provider and there are differences um between the two roles. However, there's a lot of room for integration and um and to complement one another. And so in my work as an integrative health and wellness coach, I own sustainable wellness and I work with active women in midlife to help to optimize hormonal balance through lifestyle changes. Specifically focusing on nutrition, movement, stress management, and sleep so that they look, feel, and perform their best now, but then also down the road for years to come. >> That's excellent. This is um this is brilliant because I feel like there's so much to be talked about in this moment and um so many gaps in sort of traditional medicine where I can imagine your work fits right in. Um so but first talk a little bit about that inter inter like multid-disciplinary approach and >> um starting about why what brought you here in the first place? What what kind of called you to this? Yeah. So what what called me to this h goes way back to my undergraduate studies. I studied nutrition and science, nutritional science and dietetics. And that um was such a profound experience for me because it was through that that I realized how preventative we could be with our health care based on what we put into our bodies. And I really started to see how food was medicine. >> Yeah. And that trajectory has followed me um and really laid the foundation for all of my professional work since then. Um and as we're going to talk about later today, I've I've worn a lot of hats in the health and wellness space. >> And both, you know, in holistic health and then also in in more traditional medical settings. And regardless of the setting that I'm in, the foundational aspects of our health and wellness that are rooted in the basics of nutrition are always important. And if we can really get that um to a place where that's working for us, then a lot of the work flows from there. >> Oh, excellent. Would you like to talk about some of those hats right now? >> Yeah, absolutely. So, so as I mentioned, my undergraduate degree is in nutritional science and dietetics. And I also, you know, from there, I was really interested in holistic health. And so, when I graduated um with my bachelor's degree from UVM, I moved out west. I went to um an orthopedic sports massage school and worked as a sports massage therapist and had the opportunity from there to work with a lot of our country's um athletes, you know, our our top athletes. >> And and then after that, my my appetite was really wet for um for a lot of different things. And so I decided to become a yoga instructor. And I also decided that I wanted to really focus on how I could integrate these aspects even more. And so then I became a physician assistant and I work in orthopedics and sports medicine. And and from there I have been able to use all of these um these practices with u mindset with yoga um and also sports medicine and massage to work on the Olympic stage. So, I've had the opportunity to travel for nine years with three different national teams and serve as an a medical provider at two different Olympic games. >> Oh, that's fantastic. Wow, that must have been quite an experience. >> Yes. >> And were you working with athletes from all different disciplines? >> So, I worked I worked with three different teams when I I started off in 2013 working with the US paranoric um ski team. And so I got to go to Sochi, Russia with them. >> Amazing. >> And and prior to that, I traveled with them for a year and then I worked with the US mountain bike team for about 5 years. >> Fantastic. >> And traveled internationally with them on that circuit. And then I was asked to join the um the US triathlon team to work with them right before for about a year before and then at um the Tokyo Olympics as their lead medical provider. >> That's incredible. Oh, thank you. >> What what a wonderful background. And do you find that um for these really high-end athletes um and I know you treat every everyone, but at this level >> are you finding that the obviously the nutrition element as you mentioned is really really important, >> but what about the mindset element and the um sleep element and those things? Are you finding that you need to um encourage and nurture those just as much or where do you find the need I guess? >> Yeah, that's a that's a great question. At that level, the athletes have spent a lot of time leveraging, well, getting to know themselves really well. Yeah. >> Knowing where they're strong, knowing where they need support, and they have spent a lot of time really tuning into that and finding a team that supports them in a lot of different aspects of their life. Because what they realize is that when they have a team that supports them and they're really honing in on not just the things they feel confident in, but also looking at the things where they can grow, that when they have structured support around that, that's where they can really thrive and that's where they can really elevate and and you know, win gold medals and silver medals and things like that. So >> yeah. And do you find so that that group element is huge and I think I was reading about this somewhere and I can't cite it but yeah this idea that um >> the difference in some cases between a gold medalist and someone who >> almost makes it or competes but um or maybe doesn't make the Olympics >> um is in fact this ability to have positive reinforcement and selft talk within your own mind and I wondered if if you had noticed that or worked on that with people. >> Absolutely. So, a lot of the women that I work with um you know now you know so I work with active women. I'm not working with Olympians anymore. It's been such a great experience and um after Tokyo I I decided to transition and and just be based in Vermont and um and then really launch my health and wellness coaching business in addition to continuing to be a physician assistant part-time. And so, you know, the women that I work with, a lot of them, like one of the barriers that that I find that they have is they come to me and they're they're oftentimes really overwhelmed with information because in midlife, you know, there's there's so many different things that are going on. Lots of different hormonal fluctuations, but there's also, you know, women are, you know, in midlife, they're taking care of kids. They're oftentimes taking care of their parents as well. It's like the sandwich generation. >> Yeah. and you know they they have busy professional lives. They're physically active. They're they're doing all the things. And so what's challenging is when they start to really be in the throws of pmenopause and their hormones are fluctuating, they don't have access to the same resources that they used to in terms of having this like hormonal balance. And so there's a lot of information which is great that there's been a spotlight that's really been turned on to this time of life for women but that can oftentimes be overwhelming because there's so much information out there and a lot of it you know especially if you hop on social media or something there might be you know a little sound bite that says you know do this one thing and this is you know this is the thing and what I have you know come to realize through my own life experience and then also decades of working in this integrative field is that there is no magic bullet, >> right? >> And you know going back to the Olympians like they are not relying on on their skill or their talent or their genetics. It's a comprehensive approach and and that is a structure that I've been able to really that resonates a lot with me um to employ with the women that I'm working with because yes, that mindset piece is huge and a lot of times women feel like they have to do it all. they have to be perfect and they have to kind of white knuckle through different things and and so one of the the first things that I you know like to provide is education. I feel like that's one of my biggest roles. >> Um because what I also didn't mention was that I was a science educator. So, so I that was, you know, several years ago, but that educational piece is paramount for women to understand what's going on in their physiology >> and that this isn't a time to just push through that there are strategies. Um, you know, and I also serve to connect the dots of their health journey and help orient them to a structure that's personalized to them, that's in alignment with their goals. >> Wow. Okay. And so, you're kind of looking holistically at their life. Yes. >> And and imagining, okay, for this person, given your um family obligations and your career and all of these various elements, what works for you? And I imagine too, you're encouraging some alteration in that though, right? Because you have to create the space for this self-care, for the wellness, and for for sleep. >> For sleep. Absolutely. That's a big one. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And and you know those are kind of like the pillars that I focus on with with the coaching is looking at nutrition. >> Yeah. >> Looking at our movement, you know, not just cardiovascular, but also the importance, especially as a muscular muscularkeeletal health specialist, the importance of optimizing our bone health and our lean mass, especially in midlife. And so looking at how we can optimize that combined with some, you know, stress management techniques that we can just have in the back pocket that we can pull out when we need to and really protecting our sleep, treating it like it's an important appointment that we have to maintain because that, you know, that 7 to nh hour window is really critical for a lot of um functioning in many of our systems. >> Absolutely. This is really um hitting home with me because last night, for some strange reason that I can't identify, I was lying awake until 3:00 a.m. >> And I think it was just the mind. And I think I probably didn't um do enough sort of setting the stage for sleep things beforehand. I did read a lot and so my mind was very engaged in that book. But man, I could not believe that was three hours at least of >> hemming and hawing and thinking, should I just get up and give up, you know? >> Yes. Yes. >> And so, yeah, part of me was like, all right, note to self that something's got to change, right? Some some >> some rhythm, some ritual that I need to maybe develop to to have it be just more reliable. >> Absolutely. Yeah. And and that's you know really the underpinning of this work is looking at how do we build our stable foundation >> and what kind of structures can we put in place that are practical that are realistic that are doable and that give us enough structure but all that we can lean into it and that we feel confident in the structure but also flexible enough to know that we are not perfect. Right? You know, another one of my mantras is progress not perfection. And you know, because again, you know, women hold themselves to very high standards. And and what can often happen is, you know, they can start on a path thinking that that this is the thing that's going to be effective for them with, you know, great intentions and and then maybe something happens and they get, you know, derailed and then it can be sometimes really challenging to get back on. >> Absolutely. And so we give ourselves grace in those moments and and we go back to the structure. >> Yeah. To have that place to return to that you knew worked before. >> Yeah. Because those those dislodging thing they're going to happen, right? It it it's just it's the way it is. And I I wondered, you know, >> I guess stemming from that is this idea of like >> have you noticed in your experience, especially since you've been working more locally um with nonolympic athletes? Um um what you what what are you noticing are the biggest detriments to people's long-term health? like we're if we're talking about sort of this middle of life, reassessing your energy, reassessing um your responsibilities, trying to continue to prioritize your health even though perhaps you've taken on >> the care of your parents, things like that. So, um do you find that there are big stumbling blocks that are very common for lots of people? Yeah, I mean I think that some of And let me just go back and say too that I I love that I've had the experience of working with Olympic athletes, but I also want to just say that I work with active women in the way I define an athlete. If you're active, you're a woman. And if you're a woman, you're if you're if you're active, you're an athlete. And um and so I just want to you know also just clarify that because um sometimes people can hear different language and say oh you know that is she's talking to me is that is that really do I identify that way? And so you know I say that because we all have a lot of opportunity and room to >> to hone in on what works for us. And so in terms of like detriments um or or barriers right now, I think one of the biggest things that we can do is treat our health like an investment, like a financial investment. And so when we start thinking about retirement, hopefully we're not thinking about it when we're in our 60s and 70s. Hopefully, we're starting to think about it in our 20s and 30s because that is the time, you know, it's never too late to start, but the the sooner that we start, the bigger our return on our investment is going to be. And so, we have so much opportunity in our 20s and 30s to really get these um these structures and this um you know, this these templates in place for us to be moving forward so that we're building our bone health. We're building our our lean mass because those are the things, you know, in really like nailing our nutrition because those are the things that when we're in our 70s and 80s, that is going to be, you know, one of the biggest um assets to helping us live with longevity and be thriving in our life and be living independently >> so that we avoid things like hip fractures and um needing to be in assisted living because we have the strength in our in our skeletal structure and our muscles to be able to, you know, do those activities and live live independently. >> Yeah. And it's been built over time, so it's sustained and sustainable. Absolutely. Based on the good practices. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Um you mentioned bone health and uh >> I'm not sure I remember the term, but it sounded like muscle mass perhaps. Um, so I know and I've been learning more now that I am of a certain age. >> Yeah. >> Uh about about the importance of bone health and um and how >> and how weightbearing activities are I don't know if it's they're more important now than they were before. Um but they're certainly really important to um not only build build the muscle mass, maybe even build it back if you've had a setback. Um, and then how does that why is that so important I should say? And um, how does that integrate with bone health if it does or or can you combine the two? Because I feel like those are two really big things. >> Yeah, those are two really big things. And I'm so glad that you brought that up. Um, and this this is something that is very important to me, you know, as a woman in midlife, as an orthopedic physician assistant, and also as a health and wellness coach that works with women in midlife to optimize their longevity. >> And so, the way those work together, you know, we talk about, you know, we I think it's important to talk about estrogen. >> Um, you know, so this is um one of our hormones that is extremely important. it is in we have estrogen receptors on just about every cell of our body. And so when we go through pmenopause, you know, which is typically in the 40s, there's a lot of fluctuations with with our reproductive hormones, particularly estrogen. And so women who come to me often have a lot of different symptoms that can stem from weight gain that's unexpected, unexplained, um to fatigue to um having sleep disturbances, which we talked about just a little bit as well. And um and so they have, you know, and brain fog, you know, and those are just some of, you know, just a handful of of many, many symptoms associated with perry and postmenopause. And so those are the things that we oftentimes tune into because that is what we see and what we feel. But the other process that's that's happening that's more of a silent process is we're also losing bone mineral density. And this happens because estrogen is one of the the primary hormones that mediates our bone building activities. And so our bones are living tissue. They're very dynamic. And so we have, you know, different processes that are breaking bone down and then building it back up, which is very active when we're younger, you know, before we hit pmenopause. And so when we don't have access to as much estrogen, we're the process that's breaking down the bone is still happening, but the building is not happening. And so when you know around the age of 30 we all men and women all start to lose a little bit you know about one you know about 0.5 to 1% of their bone mineral density and so that is a steady decline unless we do some kind of intervention um to counteract that. So the intervention would be um to muscle train you know to do strength training and also um have a um you know the strength training is is going to build the muscle mass but it's also going to stress the bone and it's going to make it it's going to create um an impact on the bone so that it starts to build and signal the bone to build more tissue. >> Okay. Okay. And why that's important is because when we go through menopause, we lose, you know, women will lose between um 25 to 45% of their bone mineral density within the first 5 to seven years. >> No way. Oh my gosh. >> I know. Astounding. >> And it is astounding. And the reason why that's important is, you know, currently the US preventative task force that has recommendations for when to get different screening tests like a bone mineral density scan, which is called the DEXA scan, >> that isn't recommended until the age of 65. >> Oh, okay. And so when women are not aware that this process is happening and the recommendation for the test isn't until 65 then that um you know often surprises women when they have you know they get diagnosed with osteopenia which is softening of the bones or osteoporosis. And so the I want to say two more things about that. So that's important because there was a study done um that looked at 33,000 individuals, men and women, and that was, you know, done in the last 10 years. And what it found was that of all of the hip fractures that happen in the United States, 70% of them were women. And of those 70% in this study, 30% of the women who experienced a hip fracture died within a year of that hip fracture. And that is not because the hip fracture killed them. It's because at that point in their life when they're in the, you know, they're elderly, they have other comorbid conditions like maybe they have heart disease or lung disease or maybe they're living independently and they they don't have a lot of support in their life anymore. that it just the hip fracture is a very debilitating condition and it's really hard to recover from especially if you don't have you know good health to begin with and you don't have a support system and so this is why it's important in our 20s and 30s to again think of this like a financial portfolio. You want it to be diversified and you want it to be started young >> and um and there is hope because again like we can start this at any time. There was another study done called the Lyftmore study in the last few years and this looked at women in their 60 they were average age was 65 and they were enrolled in a supervised strength training program. They did this for eight months 30 minutes a day two times a week and they at the end of this eight-month period women who were in their 60s who had osteopener osteoporosis made a meaningful change in their bone mineral density just in this this short period of time. >> Wow. And so, >> yeah, it is incredibly encouraging because um I think you know >> the last thing I would have imagined is that age 30 is when things start to shift and not knowing it >> for unless you have an intervention or they need to scan you for other reasons until you're 65. >> Um >> that's I it's so encouraging I think for a lot of us probably out there to think well I could just start tomorrow. I could just do this and no matter what age I am, I could make a difference if I commit >> um and if I have the right guidance. So, >> exactly. >> That's kind of brings me to my next question because >> I have definitely known people and myself overdone it in one way or another. >> Um running too much, messed up knees, you know, lifting too much, pulled things. So, um, or or just being in a position where you lose that something knocks you off. You're out of your rhythm. You you were like, I know I should get back to that, but how am I going to do that now? Um, and so the I just want to talk a little bit about how these are all excellent scientific and medical facts and this awareness is so so key. Yep. >> But speaking for myself, like I still need somebody to be like, "Hey, >> here's how here's how we can lay this out for you. Here's here's how given your life and your needs and the fact that >> you just came out of surgery, etc., etc., >> here's here's what we could do. And here's here's it not only um geared to you as a person, but your age, your goals, right, in life. So tell me a little about that guidance, that coaching >> Yeah. Yeah. So, so many things to to mention there, you know. So basically, you know, women that I'm working with are coming to me with a lot of different things and, you know, some of the important ones that we talked about before are, you know, looking at, you know, this unexpected, you know, weight gain and also the um not knowing what to do in terms of how do how do I eat? Not only to lose this unwanted weight that I that just kind of appeared overnight. I hear that all the time. But also to really set myself up well for the future because they've heard some of these studies too. And so we start where they are. >> Yes. >> And we make small consistent changes over time. And I hold the um the women that I'm working with accountable. And so that accountability piece with clear structure provides a framework that we you know have the advantage of being able to we meet regularly um you know and we we talk about the barriers. We set them up well for things that are a little bit on their growth edge you know so it feels like a stretch but it also feels doable and realistic. And then we have the opportunity to touch base again and have feedback like what's working, what's not, how can we pivot and adjust to keep moving you forward and and really do it in a way that feels sustainable to them. And I hear from so many women like at the end of working together, you know, I ask them to reflect, you know, if you could go back to when we started working together and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be? And time and time again, I hear how consistency and small changes have made such an impact on their transformation. >> Yeah, you're right. So, uh, consistency I think is a big one, right? Because our lives will throw curveballs at us and but if you can come back to something that's simple and doable even in >> like do you ever give people like, well, if you have five minutes, 10 minutes, this is what you can do. If you have a half an hour, this is what you can do. sort of those bite-sized pieces. So, if you're like, "Well, I don't have an hour and a half, so I guess I can't do anything attitude." Like, you don't want to go there. >> And it really goes back to that progress, not perfection. Sometimes it's, you know, you're feeling really, you know, overwhelmed in a moment. And it's it's like, okay, I'm going to take one breath right now and ground myself. And just that breath sends a cascade of reactions throughout the whole body that says, "Hey, I'm not you know that that it it we're not getting chased by a tiger right now. We don't have to be um you know preparing our body, you know, with that hormonal response for for being in fight or flight. So we can actually like make profound changes just by a single breath. And then again when we we really break things down and we create a structure that feels realistic and again like on the growth edge but realistic then women have a lot of agency. They have capacity and we keep moving forward. We we focus on making progress every day >> and being intentional and meaningful with it and letting go of the perfection. That's not realistic and it's not going to help if we hold on to that model. So imagine okay so I'm somebody who uh not me but just a person is looking to um they feel they're super overwhelmed in their daily life. They have kids. They're taking care of um parents or an elder of some kind in their life. >> Um they work full-time. >> Yeah. >> They also want to lose some weight, but they're really worried about losing muscle as well. and they're like,"I can't." They think at least that the the story, the narrative they're telling themselves is like, "I don't even have time to eat breakfast me this morning." And um and and and and I am frazzled. So, >> what would you say to that person like, "All right, where do we even start?" >> Yeah. >> And then >> in say two weeks, that's a that's a nice chunk of time. Yeah. >> Where could I expect to go? Yeah. So, I hear that almost verbatim from from a lot of women that I work with because again >> that fits the the demographic. You know, we're busy. We have a lot going on and we don't know where to start. And again, there is no magic bullet. And so, where we start is where she is and we start oftentimes with nutrition. And so not making again this is a lot going back you know to my undergraduate career of learning how important our food is and how food is medicine. And so I look at what are we putting in the body and really emphasizing protein like high quality protein whole foods fruits and vegetables and looking at healthy fats and high quality starches. And so we talk a lot about how can we optimize our time so this this does not need to take a lot of time. How can we prepare this so we've we're thinking ahead and we are putting things in place so that this gets to be easy. Yeah. And we work with the schedule, chunking it out in certain blocks of time so that we're planning, we're shopping, and we are meal prepping for, you know, a few different meals so that it's just it's ready. So we can make choices that are in alignment with our goals and that by, you know, doing all of those things, we're also like the ripple effect is real. So when we start having you know food that's that is of those you know the criteria that I mentioned those characteristics then I hear from women all the time I'm losing weight I'm sleeping better I have less joint pain you know this is one woman that I worked with um you know she told me about when these changes the nutrition changes we made so many different things you know changed for her and she was able to start running again she was feeling really good and she's been able to keep the weight off and she feels feels like it's very sustainable because again it's it's not based on a hack or like a a processed food or a quick grab-and-go snack or some sound bite. It's actually based on getting back to what our stable foundation looks like and how we can build that into a woman's busy life in a way that's realistic. >> That is excellent. I This makes me think about breath work because it's different but related. >> Yeah. Absolutely. And so because sometimes it's like well uh you know all of the health the food is huge. >> I can't get to the grocery store this I just like in this moment right now. >> Yeah. >> I'm at work. I'm in the middle of a conversation with a challenging conversation with a family member. >> I just need to like collect my nerves a little bit. And there are some wonderful breath work exercises that I'm familiar with. I'm wondering if you have any favorites. >> Yeah. So, I'm I'm not a breath work coach, but I do have a background in um yoga. >> And so, the breath work, you know, some of the my favorites are, as we talked about before, >> um taking time to just do one deep breath >> where we can feel it expanding like entering our body and expanding through the chest and kind of letting that really be like a three-dimensional breath and feeling that all the way. Doing a body scan. And you know, we also having like feet grounded on the floor, sitting up straight, and just letting things that don't need to work, let them relax. So often times people hold tension in their jaws and their shoulders. >> Um, and so really like that awareness is a big part of of finding that stillness in the moment, but it's also a big thread that I weave through the coaching program. So we're always coming back to our awareness, to our mindset, to our self-t talk. um and and our structure. And these are the things that um that are, you know, maybe don't sound exciting, but they are the things that are the fabric of of consistent behavior change, which ultimately is the goal. We just keep coming back to it. >> It just feels so doable, you know, the way you're talking about it. It feels like, all right, sign me up, you know, and I think that that's really encouraging because that's often the opposite of what we typically feel. Yes. >> Um, yeah. >> So, I have about 37 more questions for you, but I do want to allow before we have to wrap. Um, I would there's so this is it's it's it's tough to even put this into one question, but I guess um >> if you could just offer to our audience like >> here's one maybe two major takeaways that that that they can just carry with them like a little reminder in their pocket. >> Um >> what would those be? >> Wow. So the first thing would be that there is hope. >> Yeah. >> And there are options. And when we can start with what we're putting into our body and have that awareness, we are going to feed so many things. >> Oh, that's f that's perfect. Love that. All right. I'm just going to clip that out and that little angel on my shoulder. Thank you for that. Um I do want to give you a chance to just say anything else you'd like to say that we haven't had a chance to talk about and um share your your website and any other um yeah information. >> Yeah. Well, thanks so much. Um yeah, I guess the you know some of the important things to recap are that you know I I wear a lot of hats in both spaces and um both like more traditional medicine and then integrative health and wellness coaching and and I think there's just so much opportunity for that to be complimentary. Um and that in terms of my coaching again working with active women in midlife to really optimize hormonal balance through lifestyle changes um to augment you know a lot of the women I work with are also on HRT which I think is is a fantastic >> hormone replacement >> hormone replacement therapy. Yes. Which I think is is a is a fantastic um option for a lot of women. And you know as we've said or I've said multiple times there's no magic bullet. And so that can provide a lot of a lot of help for and a lot of support for women um because of this um additional hormone therapy. And pairing that with really clear consistent lifestyle changes with nutrition, with movement, with our stress management and our sleep. Those are the things that really culminate in setting us up well for longevity. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you so much. >> You're so welcome. >> I I think we could probably have like I I actually had a whole line of questioning about HRT. >> So, we don't have a lot of time to get deeply into it, >> but just for folks who don't really know what it is, do you want to give a quick um kind of synopsis? >> Sure. Yeah. So you'll you might hear it called hormone replacement therapy, um hormone therapy or menopause hormone therapy and it's all talking about the same thing. And basically, you know, there's a lot of I'm not a gynecologist. Um so I will speak in general terms about this. Um but what I I do believe that you know there as we were saying in the beginning there's a big you know light that's that's being um cast on women's health now and and this is such a tremendous opportunity for um you know for women to really be aware of what their options are and so specifically with regard to HRT um this I feel like women every woman has a right to know what her benefit versus risk profile is. And that, you know, should happen with a primary care provider, um, a gynecologist so that everyone knows like what if if they their risk, you know, is outweighs their benefit. >> Um, because that hormone therapy can be tremendously beneficial in a lot of different ways. Again, going back to us having estrogen receptors in just about every cell of our body. And then in pmenopause when we have a lot of fluctuations and then in menopause when we have a sharp decline that happens rapidly then you know women really feel that and that shows up not only in the symptoms that we talked about um but also the silent ways where you know with our bone mineral density and so HRT is something that is should be something that is discussed with a woman's healthcare provider and she should really be informed about um what her options are and do you sometimes work with say um you know I have a general practitioner would I connect you for example to be like here's something I'm working on um just so there could be sort of a unified approach do you have like a care team >> yeah so I have a a a care team um intention and so I'm not working with specific like only you know certain individuals but I do certainly I always refer when necessary and so um you know if if there's something that's outside of my scope, I will always refer to the appropriate provider um you know to support that and then always welcome to have other providers say hey I'm you know working on this treatment plan and um you know can you help provide some structure with this? So I do that frequently as well. >> And does that apply for folks with say genetic conditions or you know uh some some for some folks it's a lot more than just general health and maintenance. It's like I'm also dealing with kind of a major issue here, whether it be um a genetic disease or something you just discovered. Do you have celiac? You know, I don't know, something like that. >> Yeah, that's a great question. So, the so in my role as a health and wellness coach, I'm not acting as a medical provider. I always come with um evidence-based strategies and um and you know, resources. And so I would likely defer some of that to the primary care provider, whoever the referring provider is, and then also do what um do what the research suggests. >> Yeah. >> To help support the individual. >> Nice. Excellent. >> Yeah. >> So, please tell us about your website. Please tell us about your social media handles if you have those. Um want to make sure everyone knows how to reach out. >> Yeah, absolutely. So my website, so best way to find me is probably on my website or in social media. So my website is sustainablewwellnessvt.com and my Instagram handle is sustainable wellnessvt.com or just vt. So same thing. And yeah, please feel free to reach out on either one of those platforms and I would love to hear from you and talk about how we could work together to support your health and wellness goals in midlife. That's fantastic. Also, do you have a yoga practice? Just curious. >> I do. Yes. Yes. Yoga is uh is foundational for me and that is another way that I really think of you know health and wellness being integrative because you know the word yoga means to connect the mind and the body and in the west we oftentimes practice we do the asa like the the postures and and there's actually you know as as you it sounds like you really know with like your breath work background too there's a lot more to yoga than um than the asas and so when we can you know envelop it and really Look at again how one action that I have really affects something else and look at the ripple effect and how that can reinforce something. Then we have union which means you know to that that yoga to connect the mind and the body and that's where we have a lot of capacity and a lot of potential. >> I've often heard that if you're doing only asa without the spirit or breath work you're really not doing yoga at all. And I think that's true. You could just be like throwing yourself around a mat, you know, >> without that intention. >> Yeah. Which is which is fine. >> Sure. I mean, you could do that, too, right? >> Yeah. And and when we when we add another layer to it, then we also add opportunity. >> Yeah. Excellent. Um well, that's fantastic. I uh I think about too I mean we've been talking a lot about folks in um sort of midlife um and and thinking a lot about longevity, but for women who are in their 20s or >> um or 30s or maybe they're just starting to think about having a family or they're a young mom and they have a few kids, is are there are there key nuggets that you would want that are distinct, you know, different from um sort of a woman in midlife that you would advise or want to share? >> Yeah. So, I like going back to that financial portfolio idea. So, it's it's never too early to start. And again, you know, with the strength training specifically, um, you know, we we alluded to this before, but I also think that it's really important to listen to your body and and get guidance, specific guidance. You know, I hold accountability for for women. I provide a lot of education. Um, but when they're entering, you know, they're they're new to strength training, it's really important to have a trainer or someone that's guiding them through at least for a little bit just to get started so they learn the moves and um they know how to move weight because we want to be progressively overloading over time. And so, you know, in our 20s and our 30s, start >> with habits that are going to continue to feed us in the future. So eat well, move often, move with intention, focus on stress management, and get really good sleep. Again, thinking about how important that 20, you know, to 30 year age group is for our bone mineral density. So those are things that I absolutely encourage, you know, everybody to start start when you start, but if you have the opportunity to start earlier, then then that's going to set you up better. And I want to also say that one of the most, you know, exciting things that um has has occurred with this work is when I the conversations that I'm hearing with the women that I'm working with is is really showing me how much this work is changing the narrative on women's health. And so women are talking about not how little can I eat and how small can I be, but how can I be strong >> and how can I fuel my body to live the life that I want to do the activities that bring me joy, not just today, but in 20 or 30 years. >> Yeah. >> And they're having these conversations with the younger women in their lives, their daughters, you know, when they are in their 20s and their 30s or maybe even teenagers. And so we get to rewrite this script, this narrative of what does health look like? And health really looks like being strong, being capable, knowing how to fuel your body well for the activities that bring you joy. And that again is where we have so much opportunity. >> Yeah. And feeling it, you know, feel I mean much more than appearance is just this sense of like I feel good. I feel light. I feel like I'm capable. Yes. And I I imagine that um you know what would support that is a lot of this other this other work you do where you help people kind of ground themselves and make sure they're creating time for themselves. And I just think I think the whole idea and I think we all um >> probably could work on this a little bit, but this idea that it is >> as much a priority as anything else. >> Yes. >> Um you know, going to a dentist appointment always seems to make it on my calendar, right? But but going to the yoga studio doesn't manage to for some reason, you know, and so it's like reminding oneself, you know, this is totally worth it, maybe even more worth it than some of the other things I carve out time for. >> And um and and it is cumulative. >> Yes. >> Um and it helps sustain and of course, you know, it's a bit of a cliche, but like if you are well for yourself, you can be well for other people. >> 100%. Um, and that's a big deal, you know, and uh I think I think that, you know, the the uh octopus mom thing where you're like women have so much and we do so much. >> And it's okay also not to >> like, you know, be like, you know, maybe I won't have that eighth arm. Maybe I maybe I won't um spend, >> you know, I don't know, 20% of my month doing things that I don't actually need to do. So that sort of like reminder that um >> that enough is enough and what feels right to you because some folks love the juggling of plates. Love that. And other folks are like, you know, I really only want to think about two things at once. >> Yeah. Exactly. And so really finding what that right balance is for each woman. And and again, that's that's part of the beauty of coaching, you know, doing onetoone coaching because you can create a personalized plan that works with them. And and yeah, you know, another another mantra is like the 8020 rule, you know, so it's like we do we really lean into, you know, these changes 80% of the time and if we can do more, that's great. But real life happens. And so instead of falling off, you know, whatever the track is that we're on, we give ourselves some flexibility and some grace and we keep coming back. We we lean into these things because we know that they're important and we know that they're going to pay dividends in the future and so then it becomes almost impossible not to include them. >> Exactly. Yeah. Thank you so much, Jen. This has been an incredible conversation and um I feel like we could continue talking for another hour, but we do have to wrap it up. >> So, I really appreciate you coming on the show. And folks, um, you can find Jen's work at sustainablewwellness.com. Yes. Is that right? Yes. >> And, um, and yeah, we hope you'll check it out. Thank you so much. >> Sorry. Sorry. Sustainablenessvt.com. vt.com. Add the vt. Exactly. Okay. >> All right. Thanks so much, Jill. Really appreciate it. >> Thank you. Thank you.