Before Holobody coaching certification, I had been a competing athlete for several years. 5 years as a marathon runner and less than 2 years as a bikini fitness competitor. In addition to my sports experience, I had more than 800 hours of nutrition training, some massage certificates, the past life of being married to a physiotherapist, a dance therapy diploma, and over a decade of different fitness and dance classes already in my pocket.
A whole lot of knowledge and experience, right?
My love language is physical touch. I consider myself rather good at massage. My preferred approach to learning is "kinesthetic" (other types being auditive and visual). I always thought I was so in tune with my body. I kept telling myself and others that I am very body-centric.
What was my actual experience with my body?
In Holobody, Ronan asked us to have a body talk and explore the relationship with the body. I am not my body, I have a relationship with my body. This is actually a relief! All relationships can be worked on. Improved. Changed. Transformed.
For the first body talk, I sat down in front of a tall mirror, looked myself in the eyes, and spoke. At some point, I was crying and it wasn't merely because of my hormones and emotions acting up at the end of my fat loss phase - competition diet. I was crying when I promised my body to be gentler towards it. As an athlete, I have pushed hard. Even harder than needed for my sport. I have punished myself when I couldn't meet the weight loss goals set in an Excel file, punished with getting loads of extra steps in even when I was practically on the verge of fainting and depleted of energy. The very end of a bodybuilding diet is not the prettiest. Brain fog, very low energy, isolating yourself from social activities, cravings...
I decided I want to do better. I will be doing better in the next season. Because the next one will be a friendly, even loving co-operation with my body, not just me pushing my body into a certain frame. I want the conscious, not the unconscious transformation. I want to thoroughly enjoy this journey. Currently, I am enjoying most of it as I have made peace.
I made peace with failure as well. Objectively, everything went fine. Shining on the stage, being a real star for one day, getting all these cool photos, most of them with me smiling and having fun too! These are all worth the hard work. Subjectively, I was devastated the next day. I walked to the seaside, yelled at myself, and cried my heart out. My results didn't satisfy me. I knew I was "too soft" to get a better placement. I started to compare myself to others... but... comparing me with myself - I had made a huge process compared to my 1st season as a competitor. I felt confident and my posing was much better! A reason to celebrate! Holobody taught me to appreciate my own efforts more.
When I started in August 2022, I had no idea how deep meaning this certification would have for me.
I had no idea I'd might want to turn my life upside down.
But this is exactly what I'm turning right now! I have healed so many things within myself I wasn't even aware of, so now I am ready to reach out and give my helping hand to others as well. With Ronan's cool exercises and Ajit's insightful knowledge of coaching (have also listened to most episodes of his coaching podcast - a true gem!), I have evolved into a coach.
I have a few clients and started a group coaching course which I named PHOENIX. The name was actually suggested by one of the participants (and as I liked her suggestion the most, she also won free participation). In 8 weeks, I am helping a group of growth-minded women to rise from the ashes of their old selves, improve the relationship with their body, and rise as a beautiful bunch of phoenixes. Loving my group already!
But it doesn't stop here! My day-to-day communication with co-workers, family, and friends has also improved. Yes, I do hang around a lot with Mindvalley members as I am also one of the local hosts in Tallinn, Estonia and organise events to members. Around them, it's easy to go deep and have mindful conversations. But better still... the coaching skills have transformed me as a co-worker. At some point, I was even slightly upset (on the ego level, obviously) that not everyone around me is obsessed with nutrition and training - I work in IT where most people fill their free time with playing video games and only a few people light up when I want to discuss my deadlifts. However, when I started using the office kitchen as myh coaching sandbox where I went to play with an open mind and open heart, people revealed themselves to me so much more.
People opened up as I allowed them to open up! I discovered so much about their inner life and realised that I am always surrounded with amazing people - I only need to give them a chance. I only need to find a way to make them shine. Be interested, not interesting, as Ajit would say.
I could go on and on about Holobody because it is such a gem. I did have much of the nutrition and training knowledge already. Now I also have the tools to unlock actual people. The way how Ronan teaches facts is phenomenal as well. He always finds a way to make it super exciting! In my 1.5 years of nutrition studies, I was mostly bored because these facts were taught by monotonous speakers who had no passion for them. Ronan has such a healthy dose of passion that shines through with his every word! He radiates passion and knowledge!
A world of possibilities has opened up for me. A world in which I am finally making a difference. I knew from birth that I was made for extraordinary things and am forever grateful that Mindvalley has helped me to start unlocking that potential.