Today we’d like to introduce you to Shivam Kohls.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am passionate about helping women struggling with stress to get their life back. Because there was a time in my life when the shit hit the fan and the stress was so bad that I felt my life was unraveling and not worth living. I tried many different things to manage the stress and get my cortisol levels down enough so I could sleep. I discovered that it wasn’t just one thing that contributed to my healing but many different healing modalities contributed to my healing and getting my life back. So not only have I experienced this myself but I also have the professional background necessary to help others heal too.
Here is the long version on my website:
http://www.strategies4wellbeing.com/story-stress-got-life-back/
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There has been a couple of challenges and struggles marketing my Health and Wellbeing coaching/consulting business. One is finding the right venue to reach my niche which is helping women struggling with stress get their life back.
My approach to working with stress is unique and I will describe the process I use later in this article. Some women are not familiar with some of the modalities I use so I always do a free strategy session so women can get to know me and how I work and to see if there is a good fit for us to work together.
And the other challenge is that some of my clients, luckily not too many, are not willing to do the work to heal. They are perhaps not ready to do some deeper digging to uncover some of their unconscious core beliefs which are not true and are keeping them stuck in unhealthy patterns. But it takes someone who is willing to do the work, and look honestly at their beliefs and behaviors.
I also think women who are experiencing extreme stress and resulting debilitating symptoms don’t know who and where to turn to for help. They also feel vulnerable and embarrassed to admit they need help and support.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I work with women who have goals and a vision for a different life for themselves but are so stressed out and overwhelmed by their current life’s circumstances that they feel they are being sucked into a whirling vortex all the time. On top of it, they are very aware that they are engaging in unhealthy habits to help soothe the pain, but unfortunately, those habits are only making things worse.
The stress has taken a toll on their health and wellbeing too, causing many sleepless nights, alternating anxiousness and depression, poor eating habits, barely exercising, watching too much TV, getting lost in FB and the Internet and drinking too much. So even though they would like to start taking steps towards their goals and dreams, they just don’t have the internal resources or clarity to start taking any steps.
They want to get a handle on the stress they are experiencing and how it has affected their health and wellbeing but they don’t know where to begin.
This is where I come in with my 4 Pillars of Health and Wellbeing program. If they’re like most people they’ve tried different approaches to dealing with stress and the resulting symptoms. They may have seen a doctor and were prescribed antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication but the side effects were worse than your original symptoms so they stopped.
They may have read a variety of self- help books on stress management but it was hard to implement any of the practices on their own. Maybe they tried some New Age modalities too but while they may have momentarily taken the edge off of their symptoms – nothing stuck or lasted and they were back where they started. They know about the health benefits of eating well and exercising but it is hard to exercise regularly when you are not sleeping well because you just didn’t have the energy.
While some of these might have taken the edge off of their symptoms, nothing has lasted, and they feel like they have gone round and round on a merry go round of trying new things and they still feel stressed out, unhealthy, edgy from lack of sleep and now they are so frustrated by coming up empty-handed, they don’t want to get their hopes up one more time and try one more thing that doesn’t work!
Here is a brief overview of the 4 Pillars of Health and Wellbeing:
-1st Pillar: PHYSICAL BODY – Learn new strategies to experience optimal health, well-being, and vitality. What do you do for yourself on a daily basis to enhance and support your well-being? Daily exercise or some type of movement, healthy nutrition, rest and good sleep are essential to vibrant health and well-being.
-2nd Pillar: MENTAL / EMOTIONAL – Learn mindfulness tools and meditation, which will help you reduce stress and anxiety and create more balance in your life. Learn how to transform negative beliefs, emotional challenges and sabotaging behaviors so that you can connect to your inner wisdom and resources.
-3rd Pillar: SPIRITUAL – Create your own personal daily practice of doing things that uplift and engages your connection to spirit. By doing these activities, you are expanding your capacity to experience joy, light, beauty and peace even when your life feels challenging and stressful. It is like drinking a healing elixir from a spiritual well during times when your heart and soul feels battered.
-4th Pillar – ENVIRONMENT – Create a healing, calm and peaceful sanctuary in your home through the practice of Feng Shui. Discover how clearing clutter and organizing your home and office can reduce stress and remove obstacles which will open up new pathways in your life.
I work with clients initially doing a series of 4 sessions where I customize a program based on their individual needs. Between sessions, they have homework to do that is designed to teach them the resources they need to heal and become whole.
I also go to their homes if they live locally and Feng Shui their homes. An important part of managing stress is having a home environment that is a calm, serene peaceful sanctuary that is clutter free and well organized. I also do long distance sessions via phone or Skype and can also Feng Shui homes remotely via video and photographs.
Besides my private practice, I also lead mindful meditations for an Equine Based Healing Organization in Bonsall called Healing Horse. This is for people wanting an experience of healing and peace by being out in the country, outdoors with horses. Equine facilitated healing programs are becoming more popular worldwide as research is proving that just being around horses has tremendous healing effects.
I also teach a class I designed called Instinctual Mindful Movement. This is a class for people who love to dance and meditate but want to explore moving mindfully, by allowing their body’s wisdom to guide them into movements that feel good.
Instinctual Mindful Movement is a unique experience of guided movement exercises with breath awareness, moving mindfully with a soft gentle focus on different mindful awareness themes. Participants are guided in a movement sequence designed to release mental/emotional stress and physical tension. By connecting their breath with the body’s wisdom, they can allow their inner rhythm to move them in a unique spontaneous way. The class slows down into silence and stillness with a guided meditation. No dance experience is needed. The class is self-paced to accommodate all fitness and health levels.
Parts of this class include live drumming with my percussionist husband, Steve Tomaino.
What were you like growing up?
When I was growing up one of my favorite things to do was to play nurse and pretend that all of my dolls or stuffed animals came to me for healing and care. My parents raised Miniature Schnauzers so we usually had a house full of 3 dogs and their puppies running around. I was fascinated by watching them give birth and how the mothers took care of all the puppies.
I loved animals, being in nature and playing outdoors. We lived on the outskirts of rural Illinois growing up so I was able to spend a lot of time hanging out at farms, detasseling corn in the summer and being outdoors a lot all year round. While I did have dolls and we had a TV, neither of those held my interest for very long. My preference was always to be playing outdoors with my friends, making forts, going to farms, riding my bike or skateboarding.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.strategies4wellbeing.com
- Phone: 760-533-5690
- Email: shivam@strategies4wellbeing.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/strategies4wellbeing
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShivamKohls
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivam-kohls-9290963/
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
