Hello, I’d like to introduce myself… I’m Sarah Stannard, and I am a Health & Wellness Coach. I’ll be writing a regular Health and Wellness column for The Sussex Newspaper . Get ready for wellness tips and happiness hacks! I’m very excited to be here! My journey to become a Health and Wellness Coach came about after an unexpected career change last year.
There I was, in a well-paid corporate role as Head of Sales, daydreaming about one day taking the leap to try something new.
Having spent over 20 years in logistics, I knew this would probably never change. Nor would I ever find the bravery to make that change.
This was a job I did not love; a job that I found stressful – where some people were not very nice to me. The weight of this job meant I did not sleep well at night and even spent some evenings crying with unhappiness. This was the job I planned to stay in for at least 2 years, no matter what, purely for how it would complement my CV. Who else does this?
Then, out of nowhere came COVID-19, quickly followed by my redundancy.
Having never been unlucky enough to find myself without a job, I initially felt fear, and I panicked. I sat in the office of my very formidable female boss and listened while she told me the company needed to make cost savings and so I no longer had a job.
My initial panic while sitting there slowly started shifting… I hated this job, maybe this was good news! The universe was pushing me out onto my behind, and I started to feel excited. Maybe I could follow my childhood dream and have my own business. Yes, I could do this!
Only seconds passed before this was swiftly replaced again by sheer panic. What was this wild pipe dream that arrived in my mind fleetingly, and how crazy was it? I could never do this… I needed a job! But I didn’t really want a job. I wanted to take this chance – this huge shift in my universe had that had been created for me, a break in the clouds. A gift! Within days I had turned down an offer of a very good role. I attended interviews and stopped arranging new ones.
I decided instead to give my dreams a chance. I started meditating and manifesting exactly what I wanted to do and where this chance could lead me. I asked the universe to help me understand my purpose. And it did not take too long to find my new path; my passion. My love of helping people had always been in my heart. Add to this my love of nutrition, exercise and overall health and sprinkle on top a few questions my friends regularly asked me; ‘how do you keep fit?’, ‘what do you eat for lunch and dinner?’, ‘what is your diet?’, and ‘how do you stay slim at your age?’ How are you so positive through adversity? and what you get is a Health and Wellness Coach!
My role as a Health Coach is to be a supportive mentor who helps clients feel their best through food and lifestyle changes and personalised one to one encouragement. I guide and motivate clients to reach their goals in 12 areas of holistic health. These areas include relationships, career, nutrition, physical activity and joy to name just a few. Over the years I have overcome huge amounts of adversity and remain incredibly resilient and with a very positive attitude, my clients really enjoy my help supporting them to achieve things in their lives they never though possible.
Stepping into this entirely new space, I proactively signed up to a year’s online course with the internationally renowned Health & Nutrition school, The Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN). I am also a member of the UK Health Coaches association. Added to this I have also studied “The Science of Wellbeing” at Yale and “The Foundation of Mindfulness” at Rice University.
From the moment I signed up on this new career journey, my heart soared at the thought of working with clients and helping them to achieve their health, wellness and life goals. I knew I would be improving the lives of people and this made me overjoyed.
It has been a mammoth learning curve and I have achieved things I never thought possible. I have never been happier, more relaxed, or more excited about what the future holds.
I look forward to seeing you each month with my new column and to giving you healthy tips and idea to live well. If you would like to know more about me or you would like to sign up some coaching please visit www.sarahstannard.com
