My Journey that Got Me Here

I never thought I would be writing about myself, but I guess it is important for you know what lead me to this part of my life.

I grew up in a happy family in Longwood, Florida. My dad owned a restaurant (very unhealthy) and my mom was a stay-at-home mom that was into all of the fad diets. Back then, that meant eating low carb pretzels, snack wells and all of the “marketing” schemes for eating “healthy”. Me and my two brothers had a pantry filled with tons of food and snacks ALL of the time. There was never a shortage of junk. I literally remember bringing a Twix bar to lunch in elementary school!!!

It wasn’t until high school that my mom started getting into a more holistic way of being healthy – like exercising, meditating and taking me to Chamberlin’s to get wheatgrass shots. And my type-A personality took that and ran with it.

I learned at an early age how real, whole foods made my mind and body feel. I went from being border-line anemic, feeling heavy and exhausted to feeling alive with ENERGY. There was no going back!

I became so interested in learning about organic foods, farming, and understanding beyond the macros and micros of the food I was eating, but rather the ingredients and phytonutrients. I remember my friends thinking I was a little crazy. Even some of their moms would show me articles in magazines or the newspaper on how I was wrong about “organic foods”. This was back in the late 90’s and they were reading all that the media wanted them to think (thanks Monsanto).

Then college came around, and my mom insisted that I learn Transcendental Meditation. This was a practice she had learned when she was in high school up in Maine. So, my freshman year, I started meditating. Don’t get me wrong, I was a typical college student – although my nickname to some was “Organic Rachel”, I lived a balanced life of fun and healthy…sometimes more fun, but you get the gist.

My meditation practice wasn’t consistent. I did it when I felt like I needed it, rather than having a daily practice and watching the benefits explode into my life.

As I moved onto to adulthood, in the corporate world and married to my middle school sweetheart, life was pretty good. I traveled, spent time with friends and family, and was with the love of my life. But, life has a funny way of throwing you curve balls, and in 2003 my dad was diagnosed with cancer. He lost that battle in 2009, and the fear and pain wore my body down. My healthy food choices were keeping me stable, but my mental and emotional health was falling apart. I realized that I needed more than nutrition to get me through this part of my life. I needed to lose my fear, calm my mind, BREATHE and center myself. So, I did.

I brought breathwork and meditation back into my life…but this time, I practiced it daily. Some days felt better than others, but over time I was able to connect deeper to myself and my intuition. I felt more connected to my dad. I started to become more aware of his “hello’s” from heaven. I felt good again.

Then…another curve ball. While raising my own family of two young, sweet kids, Grayson and Sage, and taking care of my twin brother, I found out my mother had Alzheimer’s. This time was a little different. My journey of eating clean, real foods was still serving me well, my daily breathwork and meditation practice was helping me stay grounded and connected, but it took work to not let fear and anxiety come back and bring me down. I knew I was ready for more. I needed more.

Why?

As a mother and caretaker, I needed to show up every day as the best version of myself. It was important to me to be positive, uplifting, energetic, while also being calm and relaxed. I wanted this so I could come home from a days’ work and still give my kids and my husband the best of me. I wanted to show them how after a hard day, we can still come together and talk, laugh or cry. I wanted to be ready for this next journey of taking care of my mother and providing her the best care that I could. So, I dug deep. I learned how to work with my mind to create new neuropathways in my brain so that I could subconsciously find the positive in every situation. I added yoga to my exercise regimen, which benefited my breathwork and meditation more than I could have imagined. I used affirmations to help keep me strong and I used recapitulation to help me create more awareness around my daily actions, routines and habits…I did everything I could to bring the best version of myself to every situation of every day.

Through this journey, as a holistic nutritionist and breathwork-meditation teacher, I used my education and training to help me reach all of these goals. Over time I have realized that everything I do to benefit my mental health, has also affected my physical health. What you work on for the “inside”, shows up for you on the outside…it’s a win-win.

Simply because EVERYTHING is connected…our mind, body and soul.

This is when my career stopped being a “side job” and turned into a purposeful life of doing what I love. I created the Be.Live.Change program and watched it help people thrive. Then I brought it to the Corporate world, and now it’s a community for you. Throughout the year, we will bring the Be.Live.Change community together with quarterly challenges: RENEW, REFRESH, RESTORE and REJUVENATE. We will Challenge each other to be the best version of ourselves through nutrition, meditation, movement, mindfulness and wellness tools.

Your daily thoughts and actions become your habits. You do, and think, mostly unconsciously throughout the day as your brain goes on autopilot. Your daily habits express who you are. The good news is that they can be changed at any time.

That’s what I am constantly doing…growing, changing and evolving to be the best version of myself for me, my family and the collective.

It’s all about replacing old habits that aren’t serving you, with healthier ones, to nourish your mind, body and soul. Creating these daily habits is what leads you to a healthier, happier, better version of yourself…through nutrition, meditation, movement and sleep! Those four pillars are the foundation of the Be.Live.Change programs and challenges.

Added bonuses to creating this healthy lifestyle is:

•  natural weight loss
•  extra energy
•  connecting deeper within yourself as you build more awareness of your own beautiful journey.

This lifestyle has brought me so much happiness and peace in moments that I would have never imagined possible. That’s why I want to share this way of living with everyone. I want you, your friends, your family and your sweet little kiddos to learn the tools to living their best life…no matter how crazy the day is.