Health coaching: A personal journey

FEATURE – When Colleen Conley made the decision to visit with health coach Teri Koenig at the Intermountain LiVe Well Center in St. George, she wasn’t expecting what transformed over the next year.

“I wondered what someone could truly tell me that I didn’t know,” Conley said. “Health coaching wasn’t what I expected.”

Originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, Conley calls St. George her home in the winter months. She had tried to quit smoking on several occasions and had been unsuccessful. Conley realized, after meeting with Koenig, that every area in life deserves attention and is connected to create the whole person.

“Teri had me look at the emotional side of my life as well as the physical aspect when setting life goals,” Conley said. “It made me look at those aspects of my life that I typically wouldn’t look at.”

Along with quitting her smoking habit, Conley made goals to work with animal rescue groups and read more. “I wanted to focus on activities that allowed me to look within,” she said.

Taking time to look within helped her to realize that every day was a gift with new potential.

“I believe every day is a new day and it has no mistakes in it when you wake up,” she said. “I need to forgive myself when I mess up instead of focusing on the mistakes.”

Koenig, a certified health and wellness coach as well as a gerontologist, said a coach is someone who helps a person get to their destination by reminding them of their successes.

“I help identify barriers and together we come up with solutions to overcome those barriers,” she said.

Koenig believes that negative self-talk is the most common barrier faced by individuals who feel stuck.

“Negative self-talk hinders progress and keeps individuals from taking risks,” she said. “Negative self-talk will destroy any plan you have in place.”

Above all, Koenig is there to listen.

“All the answers reside within,” she said. “It’s a self-discovery that requires small steps towards a major goal.”

At the LiVe Well Center, healthcare professionals specialize in optimizing your health through effectively evaluating your current health status and providing a game plan that addresses your personal health requirements. Health professionals use a whole-person approach: Body, mind, and spirit. 

Whether you are a busy executive who has limited time, recently retired or want to reach your optimal athletic performance, the LiVe Well Center has a team that is committed to assist you along your journey for optimal health by:

  • Empowering each individual to realize their optimal health.
  • Improving each individual’s health in body and mind, working on a personalized basis.
  • Emphasizing a few simple lifestyle changes that will help to prevent common diseases like heart attacks, strokes, type II diabetes, osteoarthritis and cancer.

The goal is to motivate, educate and empower individuals to “Get Well, Stay Well and LiVe Well” for the rest of their life. To learn more about the LiVe Well Center and services offered, please call 435-251-3793 or visit www.IntermountainLiVeWell.org/stg.

Caitlyn Brooksby
Caitlyn Brooksby

Written by Caitlyn Brooksby for St. George Health and Wellness magazine and St. George News.

Brooksby earned a BA in communication with an emphasis in public relations from BYU, and holds a Master’s degree in public administration from SUU. She currently works as a communications specialist for Intermountain Healthcare, and enjoys spending time with her husband and running.

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Copyright St. George News, StGeorgeUtah.com Inc. and St. George Health and Wellness magazine, 2014, all rights reserved.

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