There are three main themes to this topic. The first theme is entirely devoted to the science behind holistic nutrition. Our goal is to start simple with learning basic anatomy and physiology, major systems of the body, and how they relate to one another. You’ll learn new ways to view health and disease, both traditional and holistic, and discover which whole foods, herbs, and spices that are scientifically proven to promote holistic nutrition intake goals for your client.

In the opening section of the Holistic Nutrition Coach Certification, we dive into the science and physiology that are inherent to being human. As a coaching course, we are aware of the reality – that everyone wants to be an expert. But in coaching dynamics, we refrain from simply reciting expert facts and focus more on moving people through changes – in this case, to be more holistic. The problem with the expert approach is that it assumes the coach automatically knows more than the client, that the client is not aware of health information needed to be “whole” and then makes the coaching-client relationship lopsided. “I know more than you on this, so listen to me” is not coaching. It’s directing. This does not mean, however, that we do not want and need to be informed on topics we are entrusted to address; we also use this knowledge to anchor our confidence – so we believe we know what is needed to coach a client and we can then focus more on our coaching service and not simply provide education to a client. Science informs coaches on what to look for, what to expect and of course, how to assess a client. Intuition is a great skill and can take a coach far in a guided, helping co-active coaching relationship, but we simply cannot ignore the need to know the body and its systems if we are going to call ourselves Holistic Nutrition Coaches. [Read more…]