Wellness Wisdom for Busy Women is not about the perfect body or the perfect morning routine. It’s about real women who understand that good health underpins every area of their life and shapes who they are and how they show up in the world. Get a glimpse into the lives of women just like you and find out how these women prioritise wellbeing… no matter how chaotic life is!
If you’d prefer to watch, head over to Instagram when you’ll find the recorded conversation or click play below to listen while you multitask.
Otherwise, keep reading to discover what wellness means to Mindset and Empowerment Coach, Natasha Hearne.
Natasha is a Mindset and Empowerment coach and Access Bars Practitioner. Having overcome her own struggles with self-worth and confidence, she has created a life she is excited to wake up to every day.
Natasha is passionate about helping other women reclaim themselves and create a life that their heart and soul truly desires. She believes success starts with the relationship you have with yourself, and works with women to shift their mindset, build confidence and feel empowered from within. She encourages women to let go of the guilt and the pressure to live life how they think they “should”.
You have been on a phenomenal wellness journey and have experienced your own inner and outer transformation. How did you come to be where you are today?
It isn’t a straight-forward journey.
Looking at me now, you would never have guessed that I used to be close to 140 kilos and struggled with weight my whole life.
I was quite an active person. I travelled a lot, I ate a lot of nourishing food but I fell into the trap of binge eating and feeling guilt and shame. It was an ongoing cycle so I made the decision in 2019 to have weight loss surgery; a lot of people think it’s the easy way out but it was one of the hardest decisions I ever made. It’s something I didn’t take lightly. I could never have imagined that I would spend over $20,000 on myself but I got into a place where I had really built a connection with myself and it felt like the right decision.
I have also experienced chronic pain. I have PCOS and struggled with sciatic pain to the point where I couldn’t put my own socks on. I was doing all the exercises, everything I was meant to be doing but six months after my weight loss surgery I ended up in a regional hospital during a road trip with my partner. I was rushed to hospital in the middle of the night and was given morphine, endone and painkillers but was still in agony. It turned out a disc was bulging and I had to have back surgery to fix the issue. I walked out of the hospital without a walking stick and it was a real turning point for me. I decided I need to do something more in my life.
Helping people was always something I felt called to do. I’d studied psychology and social work in the past but I was a little bit lost as to where to go next. It was during my recovery that I stepped into the area of coaching… and, here I am today!
Anyone who knows you can see you haven’t just done the outer work, you’ve done the inner work too.
I did a self-development course about 18 months before [my surgery] and, from there I really started to peel back the layers to discover who I was. I started taking my health seriously and looking at what I wanted for my future. Before that, I was just living day-to-day and trying to not focus on my feelings too much!
I look back on these experiences as gifts; without these experiences I wouldn’t be where I am now! I look at my life and it’s incredible. I love what I’ve built but if I hadn’t done the work and set boundaries, and let go of toxic relationships, I wouldn’t have been able to form the relationship I have now with my fiance or built this amazing career.
At Vitalita, we believe wellness is about creating a life brimming with vitality. What does wellness mean to you and why does it matter?
I think for a long time growing up I would see girls at school or in the media and it was portrayed that ‘this is how you should look’. And if you didn’t look that way then something was wrong with you. That really played with my mental health and the connection I had with myself. And then, as I got older I had so many issues with my menstrual cycle but no one really took the time to understand those issues because they just saw me as looking one way and obviously it meant I was unhealthy.
There were certainly a lot of areas that needed improvement in my life. I had a partying lifestyle when I was 20 so it was about reducing that and really stepping into what health meant for me. First of all, it meant tackling my mental health and reaching out for help at that time. Once I was able to feel like I was in control of my mental health I was able to start looking at my physical health. And once I started losing weight it made my life easier because I was able to do more things and, apart from having back issues, it took the pressure off other areas of my body and allowed me to do different sorts of exercises.
From there, I started going back through my journey with my menstrual cycle. Earlier this year I went through the diagnostic process for endometriosis which thankfully I do not have but it was confirmed that I do have polycystic ovaries.
Once you have an understanding [of what’s going on], you can make better choices for your body. For example, looking at what I’m consuming now based on what my body actually requires because everybody requires something different and where they eat your physical wellbeing, your mental wellbeing or your spiritual wellbeing, it’s working out what feels right for you and being able to have a bit of a play with it and then also changing it when you require as well.
What does wellness and self care actually look like for you on a daily basis?
I’ve tried a lot of different things and I’ve worked out that what I did yesterday might not be what I require tomorrow.
I don’t have a set routine. Moving my body is really important but how I actually move changes – it could be anything from Bikram Yoga to 12 Rounds (which is like high impact boxing) to light walking. The biggest part of wellness for me is being able to tap into and listen to what my body requires.
Another big thing that I practise is gratitude. This is by far the most important thing. Sometimes it’s just jotting a few notes in my phone when I’m walking or sometimes I like to journal and write about it but every day practising gratitude in some sort of way and acknowledging what it is that I really appreciate in my life. There’s this saying that I’ve heard from Gary Douglas and it’s where there’s judgement there’s no room for gratitude and it’s something that I really stepped into and start looking at and we tend to focus so much on areas of our life and judge it instead of being up to appreciate everything else about it and so it’s being able to focus on those important parts.
When you truly have gratitude for someone, there can be no judgement. – Gary Douglas
Trying new things is definitely important for me. I love to get out there and it’s what invigorates me and this year has been such an amazing one for that. For example, you invited me along to a hula hoop class and it was so much fun! Letting go of the judgement and what other people think about you.
For new year’s I jumped out of a plane! I’m scared of heights and scared of flying but it was something I always wanted to do. It’s when you’re actually moving past your comfort zone that you really start being present with the moment and you really do grow as a person so anyway that you bring that into your life is great. Sometimes it’s just going to a new restaurant which may seem a bit funny when we’re talking about wellness but it’s the thing that sparks that bit of joy for you.
It’s also knowing my boundaries, putting them in place and really sticking to my guns. Sometimes that can be really difficult but once I had those boundaries established, my mental health drastically improved.
How about your biggest challenge or obstacle? How have you managed or overcome it?
Women are such incredible creatures and we’re wearing so many hats all the time so sometimes it’s just about stepping back and asking ‘what do I need right now?’ or ‘what’s going to feel good?’ because wellness is not just about you feeding our bodies the right thing or move our bodies the right way but about asking: How can I really nourish my body and give it what it needs?
What is the wellness trend that grinds your gears?
I don’t know if I even have one that grinds my gears. In Australia we suffer really badly from Tall Poppy syndrome so cutting people down in order to make ourselves feel better and any industry – whether that be fitness, wellness or coaching – people who cut other people down in order to promote themselves is definitely big no no my book.
But, with regards to trends, I don’t think there’s anything that really comes front of mind. There are definitely things that I wouldn’t do but there are also things I’ve done that I’ve learned a lot from like the soup diets or the juicing fasts. For me it’s just not what my body requires; I need real food!
There’s so much out there and I think as long as you’re doing your research and you’re actively choosing to do it, not because someone else is telling you to or because you think you should. No matter how we’ve been brought up, if you’re an adult you have the choice to choose something different. You have to take responsibility for your decisions and what you want now.
What is the one thing about wellness and self care that you wish all women knew to be true?
I think we hear it a lot, and we all say it to other women but you need to prioritise yourself. That is the biggest part when it comes to wellness and we said it before we are often wearing all these different hats and going through different phases of our life but quite often women are empathetic, we’re the healers, we’re the one that holds the household together and we quite often put ourselves second or put someone else’s needs in front of our own.
You can’t stress it enough. You need to have your cup filled and allow it to overflow before you can really be there for others. Once you’re really taking care of yourself, you’re prioritising yourself, you have the confidence in yourself, you’re looking after your wellness and your health, then you really have so much more to give. I don’t care how many times you have to hear it- until you were doing it, we need to keep screaming it from the rooftops!
I am so inspired by Natasha’s incredible journey and her positive approach to life!
If you feel stuck and want to create a life of wellbeing and vitality, let’s chat about how I can support you. Click here to book a free connection call where we’ll get to know one another, see if we’re a good fit, and chat about what it’s like to work with me.
– Georgina –
