Sisters woman is a health coach

Good health is the most precious thing any of us have. With it, anything is possible. Without it, nothing is what is should be.

Marlys Underwood has just established a practice in Sisters dedicated to helping local folks attain and maintain good health in all aspects.

Underwood offers a holistic approach to health. It's not enough to simply "eat better." To make lasting, beneficial change, you have to identify the stressors that are affecting your health - including stress, finances and other elements not tied directly to what you put in your mouth.

"My goal is to be a one-stop shop," says Underwood. "I feel like it borders on life coach, but it focuses on health."

A health coach works actively with her client to set goals and offer ongoing support on a personal journey toward better health.

Underwood offers a six-month program, meeting with each client twice a month. The work is crafted to suit individual needs, identify health goals and work around limitations. She is certified by an extensive program through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and she plans to gain certification as a personal trainer as well.

Underwood has, she says, "been on my own journey." She's battled weight and learned to eat properly. She knows that people often use food to "avoid or hide discomfort in terms of feelings. You have to find a way to soothe yourself. You need to know why you need soothing."

Getting at root causes can help people change their relationship with food and put their lives on a more healthy footing. It's all about "finding out what's getting in your way -and that's going to be different for everybody."

Taking action is the key, and Underwood's program helps clients do that when they might not believe they can do it themselves.

"You get stuck and you feel stuck and other people may tell you you're stuck -but you're really not," she says.

Underwood's current endeavor shows her putting that philosophy to work. For the past decade she's worked in landscape architecture, but in the current economic circumstances, that's not a viable field for a sustainable career. So she's returned to an early interest in the human body.

"I'm reinventing myself, pursuing another passion I have in life," she explained.

Armed with extensive knowledge and a non-judgmental and encouraging personal approach, Underwood is ready to help folks in Sisters help themselves. She believes strongly in people's ability to move past whatever is holding them back. And a misstep is never the end of the journey.

"There's hope for everybody," she notes. "Even if you "fail' or screw up, you can always start again."

For more information email [email protected]

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

• Email: editor@nuggetnews.com
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