Deirdre Walsh – Integrative Health Coach

Goal setting is one of the most important parts of bringing your vision to fruition. But what a tangled thicket some of us have to climb through to get there. Too much like work, I often hear. Some people do better when they work with the intentions – the idea of setting a general direction or theme for accomplishment and grabbing opportunities that push you in that direction. Others like the idea of practices – daily rituals that will create space in your life for the good stuff to show up. Read the rest of this entry →

This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. – Rumi

You’re excited about a new direction for your health – get better sleep, look for a job that is more in line with your evolving self, figure out what foods really work for your body, whatever is lighting up your future. But put a toe on the start line and there’s this voice that pops up in your head, reminding you of how you’ve tried this before, how it didn’t work then and how it won’t work now. The voice can be nasty or oh, so concerned, but it’s still telling you that you’re not up for the job.

What you’ve done is awoken and frightened your inner critic – that protective voice that rings from the past. Read the rest of this entry →

You know the ones I mean – those fantastic before and after shots. The one where the person starts out looking like they’ve eaten at one too many buffets and watched one too many reruns of The Real Housewives. Then in some incredible period of time – like six weeks – they’re as sleek and toned as any Hollywood star and taking calls for their own reality show. We all get sucked in to the promise of that kind of miraculous transformation in our lives.

The good news – that kind of transformation is possible. Read the rest of this entry →

Welcome to my Health Design blog.

I’m blogging about my experiment to design my life for optimal health – more vitality, more engagement, and less stress.  I’ll be using the tools I learned at Duke Integrative Medicine this year, while I finished my certificate in Health Coaching.  Tools like designing my personal vision of health using the ideas and values that are important to me.  Making a plan, setting the goals and taking the actions to get there.  Figuring out what is healthy for me and for my family.  And, of course, sharing it all here. Read the rest of this entry →