In the fall of 2007 I was visiting my sister who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, the first cancer to penetrate the walls of our family but sadly not the last. Her friend, who was studying to be a yoga instructor, came to the house to offer a class to her. I was immediately struck by how the practice of yoga supported her body, and how it was something every person struggling with cancer should have.
In 2010 I began practicing yoga regularly for myself, purely for the exercise, and became hooked! Soon after, in 2012 I obtained my certification as a Holistic Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and started coaching part time. This certification changed me. I came to understand that there was no one right answer on how to eat right or be healthy. That each individual had to find out how to eat right or make changes that best served themselves. I was so grateful to have been taught just that, how to coach clients through their unique issues surrounding food and how to explore what was right for them as an individual. In addition to one-on-one coaching, I also developed a seven-day cleanse, offered cooking classes, ran workshops, and cooked for clients struggling with different health concerns. I loved my job!
But then in May of 2014 the unimaginable happened. My husband, at the age of 47 was diagnosed with cancer.
For three years I put aside my job as a Health Coach and worked solely on supporting my husband and family through this health challenge. My days were busy with appointments, treatments, and cooking for him in a way that supported his body to fight as hard as it could against this unrelenting disease. My background as a Health Coach and Corporate Chef, plus lots and lots of research on nutrition and cancer, helped me with these tasks.
Sadly the disease was too aggressive for his body and he passed after his three-year illness. Nothing prepares you for that devastation, that acute grief, but I found meaning in my role as mom and helped my daughters deal with this enormous loss. I had never struggled with anxiety before then but now it is my daily companion. It has been debilitating at times, but as someone who does not use meds as a first resort, I was and am determined to try other avenues that help me with this challenge.
In 2019 when a friend had mentioned that she was becoming certified as a yoga instructor, that calling to bring yoga to cancer patients was reawakened in me and I decided to become certified myself. This year-long process helped me heal in a way I never expected. It allowed me to delve deep into the spiritual side of yoga, in addition to the physical, to learn and apply so many amazing tools that helped me both physically and emotionally process through my grief, support my girls, and slowly begin moving forward with my life.
Now, I feel ready, qualified, and called to bring both my health coaching and yoga instruction to those in a fight against cancer or any illness. Through food, meditation, and yoga, my passion is to empower, support, and guide each client by tailoring my services to their specific needs and meeting them where they are. Thus became Paula Kinney, Mind and Body Coach.