It's Been a Delight

It is with sadness but peace that we announce the official closing of WildRoots Juice Bistro.  It is time for us to embrace that this chapter has come to an end and an exciting new one is on the horizon.  After a month of consideration we found it to be the best decision that we close the online store. I will however be taking personal juice cleanse orders for anyone still looking for a WildRoots Organic Juice Cleanse. You can email us at wildroots33@gmail.com to place an order (cash only).

Scott and I are taking the time to regroup and fill the piggy bank once again. It was an amazing year and we had such a great experience. It was a joy to get to meet everyone out in the community and help people reach their personal health goals. I will continue my practice as a Certified Holistic Health Coach and focus on my passion, Cancer Prevention and Care. I’ll also be looking for a new job – if anyone is looking for an administrative assistant/office manager… I’m your woman! ;)

We want to mention a very special thanks to our family who supported us through this crazy adventure. We couldn’t have kept sane without their help. Also, a big thank you to Nina! We wouldn’t have been able to even dream of this adventure without her believing in us and helping us by being our angel investor.

THANK YOU! Your support has meant the world to us!

-Michelle & Scott Kennedy

Positive Life : Vision Boards

I'm a visual person. I have to see something for it to really resonate inside me. This is why I love Vision Boards. Back in 2009, after I left my job of 9 years I created a vision board to bring more positivity into my life. 6 months later, almost half my board was being lived. In the beginning of 2012 I decided it was time to make a new one. This time I added on my health coaching business and also my health retreat. I'm on track to make the majority of the vision board come true.

I find vision boards help me bring together all my possible thoughts, dreams, wishes and goals. It's a way for me to see them outside of my, at times, judgemental head. It's a great way to make a declaration to the universe that you want something and you are on a mission to make it happen. It can help you gain a clear focus of what exactly you are striving for in life.

Vision boards are not just meant for material or career goals but you could even have a section on how you would like your relationships with a boyfriend/girlfriend to generate or flow in your life. I think this is why I love Pinterest so much. It's the same type of idea, boards for categories that really connect to our lives. Although I prefer making my own physical vision board that I can see, read and contemplate on every day. Some people prefer to make them, tuck them way and come back to the board in 6 months to a year to see what has come alive.

Another great idea is to add words to your vision board that motivate or inspire you. It doesn't have to be the typical motivational words but even just a single word that connects to your soul every time you read it.

Easy steps to creating a vision board:

1. Find your favourite magazines from around the house. Flip through them and whatever stands out, clip it out. You can figure out it's place in your vision board later. Just make sure to lead with your natural intuition.
2. On a large paper board, arrange the cut outs the way they connect to you. For instance: I laid mine out by categories such as house/home, career, relationships/family, appearance/fashion, health, and my large dream.
3. I like to add the words on last, where I find they will stand out most.
4. Start gluing!
5. Hang the vision board some where that you will be able to see everyday or most often. You can actually take a picture of the board and place it as a computer background, phone wallpaper or screen saver.
6. Have fun! This is for you, it doesn't have to be perfect.

I'll be creating my Health Coaching Business vision board this weekend.

Have you ever created a Vision Board?
-Michelle

My Life Update : What Is A Health Coach?

I'm taking steps towards my goal - dreams - purpose in life right now!

September Favourites (so far) : Sunsets, Tea and Smoothies



September is going to be the start of some really exciting things in my life. School officially started yesterday and I was an eager beaver and jumped right into studying. I'm attending the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York to become a health coach. I can officially start practicing in February. It's really interesting to meet a wide variety of people from across the world that are enrolled into the program. I love that the common interest is to create healthier lives for everyone in the world.

So what is a health coach you ask?
A health coach guides you to better overall health. Food is not the only thing that determines how healthy you are. It comes from a balanced combination of healthy relationships, fulfilling career, staying active (getting exercise) and spirituality. A health coach helps you recognize where you can improve in your life to find that overall happiness and health. Once recognized, set out and determine how to improve your health, setting goals and creating plans.

We've probably all been there at once when you can eat all the veggies you want but the scale doesn't move. Think back... were you happy at work? were you constantly arguing with others? was there no love in your heart for others? Sitting down a majority of the day? All these factors can bring down your overall health.

When your overall health is down for large periods of time, it leads to disease.

Preventable diseases is one of the reasons I wanted to become a Health Coach. It upset me to see the people around me year after year be diagnosed with diseases. Or hearing about peoples family members being diagnosed with a disease way to early in their life.

A few simple (sometimes challenging) life changes and you can prevent so much turmoil from entering your life and the ones you love.


Would you ever consider seeing a health coach?

-Michelle

Weekend Summary: Canada Day & Celebrations

This past weekend we crammed a whole bunch of activities into one weekend. Even though we were really busy it felt like it went enjoyably smooth and relaxing. I wanted to share my awesome weekend with you all.

It started on Friday when I got the opportunity to babysit my dogs (Bernese Mountain Dogs) while my mom enjoyed a lovely evening out with the girls. There was lots of cuddling go on with me and the dogs. Even though it was warm out I convinced them to cuddle. This picture is of them watching us eat on the patio. They look like they've never been fed! Which is the total opposite.

Amazing Strawberry Buckwheat Crepes

Sunday (Canada Day) came around and it was time to party. I started the day with some exercise as I knew I was going to be tossing back a lot of liquid calories later. I headed up to our local mountain trails and went for a rejuvenating 4km run. I made sure too really push myself as I predicted the next day my tolerance would probably be down. For breakfast we headed to a local breakfast/lunch place called Cora's. I had strawberry crepes in celebration of Canada Day (red & white). The plate came out and my boyfriend's eye went extremely large. Uh Oh... this crepe was HUGE! Luckily they make them whole wheat/buckwheat so I wasn't feeling too guilty. We hosted dinner at our condo before we walked over to the Golden Spike Days/Canada Day Festival. We had thought there was going to be fireworks but we were told (firmly.. lol) that there hasn't been fireworks for 10 years. Oops - oh well. Instead we came back to our condo with family and made a Canadian Classic Caesar! Yummy! I always have to ask my boyfriend to make one for me as mine just do not compare to his. Soon the dance party was happening and everyone wanted a turn at being the DJ. Great fun with the family. It was too bad that my mom couldn't make it due to having a cold that just won't hit the curb.

 Monday was another day to celebrate: I enrolled in school to become at health coach through the Institute of Integrated Nutrition. Now I'm on my way to have credentials to back up my natural passion for health and wellness. This is also one step closer to opening our Health Retreat - B&B one day. Celebrate!

How was your weekend? Any steps you took to get a little bit closer to your dreams?

Why Do I Blog?

I'm currently attending "Blogging Your Way" e-course (highly recommend) and our homework this week was to do a blog post on : what blogging means to you, why you blog in the first place?

Blogging means to me: A Starting Point.

I have been reading blogs for years now and always wanted to start my own but I didn't know what to blog about. In the last few years I have really searched to find what my passions are and what naturally comes to me. I've found that my passion is Health & Wellness and spreading positivity in any way. I wanted to use my blog as a starting point to building a community of like minded women who care about their wellbeing and want to live each day in a positive light. I want to meet new individuals from across the world and share experiences and knowledge. I would love to collaborate with different people that are outside of my existing community. I also wanted to use this blog as starting point in helping women (&men) create a healthy life.

I want to use this blog as a way for me to get out my comfort zone. A way to push my boundaries. Sharing my opinions/thoughts and speaking out loud for all to judge or accept is a huge accomplishment on it's on for me. I also wanted blogging to be a way to push me and learn more about digital photography (another passion of mine).

This blog will also document my journey from becoming a Health Coach to opening our Health Retreat - B&B in the Caribbean. I love that I can share this journey with other people and have their support when times may get rough and of course sharing all the EXCITING times too!

I've learned alot so far on Blogging Your Way but what really stands out to me is learning the etiquette when blogging and how to deal with the different personalities. I also have loved learning about creating a brand.

Thanks to all the teachers at Blogging Your Way!
I've really enjoyed the teachers and the community of fellow students (waving hello!)

I look forward to staying in touch with them all.

-Michelle

Let's Be Real & Authentic: Dreams & All

So lately I've been thinking about my blog and how it wasn't sitting right for me. It felt like I was trying to be someone else. There were lots of elements I believed in but it wasn't coming from my soul. As you might have noticed I changed my subtitle of the blog from "Holistic Life Coach" to "Health & Wellness". I decided that being a "health coach" was more my style then anything else. I love to give advice on life and overwell being but I have a passion for Health & Fitness more than anything and want to help people change their lives for the better.


{via}

I'm planning to start school to become a health coach at the Institute for Integrated Nutrition beginning in July or September. I'm super excited to start this as I had originally found this program 3 years ago and at that time didn't know if it was the right thing for me. I've tried many different avenues (career wise) in these past 3 years and found that my true passion is to help people with their health and wellness. Help them create new habits in the way they think and approach life (positivity). I believe positive thinking is a major factor in helping people stick with their new diet & exercise routine and new way of life. My idea is that it's done through:   Diet - Exercise - Positivity - Attraction. I want people to create new habits that stick around with ease in their life.

What do I plan on doing with this? :
My plan is to start coaching people 6 months from now. I already have the knowledge but I would love to have the credentials to ensure people feel comfortable coming to me for help/guidance. Eventually I would love to start taking on one on one consultations with people on the Internet and in person. Creating a health and wellness PLAN personalize for them. I'd be there for them every step of the way, giving them all the support they need.

Now the big DREAM:
This is something that has been uneasy to bring up in the past because it meant I had to vulnerable with people and let them know the "real" me and be open to judgement. Now who really wants to be judged?! The thing is though... I'm ready now!

My partner (boyfriend) and I have decided that we would like to open a Health & Wellness Retreat - B&B in the Caribbean. Clients would be able to spend some of their time that they have off work (vacation time), resetting their life from unhealthy to healthy. They will be able to create new healthy habits which they can then implement back at home. I would be helping them create the plan in the beginning and teaching them each day while they are there on how to improve their health & wellness and fitness (mind, body,soul).



Guest Room {via}

 My boyfriend is an amazing cook and will be going to school to learn more skills. At the retreat he will offer cooking courses on healthy cooking. It will be great to show people how you can take an unhealthy recipe and make a few changes/substitutions and it can still taste good! The basics of healthy cooking will be offered too.

The retreat offers rest & relaxation too - it is your vacation/holiday after all! Enjoy the sand, sun and beaches aaaand maybe some wine ;)
Check out my Pinterest board : Health Retreat- B&B on how I envision it so far


Phew! That felt good to get out. The exact details may change a bit in the future - you just never know but the main goal/idea will stay the same. We've already started making changes in our life for this to happen. It's a super exciting time now that we have a dream out there in front of us.

What do you think of our dreams and goals? Would you go to a health & wellness retreat in the Caribbean?

-Michelle xo

This Weeks Wind-up



Spring Sunshine has arrived for this weekend.



It's the weekend !

So this week has been filled with some great highs and some interesting lows. I feel great though that I can recognise when those lows are sneaking in and zap them in the butt with some deep breaths and realisations that I'm getting ahead of myself. Have you ever felt like your mind can just take off when things are starting to get amazing?

• Marie Forleo likes to call it an "Upper Limit Problem" : read her story here about how it took some outside family and friends to see how it was happening to her and what she did to overcome it. It's funny how stories show up right when you need them. - it was great for me.

• Looking to make a nice meal for mom this Mother's Day?? Have a look at With Style & Grace's Banana Bread Gluten Free Waffles! Me and the BF are taking our mom's out for a Mexican lunch at Las Margaritas in Kitsalino tomorrow. Thought it would be exciting and fun to mix it up. I'm going to try to figure out a healthy option to have and treat myself to a strawberry margarita.

• We've been on the hunt for a healthy granola mix to have for breakfast with Greek yogurt or soy milk. Our local cafe offers a delicious one but I'm worried there's a lot of extra unnecessary sugar going into it. I found this recipe  (Lightened Up Summer Granola - Oil Free and Reduced Sugar!!) on Oh She Glows. I think we will have to test drive this one out. Results to come.... 

Have a wonderful weekend! Hopefully you get to spoil that motherly figure in your life this weekend. They always deserve to be recognised.

Michelle

Thanks "When I grow up"!

Back in 2008, a budding life coach inspired me to look at my life differently. At the time I was too scared to push my boundaries or step out of my comfort zone. Although I look back now and realize I was not ready, there was more for me to learn so I could help other women transform their lives. I thank you Michelle Ward @WhenIGroUpCoach ( When I Grow Up Coach ) for inspiring me to become a life coach and motivating me over the last few years with your dedication to your work/passion.

 

Michelle Ward - When I Grow Up Coach

Money Vs. Happiness

 

calm while at work



The choice between money and happiness can become a struggle in your life. A sort of tug of war in your own head. Do you choose to be happy or do you take the money and see what it can get you?



I've dealt with this struggle in many different formations. I had a great paying job but I felt like I was on the treadmill of life. Day in and day out the same thing. After I left that job of 9 years I dealt with conflict again when taking a new job. It was with a very well known company and high paying job but 3 days in I was crying and wanting to escape it all knowing I was falling into the same path as before. I could see that 9 years from then I would look back and say "why did I take this, again?!". So I did the hardest thing ever and left, even though I had no money in the bank and no job again.

I've realised that taking the "high paying job" or "recognised/sought after job" that doesn't provide an ounce of happiness to your life, can be trouble to your well being. I continued to look for another job and did not settle for anything that wouldn't allow me to pursue my passion after work. If you spend all day becoming drained of your precious energy, what energy will you have to give yourself after that day. There were times when I was at my "treadmill job" and only had energy to go for a walk with the dog, eat and then I would fall asleep on the couch. No energy even to spend with loved ones.

Sometimes it might even require you doing two jobs but if both those jobs leave you with some energy for afterwards, than it might be the best option for your happiness. Learning where energy is being drained and making some changes can benefit your mind, body and soul. I realised that my energy was being drained from my work at the time and I made the decision to make the change and find something that didn't take away my spark by the end of the work day. This left me feeling calmer, less stressed and happier.

I understand that everyone needs money to survive and we should always make sure that we pay the bills and have food on the table but when I was making good money, I didn't have the energy to enjoy that money. I was too drained from the work day to go out, socialize or even go on a vacation.

If you make room in your life for greater things it seems that possibilities are able to sneak in and excite you. It's like having a loser boyfriend and knowing he's not the right one but keeping him around (because it feels comfortable) till you find Mr.Right. Guess what, Mr. Right won't be able to show up in your life because you are putting out there that you have no room for him.

Make room for possibilities in your life!