Paula Dow

FMCHC
Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach

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ABOUT HEALTH COACHING

Create Vitality Health Coaching is the culmination of my decades-long passion to understand how we can live the most healthy and vital lives possible throughout our senior years. Functional Medicine (FM) is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. FM seeks to discover the underlying causes of complex, chronic diseases, which unfortunately are rampant in our world today. Some of these diseases are cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, obesity, and many more. As a Functional Medicine Coach and a senior, I can relate to the issues we face as we age, but I also know we have control over so much of our health. I believe, and science confirms, that our bodies are miraculously self-regenerating organisms.

We are all what we repeatedly do, so my goal as a health coach is to help you create better habits using your unique character strengths and your vision of what a healthy life should be. I share healthy tools with you that enable you to structure your environment in a way that reduces the need for ‘will power’, which we sometimes think we need to develop in order to stop these less than healthy repetitive habits. As a coaching team, we’ll set goals and build upon your successes, all of which will move you towards experiencing greater vitality in all areas of your life!

No matter what your age, you deserve to lead a life where you thrive rather than just survive. 

Have you been to numerous doctors and still don’t feel well? Today’s medicine is based on treating your symptoms, not on finding and treating the underlying cause of your health challenges.  Many people find working with a Functional Medicine practitioner helps them get to the bottom of perplexing problems that have eluded other clinicians for years.  This was certainly my situation years ago.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO THRIVE THROUGH EVERY STAGE OF YOUR LIFE?

This is where the beauty of a FM Coach comes in.  Together, we can find solutions to aid your body in reaching its own equilibrium and vitality.  If you’re looking for guidance in your busy and stressful life, and just don’t have the time to explore all the areas related to health on your own, that’s where I come in.  I’ve spent most of my adult life researching and educating myself on how to enhance vitality at every age.

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A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO YOUR HEALTH

Sleep

Sleeping for energy

Healthy Eating

Diet/Nutrition

Eating for nutrients

Movement

Moving for overall vitality

Stress Free

Stress

Prioritizing replenishment

Support/Spiritual

Finding rewarding purpose
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GET TO KNOW ME

My Personal Journey

Fifteen years ago, I began to feel intense pain in my back and neck, and I spent five years visiting numerous medical practitioners to find an answer.  I went to doctor after doctor; they did every test they could think of.  They offered pharmaceuticals, but deep down I knew this would not get at what was really wrong with me.

After five years of searching for an answer, I went to a naturopath and she diagnosed me with Lyme disease.  None of the allopathic doctors I saw were “Lyme literate”, so they could not even give me a diagnosis of Lyme disease.  It is one of the most complicated diseases to understand and to fully recover from, and I feel blessed to have found good holistic care with a naturopath.  This was all before I was aware of Functional Medicine.

But that was just the beginning of my years’ long, and at times, grueling journey to the much greater health and happiness that I enjoy today.  It hasn’t been easy, and as I reflect back on it, I imagine how wonderful it would have been to have had a coach to guide me on that complicated journey to health. 

Today, I know that my tenacity and resilience are some of the character strengths that got me through those rough times, when I questioned whether I’d ever get well again.  We all have unique character strengths and inner wisdom, which we can draw on in times of great challenge.  I’m sure you can remember times in your life when you’ve relied on your strengths and wisdom to solve problems.  My goal is to help my clients to find their own inner wisdom and to Create Vitality in their lives no matter what their age!

Why work with me?

Having been through my own health crisis, I know how confusing it can be to go through the range of emotions from fear, anger, denial, and then hope and even joy, as you come to a point of realizing that you too can recover and experience a renewed and vibrant life.  I would be honored to pass on my life’s experience to other’s who may be overwhelmed by the diagnosis of an illness, or who simply want to learn preventative lifestyle habits, and to thrive throughout their life.

In addition to being a certified FM Health Coach, I’ve had 2 years of nutrition training and spent 1000’s of hours researching the cutting-edge health science available today. As a result, I’ve come to think of myself as a 21st Century Health Coach, and I want to empower my clients address the underlying cause of their health issues, in order to prevent, significantly improve, or even completely reverse those illnesses.

CURRENT STUDIES

Currently, I’m enrolled in Dr. Dale Bredesen’s Recode 2.0 program, which he created for recovery from and prevention of Alzheimer’s.  This is a very in-depth program for practitioners as well as anyone who’d like to prevent this complicated and serious 21st century disease in their own life.  According to Dr. Bredesen, ‘Alzheimer’s should be – and shall be – a rare disease. Remember polio? Leprosy?  Syphilis?  These were all scourges at one time or another. And, Alzheimer’s shares features of all of them.  If we fail to take the critical steps to prevent it, then many of us – about 45 million of the currently living Americans – will go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease, which unsettlingly, has become the third leading cause of death.’  You can find more information about the Recode 2.0 program at the website –  www.apollohealthco.com.

 

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MY COACH APPROACH

My coaching is client-centered, non-judgmental and personalized with the goal to empower my clients to achieve vitality in every area of their life!

My passion is to guide and support my clients through the lifestyle changes necessary to improve in any areas of their health at any stage of their life.  I support a broad spectrum of health and healing modalities which is what makes FM so valuable in any healing or preventive health management plan. I’d love to work with anyone who’s motivated to take control of their health, and to be their own advocate!

I don’t diagnose or prescribe, but I work with a client’s desires and values to create a personalized treatment plan that brings vitality into every area of their life!  I will also partner with a client’s medical provider, if they’d like that involvement.

We can start our coaching relationship by identifying the areas of your life that are keeping you from flourishing – keeping you from healing.  Then, as we gain an understanding of how your unique body functions and the causes of your symptoms, we can create a personalized plan of action.  Your doctor, whether FM or allopathic, can be involved in our care plan, if you desire this.  I can assist you to eliminate lifestyle risks that are holding you back from thriving.  Partner with me and I’ll listen to your needs to help you set goals and to blossom and thrive in every stage of your life.

KEY FACT – I’ve spent the last three years working closely with seniors doing in-home care for people living with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, heart disease, and recovery from falls, to name just a few areas.  In so many cases, our seniors today are living the last one to two decades of their lives in a ‘survival’ mode.  My goal is to equip my clients to make lifestyle changes that lead to thriving lives at any age! 
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FUN FACTS ABOUT ME
Washington Nature
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SUGGESTED READING
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CONTACT ME

Let’s not wait for a diagnosis!  We can prevent and reverse most every unhealthy 21st century disease scenario using lifestyle interventions that target behaviors which often lead to the deterioration of our health.  This is the benefit of working with a FM Health Coach.

Allow me to guide you in discovering your strengths and your personal vision for health.  These areas will enable you to create the healthiest lifestyle habits possible.  The beauty of working with a Health Coach is having a guide who can enable you to discover the root causes of your symptoms, to find a deeper understanding of your inner strength and wisdom – and the knowledge in these areas will allow you to take control – and to Create Vitality in your life! 

Let’s talk!
Your first 30 minute consultation is complimentary.