About Secret
August 1, 2023 2023-08-01 12:06About Secret
"Your health is your greatest wealth. Invest in yourself, make empowered choices, and unlock the extraordinary vitality and boundless energy that await within."
Meet Marnie
I grew up in Minneapolis, MN. I was raised in a health-conscious home, we were all about fitness. My mom was a TV aerobics instructor in the 80s and I went to many of her classes (Firm up with Elaine - good times). I’ve always been an athlete – throughout my school years I was a gymnast, runner, skier, and dancer.
My early years looked like the picture of health. Exercise and sports? Absolutely. But healthy food and mindset? Not so much.
I graduated from UW Madison with a BA in Journalism and landed a tempting, high-paying corporate job right out of school. I quickly realized that it wasn’t for me. I needed a career that nurtured my independence, my creative thinking and my bubbly optimism and I sure didn’t find that in the cold corporate world.
I have always listened to my gut feeling, and it was telling me to carve out my own path. Eventually, after a few different jobs and a couple of self-started businesses, I set-up (and still run) my own company, ChillyBean Promotions, and I have spent the last 20 years as an entrepreneur. It's been a rewarding and satisfying business in many ways, but still, something still didn’t feel right. I thought I was living my purpose. So why was there a nagging voice whispering in my ear that I needed meaningful change in my life?
For me, everything comes down to health, so that’s where I started. With some honest self-inquiry, I confronted some hard truths. I was in good physical shape, but I’d neglected a huge part of my well-being: the part that is harder to see and more difficult to heal. I had the “body” part figured out, but what about my mind? What about my spirit?
Integrative Health Was The Missing Piece of the Puzzle.
For years now I've had a passion for wellness and holistic health - I immersed myself in books, articles, and self-education, but it hadn't occurred to me yet that I could turn this passion into my career. During this period of self-inquiry (while I was focused on my health more than ever), the path ahead of me slowly opened itself up. Wisdom crept in. It was like a light bulb flickering on. Here was my awakening.
I realized it’s not enough to have an active lifestyle. Although yoga has been a big part of my health routine for more than two decades, I’d somehow missed its central message – the interconnectedness of the physical, the emotional and the spiritual.
I began to address my health as a whole. My mindset shifted. I changed my diet, workouts, self-care routines, and the way I talked to my children. I established more positive self-talk and slowly weeded out negative, toxic energy in my life.
From there, it was a no-brainer: integrative health was my calling. Once I understood what my inner voice had been trying to tell me, there was no stopping me.
As the Zen proverb says, “The obstacle is the path." I was fearful, but I took the plunge. I rearranged my whole world around integrative health. I enrolled in three simultaneous programs in one year, and it was crazy and challenging and wonderful. I became a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, a certified yoga teacher, and a Certified Yoga Calm® instructor.
Zenful Life Coaching was Born.
I created Zenful Life Coaching as a way of changing lives using a powerful combination of health coaching and yoga. I now live, breathe, and teach integrative wellness. I get to inhabit my passion – if you’ve ever followed your heart, you’ll know how satisfying that feels. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!
The impact on my own life has been profound. My loving husband and three kids are making small and steady changes too. Our home is much happier because I am living my purpose. I wake up every day excited and invigorated!
And that’s what I want for you.
Zen means “calm and restful” – it’s the serenity and confidence you achieve when you let go of what’s holding you back so that you can create a brand new reality.
When you take small positive steps every day toward a healthier future, you are on your path to living your Zenful Life.
My Background
My educational background includes:
- Bachelors in Journalism with a concentration in PR and business – UW Madison
- Institute for Integrative Nutrition Certified Health Coach
- Institute for Nutritional Leadership Graduate (Dr. Josh Axe)
- Integrative Health Practitioner Level One (Dr. Stephen Cabral)
- Integrative Health Practitioner Level Two (Dr. Stephen Cabral)
- Holistic Nutrition Lab (Andrea Nakayama)
- Yoga Calm Certified Teacher
- 230 hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification (Yoga Center of Minneapolis)
- Meditation teacher training (Tracee Stanley/Yoga Journal)
- Speak Up to Level Up (Heather Sager)
- Certified American Association of Drugless Practitioners
My Training
I graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where I learned innovative coaching methods, practical lifestyle management techniques, and over 100 dietary theories; everything from Ayurveda, gluten-free, and Paleo, to raw, vegan, and macrobiotics, and everything in between. I studied the philosophies of leaders in the field such as:
- Joshua Rosenthal, founder and director of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition
- Dr. Andrew Weil, director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine
- Deepak Chopra, MD, leader in the field of mind-body medicine
- Dr. David Katz, MD, MPH, director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center
- Dr. Walter Willett, MD, DrPH, chair of nutrition at Harvard University
- Gabrielle Bernstein, bestselling author and life coach
- Susan Blum, MD, MPH, assistant clinical professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine
- Mark Hyman, MD, founder of The UltraWellness Center
- Geneen Roth, bestselling author and expert on emotional eating
- David Wolfe, raw food leader and nutrition expert
- Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, professor at New York University’s Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health
- Mark Bittman, food writer for the New York Times and bestselling author
- Joel Fuhrman, MD, family physician and leading expert on nutritional healing and many other leading researchers and nutrition authorities
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