Written by Matt Patterson, Owner Operator Coach Matt Patterson is the founder of Érdem Elevate and a performance coach focused on building discipline through fitness, mindset, and leadership. He helps driven professionals create structure, consistency, and self-leadership so results are earned, sustained, and repeatable. You ate well all day. Then, somewhere between dinner and bedtime, you found yourself standing in front of the fridge, eating something you were not even hungry for and wondering why this keeps happening. If that sounds familiar, here is the truth most diet advice misses, this is not a willpower problem, and the fix is not more discipline. It starts with understanding what the eating is actually doing for you. What is emotional eating? Emotional eating is eating in response to a feeling rather than physical hunger. Stress, boredom, loneliness, frustration, and even celebration can all send us to the kitchen when our bodies do not actually need fuel. It is one of the most common patterns I see in my coaching practice, and if you do it, you are not broken. Nearly everyone eats emotionally sometimes because food is one of the fastest and most reliable ways to change how we feel. The problem is not that it happens. The problem is when it becomes the only coping tool you have and starts working against your health, your goals, and your relationship with yourself. Why do we eat our emotions? There are real, physical reasons this pattern exists. When stress sticks around, your body releases cortisol, a hormone that increases appetite and specifically drives cravings for foods high in fat and sugar. Research summarized by Harvard Health on why stress causes overeating and that these comfort foods appear to dampen the body’s stress response, which means the relief you feel after stress eating is real. Your brain learned that food works, and it remembers. On top of the biology sits learned history. If food was a reward, a comfort, or the way your family showed love when you were growing up, reaching for it under pressure is not a character flaw. It is a habit that was trained into you, often decades ago. Childhood experiences shape our eating patterns more than most people realize, something explored in depth in this Brainz article on how trauma affects emotional eating. Understanding where the pattern came from is the first step towards changing it without shame. Emotional hunger vs. Physical hunger: 5 key differences Before you can change the pattern, you need to catch it in the moment. These five differences will help you identify which kind of hunger you are dealing with: Emotional hunger comes on suddenly. Physical hunger builds gradually over several hours. Emotional hunger craves one specific food, usually something rich or sweet. Physical hunger is open to options, including a proper meal. Emotional hunger lives above the neck, as a thought or an urge. Physical hunger lives in your stomach. Emotional hunger feels urgent and demands to be satisfied now. Physical hunger can wait twenty minutes. Emotional hunger often ends in guilt. Physical hunger ends in satisfaction. None of these differences is perfect on its own, but together, they give you a quick self-check you can run in the moment while standing in front of the pantry. Why willpower and restriction make it worse Here is where most people go wrong. They respond to emotional eating by tightening the rules: a stricter diet, banned foods, and more willpower. But if emotional eating is a coping mechanism, removing it without replacing it just leaves you with the original emotion and no way to handle it. The rules break, the guilt hits, and the guilt itself becomes the next trigger. The research backs this up. A study published in Appetite followed people who associated eating chocolate cake with guilt rather than celebration. The guilt group did not eat healthier. They reported less control over their eating and were less successful at losing weight and keeping it off over eighteen months. Guilt is not a discipline tool. It is fuel for the cycle. I see this loop in almost every client who comes to me wanting to lose weight. They arrive with the strictest rules they have ever had, no carbs after six, no sugar, and nothing processed. The week starts perfectly. Then, on Thursday night, one biscuit becomes the whole packet because the rule has already been broken. Friday brings the shame, and Monday brings even stricter rules. Every client who has lived this cycle believed the problem was their discipline. It never was. The rules were the trigger. 7 mindset shifts to stop emotional eating These shifts are the framework I use with clients. They work because they target the cause, not the symptom. Stop treating food as the problem: Food is the messenger, not the enemy. Every episode of emotional eating is doing a job, numbing stress, filling boredom, or providing comfort. Before asking, “How do I stop?” ask a better question, “What is this eating doing for me right now?” Once you can name the job, you can start hiring something else to do it. Clients are often surprised to discover that their nightly snacking was never about the food at all. Name the emotion before you eat: The next time you feel the pull toward the kitchen, pause and put the feeling into words. I am stressed about tomorrow. I am lonely tonight. I am bored and restless. Psychologists call this affect labeling, and simply naming an emotion reduces its intensity. You are allowed to eat afterward if you still want to. But naming the feeling first takes the eating off autopilot, and autopilot is where emotional eating lives. Build a pause, not a ban: You are not going to say no forever, so stop trying. Instead, say, “Not on autopilot.” When an urge hits, set a timer for ten minutes and do something else with your hands. Urges behave like waves, they build, they peak, and they pass, usually faster than you expect. If the urge is still there after ten minutes, eat mindfully and move on. Most of the time, the wave has already broken. You have not restricted anything, and that matters because bans create rebellion, while pauses create choice. Replace “I blew it” with data thinking: All-or-nothing thinking is the engine of the binge. One cookie becomes, “I ruined the day,” which leads to finishing the box because the day is already ruined. Athletes do not abandon the season over one bad quarter, and you do not need to abandon the day over one snack. One meal is a data point, not a verdict. Ask what triggered it, what it tells you, and what your next meal looks like. That is the entire skill. Meet the need directly: Generic advice says to go for a walk instead of eating. It fails because the walk is not matched to the need. Build what I call a comfort menu, a written list of responses that do not involve food, matched to your specific emotions. Feeling stressed might mean taking a hot shower or getting ten minutes of movement. Feeling lonely might mean texting a friend or calling your sister. Feeling bored might mean finding a task that keeps your hands busy. The menu works because you build it in a calm moment, so the decision is already made when the hard moment arrives. Eat enough during the day: This is the shift almost nobody talks about, and in my experience, it is the most common hidden driver of nighttime eating. Clients skip breakfast, have a small salad at lunch, hold it together all afternoon, and then feel out of control at 9 p.m. That is not an emotional problem. That is physiological hunger wearing an emotional costume. Your body will always win a fight against not eating enough, and it fights hardest at night. Before you diagnose yourself as an emotional eater, check whether you have simply been eating too little before 3 p.m. This is the most common discovery in my practice. A client comes in convinced they have a willpower problem at night, and then we look at their day, coffee for breakfast, a small salad at lunch, and nothing after that until dinner. By 9 p.m., they are eating peanut butter from the jar and calling themselves an emotional eater. When we add a real breakfast and enough protein at lunch, the nighttime eating shrinks dramatically within a couple of weeks, before we have done any mindset work at all. Their mind was never the problem. Their body was running on empty and doing exactly what bodies do. Practice self-compassion after a slip: How you respond to a slip determines whether it becomes a spiral. In a well-known study on self-compassion and eating, researchers had dieters eat a doughnut, then prompted half of them to respond to themselves with kindness rather than criticism. The group that practiced self-compassion ate significantly less at the next opportunity. Those who criticised themselves ate more. Being kind to yourself after a slip is not letting yourself off the hook. It is a performance strategy, and the evidence says it outperforms guilt. If self-kindness feels foreign to you, this Brainz guide on how to practise self-compassion is a good place to start. When it is more than emotional eating Sometimes, eating patterns need more support than mindset work alone. If you regularly eat large amounts of food while feeling unable to stop, if episodes happen weekly, or if eating is causing you significant distress or shame, you may be dealing with binge eating disorder. It is one of the most treatable conditions there is. Speaking with your doctor or a therapist who specialises in eating behaviour is not a failure of the strategies above. It is the strongest move available, and everything in this article still applies alongside professional care. Start rewiring the pattern today You do not need to master all seven shifts this week. Pick one. Name the emotion before you eat tonight, or check honestly whether you are eating enough before 3 p.m. Emotional eating took years to learn, and it unwinds one repetition at a time, with curiosity instead of guilt. If you recognised yourself in this article, you do not need another diet or a stricter set of rules. You need a different approach and people around you who understand the process. That is exactly what we work on together every day inside my community. Join the Erdem Elevate community and start rewiring your relationship with food alongside people doing the same work. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Matt Patterson Matt Patterson, Owner Operator Coach Matt Patterson is the founder of Érdem Elevate and a performance coach focused on self-leadership through discipline, structure, and execution. He works with driven professionals who want lasting results in fitness, mindset, and leadership, not quick fixes. His coaching emphasizes ownership, consistency, and systems that remove emotion from performance. Matt’s work challenges people to live up to the standard they expect from others. His mission is to build self-led leaders by mastering the body, the mind, and the mission.

Knowing what it takes to grow is not the same as becoming the person you want to be, as real transformation requires more than information and intellectual understanding. This article explores how fitness can provide a practical environment for developing confidence, discipline, resilience, self-trust, and lasting personal change through repeated action and lived experience. Christopher Gladwell, Co-author of The Evolving Breath What first led you to see breath as the foundation for helping people develop greater resilience and performance? I began practising intentional breathwork at the age of 16, more than 52 years ago. Through athletics, martial arts and traditional yoga, I experienced firsthand how breathing could influence performance, recovery, focus and emotional resilience. Over five decades of practice, teaching and research, those embodied experiences have become increasingly supported by neuroscience, physiology and psychology. I now see the breath as one of the most accessible and powerful ways to influence the nervous system, regulate stress, enhance cognitive performance and improve overall wellbeing. Breath is always with us, providing a direct pathway to self-regulation, resilience and human optimisation. It has become the core foundation upon which I build my teaching and my work with others. You describe breathwork as a trainable biological skill rather than a wellness practice, so what difference does that perspective make in how you teach it? I see breath as a fundamental biological interface between body, brain and awareness. We are all breathing, yet intentional breathing is a trainable skill that can influence nervous system regulation, emotional resilience, cognitive performance and physical capacity. Teaching intentional breathing this way moves it beyond a passive wellness activity into a practical form of self-regulation and optimisation. The breath becomes a pathway for understanding and consciously influencing our own biology. My approach is evidence-informed, experiential and embodied. People do not simply learn about breathing, they learn how to use it as a lifelong skill. How did your experiences across neuroscience, martial arts, psychology and contemplative traditions come together to shape the Evolutionary Coherence Method? The Evolutionary Coherence Method emerged from over five decades of exploration, practice and integration. Martial arts taught me discipline, embodiment and presence. Yoga and contemplative traditions revealed the transformative potential of awareness. Psychology and neuroscience provided frameworks for understanding behaviour, learning and change. Biology showed me that evolution is not only a story of the past but an ongoing process within us. The method brings these domains together through practical, embodied approaches that help people develop greater coherence between physiology, psychology, awareness and purpose. Breathwork has become increasingly popular in recent years, so where do you think the conversation still falls short? The growth of breathwork is exciting, yet I believe the conversation often remains focused on techniques and immediate experiences rather than deeper integration. Breath is not simply a tool for temporary states, it is a pathway into understanding human biology, behaviour and consciousness. The next evolution of breathwork requires greater scientific literacy, ethical responsibility and recognition that lasting transformation comes through consistent practice. The breath is powerful because it is connected to everything, our nervous system, emotions, cognition, relationships, and capacity to consciously evolve. You often say that insight alone doesn't create lasting change, why is embodied practice so essential for rewiring our patterns? Insight only invites possibility, embodiment creates transformation. We can understand ourselves intellectually and still repeat the same patterns because our nervous system, habits, and emotional responses are shaped through experience and repetition. Lasting change requires practising new ways of being until they become integrated within our biology. This is self-applied neuroplasticity, consciously creating experiences that reshape attention, behaviour, emotional regulation and identity. This is the way we create lasting change. For someone who feels constantly stressed or overwhelmed, what is the first practical shift you encourage before introducing more advanced techniques? The first shift is learning to create safety within the nervous system. Before adding complexity, we begin with simple awareness, noticing breathing patterns, posture, tension, and the relationship between body and mind. Slow, functional breathing practices provide a foundation for regulation and help people rediscover a sense of agency. Before we try to change things around us, we must first learn to influence the internal environment from which we experience life. Calm becomes the foundation from which resilience, clarity, and meaningful change can emerge. Your Evolutionary Coherence Method is built around four Meta Skills. How can people begin developing those skills in everyday life without feeling overwhelmed? The key is simplicity and consistency. Transformation doesn't require dramatic change, it requires meaningful short practices repeated over time. Begin with small moments of awareness, one conscious breath, one compassionate response, one intentional choice. The Meta Skills develop through everyday application, what I call micropractices, learning to regulate your biology, direct your attention, understand your patterns, and act with greater alignment. Like any skill set, capacity grows through patient practice, becoming progressively more conscious, coherent, and capable in the middle of ordinary life. After everything you've experienced and learned, what does sustainable freedom with responsibility mean to you today? Freedom is not simply doing whatever we want whenever we want. That is unconscious impulse, egoic gratification mistaken for liberation. Sustainable freedom is the capacity to choose consciously, to take responsibility for our thoughts, emotions, behaviours and relationships, regardless of circumstances. Freedom is living from values, purpose and awareness rather than being driven solely by biology, conditioning or circumstance. True freedom includes responsibility because our choices shape ourselves, others and the world we inhabit. Freedom and responsibility are not opposites, they are inseparable expressions of maturity. If you hope readers remember one idea from The Evolving Breath, what would you want it to be? Intentional breath is much more than something we do, it's a doorway into who we can become. Within every human being is the capacity to consciously participate in their own development. Through awareness, practice, and self-applied neuroplasticity, we can reshape patterns, cultivate resilience, and move towards greater coherence and conscious evolution. The invitation of The Evolving Breath is simple. Rediscover the living intelligence already within you and learn to work with it consciously. We are evolving organisms with the remarkable capacity to participate in our own transformation, individually and collectively. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Christopher Gladwell

SaaS churn is expensive. The average B2B SaaS company loses 3.5% of its customer base every year. Companies with annual churn above 7% are in serious trouble. Yet most SaaS businesses spend the majority of their budget on acquisition. That math rarely works out. The case for loyalty programs in B2B SaaS is no longer theoretical. Data from multiple sources now shows clear, measurable links between structured loyalty programs and reduced churn. Businesses that invest in a dedicated loyalty platform for B2B companies report 13% higher retention rates than those without one. The compounding effect of that gap matters more than most teams realize. Why churn is a valuation problem Most teams track churn as a revenue metric. That framing understates the actual damage. A 1% decrease in churn raises the company valuation by 12% or higher in the case of subscription-based companies. In the case of a SaaS company with a valuation of $10M, a one-percentage-point increase in churn would be over $1.2M on paper. The correlation between retention and revenue multiplies rapidly. A 5% improvement in customer retention will result in a 25% to 95% improvement in profits, depending on the business model. These are not marginal gains. They are structural enhancements that alter the way a company scales. Churn is also not evenly distributed. When a key contact leaves a client company, churn risk jumps from 8% to 25%. That single event triples the probability of losing the account. Loyalty programs that build relationships across multiple stakeholders inside a client organization reduce this single-point-of-failure risk directly. What the data says about B2B loyalty program ROI B2B loyalty programs have consistently high numbers in various sources. Firms with organized programs record retention rates of up to 82%. Program members' referral rates are 70% higher than those of non-members. Cross-selling and upselling opportunities increase by 30%. B2B loyalty programs have a positive ROI of 90% and an average of 4.8x revenue. These numbers indicate something significant. B2B loyalty is not point, and discount-based. It concerns organized interaction that keeps clients active and interested in the relationship. The mechanics are not similar to B2C loyalty. There are no punch cards or cashback. However, the principle is the same. Engaged customers stay longer and spend more. NPS data supports this pattern too. Companies that maintain an NPS score of 50 or higher see 20% lower churn rates compared to those below 30. High NPS does not happen by accident. It is a downstream result of consistent value delivery and structured touchpoints. Both are supported by loyalty programs. The specific mechanisms that drive churn reduction Not every loyalty activity decreases churn at the same rate. The three mechanisms that are the most weighty are pointed out by the data. Personalized communication: B2B customer churn drops by 25% when vendors use personalized communication strategies. Loyalty platforms monitor engagement indicators and automatically make outreach at critical times. These may be renewals, product milestones, or usage declines. This is not the case with generic email sequences. Account behavior personalization does. Regular performance reviews: Clients with structured performance reviews have 15% better retention rates. This is a direct result of value visibility. A large number of B2B SaaS customers do not utilize the products they are paying for. Periodic reviews expose that gap and provide the vendor with an opportunity to rectify it before the client cancels. Feedback loops: Three out of five B2B companies indicate positive retention results due to systematic client feedback gathering. The process of requesting is not as significant as the follow-up. Clients who observe their feedback being put into action become advocates. Feedback submitters who receive no response are churn risks. Choosing the right platform The strategy is as important as the infrastructure behind a loyalty program. Tracking manually through spreadsheets and CRM notes is not scalable. It also lacks the timing that makes personalized outreach effective. Several tools now address this specifically for B2B contexts. Enable3 is one of the strongest options in this category. It is built specifically for B2B loyalty program management, with features designed around partner and reseller relationships, multi-tier rewards, and integration with existing sales workflows. Teams that need to manage loyalty across complex channel structures tend to find it better suited than tools built for B2C use cases. The most important factors to consider when assessing any platform are multi-stakeholder tracking, engagement analytics, integration with CRM and billing systems, and the possibility to automate outreach on the basis of behavioral triggers. A platform that needs to be updated manually will not be used frequently enough to produce results. Implementation: Where most teams go wrong The most common mistake in B2B loyalty program implementation is treating it as a marketing initiative rather than a customer success function. Marketing-owned programs are more likely to target top-of-funnel metrics, such as awareness, referrals, and brand sentiment. These are important. However, they do not cover the day-to-day usage patterns that actually cause churn. Reducing churn programs are owned nearer to the account management layer. They monitor product usage, alert on usage declines, call in before renewals, and incentivize clients on milestones that are associated with long-term retention. Flexible contract options are also important. Offering contract flexibility increases retention by up to 20%. Clients who are locked in are resentful. Clients who are trusted with flexibility will remain longer voluntarily. Final say! The data is consistent across sources. B2B SaaS companies with structured loyalty programs retain more clients, generate more referrals, and close more upsells. The mechanics are understood. The ROI is documented. The main variable is whether a company builds the infrastructure to execute consistently. For most teams, that starts with the right platform and a clear ownership model inside the organization.

Written by Millah, Founder & CEO of YouTuneIn Millah Barbosa, Founder & CEO of YouTuneIn, is a wellness innovator dedicated to elevating consciousness through sound and frequency. She bridges science and spirituality to help people and organizations achieve clarity, balance, and transformation. The other day I found myself thinking about my childhood, and I couldn't help but smile. My holidays were spent at my grandparents' house. We played outside until the sun disappeared, climbed trees, played football in the street, came home covered in mud, laughed until our stomachs hurt, and somehow still found the energy to keep going. There were afternoons when I simply sat beside my grandmother while she sewed clothes, fascinated by the patience in her hands. Other days I learned how to fix something with my grandfather, helped around the house, or invented games with my cousins that required nothing more than imagination. At the time, none of it felt special. It was simply childhood. Looking back today, however, I realize those ordinary moments were doing something extraordinary. They were helping our brains and nervous systems develop exactly as they were designed to. Without ever studying neuroscience, we were naturally supporting the healthy balance of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. We experienced dopamine through curiosity, discovery, learning, and small accomplishments instead of endless digital rewards. Oxytocin grew through hugs, conversations, family dinners, and friendships. Endorphins came from movement, laughter, and physical play, while serotonin developed through belonging, confidence, and contributing to something meaningful. We didn't know any of this as children. We were simply living in ways that encouraged emotional regulation, resilience, and genuine human connection. Today's children are growing up in a very different world. Many move from one screen to another before they have had the opportunity to experience boredom, imagination, or uninterrupted play. The moment silence appears, entertainment is only a tap away. Videos continue automatically, games rarely end, notifications compete for attention every minute, and algorithms have become incredibly effective at keeping young minds engaged. Technology itself is not the problem. It has transformed education, communication, and creativity in remarkable ways. The challenge is that children's brains are still developing while the digital world has become increasingly sophisticated at capturing their attention. When stimulation is constant and recovery becomes rare, the nervous system begins to lose its natural rhythm. Over the last several years, we have seen a significant increase in anxiety, emotional dysregulation, attention difficulties, and social challenges among children and adolescents. While many factors contribute to this reality, I believe one of the most overlooked is the gradual disappearance of the experiences that naturally helped children regulate themselves. Parents often tell me remarkably similar stories. Their children seem uninterested in playing outside, become frustrated when asked to put away a device, struggle to enjoy activities they once loved, or constantly complain that nothing feels fun anymore. Others appear emotionally reactive, impatient, or exhausted without an obvious reason. It is easy to see these behaviors as discipline problems. What if they are actually signs of a nervous system asking for balance? A dysregulated child is not always the child who is shouting or acting out. Sometimes it is the child who cannot tolerate five quiet minutes without reaching for a screen, who feels uncomfortable during family conversations, who becomes restless without constant stimulation, or who no longer knows how to entertain themselves without technology. These behaviors are not invitations for guilt or blame. They are opportunities for curiosity and compassion. Our brains were designed to earn dopamine gradually through movement, relationships, creativity, learning, and accomplishment. Digital platforms often deliver those rewards instantly and repeatedly. Over time, everyday experiences may begin to feel less exciting, even though they are precisely the experiences that strengthen emotional resilience, attention, and self-confidence. Children still need the same things they have always needed. They need eye contact, conversations around the dinner table, time in nature, opportunities to move their bodies, moments of silence, unstructured play, imagination, laughter, healthy challenges, and the freedom to become bored every now and then. They need to help prepare dinner, visit grandparents, build something with their hands, care for a garden, read stories, solve problems, create rather than simply consume, and feel that they belong to something greater than themselves. These moments may seem ordinary, yet they quietly teach the nervous system what safety, connection, and emotional regulation feel like. One practice I often recommend to families is something I call the Thirty-Minute Presence Ritual. Every day, choose thirty uninterrupted minutes to be fully present with your child. No phones, no television, and no multitasking. Let them choose the activity. It may be drawing, baking, building LEGO, taking a walk, playing football, reading together, or simply talking about their day. The activity itself is far less important than the quality of your attention. Presence is one of the most powerful forms of emotional regulation we can offer another human being, especially a child. Another practice is even simpler. The next time your child says, "I'm bored," resist the temptation to immediately solve the problem. Give their imagination an opportunity to wake up. Boredom has unfairly earned a negative reputation, yet it is often the birthplace of creativity, problem solving, and self-discovery. Some of our greatest childhood adventures began with absolutely nothing planned. As parents, perhaps one question is worth asking ourselves: "When my child feels uncomfortable, do I immediately offer more stimulation, or do I help them discover that they already have the ability to create, imagine, and connect with the world around them?" The answer to that question can quietly reshape an entire childhood. I also believe technology can become part of the solution when it is created with a different intention. Every digital experience is training the brain in some way. Some technologies teach us to consume more, react faster, and constantly search for external stimulation. Others can help us strengthen attention, self-awareness, and emotional regulation. That philosophy is what inspired us to create YouTuneIn®. Rather than competing for a child's attention, our goal is to help them develop it. We want children to become familiar with something many adults spend decades trying to learn, how to pause, observe their thoughts, recognize their emotions, and become aware of what is happening inside them. These are the foundations of emotional intelligence, and emotional intelligence is not built through endless entertainment. It is built through awareness. Within YouTuneIn®, younger children can explore a dedicated Kids section created specifically for their developmental stage. Children under fourteen are encouraged to use guided meditations and immersive 8D sound experiences without brainwave frequencies, allowing them to relax, imagine, reflect, and become more present in a playful and engaging way. Teenagers over fourteen can also benefit from Alpha, Beta, and Theta sessions to support studying, focus, creativity, and relaxation when used appropriately. None of this replaces family dinners, outdoor adventures, bedtime stories, or afternoons with grandparents. Those experiences remain irreplaceable. Instead, YouTuneIn® is designed to complement them by helping children build the habit of looking inward instead of constantly searching outward. In a world that continuously competes for their attention, we believe one of the greatest gifts we can offer the next generation is the ability to know themselves. Perhaps the greatest challenge facing today's children is not technology itself. It is growing up without enough opportunities to understand what they are feeling. When frustration appears, many instinctively reach for another video. When sadness appears, they seek another distraction. When boredom appears, they search for more stimulation. Very few are taught that emotions are not problems to escape from but experiences to understand. Every moment spent observing an emotion instead of avoiding it strengthens emotional resilience and self-awareness. Years from now, our children probably won't remember every game they completed or every video they watched. They will remember how they felt when they were with us. They will remember the conversations around the table, the family traditions, the walks, the laughter, the hugs, the adventures, and the comforting feeling of belonging. Those ordinary moments become the architecture of who they eventually become. Perhaps the greatest investment we can make in our children's future is not simply protecting them from technology. It is helping them build a rich inner world while continuing to experience the beauty of the real one. Because childhood is something we simply cannot afford to lose. To learn more about YouTuneIn® and its approach to emotional well-being and nervous system regulation, visit here. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Millah Millah, Founder & CEO of YouTuneIn Millah Barbosa is the Founder & CEO of YouTuneIn, a wellness innovation company pioneering advanced sound and frequency solutions for emotional balance, clarity, and resilience. With two decades of experience as a creative entrepreneur and coach, she bridges science and spirituality to help people and organizations align with their highest potential. Her work empowers leaders, teams, and individuals to live with greater purpose and consciousness. References: Haidt, J. (2024). The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2016). Media Use in School-Aged Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics, 138(5), e20162592. World Health Organization. (2019). Guidelines on Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep for Children Under 5 Years of Age.

Written by Erika Allison, Founder of NuFeet Medical Pedicures® Erika Allison is the founder of NuFeet Medical Pedicures® and creator of the medical pedicure business model, pioneering a private, condition-based approach to pedicures that incorporates physician collaboration. Through education, consulting, and live events, she has trained professionals worldwide and helped transform the pedicure industry. When I entered the nail industry in 2012, I had no idea that my career would eventually become part of a much larger movement in advanced foot care. What I did know was that there was a gap. I saw clients who needed more than what many people considered a traditional pedicure. They had thickened toenails, neglected feet, mobility challenges, and other concerns that required patience, specialized techniques, and a higher level of education. At the same time, I understood something that has remained at the center of my work throughout my career, there is a line between providing advanced pedicure services and practicing medicine. That line matters. But so does education. Over the years, I have watched the advanced pedicure industry grow tremendously. More nail technicians are seeking specialized education. More professionals are interested in waterless pedicures, advanced toenail care, proper disinfection and sterilization, and understanding when a client's needs extend beyond their scope of practice. I believe this evolution is necessary. Advanced education does not mean practicing medicine One of the biggest conversations happening in our industry today is about scope of practice. What can a licensed nail technician do? What can't we do? Where does advanced education fit in? My philosophy is simple, stay within your scope, but master your scope. Nail professionals should not diagnose medical conditions. We should not prescribe medications or claim to treat diseases when those services fall outside our professional licensing. However, staying within our scope does not mean we should stop learning. In fact, I believe the opposite is true. If you regularly work on feet, you should understand what you are looking at well enough to recognize when something does not look normal. You should know when not to perform a service. You should understand sanitation, disinfection, and sterilization. You should know how to modify a service for higher-risk clients when appropriate and, most importantly, when to stop and refer that client to a qualified medical professional. Knowing your limitations is not a weakness. It is part of being a responsible professional. A certificate is not a license, but education still matters Another important distinction is the difference between a professional certificate and a state-issued license. They are not the same. A certification or certificate of completion does not expand a nail technician's legal scope of practice. It does not replace state licensure, and it does not give someone permission to diagnose or treat medical conditions. But that does not make advanced education meaningless. There is a significant amount of knowledge that professionals can gain beyond the minimum education required to obtain a license. The goal should not be to collect titles. The goal should be to become better at what we are already legally permitted to do. Advanced education can help professionals improve their techniques, understand risk factors, implement stronger safety protocols, communicate more effectively with clients, and build referral relationships with podiatrists and other healthcare providers. The more we know, the better equipped we are to make responsible decisions. The industry has changed since 2012 When I began offering Medical Pedicures in 2012, the conversation around advanced pedicure care looked very different. Today, there are more educators, more specialized courses, more advanced products and equipment, and a growing number of professionals who want to focus specifically on foot care. That growth is exciting. But growth also brings responsibility. As advanced foot care becomes more popular, we must make sure education grows with it. We cannot simply adopt medical-sounding terminology without understanding professional boundaries. At the same time, we should not discourage nail professionals from advancing their education simply because that education goes beyond what they learned in nail school. There must be a balance. We can respect the role of podiatrists and other healthcare professionals while also recognizing the important role properly trained nail professionals can play in routine and advanced cosmetic foot care. These professions do not have to compete. They can complement one another. Collaboration is the future of advanced foot care I believe the future of this industry lies in collaboration. Nail technicians see clients regularly, sometimes every four to six weeks. That puts us in a unique position to notice changes and encourage clients to seek medical attention when something appears outside our scope. Podiatrists and other medical professionals provide diagnosis and treatment. Advanced pedicure professionals provide services within their licensed scope while focusing on safety, comfort, appearance, and ongoing professional foot care. When everyone understands their role, the client benefits. That is the future I want to see, an industry where professionals are confident enough to say, "This is what I can do, and this is where I need to refer you." There is power in knowing both. We still have work to do The advanced pedicure industry has come a long way since I began this journey in 2012, but we are still evolving. I believe we need stronger education, clearer conversations about scope of practice, greater accountability, and more collaboration across professions. We also need to stop confusing education with overstepping. A professional who wants to learn more should be encouraged to learn more. The responsibility comes in how that knowledge is applied. My mission has always been bigger than teaching someone how to perform a pedicure. It is about helping elevate an industry. It is about creating conversations. It is about encouraging professionals to take their education seriously while respecting the boundaries of their licenses. It is about making sure the people sitting in our chairs receive services from professionals who understand that advanced knowledge and professional responsibility must go hand in hand. After more than a decade in this industry, one thing has become very clear to me. The future of advanced foot care is not about becoming something we're not. It's about becoming better at what we already are. Stay educated. Stay within your scope. Know when to refer. Never stop mastering your craft. Follow me on Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Erika Allison Erika Allison, Founder of NuFeet Medical Pedicures® Erika Allison is the founder of NuFeet Medical Pedicures® and creator of the medical pedicure business model. In 2012, she introduced a private, condition-based approach to pedicures that helped bridge the gap between the beauty and medical industries through physician collaboration and specialized foot care services. As an educator, speaker, inventor, and entrepreneur, she has trained professionals worldwide and developed innovative programs and products that have helped reshape the pedicure industry. Through her courses, consulting, and live events, Erika continues to advance professional standards and elevate the way pedicures are delivered around the world.

Written by AnneMarie Smellie, Neurodevelopmental Practitioner, Kinesiologist, and Hypnotherapist AnneMarie Smellie is a UK-based neurodevelopmental practitioner, kinesiologist, and hypnotherapist with over 20 years’ experience helping children and adults build resilience, regulate anxiety, and strengthen brain-body foundations for learning and life. As I write this, the UK is experiencing yet another heatwave. News bulletins are filled with warnings to stay indoors, avoid the midday sun, wear hats, apply sunscreen and drink plenty of water. It's sensible advice. Heat exhaustion and dehydration are real risks, particularly for older adults and vulnerable people. But amidst all the warnings, I can't help wondering whether we've unintentionally started to fear something our bodies have relied upon for millions of years. Light. For almost all of human history, our lives revolved around the rising and setting of the sun. We woke with daylight, worked outdoors, moved our bodies, and rested when darkness fell. Our biology evolved in harmony with natural light. Today, life looks very different. Many of us wake before sunrise, spend our working day under artificial lighting, travel in enclosed vehicles, and return home to more artificial light before falling asleep with the glow of a television or mobile phone. Ironically, when the sun finally does appear, our instinct is often to avoid it altogether. I'm certainly not suggesting we should ignore advice about excessive sun exposure or the dangers of burning our skin. Protecting ourselves during extreme heat is important. But perhaps there is another conversation worth having. What if our bodies need light in ways we've only just begun to understand? Light is more than something we see When most people think about sunlight, vitamin D immediately comes to mind. Yet scientists now recognise that light influences far more than our bones. Natural light plays an important role in regulating our circadian rhythm, our internal body clock, which affects sleep, hormone production, mood, metabolism, and many other biological processes. Morning light helps tell our brain that it's time to be awake, while darkness signals that it's time to rest. It's one reason why so many people struggle with poor sleep, low energy, and feeling "out of sync" in our modern indoor world. Perhaps we've become disconnected from one of nature's most fundamental health signals. Looking beyond what we put into our bodies For much of modern healthcare, the focus has understandably been on what we consume. The right medication. The right supplement. The right vitamin. The next superfood. These approaches undoubtedly have their place, but I often wonder whether we sometimes overlook another important question. Instead of asking, "What should I put into my body?" perhaps we should also be asking, "What does my body need in order to function as it was designed?" As a kinesiologist, this question sits at the heart of everything I do. Many of the people who come to see me aren't looking for another pill. They're looking for answers. Why are they exhausted despite sleeping? Why won't an old injury fully recover? Why do they feel they're functioning at only 70% of themselves? Often, there isn't one simple answer. It's a combination of stress, nutritional imbalances, poor sleep, gut health, emotional load, and lifestyle. Our bodies are remarkably good at adapting, but eventually they begin to whisper that something isn't quite right. The challenge is that we often don't listen until they start shouting. A different way of thinking about light One area of research that has fascinated me over recent years is photobiomodulation. Although the name sounds complex, the principle is surprisingly simple. Certain wavelengths of light appear to influence cellular activity and may support normal biological processes involved in energy production, tissue repair, and recovery. Research into photobiomodulation is continuing across a wide range of medical and scientific fields, and interest has grown significantly over the past decade. For me, it's an exciting reminder that our bodies respond not only to the food we eat or the medicines we take, but also to the environment we live in. Light isn't simply something we see. It's information. My own journey changed my perspective Like many practitioners, I was initially skeptical about some of the newer technologies emerging in this field. Then I experienced something I couldn't ignore. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with dry macular degeneration. Like many people, I accepted that it was something I would simply have to live with. After several months of using photobiomodulation technology, I returned for another eye examination. To my surprise, I was told there was no longer any sign of macular degeneration. It was a deeply personal moment that made me even more curious about the role light may play in supporting the body's own repair mechanisms. Was it proof? No. It was my own experience. But it reminded me to stay open-minded and to continue asking questions rather than assuming we already know all the answers. Perhaps the heatwave is reminding us of something As temperatures soar, it's right that we protect ourselves from excessive heat and remain well hydrated. But perhaps this summer also offers another reminder. We are not separate from nature. We are part of it. Our bodies evolved in a world of natural light, movement, fresh air, and changing seasons. While modern life has brought extraordinary advances, it has also distanced many of us from the environment that shaped our biology. Maybe the goal isn't to fear the sun or worship it. Maybe it's simply to rediscover balance. Because sometimes the most powerful things supporting our health aren't the newest discoveries at all. Sometimes they're the oldest. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from AnneMarie Smellie AnneMarie Smellie, Neurodevelopmental Practitioner, Kinesiologist, and Hypnotherapist AnneMarie Smellie is a UK-based neurodevelopmental practitioner, kinesiologist, and hypnotherapist with over 20 years of clinical experience. She specialises in anxiety, neurodiversity and learning differences, working at the intersection of brain development, nervous-system regulation and emotional resilience. Through her work at Quester Therapies, AnneMarie helps children and adults uncover and address the root causes behind behavioural, emotional, and cognitive challenges. Her writing focuses on practical, compassionate insights that make complex brain-body concepts accessible and empowering.

Rebecca, otherwise known as The Chronically Resilient OT, is a neurodivergent and chronically ill Occupational Therapist. She uses her clinical expertise and lived experience to support other neurodivergent and chronically ill health professionals through mentoring, supervision, training, and creating resources. In this interview, Rebecca explains the inspiration behind creating her business, her definition of the word resilience, and the importance of figuring out what lights you up and finding the structures and supports that will work for your individual circumstances and way of being in the world. Rebecca Rae-Hodgson, Chronically Resilient Occupational Therapist Can you share what inspired you to create The Chronically Resilient OT and how your personal experiences shaped your approach? I started the business because working for someone else simply wasn't working for me. I couldn't fit myself into an employed role, and I tried. I really tried. So I started with a website, a Facebook page, and two clients, and very slowly began writing blogs, making graphics, and taking on a few more clients until I was eventually able to leave my employed role entirely. "I couldn't fit myself into the shape of an employed role." That was the beginning. What's evolved since then is a whole other layer. I started the business before I knew I was neurodivergent, and that's been a significant piece that's come in over the last three years. Looking back now, I can see clearly how my neurodivergence impacted my chronic illness, but I didn't know that at the time. What I did know was that I needed to build something around my fluctuating capacity and support needs, and that the traditional model of work just wasn't built for my brain and body. That realisation became the foundation of everything I do. I have built my business around fluctuating capacity, not despite it. How would you describe your core philosophy around resilience and what it truly means to thrive while living with chronic illness? The first blog I wrote was about why I chose the word resilience, Welcome to Chronic Resilience. I think about it as soft resilience. It's not about taking all the knocks and getting back up. It's not about pushing through. It's about understanding yourself, knowing your needs, and using that understanding to build a life that actually works for you. "It's not about just being punched in the face and getting back up. It's about using supports, finding supports, and maybe there are external things you can access, to create your best life. Your version of a best life. Not the capitalist version of a best life." I want to be honest about the fact that we are trying to live and work within systems that were not built for our brains and bodies. That is genuinely hard, and I don't want to cover over that difficulty with overly positive language. But it also doesn't mean we can't live a good life. It just means our version of a good life might look very different from what we were told it should look like, and that's okay. In fact, I think that redefining of what a good life looks like is often where the real freedom is. For me, thriving means feeling safe in the place I live, being able to spend time in nature and with my dog. It means making a difference, that's one of my core values. It means doing that authentically, by sharing my story and my experience and using my skills to help other people. Things don't stay static with chronic illness, it's an ongoing, often repeated journey of adjusting and readjusting. Resilience, to me, is having the tools and the self-knowledge to keep doing that, pausing when needed and being kind to yourself. How does your dual perspective as a clinician and someone living with neurodivergence and chronic illness influence the way you mentor and supervise other health professionals? I think it gives me a level of insight that's hard to come by any other way. I'm not just drawing on theory, I'm drawing on lived experience. The supports and concepts I talk about aren’t just something I’ve learned about in a book, they are things I use and practice in daily life. I use my lived experience and clinical knowledge to explore with people what supports might work for them and help them to understand what they need, based on their own lived experience. I think that's where bringing in the occupational therapy lens is genuinely powerful, because looking at the person, their environment, and how they spend their time allows me to be more flexible. I might share a personal story if it's relevant and I think it's helpful, because disclosure can be a really powerful tool. But it has to be done intentionally and for the right reason. It's not about me. It's always about what will serve the person in front of me. What are the most common misconceptions about neurodiversity-affirming practice that you encounter among clinicians? The biggest one is that being neurodiversity-affirming means throwing away diagnoses. It doesn't. The diagnostic labels we use sit within the pathology paradigm, that's the medical system we're working within, and we're not pretending otherwise. But what we can do is shift our language. Instead of symptoms, we might talk about experiences. That matters, because language shapes how people understand themselves. We can work on making that shift from medical model thinking that sees the individual as the problem, to more of a social model perspective, where the environment is the problem. You can learn more about what I mean by Neurodiversity-Affirming Practice for Mental Health in this blog. The other thing I want to be really clear about is that changing the language is not about minimising support needs. Those needs are still very real and very valid. But if we get too fixated on the label and start putting people in boxes, we miss things. The freedom I have as an OT is that my role isn't to diagnose, it's to stay curious, explore, discover and find ways to support participation. Someone's personal experience is always more important to me than the label they might hold. I also want to name the very real challenge of trying to be neurodiversity-affirming within systems that are, at times, diametrically opposed to these ideas. That difficulty is real, and I don't want to gloss over it. "We are working within medical model pathology paradigm systems that do not support these ideas, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try." How do you see occupational therapy evolving to better support neurodivergent adults and those managing chronic conditions? We need to break down the silos. There are OTs working in the Autism and ADHD space, and there are OTs working in the chronic illness space, and the two worlds don't talk to each other nearly enough. It's still quite unusual to find practitioners working at that intersection, and that's the gap I was trying to fill working as an OT. I am now focusing on supporting other health professionals who are working in this overlap space, as a lot of people working in that space have lived experience of these conditions. Support from someone like me, who also has lived experience, can be hugely useful. There's also this big divide between physical and mental health OT, and I think that split does a disservice to the people we support. We're working with people who have complex, whole-person presentations. Someone's sensory processing affects whether they can get to the supermarket. Their executive functioning affects whether they can hold down a job. Their chronic illness affects their capacity to engage in every occupation that matters to them. We can't keep separating these things out as if people are made up of discrete clinical categories. We are always, always coming back to occupation, how people spend their time, what gives their life meaning, and what they want to be able to do. What practical strategies do you recommend for health professionals to balance resilience, self-compassion, and rest in demanding work environments? Little moments count. That's the thing I come back to again and again. If you haven't taken a deep breath all day, pausing to take one is still something for your nervous system. Stepping outside and looking at a tree is still something. We tend to think of rest and self-care as things that need to take up a lot of time, and they can if you have that time. But most of us don't. So I talk about what I call rest snacks, brief, intentional moments of rest woven through the day. If you can do those, you are still supporting your nervous system. Rest is also so many things, not just lying still with your eyes closed. In fact, for some people, that is more distressing. So it’s about finding what is restful for you. I talk more about this concept in this blog on Different Kinds of Rest. "Little moments count. Pausing to take one deep breath, if you haven't taken a deep breath all day, is still something for your nervous system." The other piece is that what works for one person will be completely different from what works for another. There's no universal prescription here. That's actually the whole point of the work I do, it has to be individualised. Part of that individualisation is understanding your values. When you know what actually matters to you, not what you think should matter, but what genuinely does, it becomes a lot easier to make decisions about where to put your limited energy. How can clients incorporate sensory modulation, values exploration, and executive functioning techniques into their daily routines to build self-efficacy? With sensory modulation, I often talk with clients about creating a sensory menu, which is a range of strategies they can draw on throughout the day. An important thing to understand is that sensory modulation isn't just about calming down. It's about matching your level of arousal to what you actually need to do. First thing in the morning, you might need alerting strategies to get going. In the evening, around bedtime, you'll want calming ones. Having a portable sensory kit, mine lives in a pencil case in my bag, means those strategies are actually accessible when you need them. I write more about Sensory Processing Patterns in this blog. With executive functioning, I start by breaking down what it actually is, because there are so many components, and people often have a vague sense that they're struggling without understanding why. We might look at some of the components, such as organisation, planning, prioritising, task initiation, and emotional regulation. Then we figure out what will work for that specific person in their specific context, taking into account their environment and roles, such as whether they're a parent, a partner, a carer, what their work demands are, and so on. With values, I sometimes start there and sometimes I don't, because it can be confronting if someone realises how far away their life is from what they actually care about. But when the timing is right, it can be transformative. I ask things like, "What gets you out of bed in the morning? What kind of person do you want to be? What are the driving forces in your life?" When motivation comes from meaning, and that meaning is self-directed, it works so much better than when someone else is trying to direct you. One of my first blogs was called Exploring Your Values, and I think it’s such an important topic. In what ways do you help clients translate occupational therapy principles into meaningful, everyday life improvements? A lot of what I do is what I call “helping people OT themselves.” We break tasks down, we look at where they’re getting stuck, and we ask why something is important to them. We look at the environment, the occupation, the task, and the person’s skills, and we figure out where the fit isn’t working and what needs to shift. One of the models I use a lot is the Person-Environment-Occupation, PEO, model, because it’s accessible and most people can understand it intuitively. It helps people see that when something isn’t working, the problem isn’t necessarily them. It might be the environment, the task design, or the mismatch between the two. When I’m working with supervisees or mentees who are OTs themselves, we might use the OT language directly. When I’m working with someone who isn’t an OT, I’ll translate it into whatever makes sense for them. The language matters less than the concept. It’s always about supporting people to figure out what works for them, where the barriers are, how to get to where they want to go, and what’s important to them. What is one key takeaway you hope both professionals and clients gain from your work and approach to chronic resilience? That there is no cookie-cutter approach. I would love to be able to hand people a list, like here are the ten sensory strategies, here are the executive functioning tips, but I don’t do content like that, because it doesn’t serve people. The work is too individualised for that. I also think it’s important to work out where you can make an impact and how to make the most of limited energy while focusing on sustainability. I thought about this a lot when shifting my practice to focus on mentoring, supervision, and ways to create the biggest ripple effect from the work that I do. If I can only see four people in a week and those four people are health professionals who all hold caseloads, then my impact is exponentially bigger. “If I can only see four people in a week and those four people are health professionals who all hold caseloads, then my impact is exponentially bigger.” What I hope people take away is this, figure out what works for you. Figure out what’s getting in the way of where you want to go, and figure out what needs to change to get there. Then figure out what lights you up, what genuinely gives you energy and meaning, and follow that. That looks different for every single person. But it is always, always worth finding out. “Figure out what it is that lights you up, and find those things and follow.” If you’d like support figuring this out, you can find out more about me, what I offer, and how to book an appointment or contact me through my website. Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Rebecca Rae-Hodgson

Written by Dina Baki, Designer and Co-founder of KYŪ Dina Baki is the co-founder of KYŪ, a design-led brand she built alongside her partner Rasha, translating cosmic inspiration into handcrafted objects. Her work explores the relationship between the universe, form, and material, redefining modern luxury through conscious design. KYŪ approaches design through a way of thinking that is closer to metaphysics than traditional fashion. In philosophy, metaphysics studies the structures that exist beneath visible reality. It examines the relationships between form, space, balance, movement, perception, and the systems that shape how we experience the world. It is concerned with what gives something presence before meaning is assigned to it. KYŪ applies this way of thinking to design. Before a handbag becomes a product, trend, or accessory, it exists as a study of proportion, tension, geometry, movement, and interaction with the body. The process begins by analysing how form influences perception and function simultaneously. A curve can soften the visual weight of an object. A sharp edge can create precision and tension. The placement of volume changes how a piece moves when carried. Scale alters the relationship between the object and the person wearing it. These decisions are not made solely for decoration. They shape the physical and psychological experience of the object. Each KYŪ piece is developed through observation and structural refinement. We study balance, symmetry, asymmetry, gravity, ergonomics, and how an object occupies the space around the body. Designs go through continuous adjustments until the proportions feel resolved from every angle. This is where the connection to metaphysics lies, in the belief that form affects experience before language does. The philosophy also influences how we think about materials and construction. Materials are selected not only for their appearance, but also for how they hold structure, create movement, reflect light, age over time, and support the intended geometry of the design. References to galaxies and celestial systems come from the same thought process. The universe operates through invisible structures, including orbit, expansion, alignment, repetition, tension, and balance. These principles inform how KYŪ approaches shape and composition. For KYŪ, a handbag is not treated as surface decoration. It is treated as an object designed through systems of relationships between structure and softness, function and form, body and space, and precision and emotion. This approach defines the foundation of the brand. It is not design created to follow noise, but design developed through observation, structure, and intentional form. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Dina Baki Dina Baki, Designer and Co-founder of KYŪ Dina Baki is a designer and co-founder of KYŪ, a contemporary brand developed in partnership with Rasha Abdallah. Her work is driven by an interest in how abstract forces, such as energy, structure, and alignment, can take physical form through objects. Working closely with local craftsmanship and available materials, she approaches design as a process of discovery rather than production. Through both her creations and writing, she explores new ways of understanding luxury, less as status, and more as intention made visible.

Matt Little is a psychotherapist, trauma and addiction specialist, and Clinical Director of Pesona Jiwa, a private one-to-one mental health retreat in Bali. While traditional mental healthcare often focuses on managing symptoms and changing behaviour, Matt’s approach begins with creating safety, privacy, and personalised support. He believes meaningful recovery becomes possible when people understand their nervous system, feel secure enough to be honest, and are treated as individuals rather than diagnoses. In this interview, Matt shares why recovery begins with safety rather than willpower, how nervous system regulation is reshaping our understanding of trauma, burnout, addiction, and emotional resilience, and what more than fifteen years of clinical experience has taught him about lasting change. He also explains the role of environment, human connection, and personalised care in helping people rebuild safety, agency, and wellbeing. Matt Little, Psychotherapist, Addiction & Clinical Director What inspired you to create a one-to-one mental health retreat where privacy and personalised care are central to the recovery process? The idea came from seeing how often people were expected to recover in environments that did not feel safe enough for honesty. In larger treatment settings, even excellent clinicians can be limited by fixed schedules, shared spaces and standardised programmes. For someone who is highly visible, carrying significant responsibility, or living with complex trauma, that can make it difficult to fully let their guard down. I wanted to create something different: one guest, one villa and one closely connected team. Privacy is not simply a luxury feature; it can be clinically important. When a person no longer has to manage other people’s perceptions, perform recovery, or fit themselves into a system, we can begin to understand what they actually need. Personalised care also allows us to work with the whole person rather than a diagnosis. Therapy, medical input, nervous system work, rest, nutrition and meaningful experiences can be adjusted as recovery unfolds. Pesona Jiwa grew from the belief that people heal more deeply when they feel protected, understood and treated as an individual rather than processed through a programme. You often say that recovery begins with safety rather than willpower. How has that belief changed the way you approach therapy? Willpower has a place in change, but it is often asked to do a job it was never designed to do. When the nervous system is organised around threat, a person may understand exactly what they need to change and still be unable to access it consistently. Their reactions are not necessarily a lack of motivation; they may be protective patterns learned through trauma, chronic stress, abandonment or repeated emotional overwhelm. This changed my approach from asking, “Why won’t this person change?” to asking, “What does their system believe it is protecting them from?” Therapy then becomes less about forcing behaviour and more about creating enough safety for choice to return. Safety does not mean removing every challenge or uncomfortable emotion. It means helping someone remain connected to themselves while difficulty is present. Once a person can stay within, or return more easily to, their window of tolerance, reflection, accountability and behavioural change become more available. That belief has made my work more compassionate, but not less challenging. We still address responsibility and consequences; we simply do it without treating survival responses as moral failures. How has your work with executives, entrepreneurs, and public figures shaped your understanding of burnout and emotional resilience? Working with executives, entrepreneurs and public figures has shown me that burnout often hides behind competence. Many people can continue leading teams, making decisions and meeting expectations long after they have lost any real sense of themselves. From the outside they appear resilient; internally they may be exhausted, emotionally disconnected, hypervigilant and unable to stop. Their strengths can also become part of the problem. Responsibility, determination, intelligence and the ability to function under pressure may have been rewarded for years. Eventually, however, the nervous system begins to treat constant urgency as normal. Rest can feel uncomfortable, delegation can feel unsafe, and self-worth can become tied to being useful or in control. I have learned that emotional resilience is not the ability to tolerate unlimited pressure. It is the capacity to recognise activation, respond appropriately and return to regulation without losing connection to yourself or others. For high-performing people, recovery is often not about becoming less ambitious. It is about building a healthier relationship with achievement, responsibility and vulnerability, so success no longer requires the continual sacrifice of physical and emotional wellbeing. Why do you believe nervous system regulation will play a much bigger role in the future of mental healthcare? Mental healthcare has traditionally focused heavily on thoughts, symptoms and behaviour. These are important, but they do not fully explain why someone can understand their patterns intellectually and still repeat them when stressed. Nervous system regulation helps us address the state from which thoughts and behaviours emerge. When a person is chronically mobilised or shut down, their perception changes. Neutral situations may feel threatening, connection may feel unsafe, and the brain becomes more likely to repeat familiar protective responses. Teaching people to recognise these states creates a practical bridge between psychological insight and everyday change. I believe the future will involve a more integrated understanding of mind and body. This does not mean replacing established psychotherapy, psychiatry or medical care. It means strengthening them by recognising autonomic state, sleep, movement, connection, sensory experience and physical safety as clinically relevant. The aim is not to keep people calm all the time. A healthy nervous system can mobilise when needed and then recover. Regulation is flexibility: the ability to experience stress, emotion and challenge without becoming trapped in prolonged fight, flight, freeze or shutdown. How do you decide when approaches like Polyvagal-informed therapy or taVNS can add value to a client's recovery? I begin with the person, not the intervention. Polyvagal-informed therapy and taVNS are not treatments that should be applied simply because they are available or currently receiving attention. I consider the client’s history, presenting difficulties, physical health, current level of stability, goals, medication, medical oversight and how they respond to other forms of regulation. Polyvagal-informed therapy can provide a useful map for understanding changes in autonomic state. It can help people recognise why they become activated, disconnected or unable to access social connection. Used carefully, it reduces shame and gives us language for experiences that may previously have felt confusing or irrational. taVNS may be considered as an adjunct when supporting nervous system regulation, particularly alongside psychotherapy and other evidence-informed care. I describe it conservatively: it is an emerging, non-invasive intervention, not a cure and not a substitute for clinical judgement. The key question is always whether an approach adds meaningful value for this particular person. We monitor response, remain attentive to contraindications and adjust rather than forcing a protocol. Good therapy is responsive, not attached to any single technique. What is one simple way someone can start creating a greater sense of safety in their nervous system during a stressful day? One simple practice is to stop trying to calm yourself immediately and begin by orienting to the present. Stress often narrows attention towards danger, problems and urgency. Gently looking around the room can help the nervous system register that the current environment may be different from the threat it is anticipating. Place both feet on the ground and slowly notice a few neutral or reassuring details: the light in the room, a familiar object, a stable surface, or a sound that is not threatening. Allow your eyes and head to move naturally rather than staring at one point. Then notice the support beneath your feet and make the exhale slightly longer than the inhale, without forcing a deep breath. The purpose is not to convince yourself that everything is fine. It is to give your system accurate information about this moment. Even thirty or sixty seconds can create a small pause between activation and reaction. That pause matters. Regulation often begins through repeated, manageable experiences of safety rather than one dramatic technique. The more often we practise while stress is still tolerable, the easier it becomes to access when pressure increases. What habits do you see helping people maintain progress long after therapy or a recovery retreat has ended? The people who maintain progress tend to stop treating recovery as something they completed and begin treating it as a relationship they continue to nurture. They learn their early warning signs: changes in sleep, irritability, isolation, overworking, emotional numbness, compulsive behaviour, or the feeling that everything has suddenly become urgent. Consistency is usually more protective than intensity. Regular sleep, movement, nourishing food, meaningful connection, reflection and continued therapeutic support may appear simple, but they create the conditions in which the nervous system can remain more flexible. People also benefit from keeping a small number of practices they will genuinely use, rather than collecting techniques that disappear when life becomes busy. Another important habit is pausing before abandoning what helped. During stress, people often return to familiar coping patterns and interpret this as failure. I encourage them to become curious instead: What changed? What support is missing? What is my system trying to manage? Progress is rarely linear. Long-term recovery is strengthened by awareness, self-honesty and the willingness to seek support early, before difficulty becomes crisis. The goal is not perfection; it is returning more quickly and compassionately. After more than 15 years of supporting people through trauma and addiction, what has become your most important guiding principle as a therapist? My most important guiding principle is that people are not broken. Even behaviours that are destructive or difficult to understand often began as attempts to survive, regulate emotion, maintain attachment or escape pain. That does not remove responsibility, but it changes the quality of the therapeutic relationship. After more than fifteen years in this work, I have become less interested in imposing answers and more committed to understanding what happened, what the person learned they had to become, and what their nervous system still expects. Recovery is not about stripping away every defence before something safer has been built in its place. My own experience of recovery has also taught me that insight alone is not enough. People need honesty, accountability, compassion, repetition and relationships in which they do not have to perform. A therapist should be able to challenge without humiliating, and support without creating dependence. The principle I return to is simple: meet the person where they are, but do not leave them there. Respect the intelligence of their protective patterns, help them recognise the cost of those patterns, and create the safety and structure required for something different to become possible. If you could change one misconception about mental health and recovery, what would you want people to understand? I would change the belief that recovery means becoming symptom-free, permanently calm or fundamentally different from who you are. That expectation creates shame whenever anxiety returns, grief resurfaces, cravings appear or an old protective response is triggered. Recovery is better understood as increased capacity. It is being able to notice what is happening sooner, remain connected to yourself for longer, make more conscious choices and return to balance more effectively after difficulty. A person can still experience stress and be recovering well. The difference is that stress no longer controls every decision or defines their identity. I would also want people to understand that a diagnosis can be useful without becoming the whole story. Labels may guide treatment and provide validation, but they should not reduce a complex human being to a category. We need to remain curious about trauma, relationships, environment, neurobiology, culture, meaning and the individual’s lived experience. Mental health difficulties are not evidence of weakness, and recovery is not a test of character. People change most sustainably when they are understood, appropriately challenged and supported to build safety, agency and connection – not when they are shamed into appearing well. What role does the environment play in recovery, and why did you choose Bali as the setting for Pesona Jiwa? Environment affects how safe, open and emotionally available a person can become. Recovery does not happen only during a therapy session; it is influenced by what someone sees, hears and feels throughout the entire day. Privacy, space, nature, nourishing food, movement and the absence of everyday pressure can all help reduce the constant demand placed on the nervous system. Bali offers a particular combination of natural beauty, community, spirituality and a slower rhythm of life. However, the setting is not intended as an escape from reality or a substitute for clinical work. It creates the conditions in which deeper work can become possible. We also approach Balinese culture with respect. Traditional cleansing ceremonies, time in nature and other cultural experiences are offered as meaningful parts of the retreat, not as performances or promises of instant transformation. The aim at Pesona Jiwa is to combine professional psychological care with an environment that feels warm, grounded and human. People often need distance from their normal roles before they can recognise how much those roles have shaped their identity, stress and emotional wellbeing. How do you balance professional clinical care with the warmth and family feeling that are central to your retreats? Professional care and human warmth should not be treated as opposites. Strong clinical standards provide safety, boundaries and accountability, while genuine connection helps people feel seen rather than managed. Both are essential. Many people who come to us have spent years functioning in environments where they were valued for what they achieved, provided or controlled. They may have worked with highly qualified professionals before, yet still felt that they were being assessed rather than truly understood. At Pesona Jiwa, we want each guest to experience professional care without feeling institutionalised. The family feeling comes from consistency, presence and attention to the small details. The team knows the guest, communicates closely and responds to what is unfolding rather than relying entirely on a fixed schedule. At the same time, clear therapeutic boundaries remain important. Warmth should never become overdependence, blurred roles or the avoidance of difficult conversations. The balance is to be compassionate without rescuing, structured without being rigid, and clinically responsible without losing the humanity of the relationship. People often begin to change when they feel safe enough to stop performing and honest enough to be challenged. Follow me on Instagram and visit my website for more info! Read more from Matt Little

Written by Sherman Tham Hailing from Brookline, MA, Tessa Ying has dedicated her career to performing, producing, and developing musical talent. While some may think that developing a passion for the arts comes easily, it in fact takes time and effort to nurture and refine. Ying’s imaginative approach to empowering students in their own journey emphasizes strong finger technique, while encouraging experimentation and artistry as a foundation for storytelling. This enables them to enjoy the process as a learning journey, rather than solely focusing on the outcome. A piano prodigy from the age of four, Ying’s early mastery of the keys was only the beginning of a transformative journey from stage success to visionary education. Today, she has evolved into an innovative educator who looks beyond perfection, prioritizing her students' personal growth and creative discovery. Much like her audience-centered YouTube channel, Ying’s holistic pedagogy drives students to become active participants in their own narratives. Under Ying’s six years of guidance, her student Alan Huang participated in the Global Genius Music Competition and won the Gold Prize as well as a Technical Mastery Prize in Fall 2024. In the Charleston International Competition, Alan Huang received the Third Prize. Ying herself was awarded the Outstanding Teacher Award and added to the Exceptional Teachers List by WOMCO. Reflecting on her student Alan Huang’s multiple awards, Ying shared her pride, reflecting: "I was so proud of him. He deserved those prizes after all that hard work and dedication. I also felt honored and humbled as I watched other competitors. It is no small feat to get to that point. But at the end of the day, music, like most things in life, is an opportunity to practice lifelong growth and learning." For Ying, these experiences are also a reminder that learning music is a process beyond competition results, and good relationships between mentor and mentee are at the center of it. “Working with Tessa is like working with a friend but getting all the work done. I never feel stressed during lessons because she’s such a great teacher/friend, and I also never feel stressed about exams/competition because I know she prepared me well,” says Alan Huang. “I am 100% going to say that without her there’s no way I’d get those awards. I feel like Tessa is a kind of teacher who knows you more than you do. She would make sure it’s a song that can showcase your potential/what you’re good at but also a song you’ll fall in love with.” Ying's journey is as uniquely diverse as the genres she masterfully embraces, having trained at elite institutions across Singapore, England, and the USA. This global exposure has shaped her perspective on music. “The bits of experience from each environment build you as a person and musician," Ying says with conviction, crediting Singapore's rigorous education system for instilling discipline and drive. Those experiences solidified her purpose in sharing her love of music and empowering others. “Years of training for the examinations helped me to gain technical mastery over the instrument precision, accuracy, musicality, and articulation. By the time I entered Berklee College of Music, I was well equipped to accept what they had to offer. Most importantly, I found purpose in sharing my love of music, and that came through not only in a practical, real-life workplace but also in how to appreciate and apply it in everyday life too.” Ying prepares students for those very same examinations by the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music, headquartered in London, UK. As one of the five boards accredited by Ofqual in England, the examinations meet rigorous standards, providing students with recognized qualifications and UCAS points for higher education in the United Kingdom. Approximately 90% of Ying’s students achieve distinctions in both the performance and theory exams. Beyond the classroom, Ying extends her reach into professional artistic collaborations. In 2025, she worked with pianist Chia Ying Lee (Boston International Piano Competition, Semifinalist) to produce high-quality video and audio recordings for major competitions and festivals. Drawing on her background in music production, Ying oversaw the recording of the live performance featuring Chia Ying Lee and pianist Carl Di Casoli (2025 Oberlin Competition second-place winner), whose program included works by Saint-Saëns, Bach, Liszt, Ravel, and Rachmaninoff. The recordings contributed to Chia Ying Lee’s successful entrance into music festivals and competitions, notably the Oberlin Competition. When producing a recording for professional competition materials, preserving the player’s clarity and artistic sensitivity is expected. In this case, that includes balancing the acoustic nuances of two pianos while navigating the ambiance of a live audience. Ying’s production work combined technical precision and musicality, allowing the performers to direct their full attention to the music. “My goal is to preserve the performance as much as possible. It’s so much more than just recording sound. It’s about blending performance, production and collaboration.” Ying’s teaching philosophy balances high standards with a nurturing environment, fueled by the belief that music flourishes when all elements work in tandem with each other. Her refusal to be confined to a single genre, spanning classical, contemporary, and even EDM, underscores her conviction in music's inherent interconnectedness. Ying asserts, "These different genres complement, rather than fight against, each other." While she concedes to feeling early pressure to fit into one category, she champions the idea that similarities across genres inspire and give birth to new ideas. Ying’s next project, AfterGlow, reflects her philosophy. She reveals that although it is an electronic, downtempo piece, it blends the piano keys with soundscapes of electronic beats. “When we produce a body of work, it is from the inspiration we feel from one another, and in that a new and beautiful form of art is born. What about instead of focusing on what is different, what about the “sameness”? About common traits? To me, no matter what the specialty, they fundamentally affect us the same way. Human expression, through the medium of sound, that connects us emotionally to each other’s internal state.” At the very core of Ying’s educational philosophy lies an unwavering conviction that true musicality does not come from rigid rote learning, but from a consistent, engaged, and enthusiastic learning process. She recognizes the pressures that students today face, moving beyond traditional methods to create an environment where young musicians flourish. Understanding that a bespoke musical journey strengthens her students’ creativity and enriches their learning experience, she encourages her students to explore music they genuinely love. In doing so, they cultivate a discerning ear and discover their own artistic voice. Ying explains, with refreshing candor, "It really depends on the student and their relationship with music outside lessons. I encourage students to bring in the songs that they know and love, maybe they heard something on the radio? Or watched a movie with a great soundtrack? Or a trending TikTok?” Ying’s commitment to the growing arts and learning scene is evinced through her involvement with Arts for Learning Massachusetts, a non-profit organization that works directly with underserved communities to provide arts education and, more importantly, to serve schools from underserved and underprivileged areas as a means to make the arts accessible. Their mission is unambiguous and vital, “We strive to make the arts accessible, and to give equal opportunities to students to thrive in the arts.” Ying shares candidly that the overwhelming response from the cohort of students each year implies the need for such ground-up initiatives. Serving as Music Director, Ying prepared a cast of over 30 young performers through weekly rehearsals, vocal coaching and music interpretation. Her multidisciplinary background proved instrumental as she guided students through vocal coaching, music interpretation and stage performance. The community project, held in Spring 2026, was the hit Disney musical Finding Nemo. This highlighted Ying’s technical expertise, following the previous year’s success of the musical Aladdin. Ying’s approach to cultivating well-rounded musicians culminates in events that redefine the very concept of a traditional concert. The Art of Piano, held in Spring 2026 at M. Steinert & Sons, New England’s premier Steinway dealership, was not merely a performance. It was a celebration of musical expression, showcasing the diverse styles and creativity fostered under Ying’s guidance. “The production was named The Art of Piano, to signify the artistry that goes along with the technical aspects of piano playing," explains Ying. Featuring two back-to-back showcases with 24 talented performers, the program reflected Ying’s multi-genre philosophy, encompassing music from classical masterpieces by Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin to contemporary hits from Studio Ghibli. The production also included well-known musical works such as Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush), Harry Potter Soundtrack (John Williams), and Golden (KPop Demon Hunters). M.Steinert & Sons, with a 150-year legacy and longstanding relationship with Steinway, provided the opportunity to play on a 7-foot Steinway Spirio. For many, the experience not only elevated their performance but also their appreciation for its rich, enduring musical heritage. Beyond the music itself, the recital was a powerful demonstration of hard work, dedication, and a sense of community. Their shared love for music was evident, often helping musicians conquer the challenges of performance anxiety. One of Ying’s music students, Meghna Chakrabarti, who was both a parent of a performer and a performer herself at The Art of Piano, describes what it is like to work with Ying. “Miss Tessa has a gift. She reads each of her students with insight and sensitivity, and intuitively creates unique methods to fit each person. My son likes to play fast. He noodles around on the keys. If he’s not immediately engaged, his attention can wander. Tessa effortlessly turns his lessons into improv sessions, musical races, and tackling pieces with big sound. She’s raised his skill profoundly. As an adult learner, I can be slow, plodding, and repetitive! But with patience and encouragement, she makes our lessons productive every time. I’ve never encountered a musical educator like her. We’re devoted to her and would take lessons from her no matter where on Earth she is.” Ying concludes, "My favorite part was how inspired the musicians get from watching one another’s performances, and how much they learn from each other. Many times, a musician will request to learn a piece that they heard another performer play, and how inspired they are because of their discovery of new music that they love."

Written by Iryna Vilgash, Founder & CEO, Qualified Executive Coach Iryna Vilgash is a serial entrepreneur in leadership, global, and international education. Qualified ILM Level 7 Executive Coach. Investors assess the strategy presented in the room. After the investment, they inherit the behaviour behind it. They inherit how founders make decisions under pressure, respond to challenges, communicate bad news, and share authority as the company grows. This is where the intention and behaviour gap becomes an investment risk. The intention and behaviour gap describes the difference between how leaders intend to act and how they behave in practice. A founder may intend to delegate but continue to micromanage every important decision. A leadership team may promote transparency but delay difficult information. A company may encourage ownership while punishing employees who take initiative. Organisations are shaped by how leaders behave when the stakes are high. Capital that accelerates strategy without strengthening leadership capability, decision systems, and accountability can scale organisational risk faster than organisational capacity, particularly in fast-growing and cross-cultural organisations. What investors assess beyond the pitch In conversations with investors in London, Berlin, and Kyiv, I have observed that some of the most important concerns remain unspoken. They relate to whether the leadership team can carry the responsibility that comes with capital. What investors are trying to understand is whether founders and senior teams can translate the leadership standards they present before investment into consistent behaviour once capital is deployed. This raises two critical questions: Should leadership behaviour be assessed as explicitly as strategy, market potential, and financial risk? What mechanisms can investors use to identify and manage leadership risk before it begins to affect execution? Capital does not automatically create leadership readiness Companies often seek institutional or private capital before developing the leadership systems and governance discipline that institutional investment requires. Funding can accelerate hiring, market entry, and product development. It cannot automatically improve decision quality, resolve founder conflict, or create ownership beyond the founder. In one founder-led company I worked with, growth had increased dependence on the founder. Roles were blurred, decisions repeatedly returned to one person, and friction was rising within the team. The breakthrough came through clarifying decision rights, responsibility, and accountability. The organisation did not need a stronger vision statement. It needed a leadership system that translated the founder’s intentions into everyday behaviour. Capital accelerates what already exists. When leadership patterns are healthy, investment can expand organisational capacity. When those patterns remain unresolved, funding can scale dependency, friction, and confusion faster than the organisation can build the capacity to manage them. Leadership behaviour belongs in due diligence Most organisations describe their cultures through values such as trust, transparency, ownership, inclusion, learning, and psychological safety. However, a value becomes organisationally real only when leaders are prepared to pay the price of practising it. Under pressure, many organisations return to control, silence, blame, or avoidance. This is where the gap between intention and behaviour begins to affect execution, governance, and investor confidence. Before investment, investors often rely on presentations, observations, references, and limited interactions with the leadership team. These may offer a useful first impression, but not a full assessment of the team’s leadership capacity, decision-making, and readiness for scale. A leadership risk due diligence process can help investors examine how major decisions are made under pressure, how quickly bad news reaches the board, and whether disagreement is tolerated or punished. It can also reveal which decisions remain dependent on the founder, how accountability is assigned and enforced, and how cross-cultural differences affect communication and decision-making. The process can further assess whether stated values are reflected in hiring, promotion, and reward systems. Its purpose is to identify the leadership patterns, dependencies, and behavioural risks that may affect execution after investment and determine what needs to be strengthened. But what should happen next? Identifying leadership risk is only the first step. The more important question is how investors can protect investment value and strengthen the leadership team when the business is ready for capital, but the leadership system is not yet equipped to support the next stage of growth. Insight is not transformation Business schools and executive programmes can strengthen knowledge, leadership language, and strategic reflection. However, insight alone does not change how leaders make decisions, respond to challenges, or exercise authority. Behavioural development requires practice, feedback, and structured reflection within the real context of responsibility. This is why leadership development should continue after capital is deployed. Post-investment leadership infrastructure As companies grow and accept external capital, leadership behaviour needs to evolve with the level of responsibility that growth creates. Founders who built success through personal control may need to build systems. Leaders who once made every decision may need to create decision-making capacity in others. Capital can accelerate a company, but it cannot automatically build the leadership capability and organisational systems needed to navigate increasing complexity. A specialised leadership and organisational advisory practice can become part of the post investment infrastructure, supporting investors and leadership teams as the business enters a more demanding operating environment. Its role is to identify behavioural and organisational risks, strengthen decision-making and accountability, improve communication between the board and founder, and translate strategic expectations into consistent leadership practice. A post-investment leadership infrastructure may include a structured combination of: Regular founder and leadership reviews Clarification of decision rights Communication routines between the board and founder Executive coaching Leadership team development Accountability mechanisms Behavioural indicators linked to execution Continuous leadership development At MINDS Coaching & Consulting, each engagement is designed around measurable outcomes and agreed expectations, with return on expectations and, where appropriate, return on investment measured against business performance. For investors, founders, and startup ecosystems, leadership and organisational development should be part of the investment journey rather than reserved for a crisis. MINDS Coaching & Consulting works alongside investors and leadership teams as an independent advisory practice and long-term strategic partner, strengthening governance, leadership capability, and organisational readiness for sustainable scale and tangible impact. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Iryna Vilgash Iryna Vilgash, Founder & CEO, Qualified Executive Coach Iryna Vilgash is the founder and CEO of a leadership company, MINDS Coaching & Consulting, and a study abroad agency, Wake Up, based in Kyiv, Ukraine, and well-positioned for global collaboration. Her world-recognized coaching qualification is ILM Level 7 (Master's equivalent) in Executive Coaching and Mentoring, Ofqual regulated (the UK). Before starting her first business in 2014, Iryna Vilgash was a key player in corporate sales, insurance, and commercial property sectors for nearly a decade. She is quite assertive to stand out as an authentic voice providing leadership solutions, transformational learning, and career enhancement both in Ukraine and worldwide.

Disha Modi is a National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach, Menopause Health Coach and Clarity Catalyst Coach dedicated to helping women navigate the complexities of midlife with greater clarity, resilience, and purpose. Combining a background in biochemical engineering with expertise in behavior change and lifestyle medicine, she takes an evidence-informed, whole-person approach that bridges the gap between healthcare and everyday life. In this interview, Disha explores why clarity is the foundation of lasting transformation, how menopause can become a catalyst for personal growth rather than simply a medical diagnosis, and the practical strategies that empower women to create meaningful, sustainable change. Disha Modi, Health and Wellness Coach You describe yourself as both a Health & Wellness Coach and a Clarity Catalyst Coach. How do those two roles come together in your work? Health is about so much more than nutrition and exercise. It's about how we think, how we live, and whether our daily choices reflect what truly matters to us. As a Health & Wellness Coach, I help people improve their physical well-being through evidence-based nutrition, movement, sleep, and lifestyle habits. As a Clarity Catalyst Coach, I help them pause long enough to understand why those habits have been difficult to sustain in the first place. Many people know what they "should" be doing. What they're missing is clarity. When someone reconnects with their values, understands what's driving their choices, and creates a vision for the life they want, healthy habits stop feeling like another task on the to-do list. They become a natural expression of the person they're becoming. How has your background in biochemical engineering influenced the way you approach health coaching today? Engineering taught me to think in systems rather than in isolated parts. In health coaching, I take the same approach. Instead of looking at nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, or mindset independently, I look at how they interact and influence one another. It also taught me to be curious rather than make assumptions. I enjoy understanding the "why" behind someone's challenges before jumping to solutions. Every person has a unique story, environment, and set of circumstances, so there is rarely a one-size-fits-all answer. That analytical background, combined with coaching, allows me to bridge science with compassion. I believe the best health advice isn't simply evidence-based – it's personalized and practical enough for someone to integrate into their everyday life. You often talk about aligning daily habits with personal values instead of relying on willpower. Why do you believe that approach creates more lasting change? Willpower is a limited resource. It fluctuates with stress, sleep, emotions, and the demands of everyday life. Values, however, provide direction even when motivation disappears. When someone exercises because they value being present for their family or prioritizes sleep because they want to feel energized and mentally sharp, those choices become connected to something much deeper than simply checking off a habit tracker. I've found that lasting change happens when people stop asking, "How do I become more disciplined?" and start asking, "What kind of person do I want to be?" Our daily habits are simply how we express that identity. When our actions align with our values, consistency becomes much more sustainable. Wellness advice has never been more accessible, yet lasting behavior change remains difficult. What do you think is still missing from the conversation? We're surrounded by information, but information alone rarely changes behavior. Most people don't need another diet, workout plan, or morning routine. They need support applying that knowledge within the realities of their everyday lives. What's often missing is self-awareness. We don't spend enough time exploring what's getting in the way – our beliefs, stress, competing priorities, life transitions, or unrealistic expectations. I also think we've become too focused on perfection. Real change is rarely dramatic. It's built through small, consistent actions that fit into everyday life. My role isn't to give people all the answers. It's to help them understand themselves well enough to create solutions they can actually sustain. Healthcare provides diagnosis and treatment. Coaching helps people translate those recommendations into sustainable daily habits. That's where lasting behavior change happens. You specialize in menopause coaching at a time when awareness is growing rapidly. What shifts would you still like to see in how menopause is understood and supported? I'm encouraged that menopause is finally becoming part of mainstream conversation, but awareness is only the beginning. We still need better education, earlier conversations, and more individualized support. Too many women spend years wondering why they don't feel like themselves before realizing they're in perimenopause. By then, they're often questioning their confidence, relationships, careers, and overall well-being. I'd also like to see menopause viewed as a life stage rather than a condition to simply get through. It's an opportunity to reassess priorities, strengthen health, and redefine what this next chapter can look like. Women deserve support that goes beyond symptom management and helps them navigate the emotional, physical, and identity shifts that often accompany this transition. For someone feeling overwhelmed by conflicting health advice, what is the first step you encourage them to take? Pause. We often respond to confusion by searching for even more information, but that usually creates more overwhelm. Instead, I encourage people to step back and ask themselves a simple question: "What does my body need from me right now?" Most of us already know the fundamentals of good health – eat nourishing foods, move regularly, prioritize sleep, manage stress, and build meaningful relationships. The challenge isn't knowing; it's consistently applying those basics. Rather than chasing every new trend, choose one small habit that feels realistic and meaningful. Build confidence through consistency before adding something new. Sustainable health isn't created by doing everything at once. It's created by doing the right things consistently. Your coaching emphasizes clarity before action. What questions can people ask themselves to reconnect with what matters most before trying to change their habits? I often encourage people to slow down and ask themselves a few simple but powerful questions: What matters most to me in this season of life? How do I want to feel each day? Are my daily habits supporting that vision? What's one small change that would make the biggest difference right now? These questions shift the focus from external expectations to internal alignment. When people become clear on what they're moving toward, decision-making becomes much easier. Healthy habits stop feeling like obligations and begin serving a larger purpose. Clarity doesn't solve every challenge, but it gives us a compass to move forward with intention. How did your own health crisis reshape your definition of what it truly means to be well? Before my illness, I measured health largely by what I could do – how productive I was, how much I accomplished, how active I could be. Recovering from Mucha-Habermann disease, a rare autoimmune condition, changed that completely. There were days when simply getting out of bed or taking a short walk felt like a victory. I learned that healing isn't linear, and progress isn't always visible. It taught me patience, self-compassion, and the importance of listening to my body instead of constantly pushing through. Today, I define wellness much more broadly. It's not about perfection or constant productivity. It's about feeling connected to yourself, honoring what your body needs, nurturing meaningful relationships, and living in alignment with what matters most. That perspective has shaped both my life and the way I coach others. If you could leave readers with one idea that would change the way they think about health, what would it be? Health isn't something you achieve once and then check off your list. It's a lifelong relationship with yourself. There will be seasons of growth, seasons of challenge, and seasons that ask you to adapt. That's normal. The goal isn't perfection – it's learning how to respond to those seasons with awareness, compassion, and intention. When we stop chasing quick fixes and start building a life that supports our physical, mental, and emotional well-being, health becomes much more than the absence of illness. It becomes the foundation that allows us to show up fully for the people we love and the life we want to create. That's the kind of wellness I hope more people begin to pursue. “Health isn't built by knowing more. It's built through the small choices you make every day that align with the life you truly want to live.” Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Disha Modi