Losing 10 kgs. Running a half marathon. Getting six-pack abs. How do you turn short-term goals into something meaningful, sustainable, and inspiring? Enter: deep health coaching, the revolutionary method that gets the results you want, plus the results you need.
Are you truly wish to transform your health?
But what if I told you food and fitness—the domains of physical health—are only 16 percent of what determines your success?
What if you could move beyond “12 week beach bod programs,” or “pre-wedding weight loss,” to something truly meaningful and sustainable, and even more inspiring?
After all… what happens to the beach bod at week 13?
Or by the 10th wedding anniversary?
Can you stay at or even grow beyond your goals without feeling deprived, hungry, and miserable?
Without turning food and fitness into a full-time job?
And without backsliding from short-lived pride and mirror selfies into enduring shame and baggy sweatshirts?
It’s called coaching for deep health.
This is when all dimensions of health are in sync, instead of just the physical. It’s not only about how you look or perform. It’s also about how you think, respond, solve problems, and deal with the world around you. “Wait,” you might say. “I’m all for deep health, but my 4pm is here and I want to lose 20 kgs.”
Perfect.
Coaching for deep health will help you get there faster and more easily than ever before—in a way that fits to you life and is sustainable.
The six dimensions of deep health
Deep health doesn’t come from a pill or an operation. Deep health comes from a balanced diet of fresh, whole foods. It comes from sufficient exercise combined with genuine rest. It comes from clean air and clean water. It comes from real human connection and sincere emotional expression. And it comes from living with purpose and joy, and using your life as an expression of these things.
When I coach for deep health, I consider the multi-dimensional thriving of a whole person in your whole life.
Not just body fat percentage and blood work, but also factors like how people think, feel, live, and connect to others. Don’t worry: I do not suggesting you master psychotherapy, or tackle the human condition.
I am suggesting you understand how healthy eating and lifestyle practices affect every aspect of your well-being. And how every dimension of deep health affects the eating and lifestyle practices of you.
Here are the six dimensions of deep health.
These areas of health are deeply entwined and strongly connected.
You probably know how we feel can affect how we eat. (This is, after all, most people’s #1 nutrition challenge.)
You might have also noticed that people with supportive families, strong connections at their gyms, or welcoming fitness communities (such as Zumba®, dancing, handball, running or cycling groups) are more likely to show up for their workouts.
Or that people with a clear purpose, self-stories that foster healthy activities, or the willingness to change suffering into action are more likely to stay motivated and succeed.
Every dimension of deep health influences eating and exercise behaviors.
That’s what coaching for deep health is all about.
Let’s see how this might look in real life.
Example 1: You are a dedicated handball player or runner with an injury.
You can’t run properly, which means you can’t train, and you are getting deconditioned. That’s the current state of your physical health.
But because of this situation, you are also:
- feeling depressed and frustrated (emotional health)
- lonely and disconnected, missing their weekend run clubs and races (relational health)
- starting to wonder what the point of anything is (existential health)
Example 2: You work long hours at a high-stress job.
You sit at a desk (which affects your physical health via inactivity and back / neck pain), and you don’t get your proper sleep (physical health impact again)
Because of this situation, you are also:
- anxious and stressed, answering emails late at night (emotional health)
- arguing with your partner about working too much (relational health)
- spending most of your time in a windowless cubicle with takeout food a phone call away (environmental health)
- on the cusp of a midlife crisis (existential health)
Now… here’s the really cool part:
The problems are connected… but so are the solutions.
Struggling in one dimension of deep health usually means struggling in others.
But there’s a flip side here, too.
Improving one dimension can also improve others.
This is the power of deep health coaching.
Maybe I help my injured client find alternative activities and mentally manage their pain. For instance, I might introduce them to water sports or swimming. I help them normalize injury and work on rehab. They get back to movement. They feel happier.
They meet new friends at Zumba, Salsa, Tabata, Handball, dragon boating or the local pool. Or, maybe I give my stressed-out client some relaxation techniques, a bit of mobility work to do at their desk, and the number of a healthy meal delivery service.
Plus, I empathize with their challenges. They calm down a little, move more in your day, concentrate better, and (as a result of better focus and hence productivity) even find time to come home half an hour earlier, which makes their spouse happier.
Winning.
I pull a lever in one dimension of deep health, and gears in other dimensions will also move.
I use the connections between deep health dimensions to your advantage. If one area is off-limits or temporarily broken, try another one.
Deep health looks different to everyone.
For a young stay-at-home parent, it could be balancing a certain pants size with weekly ice cream night with their kids.
For an elite powerlifter, it might be pushing their bench press without screwing up their shoulders or social life.
For a retiree in their 70s, it may be “mobility over medication”—staying off the blood pressure pills and enjoying long walks with their spouse.
That’s why my clients need individualized and thoughtful coaching.
Deep health isn’t about rules or ideals.
It’s about exploration and invitation. We explore your world to find areas for growth, improvement, and learning. Then, invite you to do that growth and learning.
Coach for deep health… and better results
Where do we start?
Easy… I just ask you.
You can tell me where you need the most help, or where you want to flourish more. Don’t think of this process as a diagnosis or an interrogation. Instead, think of it more like opening a conversation, building a story, and deepening a coaching connection.
( Download a printable copy use it to start your journey.)
As we explore together, we will both gain valuable awareness.
You may start to notice where you are living out of alignment with you are deeper values and goals. Or where one dimension is connected to another, in ways you would never realized. (Example: “Gosh, on days I don’t get exercise, I’m really cranky”.)
Often, this simple awareness is enough to spark a conversation about change.
“What’s on your garbage list?”
These are behaviors you know are total “garbage” for your health, sanity, and well-being—but you do them anyway. Everyone’s got a few.
Weekend overeating, skipping recovery days, and not getting enough sleep are some of the most common garbage list items. But they could also be anything from engaging in negative self-talk to stocking the freezer with ice cream every Friday.
We will discuss your garbage list in a quick-and-dirty way to figure out where to prioritize our efforts, and get you on the path to deep health.
But it’s only just the beginning.
Béla Grundmann
