‘Find your Healthy community…. It’s the key to long lasting transformational health.’

These were the words of James Maskell on this brilliant podcast last week…

James is the pioneer of group medicine in the US, and he shared the brilliant results of his work…

He brings together people with the same health conditions and through his group programs he empowers the patients to take back control of their own health and wellbeing. The patients are not permitted an appointment with the Doctor until they have completed the group program. The results are both remarkable and brilliant, with only 50% of the groups making that Doctor’s appointment after the program…

However, when you pause to think about it, it makes so much sense! How much easier is it to make positive change in your life when you have someone by your side cheering you along!

When you have someone cheering you along and when you become that person for someone else, it is such a powerful force.

I am excited to share this work with you as it is at the heart of what I do with Harriet’s Healthy Living. Connection and collaboration are the foundation of everything I do.

I have run several group coaching programs now and I am always inspired by how much people achieve when they have the support and accountability of a group.

I created ‘Nurture Club’ to provide that ongoing space for people to connect, learn, and create sustainable positive healthy lifestyle habits. What inspires every session is how committed they all are to taking consistent action. It is not about achieving ‘perfect health.’ What is that anyway? It is about making tiny actions that build resilience and make life a little easier and more enjoyable… All the current members have challenging situations that they deal with on a daily basis, yet they keep on making consistent action.  It is so incredibly inspiring and further fuels my passion to bring more people together to create their own health.

I have both experienced and witnessed the incredible benefits of connecting and collaborating with people throughout my life. Connection nurtures and nourishes me like nothing else which is why I am so passionate about bringing people together.

My journey started with the Supper Club which is now growing each month as people experience the incredible benefits of coming together with like-minded people to learn, inspire and be inspired.

I have learned so much from all the brilliant people I have met along the way, and I am so grateful to the new collaborations that are happening all the time. I am particularly thrilled by the collaboration with the brilliant Lexi’s Loving Spoonful. Lexi and I share the same passion for health and wellbeing and Lexi is now taking the Supper Club Food to another level with her beautiful nutritious food.

Collaborating with Lexi has already opened so many doors and is a clear demonstration to me that everything is better when we come together. We are excited to be working together to deliver ‘Nourish and Nurture’ learning lunches and workshops to some amazing local wellbeing venues. I am also thrilled to finally be able to run my  Menopause group coaching programs face to face at these wonderful spaces.

The venues are Wootton Park in Wootton Wawen and Cafe Desa in Leamington. They are both run by passionate wellbeing experts who have created amazing spaces for people wanting to make a conscious choice to create their own health.  We are both incredibly grateful to be running groups and events in these inspiring places.

If you are interested in finding out more, please do get in touch.

I appreciate that making that initial connection can be incredibly difficult for some. Most people are good at connecting when they are feeling great but tend to withdraw at times when they are feeling less positive about their lives. This is perfectly natural, but it is so detrimental to our health and happiness.

In this beautiful bite sized podcast the Happy Pear twins, share a powerful statistic

‘Loneliness is more harmful for our health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day’.

When we feel in a lonely place, making a conscious choice to connect can feel like the most difficult thing in the world.  However, if we can dig deep and make a conscious choice to connect with the right people, it really does have the power to transform everything, and that is the message that I really want to share.

I imagine you can all think of connections and communities that nurture you in your life. There is nothing that gives energy more than connecting with like-minded people who share the same interests and passions. Having close friendships to celebrate with or reach out to for support is crucial to our wellbeing. What that looks like will be individual to everyone. Some people thrive in large groups, whilst others feel safer with a handful of close friends. Whatever it looks like, it is vital to have friends who we can call upon for support and comfort, but also to provide that support for others when they need it.

If we can ask ourselves in most moments during our lives ‘How will it, make me feel?’  Reaching out and connecting with friends and communities has the power to change our energy and focus. When we make time to connect with others, everything shifts. Simply ‘being’ with others can be transformative. Sometimes when words fail us, taking a walk-in nature or engaging in an activity with someone by your side can change everything.

At Nurture Club this week I shared how I had volunteered for Helping Hands for a while at their community cafe a few years back, because I will never forget the impact it had on me. It was at a time in my life when I didn’t feel ‘quite myself’ and it seemed to be a positive action to take at the time. Being part of that team even for a brief time was a real privilege and working with other people towards a common goal gave me a sense of belonging like no other.

I never fail to be inspired by the brilliant founder of Helping Hands, Lianne Kirkman. Lianne works tirelessly to support others. Yet despite all of this, every day she faces her own battle with depression. In heartfelt post just yesterday, she wrote:

‘…. We all have to battle on…. and every single day because I do…. I overcome, I get the victory, I win another battle…and I make progress….and together with some other amazing people, we together achieve great things…. And we have for the last 7 years!…

Lianne describes so beautifully why it is important to connect; ‘I deliberately go to Soup kitchen when I’m low as that connection with the people we support lifts me up. I don’t believe any of us are meant to be alone and connection is healing. We encourage connection with our clients as isolation is what breaks people.’

It is a powerful and empowering message which needs to be heard! Although it doesn’t always feel like it, we do have more choices in life than we realise and taking positive action to connect really does have the power to transform everything.

Please do get in touch if you would like any information about Nurture Club, my upcoming group programs, or my workshops with Lexi. Or if you would like to join us at the next Supper Club on 18th July please click here to book!

In the meantime, please do reach out to connect with that friend you haven’t spoken to in a while. It might just transform yours and their day!!