Hello beautiful soul
I’m Katrin Howes, Director and Head Coach at Your Wellbeing Matters Coaching.
I believe we are all inherently worthy of living in vibrant health and happiness.
As a passionate advocate for my own wellbeing and that of my family, friends and community I have discovered a whole new way of being and working.
After taking time to rest, recover and then re-focus after years of pushing through adrenal fatigue culminated in a career-ending injury; my life is transforming
as I build a new career in the online space.
My mission is to provide a sacred space to empower you to find more
contentment and fulfilment in life.
That you may live life with more joy, ease and grace.
I do this via heartfelt, supportive coaching, insight and inspiration delivered with vulnerability, authenticity and genuine care for your unique situation.
Why?
Because Your Wellbeing Matters!
Let me lead you to embrace your own capacity and inner wisdom.
Here is a little bit more about my journey and why I do what I do…
As I sit in my light filled home-office I am hearing the birdsong, seeing the first rose beginning to bloom in my garden, feeling the spring breeze through the open window, tasting a cup of tea in my favourite mug and smelling the scents of essential oils just applied to my hands and wrists. I am totally at ease.
It is an exquisite way to work, surrounded by things that bring me joy and pleasure. Doing something that I absolutely love.
Not only that, it is 2:25pm and I plan on only being here for a short time this afternoon.
You see, I have designed a life where I can first and foremost nurture and take care of myself. Each and every day this is my priority.
For me this means rising gently without an alarm clock and enjoying a slow and luxurious morning filled with what I like to call my morning ‘self-love rituals’.
This time between about 7 and 10 in the morning has become sacred to me hence the need to acknowledge that these routines are actually rituals, rather than habits or things I like to do. These activities are essential to me. They give me time to honour my needs and connect deeply with myself. They allow me to tune in and ensure I start the day with intention and from a place of love for myself. In effect, I fill my cup to overflowing so that when I am ready to give to others, I truly give from the overflow and I am never depleted.
I begin by hydrating with a few glasses of fresh water and a cup of herbal tea (I really love ginger and lemon in the mornings with a dash of apple cider vinegar). Then, (after seeing to our precious pets), I take time for stillness.
Mediation has become a time I treasure.
After this, as my family wakes up around me, I take time for gentle movement, including a daily energy routine, gentle stretching and yoga.
I have a glorious shower, using self-care products infusing with essential oils which are a feast to my senses. It’s like my own little day spa experience. I dress in clothes I love and come refreshed to my home office.
Removing all electronic devices from my desk, I light a candle and take time to sit and appreciate life, often with another cup of herbal tea. Opening my journal, I write from my heart, giving gratitude for at least seven things. Sometimes my musings are brief, other times I fill pages and pages.
Only after this, am I truly ready to begin interacting with others and the world around me.
And I do. Some days more than others. I work between one and five hours a day. Now days, in ways that bring me deep joy and satisfaction.
I write, create content, interact with my community (in person, online and via email) and engage in digital marketing activities. Most days I am also continuing to learn and build on my skills. I choose who I work with and enjoy collaborating and partnering with other like-hearted souls.
I have a lot of fun and am extremely proud of the business I have built and the value that I bring to the world!
My life has not always looked like this.
It began with a dream. A dream that I have had as long as I can remember. To want to look after myself, my loved ones and community and live a simple life filled with joy, ease and grace in deep connection to myself, others and the planet. Oh, and to have adventures! Lots of adventures. Swimming in the ocean and mountain streams, sleeping under the stars, walking endlessly in nature and feeling fully alive only when the wind was in my hair. I also remember always wanting to fill the world with love and wanting to make it a safer and better place than how I found it. To nurture creatures great and small. And to do so somehow by just being little old me.
I have carried that dream with me throughout my life and never ever lost sight of it. Everything I did reflected it in some way.
Life has been a little messy, as it is for so many of us. I got a little lost and had to find my way back home to myself. I needed to find the courage to let go of some beliefs and traits I picked up along the way that no longer serve me. I had to remember my inherent worthiness. That I am worthy of a living a life I love, in vital health and absolute abundance. That I can choose to write my own story. That I am enough and that my true essence is love. That to be my own kind of beautiful is necessary. That there are people out in the world (maybe even you reading this right now), who will be inspired and empowered by what I can share.
That kindness, presence, gentleness and mindfulness are powerful
and can change the world,
one heart at a time.
Yet before I arrived at the place I am at today, I spent many years burdened by the weight of what I thought was being asked of me. By others, by society. I hurt myself over and over again. Trying to be perfect. Thinking I had to please people in order to belong, be accepted and just to survive. I spent a lot of time sacrificing my time and energy. This resulted in exhaustion, overwhelm, anxiety and depression. Though in the scheme of things I have always lived a relatively healthy lifestyle; I still grappled with adrenal fatigue, excess weight and chronic pain. I was focused on DOING everything that I could to be well but my motivation was skewed and though also always one to take radical responsibility for my own growth, I had deep unresolved childhood trauma and stress accumulated in my body, mind and spirit.
Eventually, in early 2019, by now in my late 40’s my body hit a wall and took me out of action.
Literally.
I had developed a Baker’s Cyst behind my right knee and the pain became so excruciating that I could no longer walk.
This was my turning point.
I realised – MY WELLBEING MATTERS.
In fact, nothing matters more than that. I was given no choice but to address what was happening urgently and knew I would need to change the way I worked and the pace at which I lived my life. There could be no compromising that. I had always wanted and strived to live a vital, vibrantly healthy human being and live a life filled with meaning.
How had I done this to myself? How had I managed to f*#@ this up so majorly?
I’d forgotten to be my own best friend. I had taken care of everyone and everything else before looking after me. I was way down the list of priorities and that needed to change.
So I became dedicated to finding a better way to move forward. To take care of myself from a whole new perspective. To stop pretending that I could do everything by myself and that I knew best. Obviously, I did not. I started by forgiving myself and became grateful for the wake-up call that my precious vessel was giving me.
I began (probably for the first time ever in my life), to fight tenaciously for ME and my dreams, to truly care for ME from a place of self-love, self-worth and acceptance. I surrendered and began to pour more of my energy into caring and nurturing myself. I began to create boundaries and asked for help.
I created space and time for rest.
I enlisted professional help to promote my recovery. To this day, I continue to work with gifted healers and allied health professionals. My trusted Osteopath and Massage Therapist are vital to my healing journey and I’ve been deeply grateful for their expertise, guidance and encouragement.
A huge reality check was recognising that I needed to resign my position in Early Childhood Education. Though this created financial stress it was essential as I needed time to recover my strength and did not want to go on continuing to work within my sector as it aggravated my injury. I began to work for myself, child-minding and nannying. Even this was difficult for me physically and I knew I had to refocus and find a new career path.
Deeply passionate about yoga and mindfulness, I began to envision a new life as a Children’s Yoga teacher and trained toward that. Unfortunately, I have had to put this dream on hold, as I am not yet able to physically cope with the level of activity it requires. However, it is still the way that I would like to work with children and families in the future and I hope to return to it.
The heartbreak of having to leave my sector and put my children’s yoga dream on hold, did allow me more time to explore other options and I began to research and trial digital business opportunities.
This has been a huge learning curve and I have learned a great deal about what didn’t work for me before finding clarity and a path that did work for me.
Creating a business that was truly unique to me, allowing me to use my gifts, talents and passions to create a vision that was my own and allowed me to bring value to the global marketplace has been key. I needed to shine my light and use my voice in order to inspire, empower and educate others that were on a similar journey.
What has been life-changing for me about working in the digital space and creating my own online business is how technology and the internet gives everyday people the ability to leverage systems, software and their own and other people’s skills and expertise to create a whole new way of working. It has given me the freedom I was always looking for.
I get to work from home, allowing for that precious slow-living lifestyle, including those mornings I so adore and a much healthier daily routine.
There is no longer any rush.
I have been able to go from doing, striving and pushing through to a focus on being, receiving and gently taking aligned action. I am honouring the needs of my body, mind and spirit which has meant a huge decrease in stress and living on my own terms.
I create my own, flexible schedule, working much shorter hours and making looking after myself my first priority always and I have created plenty of time and space to continue to seek support with that.
Most of all, I am continually learning skills that allow me to create, grow and scale assets in the current economy and leave a legacy for my children. I am filled with hope and know I can now move forward in joy, ease and grace. This has been so empowering!
I do not know where you are on your journey.
Possibly, you too, are at a crossroads and needing to make some choices for your wellbeing.
Firstly, let me encourage you.
Your Wellbeing Matters.
Whatever you are facing right now.
You deserve to rest. To recover. No matter how long that may take.
You are precious and any and every moment that it takes is worth it.
You matter.
Your presence is needed.
Your voice.
Your gifts.
There is no-one else in this world like you.
So please. Take the time you need. Time to take stock. Refocus. Maybe do things a little differently. In a way that works better for you and meets your unique needs.
These are things that only you can work out. BUT you are never alone.
To your Wellbeing always,
Katrin