During my teenage years I remember feeling quite lonely and misunderstood. I had a lot of questions to ask. I tried to talk to my mum, but, she was from different generation. Their generation had things that were not talked about, and instead of discussing things with me, she encouraged me to look for answers in books. I loved reading. I read anything and everything. I also remember starting my diary then, and on the first page I drew a picture of balerina, stating below "no sugar". I stopped adding sugar into my tea or coffee since then. That was the beginning of my journey to healthy.

I grew up in a big family, with five brothers and one sister. We had a huge garden, full of organic vegetables, herbs, berries and fruits. We even had our bees and honey! I remember I hated gardening then...We just wanted to play. I also spent my summers at my grandma's on her farm. I loved it despite we were asked to work. Since then I love spending my time in nature, it helps me to recharge.

During summers we also went foraging blueberries, raspberries and mushrooms. I love to go foraging now.

When I was at primary school I started swimming lessons. I loved swimming and was dreaming to become an Olympic champion. I was very good, but not good enough to my dream to come true. I used to swim 10 km a day, plus worked in a gym, played team games, such as basketball and football, spent summers in sport camps. I believe that is why I loved staying active all my life. We played outside no matter what the weather: skiing, sledging, skating in winters, swimming and foraging in summers. We only watched 30 min TV a day, cartoons before bed and sometimes a kid's movie during school holidays.

Years went by, I finished Uni, started work and family. I was reading and researching about all new developments how to live and stay healthy. This was always in me. This was and is my inner path that I followed from my heart. I remember taking supplements and staying active as much as I could. I loved being outdoors, skiing, swimming, and running. I remember doing body-flex exercises when I had no time to do anything else. (It was something like yoga with breathing exercises, similar to ti chi, and it was popular then).

My marriage did not work, I divorced at 35. Since my divorce, I had been working too much, and raising two children on my own. My ex husband was not able to help because of his personal problems and mental health. I was nearing 40 years of age when the first health problems hit me. I had terrible headaches. I had no idea what was causing that. I had a friend who was a doctor. She said it might be blood pressure. Not long after that I moved to the UK and this added more stress to my life.  Culture and job change, loneliness and etc. My headaches together with nose bleeds continued and I received my diagnosis-hypertension. My GP was not able to tell me why. I was fit, slim, no other issues that usually cause it. Little I understood then about importance of quality sleep and stress management. I believe I covered all my problems with work. I overworked. I got a prescription for my tablets. My GP told me that it would be for life. I did not question further then. However, she also mentioned that it was good I was active, and she encouraged to continue.

I always was good at listening to my body.  Let's take eating for instance. I was eating intuitively. I remember eating only when I was hungry. My friends, family or colleagues would not agree with me, but I would continue my way. Now I understand, that I did intermittent fasting. I quite often missed breakfast or lunch, or fast all day. I continued staying active and went swimming or jogging, started hiking, yoga and Pilates (because of my back pain).

When I turned 50, my GP sent me to have a bone scan. Guess what? I received another diagnosis-osteoporosis. This time I was more resilient and did not start taking medication straight away.  Instead, I researched, adjusted my lifestyle (included strength training), upgraded my eating habits, added foods rich in calcium, and took specific supplements for my bone health. After two years I repeated my bone scan. It revealed that my bone density improved. This made me very happy. It worked! Now I can say: "If I could do it, you can as well!".

In 2015 I was made redundant again. This made me think what I wanted to do with my life. One thing I knew, I did not wish to retire. I had to find something that was my passion. I remembered always wanting to become a doctor, so I decided to start my apprenticeship in health sector. If not a doctor, I would be able to become a nurse, I thought. I listened to my heart this time. I remember I wanted to study as medicine after I had finished school, however, my mum encouraged me to become a teacher. I liked my job, but deep down I felt that my heart belonged somewhere else.  I was seriously considering to become a nurse. I learned a lot whilst working in hospitals, rehabilitation and residential homes. It broadened my knowledge about lifestyle diseases and people's suffering. I started to think more and more about prevention and natural ways to manage chronic conditions as I was able to realise that diseases were preventable. I decided to become a fitness instructor/personal trainer. I finished studies, but something was still  missing. I understood that focusing on exercises alone was not enough. I continued my extensive research and learning. I became interested in bio hacking and enrolled on Wim Hof course. I loved cold water therapy  and continue to this day all year round. It brings me enormous joy and is uplifting together with other health benefits.

I was able to see changes in me and I wanted to help others. This allowed me to study further and become a certified Health Coach. 

 I believe I discovered my IKIGAI. Ikigai (Japanese word) is hidden deep inside each of us, and it is a reason to jump out of bed each morning. My passion is healthy living, and my mission is to help others to live longer, healthier, and suffer less.