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Health coaching helps youth get rid of toxic lifestyles

Counselling shows patients ways to recognise unhealthy patterns and how to heal faster

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Gathered in a well-lit room in Delhi suburbs are five young Delhi professionals, all under 30, who have recently suffered major health setback. They are attending their weekly counselling session on how to adopt a healthier lifestyle. A relatively newer field in healthcare, lifestyle or wellness coaching has its work cut out, as it shows the way to young Indians finding themselves at loss to tackle chronic ailments previously more common after age 45-50.

Among the attendees at the session at the Wellness Jiva Institute, New Delhi, that claims to be the first of its kind in India, is a Gurgaon-based banker Anish Malhotra. Working over 12 hours a day, and the rest spent at office parties followed by weekend trips, finally caught up with him. "I began to feel low on energy all the time. I could feel something was wrong, but work commitments kept me up and I delayed a visit to the doctor," until one day he was too dazed to walk, he tells us. Doctors diagnosed him with a swelling on his liver, as a result of all the eating out.

Doctors explained that medication could only help him to an extent. What he needed most was a lifestyle change. However, Malhotra was clueless on how to go about it, until his family physician recommended he seek professional help for just that. Malhotra is not a lone case. To help and motivate patients adopt a healthier lifestyle, more doctors are advising their patients to seek professional help from "wellness coaches" as changing unhealthy habits in patients is a difficult task.

"Doctors and patients realise that just medication is not enough, patients also need compassion and a space to be heard, for healing to begin. Health and wellness coaching works at helping patients introspect on their lifestyle choices and recognise unhealthy patterns. The sessions offer an atmosphere of trust and empathy, where patients can take accountability for their health and make life forming habits, which will facilitate greater wellness," said Preeti Rao, Wellness Coach at the Wellness Jiva Institute. The once-a-week sessions are for one-and-half hours, and cost anywhere between Rs1,000 to Rs3,000 per session.

Health and wellness coaching is recognised as an important resource globally, and is a new field in India. It employees biometric parameters to analyse deficits and concern areas to help clients move toward better lifestyle choices. A coach works with all aspects of health — lifestyles, nutrition, stress management, spiritual and emotional wellbeing and physical movement — to help the client move towards a better state of overall health.

Professor Meg Jordan, Chair of Integrative Health Studies, and educational designer of a health coaching programme at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), who's helped set up the Wellness Jiva coaching institute in Delhi, said, "Changing health behaviours is challenging but wellness coaching can help patients identify manageable ways to improve them. Coaches are trained in the latest in the neuroscience of coaching for lasting behavioural change."

At a nascent stage, technology enterprises have already identified the need and the potential for complete lifestyle coaching under one roof. Nature's 5, a mobile platform, pegs itself as a personal lifestyle coach and health expert. "The idea is make sure people prioritise their health. The app works as a tool to guide, motivate you, help you track your progress and make informed decision for your health. We get queries from all over the country but the major traffic is coming from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh," says co-founder and CEO Shourya Vikram Shah.

The start-up launched last November has experts on board that offer counselling and guidance to signees on one-to-one basis. The team keeps a track of their health regime and plans their diet accordingly. The app that has to be synced with fitbit (another health app) offers virtually a personalised health plan, regular fitness report that helps track progress and an in-app chat feature to interact with experts. It offers users various subscription offers as per their needs.

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