We were lucky to catch up with Aubrey Turner recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Aubrey, so excited to have you with us today and we are really interested in hearing your thoughts about how folks can develop their empathy? In our experience, most folks want to be empathic towards others, but in a world where we are often only surrounded by people who are very similar to us, it can sometimes be a challenge to develop empathy for others who might not be as similar to us. Any thoughts or advice?
I once thought empathy was an emotion that I didn’t possess and never would, never could. Then two things happened, one personal and one professional.
Professionally, after going back to school for functional nutrition, I became a health + nutrition coach and started working intimately with woman who were struggling with their health, with most of their symptoms, pains, and imbalances coming from childhood experiences. I quickly realized that health is not black or white, people are not healthy or unhealthy, skinny or fat, and motivation does not come down to willpower or laziness; I grew to learn that everyone wants to be healthy and feel good and confident in their skin, but family, society, diet culture and more adds so much confusing, emotionally-charged nuance to our relationship with food and health-seeking activities. In connecting with my clients, listening to their stories, and understanding their past, I was able to harness and grow my empathy knowing that health is so deeply personally, bio-individual, everyone’s story deserves to be told, and any notion that there is a “one size fits all” approach to health care is dangerous, ill-advised, and will not serve the greater good. Now, my empathy for woman who are deemed “unhealthy” by society overflows.
Personally, I dated a man who struggled with massive depression and substance abuse in an attempt to cover up emotional trauma from many adverse childhood experiences; I saw how much he struggled with himself, with society, and with his addiction despite the fact he was a great human and great man. I now understand how little our society understands the intricacies of addiction, “self-medicating”, and depression and how painful these illnesses can be for the person suffering and those that love them.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
As a functional nutrition and health mentor, I help woman heal their bodies + soul through whole body health, diet, and mindset practices. What sets functional nutrition apart, and what I find most refreshing and powerful about this modality of health care is twofold; (1) the bio-individual perspective- every single body is different and needs + deserves unique care- and (2) functional health takes the whole body with all bodily functions into account, looking at our system as a whole, not as individual systems.
I’ve been a proud health freak my entire life despite two things- I could never reach the health I always dreamed about and (and this is huge) throughout my late teen years and twenties, my diet consisted of the trendiest, “healthy-eating” fads- low carb, low cal, low fat, low fruit! I was obsessed with my next meal, not because I loved food, but because I was so worried it would be too bread-y, or carb-y, or heavy and I would need a way out of it. I missed dinners out, breakfast with friends, and lots of peace + joy because I was so consumed with eating within the dietary guidelines dictated by diet culture and society.
When I found functional nutrition- food science combined with the optimal functioning of the body- I knew I found *my thing*…not only have I learned to take care of my whole body, mind, and soul, I can confidently say I have exceeded my personal health dreams AND in helping other woman take care of their bodies, I have found my life’s passion and work.
I am currently hosting a 3-month, one-on-one “Balance to Balance” health and nutrition mentorship for woman who want to heal their bodies, rev up their metabolism, balance hormones + blood sugar, and do it all holistically with support and accountability every single step of the way!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. My personal experience- Knowing how I felt jumping from diet to diet, always trying to find the magic pill to lose weight and improve my health; over-exercising, forcing so much high-intensity movement, always feeling exhausted…all the while never achieving the quality or level of health I craved.
2. Growing my empathy- If I wasn’t able to understand and feel for my clients and their struggles, I wouldn’t be able to help them to the ability I am. I have found that empathy is a skill we can all work on and grow- listen to others, hear their struggles and stories and reflect without judgement are great ways to build empathy!
3. Understanding the role our gut health plays in our overall wellbeing and whole body health- the health and integrity of our gut is paramount of how we feel, think, and move throughout our day and our life. So many symptoms, illnesses, and diseases connect back to the gut and how we are digesting and processing our food…once we can get our gut health balanced and properly functioning, we are able to begin healing the body. Go to school! The health of our gut is complex, so finding an accredited school that aligns with your vision is a great place to begin learning!
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
My client relationships have been my biggest area of growth- as a former people pleaser, I would often struggle telling my clients the changes they needed to make because I didn’t want to scare or intimidate them…but this only hurt my creditability and expertise because my clients weren’t learning the changes they needed to make to heal their body and improve their health.
As my empathy and certainty as a health coach grow, I am able to have kind, honest, and open dialogue with my clients, which then empowers them to go out into the world with the knowledge and confidence they need to make the changes that will gain the results they came to me for!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @wholly.wellness
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whollywellnessAT
