What exactly is holistic health and how can we achieve it? This is a loaded question that does not have one concrete answer. According to the American Holistic Health Association, "holistic health is an approach to life." It isn't simply eating nutritious foods and exercising frequently, but instead, it emphasizes a "connection of mind, body, and spirit." This search for wellness in every aspect of life is what inspires Suzie Blackman, holistic health coach, fitness instructor, and yogi.
Curious to learn more about holistic health from Suzie, Spoon WFU welcomed her to campus for a spring wellness workshop.
Event Recap
Growing up, Suzie was always very active and constantly surrounded by healthy food. After attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison and moving to San Francisco, she discovered her passion for wellness and became a certified yoga instructor. In pursuit of her affinity for all things health, Suzie received her degree from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in March 2018. Suzie is currently an instructor at CycleBar in Winston, a coach at Top Tier CrossFit, and a yoga teacher at Yoga Dogz and Village Yoga.
In the workshop that she led, Suzie talked to 18 girls about the importance of wellness, balance, and nutrition. She began with the importance of primary and secondary foods, noting that primary foods are not infact food. Primary foods, she said, are "healthy relationships, enriching careers, frequent physical activity, and deep spiritual practices." Once you have these elements in your life, she emphasized, then it is time to focus on nutrition.
Recipes
As part of this wellness workshop, Suzie showed Spoon members how to make two of her go-to healthy recipes which could be made right in your dorm room.
Our first recipe was for a raw energy ball. To make these, Suzie combined nuts, like cashews and almonds, along with almond butter, dates, cacao powder and sea salt in a food processor. After going in the food processor, the dough was ready to be rolled into bite-sized balls. These were a delicious and energizing snack that would be great to have on hand during a long school day.
Next, we tried samples of green smoothies. Suzie discussed the benefits of adding certain ingredients, like greens and healthy fats, to a smoothie in order to maximize its nutritional value. In our smoothie, Suzie also added a few tablespoons of chia seeds for omega-3s and a spoonful of cacao powder for magnesium. Small additions like these help enhance your nutrient intake and promote overall good health.
Towards the end of the workshop, the conversation opened up a bit in unexpected ways. The discussion shifted from Spoon members asking Suzie questions about what she does and does not eat to a genuine exchange about ways people can begin to positively deal with stress on college campuses. Suzie states how "our attitude towards our consumption- whether it be the foods we eat or the information we seek out or the people and energy we surround ourselves with - is typically more of a reflection of what’s going on with all the other facets of our day to day existence - (our environment, our relationships with self and others, etc)."
Spoon WFU is so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from Suzie Blackman and we look forward to spreading our new knowledge about the importance of holistic health on our college campus and beyond!