Conversations with Healers, Helpers, and Guides: Reconnect with Yourself after Autoimmune Diagnosis with Kristina Landolfi, MA, MCHC
Conversations with Helpers, Healers, and Guides is a monthly blog series from Holistic Healing and Wellness with Sabrina LLC with the intention of sparking conversation with other wellness professionals to share perspectives on different ways mind, body, spirit health can be supported.
Today, we are talking with Kristina Landolfi, one of my best friends who is a Health Coach and Mat Pilates Instructor. She helps women with autoimmune disorders reconnect with themselves and build an intentional relationship with their physical, spiritual, and mental health. She is a wealth of nutrition knowledge and has significantly inspired my mind-body journey.
Sabrina: Tell us who you are, where you practice, and what you specialize in.
Kristina: My name is Kristina Landolfi, I am a Health Coach and Mat Pilates Instructor. I am the owner and founder of Alternative Pathways, a holistic health and wellness coaching practice. I specialize in helping women reconnect to themselves, and bridge the gap between their physical and mental health. I am drawn to working with women who have autoimmune disorders, as well as those who may have experienced trauma. I take a trauma-informed approach and design health coaching and Pilates programs that are tailored to my clients' individual needs and health and wellness goals.
Sabrina: What led you to specialize in nutrition, Pilates, and health coaching, and how do these components contribute to holistic well-being?
Kristina: I had an interesting journey specializing in nutrition, Pilates, and health coaching. At a young age I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, getting this diagnosis altered my day-to-day life, but also the path that I saw for myself. I felt hopeless for a long time, and worried about my health and what my future had in store for me as I struggled to exercise regularly due to the pain I experienced. This is when I decided to start learning as much as I could about nutrition and ways that I can move my body to help me feel good while still managing my disorder. This is when I discovered Pilates and its gentle and effective benefits. Over time, I obtained my master’s degree in Counseling Health and Wellness. Following this I became a certified Health Coach and Pilates Instructor, and continuing studying nutrition and wellness through several other certification programs. It is my passion in life to help women feel empowered and reconnected to their bodies again.
Sabrina: In your opinion, why is the mind-body connection crucial for overall wellness?
Kristina: Without the mind-body connection we are not truly healthy or well. I teach in my health coaching programs that being healthy is so much more than just the absence of disease or being able to manage a diagnosis, being truly healthy means we can look at all the areas of our life and find balance and abundance, and know how to listen to our minds and bodies. To me, wellness encompasses every area of our lives, and when working with clients we emphasize our mental, physical, and spiritual selves. Our body is a powerful thing, and it will tell us exactly what it needs, or what it is holding onto if we listen. When I work with my clients to get in touch with their mind-body connection it helps them to be able to see that our minds are just part of the system, we hold onto trauma in more than just our memories and emotions but in our physical cells too, so when we take the time to connect the mind and body we can release and bring in space for healing and understanding ourselves on a deeper level.
Sabrina: Are there specific principles or philosophies that guide your practice in promoting overall health?
Kristina: The biggest principle that I follow in both my roles as a Pilates instructor and health coach is that my client is the expert in their own life, I am merely here as someone to hold you accountable and help guide you to a deeper connection with yourself while helping you to troubleshoot ways to overcome and reach your goals. I truly believe that my clients hold all the answers and ideas needed to feel healthy, happy, and empowered, I am just here to help them get to those answers. I also believe in taking a holistic approach, meaning we look at the whole self and how all the areas of your life are interconnecting to bring you wellness and balance.
Sabrina: How do you integrate mindfulness practices into Pilates sessions, and how does this contribute to the mind-body connection?
I craft all of my Pilates classes using the 6 principles of Pilates (Breath, Concentration, Control, Precision, Centre, and Flow), by doing so allows a space where mindfulness can be cultivated. I begin all of my Pilates sessions with guided breathing and meditation to help the client focus on the here and now. I remind my clients throughout our Pilates sessions to use their breath and focus on how their bodies feel, as well as leave space for emotions that may arise during sessions. When we focus inward and use our breath to guide our movements it helps us outside of the mat, in being able to listen to our bodies and promote that ever-so-important mind-body connection! My Pilates sessions are gentle, slow, and trauma-informed.
Sabrina: What is your favorite aspect of being a health coach?
Kristina: There are so many things that I love about being a health coach it is hard to put the passion and excitement I have for this role into words. To me, there is nothing more fulfilling than being able to help a woman feel empowered again and feel like she is at home in her own body. I love seeing my clients reach their goals and gain the confidence and self-love that come with it.
Sabrina: How does nutrition play a role in supporting mental well-being, and how do you tailor nutritional guidance for mental health benefits?
Kristina: Nutrition plays a significant role in supporting mental well-being by providing the essential nutrients that the brain needs to function optimally. Making sure we feel balanced in the food we eat can impact us so much, especially for those with autoimmune disorders. Eating whole foods and leaving room for indulgences can help us to feel good physically and mentally, but there are also several foods we can eat that help us regulate our mood and manage stress. As a health coach, I do not prescribe any specific diet or supplements to clients, but instead, I help my clients listen to their bodies for things like hunger cues and cravings so they can work on any emotional relationships they have with food. I work with my clients to feel comfortable in their relationship with the food they eat and walk with them as they define what a healthy and balanced diet looks like for their life.
Sabrina: You mentioned you have a counseling background and your practice additionally offers psychotherapy, what do you see as the main differences between therapy and coaching that you want the reader to know?
Kristina: Yes, I do have a background in counseling. For several years before becoming a health coach, I worked specifically in crisis counseling and specialized in working with survivors of trauma. Having this background helps me in being able to provide a trauma-informed practice for my clients. The main difference between coaching and therapy is that therapy focuses on treating and sometimes diagnosing whereas coaching cannot be used to treat or diagnose. No coach should ever tell you that you have a specific condition or provide you with a treatment plan for it. Coaches focus on the present and future, specifically with goal planning. A coach is someone who will help you to identify what your goals are, make an action plan to achieve those goals and hold you accountable. Coaching should never be used in place of therapy, but it can make a great addition to it!
Sabrina: What is the number one thing you want the reader to know about nutrition and mind-body connection, especially if they are recovering from trauma?
Kristina: The number one thing I teach my clients is to ask yourself the question "What do I need right now"? At first, you may not always find an answer but over time as you start to ask yourself this question more and more you will slowly start to feel and hear your body telling you what it needs, and where it is holding tension or trauma that may need your attention. Nutrition and having a healthy relationship with food can play a major part in this, as the food we eat fuels us and can have a lot of different benefits for our minds and bodies. Listen to your cravings, where are they coming from, how do they make you feel, and is there any emotion connected to them? By asking these questions you can start to strengthen your relationship with the mind-body and food. Eating in a way that you define as healthy is a great way to feel good each day!
Sabrina: Do you have any special offerings available for clients?
Kristina: One of the unique things about Alternative Pathways is that all of our offerings are designed around our client’s unique needs. No two health coaching programs will be the same because no two people are exactly the same. I craft all my services with my clients to meet what it is they need and want. Because I am so thankful for this feature and our time together and to be a part of this community I do want to encourage anyone reading this to mention this blog post when contacting us for a special offer and discount on services.
Read more about Alternative Pathways here
Follow them on Instagram here.
This blog post is co-authored by Kristina Landolfi, MA, MCHC and Sabrina Gelsinger-Rodorigo, LCSW, RYT-200.