Nourished Abroad provides mental health support for expat women
Dawn Wheeler, founder of Nourished Abroad, and Unfold facilitator / Courtesy Jennae Lee
By Celeste Kriel
Being an expat in Korea brings with it challenges mental, physical and emotional, and the holidays can be an especially daunting and lonely time for anyone far away from home.
Dawn Wheeler, the founder of
, helps women in their physical and mental health journey through support and coaching. At the start of next year she is offering a six-week women-only group coaching online course focused on practicing the habits and skills that promote mental health and resilience.
Wheeler has lived in Korea for seven years and started the Nourished Abroad Facebook page in 2018 while she was studying for a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner Certification to share her knowledge of nutrition and lifestyle with the Expat Women in Korea Facebook community.
“I started Nourished Abroad in order to use my own health experience and knowledge as a resource for other expat women living in Korea so that they wouldn't have to go through scary health challenges without holistically focused support, like I did. I noticed that, even though we get really great medical care over here, there are limitations for expats in terms of nutrition, functional medicine and natural approaches to resolving chronic health issues. A lot of expat women have experienced changes in their health due to living in a whole new environment, and these changes affect their quality of life,” Wheeler told the Korea Times.
Her personal wellness story is what inspired her to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. When she first moved here she began to notice some health issues creeping up.
“First it was indigestion, then weight gain, a worsening of menstrual symptoms, chronic body pain and fatigue. The symptoms slowly spiraled out of control into severe depression, anxiety, panic attacks and chronic insomnia. After seeing a few different doctors and being told that my labs were fine and that I was just getting older at age 31, I realized that it was up to me to figure out what was going on with my body.”
So she went to work, reading books, listening to podcasts and keeping a detailed symptom diary. She even employed the help of a health coach, which she says was marginally helpful. After getting help from a life coach and making changes to her diet, lifestyle and thinking patterns, her health improved steadily.
“I began sleeping again. I lost weight. My hormones balanced out. I had more energy and I felt like a new woman. It really felt like a miracle. I had just about resigned myself to a slow and steady decline,” she said.
Wheeler says recovering was a gratifying experience, and was the catalyst for the birth of Nourished Abroad.
“I was overflowing with gratitude, and very passionate about my newfound knowledge. When I noticed other women in my Facebook groups complaining of similar issues, getting certified as a Nutritional Therapy Consultant seemed like the most natural next step. I just really wanted to help other expat women have a better experience with their health than I did.”
When she graduated with her NTP certification she began seeing clients for nutritional consulting to help them with some of the same health issues she had experienced after moving to Korea.
“It's all about empowerment. For the longest time, I felt like a victim to my health and circumstances. It was my experience of illness and healing that taught me how much grit I have. It really taught me to value myself,” she said.
Nourished Abroad's Unfold course takes on the theme of “nourishing the soil of mental health.”
“We can't expect a flower to blossom in depleted soil. It needs nutrients, other organisms, sunlight and water. If a seed gets everything it needs, it can sprout and unfold into its full potential ― a flower,” she said.
The course focuses on taking the steps to nourish oneself in all aspects ― nutrition, mindfulness, exercise, social connection and an examination of limiting beliefs, “so that we can bloom a bit brighter and stand a bit taller.”
Participants can expect to have weekly readings, assignments, discussions and live webinars, and three challenges ― mindfulness, food and an exercise challenges. She will provide participants with the tools to set realistic goals for themselves, implement habits into their lives and adapt all the elements to fit their own needs. From a mental health perspective, Wheeler says they will also be given the tools to investigate beliefs that are holding them back.
The
begins Jan. 6, 2020, and costs 147,000 won, with an early bird price of 97,000 won for those who want to gift themselves for Christmas and register by Dec. 25.
To register or for more information visit
or
@nourished_abroad on Instagram
.