Overwhelmed, stressed, angry, or unhappy without understanding why?
By Georgetta L. Morque
Overwhelmed, stressed, angry, or unhappy without understanding why? Women, particularly mothers, can harbor these feelings even though from the outside their lives look rosy, as Lorna Gager has experienced and observed even in picture book-perfect communities. As a wellness consultant armed with personal understanding, she helps women get on track and recharge themselves to lead happier, healthier, and richer lives.
Gager had a Wall Street career before taking on a different level of challenge as a stay-at-home mother of five. She can relate well to mothers who race through a dizzying array of daily responsibilities with little independence or time for themselves. In need of a change six years ago, Gager got back into exercising, became a certified personal trainer and then received certification as a wellness coach and found her new calling. A former college athlete, it was a natural fit.
Her work has extended beyond wellness coaching into life coaching and both go hand-in-hand. “It’s the underlying stuff,” says Gager. “Diet and exercise are just the symptoms. If you don’t deal with the parenting, the marriage, then the rest won’t work.”
Coaching involves asking questions to help people set goals and work to achieve them. It’s different from psychology, which looks backwards, Gager explains. “With coaching you are looking forward and helping people find their own answers. It’s very personalized and not a cookie-cutter approach.”
Gager offers individuals a complimentary 30-minute consultation to determine if there’s a good fit on both sides. If so, she recommends a three-month program since that’s the amount of time needed to see real change. In the first one-on-one session, Gager takes a holistic approach by analyzing elements such as one’s sleep patterns, energy level, nutrition and life balance. She’ll also ask the question: how do you envision your perfect self in three to five years?
Once that goal is determined, short-term goals are established and discussed, along with strategies, in weekly phone calls. Gager says she offers a level of support that people don’t get in their daily lives. “I act as the cheerleader and find the positives.” At the end, she says people get more comfortable in their skin and their decisions and what they can and can’t control. And women learn to prioritize and realize the importance of downtime and self-care.
Gager helps both working and non-working mothers and believes it’s never too late to restart. She consults by phone and on-line, but this fall, she plans to have a place for both individual sessions and group workshops. For more information, visit www.LornaGager.com.
