Women In Wellness: Elizabeth Shuler Of Inner Evolution Coaching On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Wanda Malhotra

I wish someone told me individual healing can only go so far. Structural and systemic changes are just as important to advocate for as a healer.

Today, more than ever, wellness is at the forefront of societal discussions. From mental health to physical well-being, women are making significant strides in bringing about change, introducing innovative solutions, and setting new standards. Despite facing unique challenges, they break barriers, inspire communities, and are reshaping the very definition of health and wellness. In this series called women in wellness we are talking to women doctors, nurses, nutritionists, therapists, fitness trainers, researchers, health experts, coaches, and other wellness professionals to share their stories and insights. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Elizabeth Shuler.

Dr. Elizabeth Shuler, also known as Liz, is a transformational mind-body coach, yoga therapist, and Reiki Master with over 14 years of experience. Since 2015, she has lived abroad in Jordan, China, and Belgium, where she has gained a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities that people face when living and working abroad. Liz’s healing approach is holistic and integrative, drawing on her expertise in Yoga, Ayurveda, Reiki, and Psychology. She creates a safe and supportive space for her clients to explore their inner landscapes and discover their own path to healing and transformation.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

I grew up in Wyoming in a town of 9000 people. I grew up poor, but I excelled at school and I decided in middle school that I wanted to have a doctorate one day. I also knew that I wanted to help people and that I had a knack for healing, but I didn’t want to be an MD. So, I decided to go into psychology. During my master’s in counseling, I realized that my interests in alternative health and wellness that had helped me heal both physically and mentally were more compatible with psychology than I was previously led to believe. This is when I decided to go for my yoga teacher and reiki certificates. I then moved abroad and ended up working in international schools. Last year I made my childhood dream of having a doctorate come true and I received my yoga therapy certification. Now I have my own practice as a transformational coach and yoga therapist, with a small psychotherapy practice on the side.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

When I moved abroad it was for my partner’s job as a brewer. I planned on continuing my private psychotherapy practice and ended up being connected with a group of counselors through my partner’s tap room. From there, I learned of a job opening as a school counselor and the rest is history. It is funny how saying hi to someone in a tap room can lead to so many different opportunities!

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I have made many mistakes in my career. One of the big ones in the beginning was that I took on clients that were not a good fit for me. One of the clients that was not a good fit just stopped coming. We had two sessions and neither of them were good. It felt awkward and not at all safe or comforting for the client or for me. They ghosted me, which was probably for the best. Some clients hit up against our own shadow, trauma, stuff, whatever you want to call it, and it makes it hard to be a good psychotherapist/coach/healer for them. While I definitely didn’t help that client, they were thankfully aware enough to stop before I ended up doing harm. We have this idea that we should be working with everyone, but when we aren’t discerning about our own limitations and needs, we end up doing bad work and often harming people.

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

I have been trained in psychology and psychotherapy as well as more physical based healing modalities like reiki, ayurveda, and yoga. I am able to combine these to create holistic healing that works on both the physical and mental/emotional level to help people live their best lives. I specialize in helping people move through residual or lingering trauma that may not have been resolved by more traditional methods. This trauma that we hold in our bodies can really hold us back, and I know that first hand. Bringing the body into the healing through practices like yoga was what helped me resolve my trauma and I want to help other people find the peace I have.

However, there are a lot of big systemic issues in the world today that impact people’s wellbeing. There is a critique of psychotherapy/coaching/individual healing that working only on the individual level isn’t enough because we aren’t focusing on the environmental and systemic milieu that is creating a lot of the suffering in the world. I agree with this critique. I also know that having safe, supportive relationships are the cornerstone of any change, individual or systemic. This is where I can be of service. I can help people feel safe and supported enough to not only begin to heal themselves, but to begin to work on those larger systemic issues. For example, when I work with executives or entrepreneurs our work not only helps them be less stressed and more fulfilled personally but helps them work toward empathetic and ethical leadership in their companies. Now, this isn’t enough, obviously, and I do some advocacy work as well. But it is a start toward building a better world.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing?

1 . Move. We talk a lot about exercise and it falls flat because humans aren’t meant to exercise. We evolved to move, yes, but that movement was for a purpose — gathering food, making shelter, etc. This is why many people don’t like exercise, because there is little external purpose in the movement. Instead of exercising, try to find ways to move. Dancing (at home alone or in lessons), going swimming for fun, taking a walk or hike in nature, biking somewhere rather than taking the car (if safe), playing movement based video games, skipping instead of walking, and so many other activities are movement that can help you be healthier without having to “exercise”.

I practice yoga, sew (which takes a lot more physical effort than one might think), take walks and hikes, and ride my bike everywhere. This gives me enough movement to stay healthy without having to push myself to go to the gym to work out.

2 . Be mindful. This isn’t just about meditation, though meditating is awesome, in my opinion. Being mindful means to be present in the moment on purpose without judgement. Mindfulness not only helps with mental health, but also lowers blood pressure, improves sleep, and can help with pain.

I take time to be mindful while loading the dishwasher and cleaning the litter boxes every day, for example. I am also very mindful when I am engaging in hobbies like sewing. The point is not what you are doing, but that you pay attention to what you are doing on purpose and without judgement.

3 . Get outside. Nature heals. Forest bathing, walking along a nature trail, or even just finding a tree to sit under can be helpful for your mental and physical health.

I have a convenient nature area right across the street from my house. I take walks frequently and just sit among the trees. Sometimes I sit along the bike path next to the river and watch the water go by. When I lived in a bigger metropolitan area, I would find a tree to sit under to do some reading and had some plants in the house for greenery.

4 . Build healthy relationships. Relationships are the foundation of human wellbeing. Without relationships we cannot even self-reflect, according to Dan Siegel. It is important to create healthy, safe, supportive relationships in order for you to be happy and healthy. This doesn’t mean you need to have 100 friends, but you do need to have at least 1 relationship that makes you feel safe.

Due to my semi-nomadic lifestyle I don’t have a lot of nearby friends and I don’t have a huge list of friends in general. However, I keep my important relationships through texting and calls. I also have a very supportive and safe partner and I always have my coach or my therapist if needed.

5 . Set boundaries. This is one of the hardest parts of any relationship. Boundaries keep us from becoming overly dependent on others or overly independent from others. Many people struggle with creating appropriate boundaries because they believe boundaries to be walls separating them from other people or they use them as ways to control others — many time unknowingly. Boundaries, simply put, are the things that are ok and not ok for you in a relationship. They are NOT things that you ask other people to do or not do.

Here are two of my boundaries as an example:

1. If my friends or partner associate with people who I feel I don’t want to associate with, I do not hang out with them. My partner or my friends are free to associate with whomever they want.
2. I will not ignore my own needs. I struggle with chronic illness. If I have to cancel plans with friends, I do so in a respectful manner. I don’t push myself to “not let people down” when I know it will cause me harm.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

Going back to the systemic issues we discussed before, it is imperative that we create universal physical and mental health care for everyone. Universal care, on it’s own, isn’t enough, but it is a huge step in the right direction. I am already a part of this movement through my professional organizations that advocate for universal healthcare in the US.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. I wish someone told me how to market myself. My education has been mostly on how to do my work, not how to get people to come to me to do my work. This is true for many healers and it can be debilitating for those who start their own practice.
2. I wish someone told me how much time I would spend on admin work. I spend more time on admin work, like social media posts and taxes, than anyone told me I would have to.
3. I wish someone told me individual healing can only go so far. Structural and systemic changes are just as important to advocate for as a healer.
4. I wish someone told me I don’t have to be perfect. There is this idea that therapists and healers are “healed” and have no problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. And you don’t have to be perfect to help others. It is good sometimes to take your own advice, though!
5. I wish someone told me certifications aren’t always helpful. Some certifications are legitimate and necessary, others are just a piece of paper that no one cares about. And which one you have depends on who is looking at it! It is a tough maze to navigate and I wish I had known from the start some of the more common pitfalls.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

Obviously, I focus a lot on mental health in my work and find that to be incredibly important. The environment and sustainability are also incredibly important to me because of their impact on our mental and physical wellbeing. Climate anxiety has become a huge issue, and for good reason. The more we can do to help save our environment, the better our futures will be. While individual choices will not reverse climate change, I can do my best at home and donate or advocate for broader changes.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

You can check our my website, www.innerevolutioncoach.com or find me on linked in https://www.linkedin.com/in/innerevolutioncoaching/

If you want to check out my free meditations, head over to my Insight Timer https://insig.ht/15QwEQ7a3Gb

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.

About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.