Women In Wellness: Sharlyn Green Of Tivity Health and SilverSneakers On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Wanda Malhotra
Being open to opportunities is important as well. Life can be challenging but it’s important to be open to those new opportunities — even if they are a little scary or you don’t feel completely prepared to take them on.
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 Sharlyn Green.
Sharlyn Green, National Trainer for Tivity Health’s SilverSneakers program, brings 20+ years of expertise in wellness and fitness. As a seasoned presenter and content creator, she designs impactful programs and is committed to delivering effective wellness solutions. Sharlyn has an MA in Management in Healthcare Administration and holds numerous fitness certifications including Yoga Alliance RYT-500, Personal Trainer, group exercise instructor, Corrective Exercise Specialist and Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. Sharlyn is passionate about connecting with the community of SilverSneakers members on SilverSneakers LIVE, and enjoys playing music, taking long rides on her bike and creating delicious meals with her family.
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’ve been in fitness and working with the senior population for over 20 years. I started as a spin instructor then went on to be a personal trainer and a yoga teacher. My passion really is working with people who have challenges — like people with autoimmune diseases, cancer or Parkinson’s. I’m also a corrective exercise specialist and a brain health coach. I have a husband and 2 kids that are out of the house. I love music and wine trips to Napa Valley with my friends and family.
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?
Well, when I think about interesting stories, I’ve had the good fortune to have quite a few amazing experiences. I’ve traveled the country to train instructors, including SilverSneakers instructors. I’ve taught and trained people in different countries from different experiences as well. Instead of thinking about a specific interesting story, I think the most interesting things I’ve experienced are connections… the people I get to know and work with. When I think about that, I can follow the story or the chain of events as it led me through my career by the connections I formed. For example, I started as a cyclist — not professional — I just love to ride, and through riding I met someone who owned a fitness studio. She asked me to teach my first group cycle class in her studio in Arizona which led me to teaching at a local college. While teaching there I met another individual who wanted me to work in their new wellness studio. During my time at that studio, I met someone else who introduced me to SilverSneakers and asked me to come on board. There are so many connections that led me to where I am today and to what I’m doing now in the field of fitness and wellness. All these opportunities — although they weren’t directly linked in my head — remind me to be open and to take advantage of as many opportunities as I can, even if I’m not completely comfortable or confident in every situation yet. It gives me room to grow.
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?
When I first started fitness and wellness, I really thought more must be better than less, so I pushed hard all the time. I always thought “work harder” instead of thinking much about “working smarter”. Everything was raised to level 10 and my kind of nutrition plan was one of deprivation. I believe this mindset led me away from being really healthy and it followed me for years in my struggle to get fit and to find a healthy weight for my body that makes me feel great. Now, I work hard but I have balance. I integrate things like stress management, and I work on optimizing my sleep. I understand the importance of recovery time, more each and every year as it becomes even more important as I try to age as gracefully as possible. I also eat mindfully rather than depriving myself. I add things to my diet that are healthier, try to avoid processed foods and eat as many whole foods as I can. I work hard to avoid guilt, shame and negative associations with food whenever possible. My mindset is to come from abundance rather than deprivation and I believe that’s helped me tremendously.
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?
One of the most amazing opportunities I have working at Tivity Health with the SilverSneakers program is being involved in a community. It is a really vibrant community that spans the entire country. I get to work and communicate with thousands of members every week. I see people in my sessions all the way from Hawaii to New York to Maine to Florida. I get to create and facilitate fitness classes and events, and I really meet so many interesting people with such great stories of their journeys, including the experiences of where they are right now in life. I also have the opportunity to do video work that goes out publicly on the SilverSneakers YouTube channel, as well as the training I create for SilverSneakers instructors. Those three things: spending time training and connecting with members, writing and delivering instructor training for SilverSneakers instructors and having the opportunity to create videos for the public allows me to make an impact in multiple ways — and I’m so thankful for those opportunities.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing?
1. Balance. Balance in the context of resilience. Having balance in your life is the pathway to resilience — the pool of strength you can draw from when you’re stressed or when things come up in life. When we think of “self-care” sometimes we think of selfishness, but taking care of yourself isn’t selfish. It’s wise. It creates resilience. Having balance is important to thrive in life.
2. Movement. Prioritizing movement and finding ways to integrate movement into your life — all types of movement. It can be a walk around the block. It can be dance, yoga, cardio, tai chi. Healthy movement can be just standing up more and finding ways to move more through the day. Movement is one of the most important things for your brain, body and mood.
3. Lifestyle choices. Making small choices and taking small steps to create big changes over time. It may seem insignificant right now, but those small steps create big change. Having health as your priority and making sure you’re taking care of yourself — doing the things you need to accomplish for the day and in your life can be helpful in the long run. Lifelong learning, limiting screen time, prioritizing sleep, eating good food — all these things are important. They may seem small when taken one-by-one, but together they create big change.
4. Choose gratitude. Having a gratitude practice, taking time to focus on what I’m grateful for and then paying attention to how that gratitude affects my overall attitude can really change my outlook. It changes my mood and my ability to focus. Research shows that gratitude practice can even change the way you think, and I believe that’s a really great life hack. It’s free, and it’s something that makes you feel great and makes your outlook on life improve.
5. Stress management. Stress management is a big focus to me and it’s one of the things I love to teach. Two important ways that mental health is impacted by how well we sleep and how well we manage our stress. Taking care of your mental health with practices like prioritizing getting good quality sleep, making sure to find stress management strategies that work for you will create better overall health and satisfaction in life.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would start a movement called “Eat well, Sleep well and Live well.” The foundations of good health. The foods that you put into your body literally become the person that you are. It’s hard to overstate or over-emphasize the importance of prioritizing eating healthy foods. Learning strategies to improve your chances of getting a good night’s sleep can improve your life significantly. Again, healthy eating and sleep impact your mood, but they also impact your weight, brain health and quality of life. Sleeping well affects us more than we commonly realize.
When I think about living well, I envision enjoying relationships and eating delicious and wholesome food, fresh air and movement, but I’m also thinking about finding value in the little and big things that make life worthwhile. Living well means taking time to enjoy life, cultivating relationships and doing the things you love to do. I have a sign in my studio that says, “do one thing every day that makes you happy.” Finding purpose, the thing that makes you passionate, the thing that lights your fire — that’s part of living well. Purpose gives meaning to life. It can be small, like learning how to play a new instrument or looking for movement that you enjoy or volunteering at a local shelter. These things can help find that purpose and manage your stress to ultimately live a better life.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
One important thing I’ve learned through some very wise people in my life is that when you say yes to something, it can mean you’re saying no to something or to someone else. So, now try I work to prioritize relationships over other distractions and to take the time to think about my relationships and how to keep them healthy.
Being open to opportunities is important as well. Life can be challenging but it’s important to be open to those new opportunities — even if they are a little scary or you don’t feel completely prepared to take them on.
Try to create balance — balance in life.
Also, every choice in life is an opportunity. Lifestyle choices have a direct impact on quality of life, and how well you age. Every choice is important.
Lastly, it’s never too late to make a good choice. It doesn’t matter what you decided before, it’s a new day. It’s never too late to make good choices. Work hard, have fun and try to create balance.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
This is a very interesting question to me because I do eat a whole-food, plant-based diet, and I believe in the power of eating healthy foods with as little processing as possible. It’s made a big difference for me and my health, and it’s helped me navigate through autoimmune challenges and I believe that maintaining that lifestyle in also helping me age as gracefully as possible — to be as healthy as I can be. Plant-based eating is something very important to me — the amazing impact of eating good things — on myself and my environment.
Mental health is also a priority. I think the impact of uncontrolled stress on overall health, including mental health, is prevalent in society and it’s something that many of us don’t see until our physical health is affected and impacted in a big way. Our lives are full of small and big stressors, and while we can’t eradicate or remove stress from our lives, we can find ways to manage it. We need some stressors and challenges in life in order to flourish and reach toward greater things, but chronic, overwhelming stress can be detrimental to our health, mental state and overall wellbeing. Finding meaning and purpose — which we often don’t relate to stress management — can be a critical factor as we try to find ways to build resilience and optimal health. It’s all about creating that pool of strength to draw from in life, building resilience and optimizing health through things like movements, exercise, mindfulness, gratitude, community and connection, healthy eating, enjoying music and more.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
If any readers are SilverSneakers members, they can connect with me on SilverSneakers.com through our live classes. Also, they can follow our SilverSneakers YouTube Channel, where some of our master trainers create videos that include strategies to exercise, train and eat healthy.
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.
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.
