the stepping stone path – Goldfinch Wellness

Ten simple habits. One trip around the sun.

Now Enrolling for our next round ~ Starts October 2024!

Join us on the Stepping Stone Path.

It’s not really a course you “take” in a traditional sense. It’s a course you “do.”

This year-long program is designed to help you simplify the path to greater health and well-being. So you can start a new chapter in the story of your own mental, physical and emotional health. It puts you in the driver’s seat.

I like to think of it like driver’s ed… but in this case, you’re learning to steer your health and life in the direction of greater potential, health and well-being.

Through simple shifts in the you approach your days, you can switch your body from patterns of inflammation and degeneration to a path of vitality and rejuvenation.

Why we don’t learn this in school is a mystery to me. But we’re designed to continue learning throughout our life. In some ways, learning actually keeps us youthful. So if you never learned how to connect with, appreciate and trust in your body’s wisdom… if you never learned how to create a life that replenishes rather than depletes you, it’s not too late at all.

It’s never too late. Now may be the perfect time.

What can you expect from this new chapter?

The Stepping Stone Path is an immersion course in habit change.

Why habits?

The actions we repeat literally change our physiology. The very matter of our brains remodels itself to accommodate our habits. Pretty soon, we aren’t even thinking about them. That’s the thing about habits ~ they’re automatic.

Imagine being able to architect your days so that the simple actions that support your mental, physical and emotional health became automatic. So that you didn’t even need to give them a second thought.

By paying attention to our habits, we can start to make small shifts that rewire our brains. We can actually automate the habits of resilience and longevity.

Without a doubt, our bodies feel the cumulative effect of our actions. Our behavior dictates our health. Our habits can either lead us down the path of inflammation, degeneration and disease, or they can open the door to rejuvenation, healing and longevity.

Over time, our habits become us.

If you’re concerned about your health ~ your habits can help.

If you feel stuck or disconnected ~ your habits can help.

If you’re overwhelmed, anxious, and depleted ~ your habits can help.

If you’re waking up groggy and stiff in the morning ~ your habits can help.

If you have digestive issues ~ your habits can help.

If you want to feel more comfortable in your body and ease into the optimal weight for your frame ~ your habits can help.

See where I’m going with this…?

Growing up, we rarely get proper training in how to care for ourselves and tend to the various aspects of our health and well-being. And yet our health is truly in our own hands. We are often disconnected from our own power to steer things in the direction we desire.

The Stepping Stone Path is here to help you:

Simplify your path to greater health and well-being
Use time-tested habits to restore balance to your physiology
Experience better sleep, mental clarity and more energy
Learn to create the time and space you need in your days
Let go of unwanted eating patterns, develop a new relationship with food and mealtimes, and improve your digestion
Awaken your intuition and uncover your ability to heal and thrive by listening to your body’s natural wisdom
Accelerate your progress with support, momentum and accountability from a group of peers who are invested in shifting their habits and reaching their health goals.
Renew your relationship with yourself with self-love and self-care
Receive one-on-one support to help you achieve your goals with strategic, compassionate, results-oriented coaching sessions
Relax into the rhythm of an annual cycle… and discover the possibilities that await you!

Here's what we do:

We use behavioral science to build new habits.
We take our time. Trying to change too much, too fast is not conducive to long-lasting changes (trust me! I’ve tried!) We don’t rush the process or try to master a lot of changes in a short amount of time. We want these habits to stick around for years ~ for life, in fact. We use practical tools and strategies from the latest research on habit change. We keep returning to these basic strategies and we continue to ask the question: how easy can you make it?
We align our daily rhythms with the rhythms of nature.
Our species evolved in the context of our environment. The life of a modern human can be quite disconnected from this context, which comes at a serious cost to our health and well-being. Through the ten habits, we reestablish our connection to nature to restore our biorhythms and optimize our physiology. We rebalance our hormones and strengthen immunity. Our mental health improves and we expand our capacity to heal. We experience rejuvenation and a natural increase in energy.

We use the power of the posse.
The research on peer support groups is clear: when it comes to lifestyle changes, people experience better results in a group setting. This program is intentionally structured to tap into the strength of the collective. To discover our potential for deep interconnectivity. We learn to show up in new ways ~ not just for ourselves, but for each other. Together, we build a space where “radical” concepts like resting when we’re tired, learning from our past, and paying attention to our senses become normal. In this day and age, a space like this makes all the difference in the world.
The group model is so powerful because we simply are not meant to try to figure everything out on our own. Part of what we’re collectively suffering from is a notion that we exist in isolation. Yet all the research affirms how all life is deeply interconnected. There’s so much strain on our systems when we insist on struggling though life’s challenges alone. We are social creatures. Mammals. We need one another. And we thrive when we have a space where we can feel seen and heard, and offer the same in turn. Feeling supported and connected is essential to tapping into our capacity to heal.

We go through the 10 habits two times over the course of a year.

In Round One, we learn the habits, explore the tools of habit change and some essential concepts from Ayurveda. We build a foundation of awareness and understanding; a shared context and familiarity within the group. We develop an appreciation for what these habits are and why we do them. Together, we prepare the soil for the growth to come ~ so that our new habits have a healthy space to flourish.
In Round Two, we focus on practicing and integrating them. We troubleshoot, we share what’s working and what isn’t. We make them our own. We’re stepping into the space we created in Round One. We water, watch the seedlings grow, establish them into the fabric of our lives. We gain momentum with the habits, and start to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We free up energy to focus on what matters the most. We’re different from who we were when we started off. We’ve come to appreciate our own growth, and see ourselves on a journey of lifelong growth and learning. These effects even start to ripple out to those around us.

We use the guiding principles of aligning with nature and orienting towards thrive.

You can’t rush the blooming of a flower or the ripening of a fruit. You can, however, create an environment for something to thrive. The Stepping Stone Path is that environment ~ for your health.

We operate in a small, dynamic group setting. We use ground rules to set expectations, avoid common pit-falls and keep us showing up at our best. We learn to listen deeply and show up ~ for ourselves and for each other ~ in new ways. We honor our commonalities and what makes us unique.

This group container ~ a space of inquiry, acceptance, non-judgement ~ is so important to our progress. The work we do in this group ripples out to other areas of our lives. We find ourselves creating more opportunities to connect deeply and communicate with more clarity and compassion.

We use weekly group calls and regular one-on-one coaching sessions to support you in evolving your habits and keep you moving in the direction of your goals. We create an environment for our personal and collective thrive ~ and we keep coming back to this space. We create it with our commitment, vision and shared values. And we evolve on this journey together.

What will you gain in this course?

You’ll receive training in habit change. We use well-researched tools and strategies from behavioral science to give you the best approach for making changes that stick.
You’ll learn, practice, and integrate ten simple, time-tested habits that serve as the foundation of healing, resilience and longevity.
You’ll receive accountability and support through weekly group calls as well as one-on-one coaching. As you learn new habits, we’ll troubleshoot to help you get clear on next steps, based on your particular situation.
You’ll learn basic principles from Ayurveda and other traditional healing systems to expand your understanding and experience of health as a state of wholeness. At their core, all of the wisdom traditions speak to the power of nature and the power of simplicity. These perspectives offer you elegant and simple tools for understanding our own power to both prevent and heal from disease. This provides deep grounding and support for you to continue to take your health into your hands, day by day, month by month, season by season.
You’ll reconnect with your body and its natural intelligence. We emphasize listening to and appreciating our bodies on a whole new level. The body has the answers. We just have to get a lot better at listening. We’ll experience the profound shift from being disconnected from our selves to being powerfully integrated, embodied, and whole.
Long-lasting benefits. The reason we take our time with this course is so that we can continue to reap the benefits of these habits in the long-term. The tools, strategies and perspectives in this course are meant to stay with you, supporting your continued evolution, for life. Spending a year on these habits now can set you up for a completely new trajectory as the next decades of your life unfold. What would you do with that expanded potential?

Who is the Stepping Stone Path for?

This journey is for people who want to simplify their path to greater well-being
It’s for people who are ready to shift ~ from survive to thrive.
It’s for people who want to learn how to take better care of themselves. To listen more attentively and respect their body’s needs so that their body doesn’t have to resort to drastic measures to get them to pay attention.
It is for people who are willing to take a look at their habits and their beliefs about themselves… in order to discover how great they can feel!
It’s for people who want to sleep better, reduce pain, and decrease inflammation. To move more easily…. and enjoy life more as a result.
It’s for people who want to heal their relationship with themselves. To escape from the traps of unrealistic pressure and self-criticism. To find acceptance, appreciation, gratitude and compassion for themselves. And to use this fertile space to cultivate the habits that lead to improved mental, physical and emotional health.
It’s for parents who want to change the story of their family lives ~ to find more space, more energy, more patience. It’s for parents who want to lead their children to patterns of better health by example. By modeling the lasting benefits of truly taking care of themselves.
It’s for people who may be stuck in a pattern of needing to hold things together for everyone and everything around them. Who know on some level that they too have a very real need to be supported.
It’s for people who want to step into their potential.

We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an action, but a habit. ~Aristotle

Why Stepping Stones?

It can be so daunting to look at the gap between where we are right now and where we want to be. Sometimes we become so focused on the gap itself that we loose sight of our actual goal. Stepping Stones transform that sensation of being stuck to one of going somewhere. They show us a way to take small actions, one at a time. They are literally the way across that expanse. They show us that our path is made up of small, reasonable steps. They inspire a sense of adventure, playfulness and fun. They provide us with a sense of stability and support… even in the middle of the unknown.

Over time, the habits themselves will become your support. With this course, you learn to build the support you need directly into your daily life. The habits will be there for you to return to both in times of stress and times of ease. The sooner you start building these habits into your life, the easier it will become to have the support you need within reach. And I know for certain that support is something we all need.

Want to find out more? Let’s chat now to see if this course is right for you!

What’s Included in your Annual Pass?

2 rounds through the 10 habits of BodyThrive
Two guided seasonal resets ~ one at the Spring Equinox, one at the Fall Equinox. (These seasonal resets at each Equinox mark the pause between rounds).
A copy of the book BodyThrive, by Cate Stillman, The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook, by Kate O’Donnell, and The Yamas and Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice, by Deborah Adele.
Access to our private group forum for the duration of your enrollment ~ a space for conversation and connection, complete with an online library of videos, workbooks and resources.
A safe, supportive community, aligned through shared values, to help you show up at your best, for yourself and for each other.
Dynamic group structure with live, weekly (virtual) meetings to provide accountability, support, momentum… and fun! (plus recordings of all group meetings if you can’t make it to any of the live sessions)
A new package of monthly one-one-one coaching sessions each round, for strategic, individualized, compassionate, results-oriented support. These sessions help you troubleshoot, refocus and take ownership of opportunities for small shifts to keep moving in the direction of your goal.