I meet with Lisa Batson Goldberg in the heart of Leslieville. She shows up in vibrant, purple yoga wear at the coffee shop she suggested a few weeks ago, the Purple Penguin; there’s now purple everywhere I look. Purple symbolizes spirituality, sub-consciousness and creativity; it all makes sense. She’s meeting with me after seeing one of her clients, whose life I’m sure has been transformed in some way since meeting her. As a lifestyle coach for the past seven and a half years, Lisa teaches people how to live healthier: mind, body, spirit; a career she stumbled into quite unintentionally.
“I started working first in holistic nutrition helping people balance their mental health naturally, but very quickly it morphed into more of transformational life coaching. You can help people a lot with their food, you can impact health and their quality of life massively, but when it comes to mental health, you need to also do the other work,” says Lisa, who’s also a registered holistic nutritionist.
And Lisa has done the other work. Her own journey began during her years as a professional performing artist in musical theatre. After spending two years in London, she begun feeling lost and unfulfilled, and experienced severe depression. She sought professional help and was prescribed antidepressants “which ended up making things so much worse.” Lisa knew there must be a better way for her to heal and get happy, and so begun her venture into alternative medicine. From there on out, Lisa’s life drastically shifted and she’s been a catalyst of health and happiness ever since.
“…how many people out there are medicated and don’t need to be because no one has exactly helped them work through why they’re not happy,” says Lisa.
Expanding on her desire to share her happiness formula, Lisa started Get Happy Retreats which are as Eat Pray Love as one can get — from basking in the rejuvenating sun, sand and sea of Tulum, Mexico to sublime serenity in a 17th century monastery tucked in the hillsides of Puglia, Italy — her retreats combine the relaxation you gain from a holiday with radical transformative coaching, meditation and yoga which help you reconnect with who you are and who you want to be.
“A lot of people with retreats they want to go and get blissed out, but then they come back and everything is the same. So the idea with my retreats is that you can go and actually learn about yourself and find awareness and whatever transformation you’re looking for in the week. Then you have perimeters to bring it back and incorporate things into your daily life,” says Lisa.
Retreats are impactful, but without continuous dedication and being in the right environment it can be challenging to live inspired daily. For those who wish to extend their inner work, outwardly, Lisa also offers her unique brand of professional interior design where she asks all the same questions she would in a coaching session, and then creates a space based on your needs.
“Interior design as a means of healing, connecting with who you are and aligning yourself with your desires and the life that you want,” Lisa explains.
Many times, in the hustle of working at our jobs and the bustle of working on ourselves, we can forget the importance of working on our homes, offices or studios, ensuring that’s it not just a place that’s clean or practical but that’s nurturing and inspiring. Lisa’s designs are intuitive and every colour, fabric and texture is intentional and aims to create the right energy for you in your space.
“It’s all about getting clear on who you are, what you want your life to look and feel like, and getting clear on what your desires are and then basically having your physical space as a means of bringing you closer to that: as a means of healing, as a means of grounding and calming, as a means of energizing, as a means of inspiring; basically creating a physical environment that supports people, creating what they want in life,” explains Lisa.
If you would like to connect with Lisa visit Get Happy Retreats. If you’d like to go to the La Rosa dei 4 Venti Puglia, Italy retreat on June 25 – July 2, 2016 there’s still time to sign-up!
Q&A
What is your definition of happiness?
It means to just follow your heart in every way because happiness is a malleable thing, and if you’re always just listening to your intuition you’re being guided. Most of us get messages from ourselves but we don’t listen because we prioritize other things. The number one thing I think would make people happier is if they listened to that voice inside their head more often.
What has been the most rewarding thing about your job?
Just seeing how peoples’ lives change once they start prioritizing themselves. Basically, what I do is teach people how to love themselves in every way through self care, thoughts and beliefs, and more mindfulness. I don’t do anything that people couldn’t do on their own. I’m just a catalyst for people. I just project back to people what they already intuitively know.
How do you manage your time?
I structure things in. I treat my personal things like they’re work things. I don’t prioritize my personal things as less important. If anything, it’s more important because I won’t have the physical and mental health that I need if I don’t put those things in place; so they’re actually even more important.
What are your favourite pieces in your space?
Plants, I have five bouquets of fresh cut flowers everywhere all the time, crystals & very colourful pieces.
What’s the first step in making a positive, healthy change in one’s life? Sleep and eat.
*This is not a sponsored post