Dessi Eneva – Health Coach
Tell us about yourself
I am health and wellness-enthusiast, lover of nature, and kitchen fairy. I’ve always found a home in learning and experimenting with different healing tools and modalities, and I’m a bit of a forever-student – I always have about 5 books on the go on all sorts of topics. At the moment, I’m diving deep into breathwork and mindfulness.
My background before taking the leap into the healing industry is in the corporate world. I studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at the University College of London (UCL), and starting my career in financial compliance consulting felt like a natural progression. Soon, however, this felt misaligned and finally admitting that I was burnt out allowed me to devote myself fully to becoming a Health Coach. At the time, I didn’t know where this would take me, but in hindsight it was the perfect choice.
In my free time, you can probably find me on the yoga mat, on a nature walk or experimenting with my next healthy treats recipe. I feel most like myself when I’m moving and creating, and I’m on a journey of finding more flow in my spare time. I’ve recently found bliss in drawing – just for the sake of it, with no pressure on the outcome.
I live in Milton Keynes, which has become a wonderful hub in the healing space and I feel so grateful to have moved back here from London. The quiet, the slower pace of life, and the proximity to so many parks and forests have been very healing for me. I make sure to practice what I preach, and developing a slower pace in life is something that I think all of us can benefit from. It’s definitely central to what I teach in my work.
What led you to the naturopathic health industry?
My health journey began like many other women’s – in dieting spirals and hatred of my body in my teens. I stressed about how I looked, what I ate and how much I exercised. When I heard the internal whispers to heal and let go of my inner critic, I learnt what health and radiance truly mean – inner peace, self-belief and happiness. I dived deep into a healthy, whole-foods, plantbased diet, exercising to feel good and developing my confidence.
I knew that a natural approach to my diet, paired with exercise and inner work, would work because our bodies are inherently connected to nature. This is at the heart of naturopathy, and my upbringing around home-grown and -dried herbs, meals from scratch and summer days spent at my grandparents’ ranch had shown me this wisdom from a young age.
A few years after I graduated from university, life offered me another opportunity for growth. The high-paced, high-stress, high-achieving life I had created for myself lead to a back injury and then to chronic back pain. A year later, I experienced burnout. My work-life balance had tipped too far towards work, and my ‘go-getter’ approach was no longer sustainable. I had to face my whole self even deeper, listen to my soul’s calling and make big changes.
Again, I turned to the basics – a natural, whole-foods diet, a more mindful approach to exercise, and making scary life choices to let go of what was draining me. I began to come home to myself and to ask what I really wanted. The answer was clear – finally follow my passion in the health world.
Training to be a Health Coach made perfect sense! Health coaching offers a holistic, 360 degree approach, and that’s what I’ve always been about. I think that if we focus on just one aspect of our health, we miss the rest, and crash and burn. In particular, I chose to train with the College of Naturopathic Medicine because I knew that a natural approach to health held the answers. I was brought up to value a naturopathic approach, and my own experience with it has always lead to positive effects. I now love sharing this wisdom with others, and creating a space for people to tap into their own inner wisdom.
Today, what does your practice entail?
I offer online as well as in-person coaching. I always knew that I wanted to offer inline coaching as it means I can work with people from anywhere, and makes it easier for clients to fit working with me around a busy schedule. Still, the pandemic gave us all a slight virtual burnout, so in-person is also very important to me. I offer a 70-min. Power Session to clients looking for a one-off session with me, as well as longer 4-8 Week Programs, which allow us to dive deeper and create lasting transformation.
Alongside a Health Coach, I am a Yoga Teacher, Reiki Healer and Cacao Ceremony facilitator. I think that these all blend beautifully and give me a unique perspective when working with clients, as it means I can offer more knowledge, tools and support.
How did you find your “niche?”
I feel that the emphasis on finding a ‘niche’ can sometimes be a little forced. As cliche as it sounds, I think that your niche finds out!
I would say that my specialism is my ability to deeply understand the interconnection between all parts of us – mind, body and soul. Taking a slow approach to explore each aspect means that we stay curious and non-judgmental on the healing journey, and allow the right questions and answers to come to us. Whilst I have a lot of expertise in gut health, for example, someone that has a gut issue might really have a stress issue. So, we need to stay open to where the root cause might be and offer tools that go deeper than the presenting issues.
Also central to my philosophy is taking an intuitive and mindful approach. This is both in regards to diet, exercise and life choices. I believe that the more we can connect with our inner wisdom, the better our wellbeing and overall life alignment become.
Have you written any books or material that you want to share? (books, e-books, articles, programs, seminars) Please list titles, and where to find them.
For now, I have lots of things on my blog, as well as free informational downloads that people can find on my website. These include a ‘101’ guide to plantbased eating, a 7-day program to finding more love towards your body, and a suggested 7-day plantbased meal plan. I love writing, and also post a lot on my Instagram (@dessi.eneva). I enjoy spending time on making complex information easily-digestible. I think that there is so much misinformation out there, so helping people to un-learn health myths is very important to me. With time, I hope to work on longer things!
Can you tell us about how your ANP membership has benefited you?
It feels wonderful to be part of a wider network of humans doing similar work to what I do! This work can be at times lonely as we’re all on our separate paths, but the ANP membership is a reminder that we’re all connected, even if not always obviously.
I also love the access to webinars, CPD and tools, as it means I can always stay up-to-date with research and studies.
