Dan Peplin recently joined the Sequoia Wellness team as a health coach, where his services are free of charge to all NEOMED employees and their spouses.
What are your favorite ways to make exercise part of your daily routine?
Living in Medina allows for quick, easy access to great country roads and a fantastic trail system, both of which support my running, mountain biking and cycling interests. While I haven’t been a member of a gym for many years, I do practice yoga four times a week at a Medina studio. Aside from the mental and spiritual components of yoga, it also addresses my strength, flexibility and balance needs.
The majority of my exercise is done with friends so there is lots of laughing and great story telling. Exercise on my own inevitably becomes boring, so that’s my best advice for folks who want to bring exercise into their life: Elevate it on the list of priorities and make it social. Making it social allows it to be more than just exercise. Identify what type of exercise interests you and then find and join a group.
How do you help clients reach their fitness goals?
We all struggle with behavior change-- starting an exercise routine included-- when our reasons for attempting the change aren’t meaningful enough to us. I support my clients in finding one deeply meaningful reason for seeking change and then fleshing out the strengths and values that have supported them through other successful periods of change. Wanting to see a smaller number on the scale is rarely a strong enough motivator to sustain long-term weight control. I support my clients in finding the reason/motivator that will sustain long- term change.
Why have you spent your career helping others to reach their wellness goals?
Like many, I’ve struggled with behavior change and know very well how difficult it can be. I can’t imagine a better job than one that allows me to play a small role in helping a client succeed with this struggle.
What is the process like for a typical client once they engage your services?
The first few sessions are 40-50 minutes long and cover the client’s motivations, obstacles, and solutions to the obstacles for moving forward with the desired change. This is the thinking part of the process and is challenging for most clients. We’re building a foundation of knowledge and experience on which goal progress will be built. What often happens in this discovery process is that the original target goal is supplanted with goals the client was not aware of but ended up taking priority and when achieved will lead back to the original goal. Subsequent sessions can be shorter and bit less intense and focus on what is and is not working and proceed from there. Clients meet with me weekly or bi-weekly
What message do you have for someone who might be intimidated by the thought of starting a new wellness plan to get back into shape?
I would remind them that they have already undertaken and succeeded at a lifestyle change that at that time intimidated them. A new job, new city, new relationship, and having and raising a child are a few of the plethora of life changes that most of us have encountered. There are experts available to help people traverse these changes and sometime we take advantage of this support. Starting on a wellness improvement path and working with a wellness coach is no different.
To learn more, contact Dan at dpeplin@neomed.edu or 330.578.9030.