Continuing our 'Day in the life of' series, we've asked kinesiologist Claire Snowdon-Darling to tell us a bit about her daily routine. Owner of the Balanced Wellness Centre in Havant, Claire practises a variety of different therapies alongside kinesiology, including aromatherapy, massage, reiki and nutritional advice. Claire also regularly blogs for Wahanda - you can see her posts over on her blog, A Balanced View. Over to Claire...
How do you make sure you get the day off to a good start?
As soon as I wake up, I have about 30 minutes of quiet contemplation and centreing myself and focussing in. I use this time to positively manifest outcomes in my life and I like to think about the day ahead and reflect on the clients I am seeing and mentally prepare for their sessions. Sometimes I will follow this with a dynamic meditation or a workout, depending on my schedule.
What does a typical working day consist of for you?
I spend about 2 hours in the morning dealing with emails, looking at social media and my website, making phone calls and getting admin done or writing my blog.
I see my first client around 10am – I usually have 7 clients with a short break when I do the school run in the afternoon then work often until 7.30pm/8pm.
Sometimes, if I have a lot of projects on the go and talks to give, I will do some work in the evening.
It sounds like a warped work/life balance, but I only work like that 3 days a week to ensure a lot of time can be given to my family, myself and my home.
A few weekends a month, I travel to London to teach for The Academy Of Systematic Kinesiology. These are long but immensely rewarding days as I love to teach this amazing subject I am so passionate about! My days off in the week therefore are vital to keep my energy and passion at its peak.
What do you find rewarding about your work?
I honestly love spending an hour with my clients and finding out about them. I love how the body lets us in when we start listening and the 'eureka' moments I get when something clicks and their health issues suddenly make sense give me goosebumps. I am passionate that people leave my clinic feeling empowered that their condition isn’t something that is happening TO them – it has a reason for being there and a message, we just need to figure it out, it’s a team effort. When a client commits to themselves to make positive change I feel so honoured to be part of their journey. It’s the most amazing feeling .
Is there anything you don’t like about your job?
I can hand on heart say the only thing I dislike about my job is placing orders with my nutrition suppliers and some of the admin stuff, it's not much to complain about really! I love my job!
What sort of food do you eat during a working day?
Every morning I have a protein shake that also contains soluble and insoluble fibre and trace minerals. I take huge amounts of supplemental nutrition. I have worked hard to be well and I intend to stay that way. I am too busy to be ill!
Lunch will usually be a homemade soup, or, if I have time, a treat will be a poached egg with kale and fish and maybe a piece of rye bread.
Dinners are usually fish or meat with veg. I don’t eat dairy, wheat or starchy carbs as a rule so we fill up on fresh lovely greens. I will often sneak a piece of raw chocolate.
I always drink 2 litres of water, often with liquid chlorophyll and I love my herbal teas!
What do you do to switch off and unwind after working hard?
I like to hang out with my family and then have a bath and read! If I have a rare weekend off I am a sucker for a good dance (a club or my living room – I'm not fussy) and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc!
Is there anything you wish you had more time for?
More travel, always more travel! I do also sometimes wish I had more time 'being' rather than 'doing'.
We think we'll definitely be borrowing some of Claire's tips this New Year - especially those tasty meal ideas! If you want to read more of Claire's thoughts, you can catch up with her blogs on A Balanced View. Don't forget to keep an eye out for our next 'Day in the life of' post, coming soon...
