About Ellen
All of my life I have known myself as a Truth seeker, and I have always loved to share my discoveries with others. My passion for true health creation began as I approached age twenty and experienced my own previously good health begin to deteriorate at an alarming rate.
For years, following a ski accident which left one knee in shatters, and my first time leaving home for college, I suffered from a seemingly endless array of symptoms, including migraine headaches, TMJ, depression, insomnia, debilitating back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, and severe chronic reflux. Various drugs were prescribed to me by different kinds of doctors. The medications all came with unpleasant “side effects,” and left me feeling detached from my true self.
Intuitively I felt a mindbody connection, and I also realized the importance of an appropriate diet. I hungered for information that made real sense, and I began to read voraciously about health and nutrition while in college. As my search led me deeper, I found yoga. Yoga became a lifeline for me, and though it would be many years before I had command of a consistent practice, I gained much insight into my Self, my body, my emotional and spiritual needs, and the awesome power of mind mastery. I have always been athletically inclined, and yoga also met this need in a form that felt safe and fulfilling.
Diet was another story . . . I tried every healthy sounding dietary possibility I came across, and while I would often experience brief improvements in my symptoms, they would inevitably return or crop up in a new form. I began to lose hope of ever figuring out how to eat right. I received treatments from all sorts of alternative healers, but I was never fully able to heal.
Then in 2002, I learned of a natural, uncooked diet of fresh fruits and vegetables. After nearly 20 years of nutrition study, and as many years of suffering, the first book I read about a raw diet gave me the biggest “aha” moments of my life . . . I knew I had found some real answers, some core truths I was seeking. The very next day I adopted a raw vegan diet, and I have never turned back because I love the benefits so much.
Mine has been an inspired and adventurous path, and not always an easy one. Yet with each step, I have felt more awake on every level, and this always keeps me going. I have spent years weeding through information and stumbling through many teachings before finding the people whom I would choose to trust as my guides. I could see that they had truly mastered what I wanted: they walked their talk with radiant success! There are many potential pitfalls when learning how to live a healthy, natural, vibrant and authentic life today, and I discovered that qualified expert guidance is essential.
Today I enjoy a healthy raw lifestyle and mindful movement practice along with other exercise and creative self-expression. I have incorporated my early yoga studies and other experience into what I now think of as Living Movement, and an open-focus mindfulness. As my dreams continue to evolve and come alive, I know a level of self-empowerment previously unimaginable to me. If physical vibrancy becomes compromised due to injury or other temporary imbalance, I see the opportunity to up-level my understanding and mastery of mental, physical and emotional poise, and to advance my spiritual practice. As I see it, there is ALWAYS a way to tap into our natural inner vibrancy. I invite YOU to walk (and joyously bound along) a path of liberating abundance of health, wellness, and authentic dream creation with me.
I can help you to get in touch with what it is that you really want, learn what you need to know, and walk you through the transformative journey of facing your fears, navigating “obstacles” with wisdom and grace, and becoming the person who you need to be to live the life you’d love to live.
My professional credentials include a master’s degree in counseling, specialized in Art Therapy, Registered Yoga Teacher certification with the National Yoga Alliance, and Raw Nutritional Science training from internationally renowned raw food and fitness teachers, Dr.Doug Graham and Professor Rozalind Gruben Graham. I embody more than forty years of independent research on the topics of health and nutrition, my own personal experience adhering to a raw vegan diet since 2002 and mentoring others since 2007, commitment to a personal mindful movement and spiritual practice, and the knowledge gained from traveling the country and beyond to numerous workshops and training events in the complementary fields of life mentoring, dream building, Natural Hygiene and raw food nutrition, yoga, physical fitness, and sustainable living practices.
My other passions include – playing with my grown children, swimming in lakes, waterfalls, and warm oceans, bicycling on country roads, walking barefoot on the earth, delighting in mindful movement wherever I am, making art and music, singing and dancing and growing food in the connection of simple community. I currently reside in Southwest Florida, in charming Englewood on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and I offer customized raw vegan retreats and independent stays in the home I call Living Heart Sanctuary: https://www.ellenlivingston.com/florida-retreats
Join me on the adventure the Costa Ricans call, “La Pura Vida,” or The Pure Life!
“I enjoyed every aspect, from the amazing food, to the relaxed and supportive environment, to the more intimate coaching that Ellen is able to provide in a small group setting. I am continually impressed by Ellen's knowledge and expertise on what we go through when we're detoxing and changing our lifestyles, which is invaluable when making the commitment. I am so grateful that Ellen has chosen to share her knowledge in this way.”
~Julie Pfitzenmaier