“Five years ago I was standing in my gym in California talking to a friend about how I had kept getting this feeling that there was something more I was suppose to be doing with my life,” Kari Whipkey tells us, “I could feel that I was not supposed to be a personal trainer for much longer. As I was talking I got a vision of me talking on stage with a microphone in front of thousands of people. I was telling my story. That scared me so much! I hadn't told more than my family and best friend that I had struggled with eating disorders and I had never done public speaking. All of that was so out of my element but I couldn't deny that it was my future. A couple months later I moved to Arizona, told my story, got so much loving response to my vulnerability and realized I was on the right path and that I would eventually manifest that vision.”
Kari owned her own personal training gym and outdoor bootcamps for over twelve years. She loved her clients and had a lot of fun training, however she felt like some aspects were missing in her coaching. She witnessed her clients grow physically stronger and sometimes lose weight, and yet they remained unhappy with themselves and usually gained the weight back.
“During that time of being a personal trainer I struggled with eating disorders (bulimia, orthorexia, anorexia and binge eating) as well as exercise addiction,” Kari shares, “I was desperate to feel peace with my body and love for my life through changing my physique and it never worked. I've been a size 16 to a size 0 and still hated my life and who I was. The desire to find peace was what lead me on the journey of healing from the inside.”
During that time, Kari received Reiki and loved what it did for her. She began to feel pulled to move away from the training and learn how to incorporate Life Coaching and energetic healing modalities to serve herself and her clients.
“I had gone to SWIHA over 20 years ago for Massage Therapy,” she explains, “so when I decided I wanted to go back to school, it was a no brainer that I go to SWIHA to become a Mind-Body Wellness Practitioner. I am so passionate about these modalities because they are literally what helped me out of my own personal hell of eating disorders and body image issues.”
Her second experience at SWIH taught Kari that,to be the coach she wants to be, she has to be committed to her own healing and growth. “And I am!” She declares, “I'm thankful for SWIHA for creating the safe space for me to be with my pain and process it all so that I could evolve and grow.”
“I love being an entrepreneur, that's all I've ever been,” Kari declares, “I used to be a massage therapist, a personal trainer and now I am an online and in person spiritual life coach. It's just in my blood to be an entrepreneur!”
Kari now offers online group coaching, as well as created programs for women to reconnect with the health and sexuality of their bodies, “I do one-on-one online and in person coaching helping with a wide variety of issues like lack of confidence, food and body, addictions, sexual trauma, intimacy and more. I also facilitate group and private holotropic breathwork sessions helping my clients release stored trauma, emotions and pain. It's a powerful, beautiful experience to witness and be a part of. With all of my programs and services that I offer my primary goal is to help my clients heal their trauma and reconnect back into their bodies so that they can finally feel peace and contentment with who they are and their life.”
Kari offers Reiki, Polarity, Crystal Healing, Toe Reading, Angel Cards and Life Coaching to her clients, “It is so amazing all the tools I am able to offer. I feel so blessed to have gone to SWIHA to learn all the beautiful modalities that I am now able to share with so many.”
If you’re feeling called to serve the world in a big way, Kari shares this message with you: “When you fully immerse yourself in the classes for your healing, you then ‘get’ the power of the modality because you experienced it yourself. You have a deeper understanding of the impact the tool can make in someone's life because you felt it yourself!”
You can connect with Kari through her website, Instagram or Facebook!
