Dr. Monika Herwig BSc ND
Dr. Monika Herwig BSc ND, is a mother to two young adults and one puppy, a medically focused Yoga Instructor, a Calm Mind Acupuncturist, a Yoga Nidra (Restorative Sleep) Facilitator and a Restorative Yoga Mentor.
Dr. Monika includes Life Coaching in her work. She has completed the Life Coaching Foundations Training and is currently completing a Women-Centered Transformational Facilitation Training through the world renowned Institute of Women Centered Coaching + Leadership (Feminine Power Model). This breakthrough model of women’s life and wellness coaching addresses the challenges and barriers that women currently are bumping up against in a fresh, very effective, embodied and efficient way. (It’s exciting to fast track positive change!)
She has been practicing Naturopathic Medicine and running Wellness programs (from cooking and nutrition, to mindfulness for moms and yoga, to wellness programs in schools, to women’s empowerment) in the Bow Valley since 2000.
Dr. Monika attracts clients who are keen to take charge of their own health and wish to use natural remedies and a wholehearted, whole person approach. These are women who do not want to go through the motions and settle in life. They have in them the desire to make a positive difference in their family and/or the world. They want to live their best life, discover and share their gifts and love without burning out in the process. They know that their level of well-being affects what is possible in all the areas that make for a meaningful life: relationships, work, passion and purpose, creativity, play and fun, creating abundance, living with confidence, life enjoyment! AND so they prioritize getting support in this area!
Dr. Herwig mentors her clients individually as well as with her 3 month kickstarter signature programs that allow women to simply be supported to set in place the most important foundations for creating and maintaining a high level of health, energy, ease and inspiration in their lives.
In addition to her naturopathic medical tools (acupuncture, nutrition, herbs, yoga therapy and homeopathy) she advocates the use of art, storytelling, nature connection, mindfulness, yoga, laughter and play in getting and staying healthy. Dr. Monika works together with parents, caregivers and teachers to create healthy foundations for children so they can have the capacity in mind and body to thrive in our changing world.
INFLUENTIAL ADVENTURES: EDUCATION AND LIFE
1996 - 1999 - completed 4 year post-graduate naturopathic medicine training at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine
1996 - completed her undergrad at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. focusing on plant and animal ecology. This undergrad degree took her on some self-directed semester projects on herbal medicine in the Mayan villages and glorious Rainforests of Central and South America. She also spent a summer in Bamfield, B.C. focusing on Rainforest Ecology and First Nations Medicine.
2000 - This love of nature drew her and her family to create home in the stunning Bow Valley. Dr. Herwig enjoys travelling and working abroad - in Mexico (at an orphanage), Germany (at a Nature based Spa Hospital) and in Spain (as a teacher).
2003 - 2007 - became a mama of one and then two 💕and loved going deeper in the area of child wellness, development and consciousness (took Waldorf trainings on Early Childhood at Calgary Waldorf, Toronto Waldorf School and in the States and loved my studies with Simplicity Parenting Guru Kim John Payne). This was a time as well of figuring out what most nourished and replenished me in my mothering and I became really interested in the things I would do that would nourish my children and myself at the same time! 🙌 At the end of the day I realized the power of presence, play, rhythm, meal planning, community and nature connection. You are Your Child’s First Teacher, Heaven on Earth and Simplicity Parenting were favourite books and supports!
2008 - Completed 500 hour, 2 year Yoga Teacher Training and incorporates this in her practice and retreats seeing the powerful affect proper breathing and a flexible body brings to all aspects of one's life.
2011 - completed year long Foundations Consciousness Studies Program and Intensive Waldorf Education Teacher Training focused on the well-being of the whole child - body, mind and soul.
2013 - spent 3 weeks walking the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain - this has influenced the services she brings to her naturopathic practice and her understanding of the health benefits on the physical body of cultivating mindfulness or "presence" with ourselves and with our world and the power of 'heart treks/soulventures.'
2016 - completed Basic Yoga Nidra Facilitator training as well as Yoga Nidra Advanced and Kids Training through the Amrit Yoga Institute in Florida and on the Sunshine Coast to help teach people how to get into a state of healing and decrease (and transform) the impact of stress on the body. 30 minutes of this type of guided meditation is said to be equivalent to 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep! Very restorative.❤️
2017 - Completed Basic DNA and the Advanced DNA Theta Healing Workshops in Calgary to support clients in identifying and shifting limiting beliefs that are getting in the way of a relaxed, joyful, and satisfying life and relationships with your children, partner, friends and family. Figuring out underlying beliefs that contribute to disease and changing (rewiring) the program/beliefs that keep you stuck, overwhelmed, down, irritated or tired is a game changer.
2018 - Went back to the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain to walk the last section as well as the stretch from Santiago to the ocean. My dream of taking women on a Heart trek/Soulventure experience to this spiritually potent area of the world was re-awakened. Stay tuned in the future for a Walking Om Women’s Hiking + Yoga Soulventure Experience!
2019 - Successfully hosted first International Retreat at Eco Yoga Resort Xinalani in Mexico supported by Adrienne, Zhiish and Tara
2020 - Covid 19 Adventures and Studies: Completed second level I-rest Yoga Nidra Teacher Training, became a certified Restorative Yoga Instructor, led some local awakening women to join her on a 7 Sacred Site Rocky Mountain Chakra Grid Soulventure Experience, began her advanced training in the area of Women’s Empowerment and Transformation with the Feminine Power Team at the world renown Institute of Women Centered Coaching + Leadership
2021 - led 7 women through a 9 month journey (Spring Equinox to Winter Solstice) focused on empowerment, joy + well-being. The group intention was for each woman to support one another in creating a more beautiful, truer, fulfilling life .
Each woman had her own intention within that that became her North Star for the course. The program focused on the power of sisterhood and group wisdom/support, introduced power practices and mindset shifts to inspire creating in a new way (feminine power) that honors well-being and joy and deep connection to/care of oneself .
It was a powerful, loving, structured container for women to learn, practice and embody a new empowered way of being with the three relationships that make up each of our lives: relationship with Self, with Life (God/Creator/Spirit) and others. The women stretched, grew and leaped outside of past comfort zones and had access to the support and tools to be unstoppable in the face of setbacks/self doubt/limiting beliefs that would have in the past had them give up on their dream/desire/vision. Each women had transformed the way they engaged in the world. More growth mindset, less fixed mindset. More openness, less contraction. More wonder, less worry. More in creation, less in reaction. More compassion, more connection. More presence, more joy.
