OM Focus: Anouk Jacob (MO 1992-94)

Tell us a bit about your background

I grew up in continental Europe and arrived in England at age 13 to go to boarding school. I attended Marlborough College for my A levels and was in Morris House.

I used to work in Corporate PR, had several successful positions including Deputy Manager of Point Virgule, and General Manager of Ballou PR. I’ve worked in London, Paris, and Brussels. I loved my PR job but it was intense; high levels of stress with not much sleep as I was burning the candle at both ends.

After a burn out, I decided to go see a well known Naturopath that a friend highly recommended. Within six months of implementing a few new lifestyle habits and some food changes, I noticed a huge difference in my well-being; both at physical and mental level. This created a curiosity in me that has grown into a passion: holistic healing!

I went on to study Naturopathy, started having a daily yoga practise, learnt about meditation, and my desire around all these subjects just hasn’t stopped growing.

I decided to drop everything and went travelling for two years. I spent over a year in India studying Ayurveda, completing two yoga teacher trainings, and doing numerous meditation retreats. The second part of my voyage was spent in South America where I studied Medicinal Plants and Essential Oils, and continued learning more about yoga and meditation through different workshops and retreats I attended.

How did you end up setting up Harmonious Health?

After my journey ended, I enrolled at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (based in New York) which certified me as a Health & Lifestyle Coach. In parallel, I continued to study different subjects from Gut Health to Hormones to Sleep to Stress and last year decided I finally had the skill set to launch my business.

I named my company Harmonious Health as my desire is to help people feel their best; finding balance and harmony, at all levels – body and mind. Harmonious Health is about supporting people and helping them get their life back; through holistic means which includes nutrition and lifestyle (be it stress, sleep, movement, social/personal/work life, spiritual – all aspects that impact a person’s well-being).

We understand you are also a Meditation Instructor and Yoga teacher. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

My teachings are very focused around breath work and working through challenges that people face. Most of the time people are stuck in their head; stressed, regretting the past, fretting about the future, which creates a cascade of effects on both the physical and mental health of a person. I use many different techniques as I adapt according to an individual’s needs, but ultimately it’s about self-realisation; creating peace of mind and developing awareness around our thinking process and thoughts.

It’s all about neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to continuously change; also known as the ‘muscle building part of the brain’. With every repetition of a thought or of an emotion a neural pathway is reinforced, and with each new thought, a new way of thinking and feeling is created. I work on helping people create these changes. With repetition, one can literally re-wire our brains.

How can people get in touch with you? 

Through my website at www.harmonioushealth.co.uk
or via email at info@harmonioushealth.co.uk
or via Instagram at harmonioushealthuk