A personal trainer used her own mental health struggles to inspire a female only gym that puts the focus on a healthy mind before any physical transformation.
Sian Golding, 24, from Kinmel Bay, suffered with poor mental health, reaching a low point in 2019 when she attempted to take her own life.
But last year she used lockdown to redefine what was important, qualifying as a yoga instructor and then a mental health and exercise coach.
In October she launched the Elysian Coaching gym in Rhyl to bring together fitness, yoga, personal training and mindset coaching.
Sian said: “Our business slogan is ‘true transformations come from within’ as this is the main focus of the company.
“We believe that healing must start from the inside out and that in order to achieve the physical transformation you desire you must first make peace with your inner world and do so from a place of loving compassion.”
She added: “My background is in personal training originally, I qualified in 2017 but I fell out of love with the role as I felt there was something missing from the industry and I didn’t agree with the way things were done: quick but unsustainable results.
“I had always suffered with my own mental health from a young age, which reached its worst in 2019 when I attempted to take my own life.
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“In 2020 I used the lockdown to work on myself and redefine, for me, what it means to be a coach.”
This led to Elysian Coaching, which has started well for Sian since launching last month.
She said: “Since opening, things have been going really well – all services are staring to fill up with members and we’re constantly expanding our offerings.
“My aim, long term, is to take Elysian Coaching into the online space to enable me to help individuals from further afield.
“But I would also love to be able to work within community mental health services to be offer rehabilitation to those suffering from poor mental health.”
She added: “We don’t do rapid weight loss or shred programmes, we believe that unless you first befriend your inner critic and master your mindset any physical transformation will never last.”