Hi, I’m Lana, and I’m YAMA’s in-house nutritionist. 

 

You’ll be hearing some nutrition tips and ways you can improve your overall diet in the coming months, but what you won’t hear is how to lose weight, what diet you can jump on board with or which health product is trending. As you get to know me more, you’ll understand why.

 

I enjoy debunking nutrition myths and steering clear of mainstream nutrition trends but I haven’t always been this way. When I graduated from my Bachelor of Health Science (nutrition) I had a very narrow minded view of health. I thought proper nutrition was the solution to everyone’s problems and that most conditions could be fixed with a good probiotic, magnesium, or a superfood from Peru. But I learned from years of seeing clients and doing my own research that nutrition is just one very small piece of the puzzle.. and not acknowledging all of the others was doing people a huge disservice. And so this prompted me to do my masters in Public Health, which taught me that someone’s access to healthcare, food, employment, education, housing, movement, mental health and protecting our spiritual energies played a much larger role. 

 

I think that someone’s weight and appearance is literally the least important thing about them. At YAMA we want to help you look beyond this and feel empowered to reconnect with the parts of yourself that need nourishment. Like Elissa, I am a sucker for adventure and travel and have learned more from closing the books and getting outside than I have from putting quals on the wall. I decided at the ripe old age of 20 that I wanted to see the world, write my own story, and challenge the ways in which life is supposed to be lived. I thought it was because I wanted to be different, but now I understand that it’s because I was doing it for my health. Every single grain of my existence itches for learning from other people, cultures, landscapes, energies and ways of life. And every time we move away from our true purpose - we are doing our health a disservice. I implore you to seek nourishment in all the ways YAMA offers - through meditation, yoga, movement, adventure, nutrition, connection and a deeper understanding of your place in this world and how you can contribute.