Introducing "The Art of Health"
Illustration © D. Yael Bernhard
Dear Readers,
In addition to my regular weekly Image of the Week newsletters, I'm pleased to offer a series of articles called The Art of Health. In these articles, I write about cutting edge nutrition and health issues, and illustrate the basic concepts behind them.
Anyone who knows me personally knows I'm passionate about nutrition and health. In addition to being a professional illustrator, fine art painter, children's book author, and arts-in-ed teacher, I wear another hat: I'm a certified integrative health coach, with a focus on nutrition and herbal medicine. During the pandemic I went back to school, and after a year of online study at Duke University, became certified as an Integrative Health Coach in 2021. Six more months of study at Cornell University earned my certification in Nutrition & Healthy Living in 2022. In addition, I studied human nutrition at Empire State College; took online courses with the Portland School of Herbal Medicine; and illustrated two books on herbal medicine by renowned herbalist Susun Weed. For the past six years I've also worked for Catskill Fungi, foraging wild mushrooms, leading mushroom walks, making medicinal mushroom extracts, and writing newsletters. And for decades, I've been cooking whole foods and and experimenting with recipes; making and using my own herbal remedies; collaborating with other herbalists; studying nutrition and herbal medicine; and observing the healing and nourishing effects of foods and herbal medicines on myself, my children, friends, neighbors, and pets.
Food is medicine, and good nutrition can both prevent and reverse chronic disease. I'm a walking example of this myself, having overcome health problems that date back to my childhood by changing my diet. Food is powerful, both as the foundation of good health and the potential destroyer of it. It's also the cultural glue that holds families, communities, and whole societies together.
Cultivating good health is as much an art as a science. It’s an individual creative process. As a health and nutrition coach, I strive to help people clarify their goals, understand their food choices, and take realistic steps toward optimal health. Integrative health coaching comes from the belief that all areas of human health – nutrition, exercise, sleep, relationships, sense of purpose, and spirituality – are interrelated. My main focus in The Art of Health is nutrition and herbs. I'll be keeping up with the latest trends and research, and publishing new articles roughly every four weeks – and as always, building bridges between life and art by illustrating the concepts I write about.
The first concept of health I want to share is encapsulated in this sun logo: for the sun is the life-giving energy that permeates the entire food chain to nourish our bodies, from the light rays in the sky to photosynthesizing plants and their fungal symbionts, to grazing animals and fish, and finally to our own cellular mitochondria. Like sunlight, good health makes us shine, and the power to create it is in our hands. Health is both given and cultivated – a blend of nature and nurture.
To learn more about health coaching sessions for groups, pairs, or individuals; or about my nutrition-based program for schools, please email me at dyaelbernhard@protonmail.com. To see my children’s books and works of fine art, please visit my art website.
To your good health –
D. Yael Bernhard
Certified Integrative Health & Nutrition Coach
Thank-you!