Amazing Wellness January/February 2019

HEALTH-MINDED PATHS TO
Olympic gold medalist Apolo Ohno, Emmy-winning comic Paula Poundstone,
and upbeat spiritual life coach Yvonne Ryba offer thoughtful routes to well-being
By Chris Mann
an a performanceminded
Olympian,
a joy-seeking comedian,
and an optimistic spiritual
thinker show us the way to
feel-good health—even
happiness—in an age of
seemingly 24-7 bad news,
mounting everyday stress,
and resulting brain drain?
With a nourished mind, an
active body, and meaningful
connectedness—to community,
a higher power, or even a
biochemical-boosting “Hiya!”
at martial arts class—healthminded
happiness, they attest,
is attainable and sustainable.
Mindset, nutrition, nature,
and a sense of fulfillment are
key to navigating this journey
for eight-time Olympic medalist
turned wellness advocate
and tech entrepreneur Apolo
Ohno, who co-founded the
brain health and life-coaching
company Allysian Sciences after
hanging up his short-track
speed skates in 2010.
“I think we all often get
caught up in the rat race,
and I want to help people to
start understanding that we
have control over our own
happiness,” says Ohno, 36.
“Our perception, our mind,
is a huge component of how
we live and the decisions we
make daily. And a very strong
mind-body connection is
absolutely integral to making
sure that we have fulfillment
and are happy. I want people
to recognize the power we
have regardless of skill set.
Very simple tweaks that you
can do in your body and mind
and lifestyle make the biggest
difference.”
At times, the path to bliss
takes creative experimenting,
though. A quick wit and
willing body helped stand-up
comic Paula Poundstone
captain her adventures
as her own glee-hunting
guinea pig in her insightful
and endorphin-releasinglevel
funny book The Totally
Unscientific Study of the Search
for Human Happiness.
The mom of three took action
in a series of experiments—
from learning to swing dance
(“I look like I’m chasing chickens,”
she quips), to volunteering
locally, to finessing a mean
side kick that made her kids
bust a gut laughing—that
put her in the flow of feel-good
neurotransmitters. Two
months into taekwondo,
“I’m walking down the alley
carrying 20 to 30 pounds of
kitty litter, and I realized I felt
good,” says Poundstone, 58.
“I definitely felt a sense of
well-being and uplift.”
And sometimes we can
look within, and upward, to
lighten our loads. Texas-based
spiritual life coach and Science
of Mind practitioner Yvonne
Ryba advocates bringing
visions of happiness into being
via positive thinking and
affirmative prayer.
Ryba, 76, even credits these
practices for helping her attract
companionship and laughter
into her life in 2016 after a
year of grieving the death of
her second husband—as she
had done nearly a decade
prior after mourning her first
husband’s passing. “Again,
I needed someone to be here
with me,” she says. “So I
focused on what I wanted in a
companion, and I affirmed it
in writing. I wanted somebody
who made me laugh and had
a great sense of humor—and
that’s exactly what I got.”
42 WINTER 2019 | AMAZING WELLNESS