Mary Armstrong

Throughout her life, Mary has struggled with food choices that are in best alignment with her health and vibrational frequency. In her 50s, Mary has found eating a whole-food, plant-based nutrition plan to support her physical and emotional healing. Learn more about Mary’s remarkable story, and what she is doing to help others…

When did you notice the effects of food on your overall health and well-being?

In my early 20’s I noticed that my eating choices influenced my health and vibration.  As long as I could remember, I felt a profound sense of heaviness in and around me.  I had been raised a steady diet of McDonald’s and processed food.  When I hit adulthood, and was out on my own I intuitively started eating more whole nutrient-dense foods. I added more plant-foods and noticed a difference, but I didn’t become a vegetarian until about four years ago (age 53). I also have to admit that being out of the environment I was raised in also contributed to my health and well being in very important ways.

Tell me more about your health journey and what you did to overcome your reluctance to stop eating meat.

My health journey is intimately tied to my own personal evolution and healing.  Progress in making health-affirming choices is always in some way tied to a personal growth motivation for me.  I have depended upon my own Inner Guide to design my life to motivate me.  Throughout my life I have found it difficult to make consistently excellent health affirming choices due to my dependence on animal products and sugar to ground and comfort me.  As a highly sensitive person being raised in a violent atmosphere full of most kinds of addictions, my drug of choice was food. 

There were periods of my life that I struggled with other addictions, but food has been my primary and most beloved one.  Ultimately, my desire to experience my natural vitality without heaviness and fatigue motivated me over and over to take ‘next steps’ and keep my eyes on the prize of vitality and health.   I also have a strong genetic predisposition to high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.  As I have gotten older, I have found only clean eating of plant based whole foods support my energy and contribute to healing my inherited tendencies towards disease. 

Lastly, as an intuitive and empathic healer myself, I was eventually faced with the contribution to suffering I was making by eating animals that had to die for me to live.  I now feel invested in standing with animals and all sentient beings by not participating in the inhumane treatment of animals.   This realization was also pivotal in my successful transition to being a vegetarian then later vegan.  I will occasionally have dairy products if I trust they come from happy well cared for animals, but my body is happiest when I eat 100% vegan.  For me, the path of ahimsa (harmlessness) is one I am called to explore and whole-heartedly embody.  Due to my own long slow journey to health, I come from a place of deep compassion for all those whose priority is their own personal evolution that struggle with addiction to food.

What do you mean when you say “heaviness”?

I mean a feeling of having lead in my blood or feeling ‘weighted down’.  “Heaviness” is how I experienced lower vibrations in my energy and body.  Everything has an energetic imprint or vibration and I am sensitive to vibration inside and outside of me.  It has been a good motivator for me and holds me accountable!

As a nurse, what approach have you taken to talk with patients about lifestyle behaviors?

I’ve been a nurse for over 30 years, but just in the last two years I’ve really dialed in my expertise on how to heal cardiovascular disease, diabetes with plant-based nutrition because I have sought to heal myself.  For most of my adult life I have shared with others the healing power of whole foods and the naturopathic principles of health.  It has only been in the last 3 years that I have come to understand the power of a whole food plant based diet.  Most doctors and patients in western medicine choose to ignore the research that confirms the superiority of WFPB for healing.  Many don’t want to know.  I must say I understand the dilemma having been there myself.  Some have ‘wake up calls’ like I did and find they want to know. For those that want to know, I try to focus on simplicity and next steps. 

Resources for education and support are offered. I present two ideas to them that they can easily understand that can guide their choices. First, eating whole, nutrient-dense plant-based foods is a continuum of choices so I encourage patients to just take the next step health-affirming step. Food choices add to inflammation and disease or add to health and well-being.  I encourage people to focus on ADDING fruits, vegetables and legumes rather then giving up anything.  In time, their own guidance and success will direct them to naturally let go of foods that don’t support health. This allows clients to focus on creating a healthful environment and will help to build their skillset and get comfortable with it new ways of living.

The second area I educate on and encourage people to play with is extending their daily fasting time so our natural detox cycle is strengthened. I studied with a naturopath and found that understanding the intelligence of cycles our bodies use to maintain health is often not understood by people.  It’s critical to provide for this detox cycle so our bodies can ‘take the trash out’, heal and restore us.  The goal is to eat the last meal of the day at 7pm or before and eat breakfast as late in the morning as possible. This naturally extends our detox time.  This is the principle intermittent fasting is based on.

I also encourage clients to notice what they feed their minds and emotions.  Noticing and dealing with all sources of toxicity in our lives strengthens our vibrations and personal growth path.

How would you describe your business?

The main offering in my coaching business reflects my first and deepest love.  My passion and skill set is assisting sensitive beings on a conscious path to grow in self-trust. I help others to to hear their own inner guidance and align with their most empowering choice in the moment. I am re-starting my coaching business after taking several years off to complete some of my own healing.   This time in my business as I go forward I will also be offering health and life-style support to those who are ready to take next steps in taking responsibility for their health.

My particular interest in my health coaching is working with people who aren’t “all-in” for plant-based nutrition or struggle with sugar and processed food dependence but who want to take next steps.  Since this has been my journey and the journey of many that I love, it is very rewarding to support those who struggle with moving forward from a place of self love and kindness.  Also, I understand the importance of being in conscious relationship with the parts of us that may thwart our healing efforts…like our younger aspects.  Being intelligent and intuitive about the way we go about change is as important as the change itself.  How we are in relationship to ourselves must be considered.

My mission in this life is to show others the way through the landscape of their own shadow and integrate those parts of them that have been locked away so they can experience the liberating truth of expressing who they are in their wholeness.  I have walked this path of conscious holistic healing all my life. I have slowly over time learned to trust myself, stand in my own power and experience the fulfillment of expressing the truth of who I am.  This is a never-ending journey with that continually calls up new parts of us to show up.  My joy is to assist others in doing the same.

Why do you love what you do?

I love what I do because I am doing what I came her to do.  I came to help at this critical time. This is a remarkable time in our world.  We are on the verge of destroying ourselves and at the same time the resources for change on a vibrational level are flooding each one of us with epic support.  No matter what our choices have been in the past, everyone has an equal chance to access their own essence and align with their highest good and the highest good of all.  If we’re not making choices that are in alignment with the highest good for ourselves and others – the physics of spirituality that is present right now are such that the consequences are coming back on us in such an extreme way that we will either change or fragment. 

There is an accountability built into the field of consciousness now that is amped up along with the support to change. Helping people to listen to their own inner guidance become masters of their own consciousness is the only path of meaning for me right now.  We must go within and heal ourselves and walk forward taking care of each other.

What’s the name of your new coaching practice?

I’ve named my business Higher Ground Coaching because we all are called to align our personal evolution with the highest good for all.  We’re going to see old paradigms crumble.  It’s time to step up to do our inner and outer work to contribute to the world healing. Our personal and collective unconsciousness is being revealed to us in sometimes very intense ways right now.  I offer support for those who resonate with evolving in this direction.

How can people get in touch with you?

People can contact me by email at mberrybug@gmail.com or on my confidential voicemail: 540-272-5324.  I am traveling around exploring the Pacific Northwest for the next few months with my co-pilot Gabe (my golden retriever) and am available by phone for coaching or in person if I am in your area.  I will be creating a blog/web site over the next few months sharing my adventures and life wisdom. Those who are interested in following my adventures on the road with my dog Gabe can email me to be put on my list.