Canadian School of Natural Nutrition

May 24, 2013 By Leanne Vogel December 3, 2018

Laura, a fellow graduate from Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, is here today to share her CSNN experience with you as part of my Power Posse series. I’m so very thrilled to have her here as I know many of you are interested in attending CSNN or are toying with the idea of going back to school.

Power posse post by Laura Hillier

I remember loving food, from a very young age. Looking back, I know now that the food I ate was not good for me.

I grew up in a house of four kids with one parent that worked. We had a pretty strict grocery budget so things like pasta, breads and cereals were pretty popular. My favourite foods were veggies covered in cheese sauce, homemade spaghetti and meatballs, macaroni and cheese, sandwiches and Shake and Bake chicken.

I suffered from terrible digestive issues that was eventually diagnosed as IBS, I was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder while suffering from moderately severe depression, and I was miserable. Doctors didn’t know what was wrong with me. I was unhappy and very overweight.

As an adult, I was fortunate enough to connect with a Naturopath that ended up discovering that I was allergic to gluten and dairy. After 3 months of being gluten-free, I had lost 30 pounds, got off my anti-depressants and figured out that I was definitely not bipolar. Gluten and dairy were poisoning my body.

Using my new-found energy and having to relearn how to eat again, I explored every single book that related to Celiac disease, gluten-free living, and holistic healing. I spent a year healing my “IBS” and in the process, found out about the Registered Holistic Nutrition program at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. I signed up for the March 2011 One Year Program and anxiously awaited the arrival of my books. I was very eager to begin!

The program was everything I could have asked for and more. The instructors were so uniquely different and equally as amazing.

The school suggests that students work part-time as the workload, while only attending twice a week, is heavy. I was living on my own at the time, supporting myself, so full-time work plus school was a must for me. And I am proof that it can be done!

In addition to the two times per week schedule, there are specific practicum lessons that you can sign up for depending on your interests. Practicum runs throughout the school year, from September to May. These classes are designed to focus on one health issue, like weight loss, and drill down on that specific topic for a couple of hours. While the lessons were long and drawn out, I learned so much more than I ever thought possible. Plus, I got to focus on the topics that meant most to me.

One of the requirements of the program is to complete 14 case studies by performing nutritional consultations on friends and family. Your pseudo client fills out forms (as a real client would) and then you write a paper with the advice you would give said client using the Holistic Nutrition body, mind, spirit approach to wellness. Running through each scenario helps students learn how to best address individual cases, analyze client information and make the most out of the time you have with your client.

The school year ends with a board exam, compiled of a couple of levels of testing.

Graduates of CSNN have endless opportunities for a career in nutrition. You can start up a private practice, work in a Naturopathic office, work alongside Chiropractors, or in healthcare facilities, get a job with a supplement company, health food store, or build an online empire. As soon as I received my RHN designation, I immediately started up my nutrition consulting business, Nutralicious Consulting.

I consult part-time and working full-time for Prairie Naturals, an amazing Canadian supplement company.

Many of my classmates attended the school out of interest, with no plans to integrate into their field of work, while others attended so that they could meld the lessons into their current practices. Jobs are plentiful in this field and with more people taking charge of their health, being at the forefront of it all in something like holistic nutrition can only help this planet become a more mindful, healthier place to live.

I loved the course and I am so passionate about what I do that I would do it all over again. No questions asked.

If you’re currently enrolled at CSNN, or you’re looking to start, I have a couple of words of wisdom that I wish I’d had when I first began…

1. Be open-minded. There are a lot of really interesting concepts taught in the program and openly receiving them will help you learn better.
2. Build a support network. Your instructors and classmates are there for a reason and will be more than happy to brainstorm or go over the concepts with you.
3. Come from a place of passion instead of stress. Stress is the #1 cause of disease. Remind yourself why you’re attending class, what this means for you, and how it will change your life. Coming at it from a place of passion will ease your stress and help you remember what’s important.
4. Build your schedule. If you have to work full-time as I did, you will make it happen. Create a schedule for yourself and stick to it. When you study, you study, when you work, you work. Creating defined times in your day where you can focus solely on one thing will help you feel like you’ve accomplished so much more than if you flail around multitasking.
5. Enjoy yourself. This was the best experience of my life and I couldn’t imagine a better school to be at.

Author bio: Laura is a graduate of CSNN Vancouver and owner of Nutralicious Consulting where she helps her clients connect with their mind, body and spirit to achieve optimal health.

Connect with Laura…

Facebook: Nutralicious Consulting

Twitter: Laura Hillier

Web: Nutralicious Consulting