Wild.Life creator is a force of nature in the overwhelming world we live in

Maghera based health coach Glenn White is a positive force to be reckoned with in today’s society.

Originally from Portsmouth, Glenn moved to Maghera 13 years ago with his wife Kelley to look after her mother. Since then he has been finding solace in the County Derry landscape and has been sharing this with others.

Starting off, Glenn and Kelley worked to set up Drumnaph Nature Reserve. This is still the only community-run nature reserve in Ireland. The couple helped run the reserve for ten years.

Inspired by his work in the Drumnaph, Glenn came up with the idea to start Wild.Life to bring health coaching to people in an accessible way.

ABOVE: Inspired by his work in the Drumnaph, Glenn came up with the idea to start Wild.Life to bring health coaching to people in an accessible way.

Speaking about how it all started, Glenn said: “For a long time I was an instructor in survival skills with a background in environmental science.

“When we had the nature reserve it became apparent that everybody wasn’t as enthusiastic about nature as we might be. So I thought, what other way can we bring people closer to nature. It all started with a couch to 5k programme.

“I couldn’t find anybody locally that would do it in a way that would keep people engaged with the environment. So I decided to get my fitness instructor qualification and do it myself.

“The first one was in 2015, I thought hopefully I will get 10 people but 50 odd people showed up. It was highly successful.

“What is even more beautiful is the fact that some of these people are still running around the nature reserve today and have gone on to run marathons.

“What was really interesting about it was people found it easier to run in the nature reserve. A lot of them were running in towns and were more insecure but in the nature reserve they were more relaxed due to experiencing the beauty of the environment. It was amazing to see them connected with the outdoors.”

Wild.Life was set up as a bridge for evolutionary and ancestral health. It’s all about how we are designed to move, eat and live. This is a holistic approach to health incorporating food, movement, stress management, sleep, and community.

Glenn said: “I understand not everyone wants to run off and live in the woods and hunt for their food. This is a way of bringing this traditional way of living in partnership with today’s world. Also making it accessible to everyone even if you are living in a built up area."

Glenn believes nature is a missing part in the public’s health journey nowadays and worries about how the health and wellbeing world comes across today.

“Nature is vital,” he explained. “It is something we as a species have had in our lives since humans have been around. It is only now that we are starting to live our lives separate from it. I think that is causing people a lot of issues. There are so many health benefits to being in nature especially for mental health. The visual cues are great for releasing positive chemical compounds.

“Our work is focused on primal moving patterns. We have stopped using words like exercise. Our goal is to add movement in any way possible.

“Exercise is only a small part of that. We focus on pulling, pushing, lunging, squatting instead of saying I’m focusing on biceps. It is about slow movement.

“It takes away from what social media says we should be doing and the regular idea of fitness that is out there. Everyone on social media looks like they have it together. It’s not true. Everyone feels like they are failing and they can’t do it.

“This approach is looking at what you can do. A lot of us try to do too much too soon instead of developing foundational habits. Self-love is a massive part of it. It’s ok if you mess it up and end up back at square one.”

In terms of physical health and food Wild.Life works with foraging for food.

“We do a lot of foraging for foods and working with fermented foods. My wife Kelley does a lot of that work. It’s all about connecting to the foods you eat. This can be great for gut health. You don’t have to be foraging, even going into shops buying it, preparing and utilising it.”

ABOVE: People taking part in a fermented food class.

Glenn says the most fulfilling part of his role is seeing people switch from saying what they are unable to do to realising how much they can do.

“The best example to explain it is when I take groups up a mountain. We can be slogging up the mountain thinking the peak is so far. We will hit a false submit where you think you are at the top.

“Most people at that point will think they can’t do it. But if you turn around and see how high you have got. That is the most amazing thing. That spurs you on. That concept is the same with your health.

“You have to take a moment to see how far you have come. It is all about being process driven instead of focusing on goals. Health becomes a lifelong pursuit and lifestyle this way, it’s not something you do for a date.

“When people get to that stage it’s amazing, they don’t need us anymore. Our plan is to get people to that point. Your health is your responsibility, you have everything you need to create the health you want, that’s empowering.”

Wild.Life have several workshops coming up across County Derry including:
Introduction to Fermented Foods: An Ráth Dubh, Moneyneana Thursday, October 16 - 7pm - 9pm.
Fermentation Fundamentals: An Carn, Maghera November 8 - 10.30am - 4pm

For more information visit we-are-wild.life email contact@we-are-wild.life or keep up to date on social media @wildlifehealthcoaching