About

I’m Lauren Oktay, ND. (Hi!)loktay

People often come to me thinking I’ll whip them into shape so they’ll stop eating Cheetos all the time.

But once we work together, they find what they actually get is the gift of seeing their own basic goodness.

So they just naturally want to do all the things that are good for them.

And, honestly, that’s just the beginning.

Learn more about how we might work together.

If our beliefs inspire what’s possible, then you might want to know a few of mine.

Here are my Basic Principles of Lauren, as I like to call them.

1. You are basically good.

Yes, even that you. The slipper-upper.

I slip up sometimes, too. But I still kind of like myself anyway. And I can teach you to do the same thing. When we work together, I’ll help you uncover your basic goodness. (Yes, it’s still there.)

So many of us are worried about being judged. We judge ourselves.
We’re afraid some health coach might tell us, “You’re the one! The one I actually can’t help. Too messed up.”

I believe slip-ups are starting points. They don’t define you.
When you shift your focus away from all the things you wish you weren’t doing, and toward the qualities you already have–like openness, warmth, intelligence–amazing things tend to happen.
Slip-ups are still a part of you. And you and your snarky, sparkly, goofy personality are basically all good.

When we work together, we’ll turn what might look like a mess to you into something lovely. Promise.

2. Find something you love and make it a ritual.

Let’s be honest. You don’t want to “achieve health goals.”
You want to do great work, spend more time with family, and make more room for the things you love most. Because sometimes the best kind of growth is what happens in the spaces in between.

For me, one of those in-between spaces happens to my yoga practice.

For you, it might be knitting or gardening. Whatever brings you into that not-attached-to-your-thoughts, meditative state.

If you become my client, one of the things we’ll do together is find out what you love—and help you make that a ritual. So no matter what happens, you’re meeting your own needs first.

3. No one can bully you into change (it doesn’t work, anyway).

I don’t actually own a whistle or a megaphone. Sorry.
But I can help you get to know yourself so you can find that right way yourself.

When I was a naturopathic physician, patients would come to me looking for the magic pill. Instead, I began by helping them find the root cause.

Unfortunately, insurance isn’t set up for doctors to coach patients once we find that root cause.

I realized I could make a bigger difference outside of medicine—working one-on-one with patients as a health coach.

My clients tell me my enthusiasm is a little scary. I have been known to talk perhaps too much about neurogenesis. I can’t help it.

Sure, I can model self-acceptance while giving you a gentle kick in the pants. Ultimately, my job is to help you get to know—and like—yourself. So you get in the habit of treating yourself with kindness.

You’ll never get what you want by bullying yourself. And that’s not my job, either. (Being your ally is.)

4. Sometimes growth requires you to hold an awkward position for what feels like too long. (It’s worth it!)

Yoga students appreciate what it means to stay in discomfort, and breathe!—rather than making a quick break for it.

Sometimes change requires you to experience awkward or uncomfortable feelings.

When we work together, you’ll learn to actually welcome that creative tension between your old habits and the new habits that haven’t yet taken root. You’ll always be glad you stuck with it.

Learn more about how we might work together—and request a free, 30-minute Neuron Danceoff!

And Now, I’d Like You to Meet a Few of My Obsessions:

  • Scientific research about what makes people thrive. I’m prone to spontaneously quoting statistics about creativity, neuroplasticity, and wellness. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I really need a button that says, “Can defusing from your thoughts change the structure of the brain to favor creativity? Ask me how.” I think of happiness as a kind of bone-deep alright-ness out of which flows a desire to fully engage in life. That’s how I roll.
  • Trail running. Just slow enough to enjoy it with a friend, and just fast enough to keep things interesting.
  • Laughing with my boys. My favorite times with my kids are when we’re just sitting and chatting. We have this fun-loving connection. Now, if only I felt that way about building Legos.
  • Reading poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and everything in-between. Let’s just say the librarian knows my name from the growing pile of books on hold for me. And what my brain can’t hold, my Moleskin will. I’m a compulsive list-maker–quotes, poems, movies, blogs.
  • Yoga. I’ve rarely missed a class in five years.
  • Small dinner parties. My inner connector loves small dinner parties. And my husband loves to cook. Sometimes 1980s glam rock even makes an appearance. Good times.

A brief history of me:

I became a health coach before I knew such a thing existed.

For seven years, I practiced naturopathic medicine as a physician in Family Medicine at the Bastyr Natural Health Clinic—the leading institution for science-based natural medicine. After my year of residency, I joined the clinical team.

I soon found myself coaching patients within the context of primary care visits. But spending 10 minutes at the end of an already rushed primary care visit isn’t enough time to address the “hows” of lifestyle change.

I wanted to spend less time tied up in diagnosis, and more time helping patients make the changes they wanted, but couldn’t seem to manifest.

I made the leap to become a health coach in 2006—and have helped dozens of smart, creative people since.

I am madly in love with my work and the difference it allows me to make in people’s lives. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

At present, I am the “in-house” health coach at both Club Zum, and Be Luminous. (But you don’t need to be a member to work with me.) If you live in Seattle, you might also find me running in Discovery Park, at a soccer or lacrosse field with my boys, or buying good stuff at the Ballard Farmer’s Market.

Oh, and training: I do have lots.

I’ve learned from some of the very best. I spent 12 years at Bastyr University, blissfully surrounded by innovative thinkers. (For those of you who want the breakdown: 4 years as a naturopathic medical student, 1 year as a resident, and another 7 years on the clinical faculty.)

Later, I trained with the brilliant, original, and laugh-out-loud-funny, Dr. Martha Beck, author, columnist for Oprah magazine, and all around life-sage.

And then, since I really like helping people reach their ideal weight and stay there, I sought out additional training with Brooke Castillo, master weight loss coach extraordinaire.

Recently, I’ve been obsessed with learning more about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

And I guess I should mention I have a Masters degree from American University which I don’t consider useless. Really. Doing the not-thing led me down a path of finding my right thing.

I think it’s fair to say I’m always training — in the way I seek out teachers anywhere and everywhere. (Universities, associations, libraries, yoga studios, blog-sites, workshops, and so on.) I have an insatiable appetite for insights and research in integrative medicine, psychology, neuroscience, creativity,…anything related to what helps people learn, connect, grow, and thrive.