Christine Beal Dunst
Co-Founder & CEO
My Embody Wellness Journey
Growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania, I yearned for the big city dream and to “make it” in NYC. I made my dream a reality and moved to NYC after college. Navigating the city, having a high-pressure career, studying for graduate school and experiencing the NYC nightlife a bit too much took a toll on my mind, body and spirit. I tried all the latest fads of being “healthy” which led me to eat lots of chemicals—yes I was a “spray butter,” fake blue/pink packet sugar, low-fat everything, processed food junkie. After all, I thought I was being healthy. Basically, I used food as a control mechanism vs. a source of joy. During this time, I was working in a demanding career as a strategy consultant and healthcare executive at companies such as Accenture, Kaiser Permanente and Pfizer. My overall lifestyle made me exhausted, stressed, with a lackluster immunity and “random” illnesses over the years.
In my mid 20’s I started to awaken on multiple levels. I embarked on a dedicated yoga practice, became AWARE of the stress and started my self-improvement path. During this awakening, I healed from an eating disorder with the assistance of a therapist and many other holistic modalities (been in recovery, thankfully for 20 years!). It’s powerful to now help others when you intimately have been there. I witnessed the human body’s ability to heal itself when given time, love and nourishment, as well as the power we hold in our mind to overcome difficulty.
It wasn’t until I was trying to get pregnant and experiencing multiple miscarriages that I fully shifted my nutrition, “balanced” my stress levels at work, and started to get my spark back. Having the responsibility of growing another human shifted me to the very core, including deepening my path to self-love. I had no choice; there was no better time to be my best self!
I decided to leave my corporate job after the birth of my first child and do freelance consulting. I knew there must be a way to blend both my passion in wellness with my business expertise to influence the lives of many, all the while being able to raise my children. I also started eating whole foods, juicing, and doing more yoga/meditation—just to name a few. Everything shifted, I experienced elevated moods, increased productivity at work, and oh I started looking better!
I am blessed and abundantly grateful for my 2 beautiful children (Grace, 12 and Mason, 10). They are my life, my joy and my teachers in love and patience. I also know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed trying to balance it all: wife, mother, and career woman, while looking your best in a healthy way. Not to mention the pressures around getting back into those skinny jeans. I was not the mom who lost my 40lbs by just breastfeeding.
I live in CT and I have a loving husband, Cary, to round out our little family I love involving the whole family in my healthy practices from cooking to yoga to hiking to green juices…but most importantly to be kind and honor this one body we were given.
Wellness Training
While working with a health coach myself, I made the decision to take my passion to the masses and serve others. I am an AADP Certified Holistic Integrative Health Coach and Consultant and graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN) . I learned holistic nutrition, preventative health, detox methods, hormonal and gut health, behavior change techniques, stress management, and innovative coaching methods with some of the world’s top health and wellness experts and Functional Medicine Doctors. I also obtained an additional year-long degree in Hormonal and Gut Health from IIN.
I am a consummate learner. In addition to my studies at IIN, I’ve have taken supplemental courses such as Dr. Lipman’s “14 day detox,” Rich Roll and Julie Piatt’s, “Ultimate Guide to Plan-Based Nutrition,” Charles Knowles’s “How to Manage Stress with Meditation”, Dr. Aviva Romm’s Detox and Hormone Balancing Course, Dr. Sara Gottfried’s Hormone Reset Detox Course, and several courses at Kripalu in Ayurvedic cooking and lifestyle, emotional and intuitive eating, yoga, and beyond, and coursework in behavior change and positive psychology methodology through James Clear and graduation school . Just to mention a few. I’ve also completed over 40+ hours of mindfulness, meditation and mindset coursework with Dr. Joe Dispenza through his Progressive, Intensive and “The Formula” courses.
I love trying out the latest NYC/CT fitness, wellness and yoga classes and writing about them for global publications. I’ve also been a dedicated yogi and meditator for over 20 years and am a certified Pilates mat instructor.
I’ve been there: healing from autoimmune, gut, and cortisol issues, a mom and a career woman. Over a 20+ year journey, I’ve figured out how to Embody Wellness. I now guide clients from around the world on their journey to Embody Wellness. I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with you.
Professional Bio
Christine received her undergraduate degree in Health Policy from Penn State University and masters degree in Health Policy and Management from New York University. She has also received health policy certifications from the Medical University Cape Town and Medical University of the Western Cape, South Africa. She worked at Accenture and PricewaterhouseCoopers as a Healthcare Strategy Manager, Manager of Market Strategy at Kaiser Permanente, an Integrated Delivery System, Marketing and Communications Director at a NYC Healthcare Non-Profit and a Market Strategy Director at Pfizer before going back to nutrition school at the Institute of Integrated Nutrition and receiving an AADP Certification as a Holistic Health Coach and additional year-long training in Hormone and Gut Health.
In addition to her formal education, Christine has completed several trainings on whole food detoxing, hormonal wellbeing, mindfulness, stress-reduction, yoga, and ayurvedic cooking. Christine has been a yogi and meditator for 20 years, certified as a Pilates Mat Instructor, and specializes in whole food detoxing. When not helping others to EMBODY Wellness, Christine can be found in her kitchen with her kids, spending quality time with her family and friends, doing yoga, reading everything wellness, exploring the farmer’s markets, and practicing self-care. Christine’s passion for wellness is evident in her lifestyle and how she EMBODY’s wellness daily and holds space for her clients to do the same.
Degrees and Certifications
- Bachelor of Science in Health Policy and Administration (BS), Pennsylvania State University
- Masters in Public Administration (MPA), Health Policy and Management, New York University
- Restructuring the Primary Care Sector and Reproductive Health in Care Delivery Certified: Medical University Cape Town and Medical University of the Western Cape, South Africa
- Board Certified Holistic Integrative Health Coach (AADP): Institute for Integrative Nutrition
- Pilates Mat Certified: The Lab, Brooklyn NY