Our Woman of the Week is Cynthia Damaskos, nominated for her work as one of the rare Christian--and even rarer Orthodox--nutrition and lifestyle coaches. We asked her to tell you about how she became Orthodox:
"My journey to Orthodoxy began in 1996 when I got a double blessing from God. At a Christmas party, I was introduced to my husband who is Greek Orthodox. Before that night, I had heard of Orthodoxy but thought it was a Greek denomination only. I never took the time to look into it further. I was happy being an Evangelical Christian, serious about my faith, and active in my church. After meeting Demetrius, I spent the evening researching Orthodoxy to make sure that it was OK to say yes if he asked me out. Thanks be to God, I was able to find out quickly that we had the same basic beliefs, which now of course makes me a little embarrassed and also gives me a laugh.
"During our courtship, it just seemed to be a given that we would be attending separate churches. Definitely not ideal. After we got married, I started asking him questions about why he did certain things like kissing icons, using incense, and feasting and fasting. However, he couldn’t really answer my questions in a way that that met my need to understand everything from my Protestant mindset, and the conversations only ended in frustration for both of us.
"Since I wanted to understand where he was coming from, I found an Orthodox Church that was all in English, started reading Orthodox books, talking to priests, and visiting monasteries. I soon realized that I only wanted to go to Orthodox churches and felt uncomfortable in my old Evangelical church. It took four years to understand the only thing holding me back from converting to Orthodoxy was pride. Returning home from a women’s retreat at Holy Dormition Monastery in Michigan, I announced that I was converting, and I think he almost fell off the couch!
"To this day, I thank God for His double blessing. I’ve been Orthodox for 19 years now, and they have been the best years of my life."
Axia!
Cynthia Damaskos, our Woman of the Week, was nominated for her ministry as an Orthodox nutrition and lifestyle coach. You see her here speaking at All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago. We asked her how she became involved in coaching and decided to set up her business at Holistic Christian Life:
"In 2013 I became responsible for my husband’s aunt who had Alzheimer’s. I did everything I knew to do for her health, and after a year she came off of all 13 of her medications for blood pressure, diabetes, pain, high cholesterol, and depression. She also lost a lot of weight, and for the first time in her adult life was not obese, while being happier than I had ever known her to be. That same year my dad passed away. There were nine reasons listed on his death certificate, and I knew that many of them could’ve been avoided. I asked myself, what if I could have helped my dad the way I helped my husband’s aunt? What if I really knew what I was doing, and could help a lot of people? That is when I enrolled in school to become a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. Since then I have earned an advanced certification as a Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach. Thanks be to God, although I’m in my late 50s, and many of my friends are looking forward to retirement, I have a new career that I absolutely love and am helping others change their lives.
"During school, I quickly found that being a Christian in the field of holistic health put me in a minority. I wasn’t willing to talk about “giving it to the universe,” or “God, whoever he or she is to you.” So much about total health includes one’s faith, and I just didn’t think I could help people if I couldn’t talk to them frankly about the one true God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
"In 2015 I came out with my first book called The Holistic Christian Woman, which is based on the Fruit of the Spirit. It’s health and wellness and a Bible study in one. Then one thing led to another. In 2016 I realized there was a need for a program that supported people during Lent, which included healthy meal plans that would give them energy and boost their immune systems. I combined this with quotes from the Saints every day, interviews with priests, theologians, authors, doctors, etc., and an online community so that participants could get support and inspiration from like-minded people. I knew this was just what I needed and hoped others would feel the same. My Beautiful Lent was born along with My Beautiful Advent, both of which have been running for five years now.
"That same year, Holistic Christian Life was born, which is an online ministry. It includes a blog and a podcast of the same name on all podcast platforms. I have now conducted over 100 interviews. What a blessing the ensuing years have been! I work with clients all over the world, and have been able to team up with others and create ministries such as Filled With Less and courses like Six Weeks to Sanity which we run three times a year. I have met unbelievable women in these communities who inspire me every day."
We asked Cynthia Damaskos, our Woman of the Week, about her morning routine. You see her here at her favorite place this summer to walk, the Indiana State Park at the lakeshore:
"I love talking about morning routines, and teach them extensively to my private clients and within the Holistic Christian Life community. I’ve seen morning routines change lives and propel people toward reaching their goals in a way that they were never able to achieve in the past. It’s about living intentionally, and it contains several components that have extensive scientific research behind them.
"I teach that a morning routine is about self-care, and is rooted in your faith. It makes you the best you can be so that you can be the best version of yourself for others. Everything is centered around nurturing the blessings that God has given you and being a good steward of your mind, your body, and your soul. It is also technology free! The rule of thumb is no technology until your morning routine is complete.
"Mine starts with prayer and reading daily scripture. I also drink a glass of room temperature water with a squirt of lemon to alkalize my body, re-hydrate, and help usher out the toxins the liver processed while sleeping.
"Next is prayerful silence that begins with three cleansing belly breaths to bring oxygen into the brain and every cell in the body. In a practice that is not Christ centered, this could be called meditation. Research proves that only eight minutes a day can affect the health of your brain and body, which includes improving your immune system! You also make better choices, your cortisol levels go down, inflammation decreases, and you sleep better at night. All this while just sitting in silence and listening for God’s still small voice as Elijah demonstrated for us in 1 Kings 19:12.
"This is followed by a 30 minute walk outdoors. 30 minutes in the morning outdoors has multiple benefits from a fitness point of view to balancing your hormones and warding off depression and anxiety.
"I end with a high protein/healthy fat breakfast, which is typically a protein smoothie, and I am ready for my day!
"I’m not sure where I would be without my morning routine. I feel as though it has made the biggest difference between living proactively instead of reactively, and I personally realized that living proactively makes it easier to live out my Orthodox faith."
Thank you, Cynthia!