Go to Vistas Life Coaching

Michael is the owner of Vistas Life Coaching where he uses nature as a space for helping to find calm and healing in order that change can take root, as a catalyst for expansive visioning of what is possible and as an arena in which people can create new personal stories.

Michael has a master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has worked in the health care field for over 30 years including 10 years at the Duke University Diet and fitness Center and 19 years as co-owner of the wellness coaching company Novo Wellness. In 1990 Michael became certified as a personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise (www.acefitness.org). He is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (www.nsca.com) and a USATF Level 1 track and field coach (www.usatf.org).

He is a Certified Professional Health and Wellness Coach through Wellcoaches (www.wellcoachesschool.com), a PCC certified coach through the International Coaching Federation (www.coachfederation.org), and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach through the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (www.nbhwc.org).

The Vistas Story:

“My love affair with nature began as a child, when my grandparents would take me into the woods and wild places near our home in Asheville, NC. From that time forward I have had a deep appreciation for the importance of being outdoors. The connection I have made between my experiences of being immersed in nature and having feelings of stress reduction, rejuvenation, and inspiration has only strengthened over the years.

These feelings became an irresistible force during a week-long hike in 2013 through the backcountry of Yosemite National Park. The feeling of awe was unmistakable, and it helped me to embrace my work with more confidence, to aspire to greater heights in my athletic pursuits and to take on new and exciting journeys in my personal growth. The power of that trip was parlayed into achieving the Professional Health and Wellness Certification with Wellcoaches, achieving my highest level of proficiency to date as a masters track and field athlete, and attaining the bucket list goal of learning to play guitar.

When I returned to Yosemite several years later with my family, I was once again overcome by the natural power of what feels to me like an outdoor cathedral. A day-long hike we took together and the afterglow we felt as we drove out of the valley that day remains with all of us. And, it is the wellspring of other adventures that have followed in our children’s lives. Both were given greater responsibilities in their chosen professions, one a teacher and the other an artist. Both have trained for and run 5Ks. One moved to New York City to live out dreams. The other completed a master’s degree while working fulltime. Is that day in the wildnerness the direct cause of these things? No, I don’t believe that to be true. But, if you were to sit down with them and ask about the most moving days they can recall, those days that shaped their being, shifted their perspective, and invited them to dream as grand as they can dream, I know that day would be among them.