HOLISTIC HEALING

Megan Cooper was born and raised in the Bay Area, but a twist of fate landed her on the North Shore. She studied anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and while there met her Winnetka native husband Eric, who she says was “probably one of eight non-Californians, and I just happened to fall in love with one of them.” She followed Eric back to the Chicago area in 1999 and dabbled a little bit in commercial real estate, had two kids, Oliver and Finn, and they all landed in Lake Forest in 2011. Both her and Eric’s lives have been shaped by chronic illness and researching and finding natural paths of treatment. Cooper suffers from endometriosis, a painful condition which primarily affects women and can go undiagnosed for years. She is grateful to have been diagnosed and treated just before her first pregnancy. Cysts were removed but after her second son was born, her symptoms came back, all of which led her to seek out alternative treatment options. What she found was that her disease was driven by hormonal imbalance as well as inflammation. Through the help of functional medicine and addressing the root cause, she was able to relieve her symptoms fully, primarily through diet and lifestyle. She calls it a “holistic makeover.” Cooper now runs The Cycle Solution, a company through which she works as a functional coach to help women with different hormonal ailments reduce their symptoms and live more balanced lives. She works with female clients around her age who are dealing with the same hormonal issues she did. “It’s about small lifestyle shifts. I’m not here to tell you that you have to stop everything you’re doing,” she says. “I like to look at a big picture of their lifestyle and just give them helpful hints here and there about how they can improve their hormonal health.”

How do your past health challenges inspire you today, both personally and professionally? They are what motivate me to be healthy every day. When I think of how horrible I used to feel and then I think about how I feel now it keeps me going both personally and professionally. I think having personal experience to fall back on makes it easier for me to relate with my clients as a health coach. How does diet contribute to your health? It contributes tremendously, but it is just a piece of the puzzle. I feel so much better when I eat a whole food, anti-inflammatory diet. Food was the first element of my lifestyle that I addressed when getting healthy. What is your favorite place to visit or to vacation? Beach, mountains, or city? Right, now, mountains. I started going to Idaho annually a few years back and have absolutely fallen in love with it. How do you like to spend your down time (if you have any)? I always try to make time for down time! I like to garden, go for walks with friends, cook, read, or nap. What is your favorite thing to do in Lake Forest or Lake Bluff? My favorite thing to do in Lake Forest is to hit the trails. I love walking the trail at the end of Laurel. I also love going to Middlefork Savannah and going to Forest Park to walk the beach and do a couple sets of stairs. Favorite workout? Either Pilates or ones that don’t require a gym instructor or machine. I also can’t live without my once a week, restorative yoga with Molly Harper at Sunshala Yoga in Lake Bluff. Coffee or Tea? I love them both! I have recently given up caffeine so it’s tea for me. Most teas also have their own therapeutic properties, which is really fun to experiment with and learn about. Cocktail or mocktail? These days I’m all about the mocktails. Paper planner or digital? I am a paper planner person, slowly converting to a digital planner person. Best advice you’ve given or received? There is no permanence in life. Everything is temporary, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Three people, living or dead, you would like to invite over for a cocktail party? I’d probably want to invite three of my great-great-grandparents. I don’t know much about them, so I’d love to ask them all about their lives and get to know them and find out what type of people they were. I find genealogy fascinating.