The Institute for Functional Health Coaching

Welcome! I’m Erin Knight: Your persistent problem  solver, knowledgeable guide, migraine specialist, and genuine partner in  your journey to discovering radiant health and freedom from chronic  headaches. Having struggled with chronic headaches and migraines for over 10  years, I know what it is like to put on a brave face and smile through  the pain in an effort to participate in life. At the same time, watching  the work pile up and feeling like I was constantly missing out on all  the fun social events every time I was down for the count with a  blinding, nauseating migraine.Determined to get my life back, I  started making a healthy diet, sleep routine and your typical “stress  management” techniques part of my lifestyle and my headaches reduced  from 4-5 days a week to “once in a while” – or just a few times a month.  Unfortunately it was always the WORST days to be dealing with a  throbbing headache – the day a big project was due, the day everyone was  coming over to my house for dinner, the week I went on a much-deserved  vacation. Can you relate??After a major health crisis and epic  burnout at age 27 (another story for another day) I started to discover a  field of integrative, holistic medicine called functional medicine and  the idea of managing our health at a functional level. Being a  process-minded chemical engineer, thinking about how systems work and  interrelate is simply FASCINATING to me. It made intuitive sense to me  that restoring the function of our basic systems (hormonal, digestion,  detoxification and immune systems) and allowing the body to recalibrate  was a more logical, sustainable way to recover health than simply  treating the LONG list of chronic symptoms I was starting to amass at  the time (chronic nerve and muscle pain, extreme fatigue, brain fog,  IBS, food reactions, declining dental health, etc) without ever  questioning what was out of balance or malfunctioning in the first  place.It was scary at first. Having grown up around conventional  medicine, working in the pharmaceutical industry myself, I was choosing  the less obvious route. But asking why and figuring out how complex  systems work and finding solutions is in my nature and I went about  learning from experienced clinicians and puzzling the pieces together as  discovered the genetic components, an opportunity to heal my gut,  support detoxification and reduce internal biochemical stress. I slowly  and surely regained my energy, mental focus and most importantly freedom  from the pain radiating through the right side of my body. Inspired by  what it could mean to help people discover their own healing  opportunities and guide them to building a radiant health beyond their  imaginations, I hit the books and became certified in Functional  Diagnostic Nutrition. I decided to pursue helping people as a migraine  specialist.In deciding WHO I felt most called to serve, I  suddenly realized I was no longer having those “once-in-a-while” (but  somehow terribly inconvenient) migraines. Balancing my hormones,  optimizing my digestion and supporting my genetic disadvantages  nutritionally had taken me to a new level of freedom from migraines  without me even realizing it. First, a happy dance was in order.Then  I felt surprised that no one was talking about this yet! No one was  sharing this huge secret. It is possible to build resilience – build a  solid foundation of health – to the extent that we are not as sensitive  to the stresses and triggers that once brought on a headache or  migraine. Whoa…So where does that leave us?As a health  engineer and migraine specialist, I will work with you to understand the  latest science and how it applies to your unique genetics, stress-load  and history. I am highly trained in root cause analysis and have a  passion for tackling the real problem behind your migraine headaches and  accompanying chronic symptoms like IBS, dermatitis and fatigue. Think  of me as your partner in troubleshooting.I am here to reveal that spark!Does  a tiny voice deep inside talk about how if you only had the time, you  would learn how to take beautiful pictures with your fancy new camera?  If you only had the energy, you would plan a trip to Machu Pichu? If you  only had your own life together, you would save the world?Well  as we are all too aware, we each get exactly 24 hours in a day. The ONLY  way to “have more time” is to improve your health to the point that you  are bursting at the seams with energy. Imagine how much you could  accomplish if you were radiant with energy and free from the burden of  migraine headaches?I am a migraine specialist. I help  people determine what is holding them back and plan concrete steps to  break through to feeling great. Of course I am not a  magician. I don’t pretend to have all the answers and admit this process  can seem like work at times. I am constantly reading the latest books  and studies as we are making new connections about how our bodies work  every month. My commitment as a health engineer is to deliver the best  of what I am learning and provide resources and services to help you as  an individual.<