About PranaSpirit
Integrative Dietitian Nutritionists
in Santa Monica, California & New York
Whole person, whole food approach to health
Many of my clients come to me with questions about why they’re doing what Google tells them to do but they’re not feeling any better.
It’s time for a personalized approach to your wellness to help
free you from your health concerns so you can:
- Go out to dinner with family and friends without feeling sick
- Focus at work without needing to worry about migraines or using up sick days
- Stop having to unbutton your jeans because of bloating
- Enjoy getting pregnant without stress or pressure
- Make easy family meals everyone will enjoy
- Heal your relationship with food, eat without obsessing about it and just enjoying the tastes.
Nutrition is vital to our life as what we eat and drink plays an integral role in our wellbeing. But one size doesn’t fit all. Everyone needs a customized approach that takes into account their tastes, health history, current health condition, and genetics while incorporating healthy foods and activities that they already love.
Ilene Cohen
Free your energy, free your spirit and free your life.
- Nutrition
- Intuitive eating
- Mindfulness
- Yoga
- Ayurveda
- Breathing techniques
- Sleep
- Meditation
- Natural supplements
Repair
Use the best of Eastern and Western therapies to help you control symptoms caused by foods, improve your health, hormones and fertility, and prevent future health conditions by creating a positive relationship with food.
Rejuvenate
Together we’ll come up with your personalized nutrition and lifestyle plan. This way, you can create a more balanced life with sustainable changes, rejuvenating your health, mindset, work-life balance, and relationship with food.
Refresh
Eating should be an enjoyable experience that nourishes us from the inside out. Get refreshed and feel your potential when your health, hormones and fertility are balanced without the need for restrictive diets.
Hi, I’m Ilene
I created PranaSpirit Nutrition & Wellness LLC to allow people to experience a more holistic and functional form of nutrition coaching.
As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) since 2000, my personal
journey solidified by my training showed me how important nutrition
was to our well-being. What we ate was the key to providing our body with the nutrients to keep us healthy, to heal and to create the life we wanted to live.
In college, I majored in business management because I wanted to be like my father who was a successful business owner. I lived with a roommate who was vegan. I knew nothing about vegetarian nutrition at the time but I was always a foodie. I started eating vegan food and became vegan.
Over time, I became iron deficient (there are not nearly as many bioavailable iron sources so you have to know how to plan your diet).
Then a couple of years later I developed a soy allergy. As most of my diet included a lot of soy products this all made being vegan
more of a challenge! Aside from reactions from soy milk and anemia, I still felt better eating more vegetables!
I let go of being vegan to expand my food options, but maintained my interest in nutrition and healthy cooking and eating and enrolled
in a Master’s program in nutrition at NYU then did my dietetic internship and became a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.
Even after I became an RDN, while on paper I had a nutritious and varied diet things didn’t improve enough in the adverse food
reactions department. In addition to being severely lactose intolerant, I had continued digestive issues, so I took a great interest in
digestive health. I worked with the low FODMAP diet but then expanded into offering food sensitivity testing and micronutrient
testing through which I’ve helped many clients resolve their symptoms.
In 2013, I made the decision to leave my full-time hospital clinic job, and go into private practice exclusively. I then founded PranaSpirit Nutrition & Wellness LLC. Having been a dedicated yogi and yoga teacher since 2007 I started combining yoga, yoga therapy and nutrition in my work with clients. I pursued yoga therapy programs and became a certified yoga therapist and love the combination of nutrition and yoga therapy. It’s so holistic as it’s much more than just what people eat that plays a role in their health.
I merged my expertise as a yoga therapist to create mindfulness meditations, guided imagery and breathing techniques for my clients to give them tools to manage stress better.
I am based in Santa Monica (Los Angeles) California, and Michele is based in New York. We are licensed to do in person and virtual (online) consultations in both of these states, as well as virtual consultations in Arizona, Colorado and Virginia.
Qualifications
- Certified LEAP Therapist (CLT). I’ve taken special training for RDNs in food sensitivity testing and analysis, then recommending an elimination and reintroduction diet based on clients’ test results.
- IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist (the International Association of Yoga Therapists C-IAYT). I’ve advanced training in yoga therapy from accredited yoga therapy programs, which qualifies me to teach yoga, mediation, pranayamas (breathing techniques), asana (moving yoga poses). As a yoga teacher and therapist, I also have a background in Ayurveda, the sister science yoga, which I also incorporate into my practice.
- Registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN).
- Certified Yoga Tune Up® teacher trained in therapy ball massage.
- UZIT - Urban Zen Integrative Therapy program - trained in first degree Reiki, essential oils, and yoga therapy.
- Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES)
Hi, I’m Michele
During this time I made some dietary changes for myself, and saw a vast improvement to my health. I saw firsthand how big of an impact
nutrition can have in healing which led me to continue my career path to obtain my Master’s from NYU .and become a Registered Dietitian.
Now I use my unique combination of culinary arts to help clients establish a unique and meaningful relationship with food. Guiding my
clients to reconnect with food, allowing them to address their overall well-being and health.
As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I love being able to take a holistic and integrative approach to nutrition that provides my clients
a strong foundation to make lasting, sustainable changes.
Qualifications
- Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (Eating disorder specialist)
- MSc in Clinical Nutrition
- National Gourmet Institute Certified Chef
- An Eating and Lifestyle Plan In Accordance with the Rhythms of My Life!
R.S.
It’s so much more than just looking at the food we eat
- Functional laboratory test results let us know what’s going on inside with nutrient deficiencies or excesses.
- Health history and conditions highlight what may be affecting your health.Mindfulness
- Using natural remedies, food, supplements and herbs/spices to get your body back into balance. Ayurveda
- Considering yoga, meditation, breathing techniques, sleep habits, mindfulness to calm stresses and the nervous system.
How we work together
Honesty
For this to work, we both need to be honest. To help you achieve your goals, I need all the information about what’s working and what’s not. At PranaSpirit Nutrition & Wellness LLC you don’t get a cookie-cutter approach to your wellbeing. We provide a boutique approach, tailoring our recommendations to each individual. We’ll also be honest with you. Even if sometimes you don’t want to hear it, but need to hear it to move forward.
Thoroughness
We go above and beyond. You can expect plans that are personalized and well thought out. To help you achieve your goals we focus on the details without losing sight of the bigger picture. It’s our ability to be thorough in our assessment with you and modifying the range of therapies we have at our fingertips that creates a plan that sees you succeed without wasting time or money.
Collaboration
We work with you to guide you to see the transformation you’re looking for. By creating partnerships with our clients they can see the best results. We don’t tell you what to do. We teach, educate and inspire you to take actions that you feel able to achieve with our guidance. You’re dedicated and committed to your success and we’ll give you the tools and accountability to get there.
Free your energy, free your spirit and free your life.
Digestive & Gut Health
Women’s Nutrition & Fertility
Eating Disorders
Kid’s Nutrition
- She has gone Above and Beyond!
C.C.
Don’t feel stuck with less than the best health
Fill in the Inquiry Form
Share your story, and we’ll talk you through how we can work together.
Plan your way forward
You can start your journey with a virtual online session with Ilene or Michele.
Feel free
Wellness is within your reach with personalized, integrative nutrition therapy.
