What Does It Actually Mean to Thrive?
6/16/20263 min read
For most of my life, I thought I knew what thriving looked like.
Energy. Health. Staying on top of things. Keeping all the plates spinning.
I was busy, capable, and proud of it. Especially in the corporate world, I was living as a rushing woman, deeply conditioned to believe that doing more meant living more.
And it was not just work. It was sport, exercise, socialising, commitments, all of it.
More was more.
And then life shifted.
In ways that were slow, and in ways that were sudden. Becoming a mother changed me. Years of survival mode changed me. And somewhere in the process of rebuilding and choosing differently, I became aware of something simple but profound.
The less I rushed, the more I thrived.
Because I was finally becoming more present. More honest. More me. More connected to what my body, my mind, and my life were trying to tell me.
That shift from doing to being is the foundation of everything I do now at Thrive With Lara.
If you are curious about Coaching and Havening, women's metabolic health and fasting, water and wellness, or support for your wider wellbeing journey, you are in the right place.
Book a free Clarity Call and we will explore where you are, what you are navigating, and the kind of support that would serve you now.
The three pillars
At Thrive With Lara, my work sits across three interconnected areas:
Metabolic Health and Fasting - specifically for women, using an approach that honours the female body's cyclical nature and works with it. Our bodies carry an innate, primal intelligence that the right approach can unlock. The science is increasingly confirming what many women have sensed for years: that fasting and metabolic health look different for us, particularly in perimenopause and beyond, and that working with our biology rather than overriding it is where the real shifts happen.
Water and Wellness - clean water is the foundation of everything. Whatever your water source, filtration matters, and it matters more than most people realise. From there, the quality of our water becomes the next conversation. For many years, I had no idea how much it counted. Hydrogen-rich water has a growing body of research behind it for cellular health, inflammation, and energy, supporting the body at a cellular level in ways that genuinely surprised me. As a certified Molecular Hydrogen Adviser, it is an area I feel deeply passionate about. It changed how I feel, and it continues to.
Coaching and Havening - as a Master Coach and certified Havening Techniques Practitioner, I work with a person-centred lens and with the neuroscience of how our brains encode and hold stress, and how we can genuinely create change at that level. These are techniques that meet you exactly where you are, and move you somewhere new.
These three pillars are one integrated approach to whole person thriving.
So what does thriving actually mean?
Through my own experience and my work as a coach, I have come to understand that thriving is many interconnected things, held in balance.
It does not mean everything needs to be working perfectly. It can look like waking with more energy. Feeling more at home in your body. Understanding your own rhythms and supporting them.
Recognising that your metabolism, your hormones, your emotional landscape, and your hydration are all in constant conversation with each other. And sometimes, it means having someone in your corner who can help you hear the whole picture, rather than focusing only on the symptom shining the loudest.
That is what I mean by 'body, mind and beyond'.
Something to ask yourself
In what areas of your life are you simply surviving, when you could be supported to thrive?
It might be your energy. Your body. Your relationship with food, with yourself, or with time. It might be the feeling of giving everything to everyone else and having little left. The sense of being permanently busy without actually getting anywhere. The quiet exhaustion of doing it all alone.
Thriving simply needs small, consistent shifts, the right support, a community around you, and a genuine belief that things can feel different. And if that belief feels out of reach right now, that is exactly when reaching out matters most.
Go deeper
A few things I love and trust if you want to explore further:
Dr Mindy Pelz : The Resetter Podcast
One of the warmest and most credible voices in women's health and hormones. If you are curious about why your body does what it does, this is a wonderful place to start.
Dr Rangan Chatterjee : Feel Better, Live More Podcast
A warm, evidence-based exploration of what it means to truly be well. His conversation with Dr Mindy Pelz on menopause and hormonal health is particularly worth your time.
Menopause: How To Burn Fat, Sleep Better & Live In Harmony With Your Hormones with Dr Mindy Pelz
Research: The mind-body connection in women's health