Health Coach Year

Health Coach Year

Course Overview

The aim of the Health Coach Year is to deepen your understanding of a holistic macrobiotic approach to life and health, and to learn the skills to offer professional cooking and healing to others. Upon completion of the course you will be an excellent Wholefood Chef, able to cook amazingly delicious and healthy food for clients, groups, retreats and in restaurants. We train you to the standards set by the Macrobiotic Association which has ratified these courses, and as a graduate you can then be accredited by the association and become a Practitioner Member.

You will also qualify as a Health Coach – able to guide individuals and groups in achieving greater health, knowing how to help with many common health problems, and guide people to a happier and more fulfilling life. Additionally, you will also qualify as a Wellbeing Shiatsu Practitioner, able to start a practice in giving shiatsu for relieving stress and tension and promoting general wellbeing.

The IMS’s professional training is divided into three parts:

• Year 1 – Holistic Nutrition & Cooking Year (foundational studies).
• Year 2 – Health Coach Year (qualify in three healing arts – Health Coach, Whole Foods Chef & Wellbeing Shiatsu).
• Year 3 – Macrobiotic Health Consultant Year (qualify as an accredited Macrobiotic Health Consultant & Medicinal Cook)

Health Coach Year

What You’ll Get

This Health Coach Year takes you on a transformative journey that will change your relationship with food, yourself, your work and those around you. It includes 31 days of teaching to deepen your personal journey and develop the skills to become a Health Coach, a Wholefood Chef and a Wellbeing Shiatsu Practitioner, giving you three ways of helping people, and multiple income streams.

As a Health Coach you will learn skills to enable you to offer in-depth dietary, lifestyle and exercise advice and support clients in their emotional healing. You will understand the causes and healing of common health problems in the digestive, circulatory, respiratory, and muscular systems and be able to tailor your advice to support others in improving their health and wellbeing.

• Offer practical guidance and advice for individual or group coaching
• Further study and practice counselling skills and oriental methods of health diagnosis
• Build your knowledge of the macrobiotic understanding of the causes and healing of a wide range of common health problems
• Continue your own personal growth as you become aware of and heal your deeper core emotional patterns

As a Wholefood Chef you will develop the skills to be able to cook for individuals, groups, events and in cafes or restaurants, using a wide variety of ingredients to create attractive and flavourful dishes and meals that are supportive to better health. You will learn how to cook for all kinds of clients including baby food, children, families, exclusion diets such as gluten free and low fibre, as well as a range of traditional pickles and condiments, and gourmet cooking for parties, weddings and entertaining.

• Take part in a range of hands-on cooking classes
• Develop a professional standard of cooking and presentation
• Discover how to create balanced cooking to regain internal balance between yin and yang and the five elemental energies
• Assist our expert cooks catering for other groups and special events

As a Wellbeing Shiatsu Practitioner you will be able to give relaxing and rejuvenating treatments to treat minor health problems and help others establish and regain health and wellbeing. You will deepen your knowledge of the merdians and learn how to support Ki flow and relax and rejuvenate with your healing hands.

• Offer shiatsu treatments to clients for de-stressing and promoting wellbeing
• Add another income stream to your business and career
• Develop your understanding of the meridians and ki flow in the body

In the Health Coach Year you will also learn business studies on how to set up a successful business catering, teaching cooking, health coaching and giving shiatsu treatments.

Course structure

This course is offered as a fully residential course, or primarily online with two residential parts to study more practical subjects.

The residential Health Coach Year consists of 31 days of teaching over 8 modules. There are seven modules of 4 days and an eighth module of 3 days, each starting at 6.00pm on the first evening with dinner, and ending at 3.00pm on the last day.

There is a maximum of 12 students on this course to ensure that a high quality of personal guidance and support is offered throughout.

• Each day begins with do-in, breathing exercises, meditation, shiatsu or other embodiment practices
• Classes in all aspects of macrobiotic healing and plant-based cooking
• Oriental medicine and health diagnosis, personal development and emotional counselling training

Live practice is also an important element of the training. The course includes sessions with members of the public at the school – either receiving consultations from you or cooking lessons under the supervision of our tutors.

• Work with real clients in class and at home
• Supervision, personal guidance and feedback on every client session you run
• Envisioning and building your ideal business

Why Study Macrobiotics & Oriental Medicine with IMS?

As with our Holistic Nutrition & Cooking Year course, this training attracts people from all over Europe, north Africa and the Middle East, and our online course also appeals to those based in the USA. Our students are often wanting to change direction in life, develop a new career or add to existing professional skills. Many have gone on to create successful businesses as health coaches, cooks, nutrition consultants or holistic chefs. You can learn about what our graduates have achieved here.

You will be taught by a team of teachers led by Oliver Cowmeadow who has over 40 years experience of teaching as well as guiding thousands of students and clients towards greater health and is one of the country’s leading practitioners of macrobiotics. Find out more about Oliver and the other teachers for this course on our teachers page.

Other members of the team have all studied the full training at the school, and have gained wide practical experience through their own professional practice.

• We use a person-centred approach with an emphasis on embodied nutrition and the health and deep transformation of our students.
• Solid, in-depth training and practice-oriented study leading to confident and successful practitioners.
• We keep our student numbers small to guarantee high quality care, support and mentoring to support students in their personal growth, learning and professional development.
• We offer a transformative, holistic approach which includes the study of life on a physical, energetic, emotional, mental and spiritual level.
• Excellent advanced & post graduate studies for continuous professional development.
• Flexible, lifelong learning with options to study online or in person.

Prerequisites for IMS’s Health Coach Year

You need to have completed the Holistic Nutrition & Cooking Year or equivalent studies elsewhere prior to booking this course. Please email the school with details of your studies to date, and we will get back to you to discuss how you can join our Health Coach Year training.

Training Pathway

Health Coach Year

Course times, fees & booking

Timings

Next residential course begins January 2026.

Next online course begins November 2026.

The Health Coach Year consists of 31 days of teaching over 8 modules. There are seven modules of 4 days and an eighth module of 3 days, each starting at 6.00pm on the first evening with dinner, and ending at 3.00pm on the last day.

Price

We are currently preparing details for these courses, including all dates and fees. Please email us if you want an update. Details will appear on the website in a few months time.Fees can be paid in monthly instalments.

Accommodation

We have various accommodation options on site, please email us to request accommodation and prices.

Cancellation Policy

All courses and accommodation are subject to the school cancellation policy, which includes changing dates. Please click here for details before booking.

Apply or find out more

To secure your place,  please download the Course Details for either the Residential or Online course, below, and complete the form at the end. If you have any questions, please contact us.

Full Residential Course DetailsFull Online Course Details