n e. r / s ! Tim Gauthier believes that a person's well-being depends on understanding how the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional aspects of their life are connected to and influenced by each other, "And once you gain that understanding," he said, "only then can you truly become empowered to make the changes that will improve your overall quality of life." Gauthier has launched a new home-based business, Innerwisdom, that offers and conducts "total wellness" workshops and seminars. "Anyone can benefit from taking these workshops because self-discovery is a process and it's important for all of us to take an active interest in our well-being and gain new skills that will allow us to live a' more fulfilling and meaningful life," i he said. Gauthier and two other business partners, Brian Murray and Mary Ocampo, developed six different wellness workshops over the past two years. They are now in a position to conduct them in public venues or in the employers' workplace, both in group and one-to-one sessions. The workshops deal with such topics as nutrition, stress and emotional maturity. Gauthier is the full-time facilitator for the workshops; his two partners conduct them on a part-time basis. Gauthier is a 27-year-old Nicholson Catholic College who earned a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education degree from the University of Toronto in 2000. He then worked as a personal fitness trainer in Toronto and that's when he got the idea for his business. "I was finding that with a lot of my clients, they didn't have the necessary understanding or skills to cre- ate lasting changes in their health and well-being," he said. "They were only focusing on one aspect of their health, being the physical, when often times, the emotional, spiritual and mental components are interrelated and therefore influence the success of the person's achievements when it comes to improving their health." So he set about to develop a more comprehensive and balanced approach to improving a person's well-being and their enjoyment of life. Two years' of study by Gauthier and his partners went into developing the series of six wellness workshops and seminars directed to educating and inspiring people to transform aspects of their life they are unhappy with -- such things as job or career, weight, personal appearance and relationships. He is offering each two-and-a-half hour workshop to the general public at public venues during the evening hours. He will also conduct the sessions for employees at their workplace. The workshops have a threefold purpose. "They are to assist people becoming more aware of what is and isn't working in their life, focusing on what is working in order to develop a plan of action geared to improving their well-being, to help them gain the skills and understanding to be in more control of their life and to help them in the process of improving their life," said Gauthier. Innerwisdom will also help individuals on a one-to-one basis by developing a personal wellness plan for them and supporting them in achieving their goals. Gauthier can be reached at 7/1 0368. 1 .?