From Athletic Legacy to Holistic Healing
In a world saturated with conflicting wellness advice and quick-fix solutions, Yelena Paul stands apart as a practitioner who understands that true health transformation requires both scientific rigor and deeply personalized approaches. With over 25 years of experience bridging the gap between traditional fitness training, functional testing, and naturopathic nutrition, Yelena has built SomaOmnia on a foundation that few in the wellness industry can claim: a childhood spent observing elite athletic training combined with decades of hands-on experience helping women and children achieve sustainable health outcomes.
Yelena’s journey began in an unconventional setting—growing up as the daughter of a dedicated athlete, where discipline, consistency, and the fundamental principle of “doing more with less” were daily lessons rather than abstract concepts. This early exposure to the raw mechanics of human performance, combined with her later specialization in women’s and children’s health, has shaped her unique holistic methodology that treats each client as a complex, evolving system rather than a collection of symptoms to address.
What sets Yelena apart in today’s crowded wellness landscape is her commitment to evidence-based personalization. Rather than promoting one-size-fits-all solutions, she employs functional testing to uncover the root causes behind health challenges, then crafts integrated protocols that combine targeted nutrition, appropriate supplementation, and adapted fitness training. Her approach recognizes a truth that many practitioners overlook: there are as many paths to optimal health as there are people seeking it.
In this candid conversation, Yelena shares insights from her quarter-century of practice, revealing how her unconventional upbringing shaped her methodology, why she believes in the power of integrated approaches over isolated interventions, and her practical advice for women feeling overwhelmed by the endless stream of conflicting health information. Her perspective offers both seasoned wisdom and refreshing clarity for anyone seeking sustainable, personalized health strategies that can evolve with life’s changing demands.
1. How has this personal journey from being an athlete’s daughter to becoming a mother an entrepreneur shaped your unique holistic approach to women’s and children’s health?
Needless to say, I had a very unusual upbringing in which there was little time to be a teenager. I was exposed very early on to the concepts of discipline and consistency in sports from a privileged position; from the perspective of a male athlete. I learned by following my father and the coaches who trained me, and only with time (especially that spent with clients), understood how to develop approaches from within the female body.
I watched my father train in temperatures below zero, in excessive heat, in all seasons and weather conditions, and very intensively between his hours of work. The (still young) health industry in which I grew up was both classic and outdated – nutrition and supplementation were not yet established as independent branches worthy of a reputation equal to fitness. I learned a lesson then which is fundamental to holistic healing, and often overlooked: how to do a lot with only a little.
The variety of food was modest compared to what now is available on supermarket shelves and online. Therefore the majority of the work consisted in what not to eat and maintaining a rigorous and consistent training regime. The ‘hacks’ that existed at the time, involved an understanding of how and why the body works like it does. Text-based and physical learning were the only ways forward because they were the extent of what was available.
For this very reason, I developed a strong foundation in the pools of knowledge that compose physical education; biochemistry, anatomy, sports medicine, athletics. It is much easier to specialise already possessing a solid foundation in the nebula that is the human body.
I drew again from this foundation when I became pregnant with my first child. The concepts of pre-post-natal were not as diffuse as they are now, and learned how to adapt the knowledge I had by tuning into my body’s response. Later, when I started to teach children’s classes and learn more about childhood physiology, psychology and energy levels, it was other mother’s who helped me through their feedback how their child’s health changed as a result of our training sessions. This encouragement was fundamental to developing my business.
2. How do you integrate functional testing and naturopathic nutrition with traditional fitness training? And what has surprised you most about this integrated approach in your 25+ years in practice?
All three of these categories were integrated for me from the very beginning. My father undertook various tests regularly for his training, but always with a purpose. From the start, testing was associated with specific performance-orientated goals; sometimes, the body would hit a wall, beyond which it was necessary to go deeper; beneath the skin.
Much later, having moved to an environment which regularly welcomed professionals from all horizons, presenting new discoveries and breakthroughs in knowledge, I started to follow new research of independent initiative and curiosity. New tests were popping up and I was soon swimming in an abundance of resources on nutrition and private laboratory testing, which I started to use as a way of addressing specific health issues, revealing themselves through my client’s training sessions. Overtime, I learned how to use testing to detect causes and established patterns to then arrive at a protocol. Specifically, certain markers would flag a specific issue, from which I then would formulate a tailored training programme, with improved accuracy because informed by clear and tested evidence.
My clients could see, for the first time, their own progress and more importantly understand what was occurring in their body and what they needed to do to achieve their goals.
As for what surprised me, it is very simple; there are as many approaches to human health, at least, as there are people on the planet. There is no ideal test, workout, therapy, protocol or nutritional plan, because the complexity of the human body is infinite.
3. What would you say to women who feel overwhelmed by conflicting wellness advice and how do you help them create sustainable personalised health strategies that evolve with their changing bodies and life circumstances?
Think thoroughly about what it is that you want. It is futile to compare and chase other’s dreams or those created for us by a dream-factory.
Be lucid with what you have already done and achieved and what has not worked. Where you are coming from and where you want to go, should inform the decisions you make in the present moment. Bearing in mind the complexity of the human body, it is also not always a question of methods; the devil is after all, in the details. Sometimes it’s a supplement, ingredient or habit that disrupts what otherwise is a healthy structure and induces set-backs invisibly. Other times it’s the structure itself that needs to be addressed.
Once you’ve decided on your goals, surround yourself with people who will actively support and understand (perhaps even share) them. This will help you save precious time and energy.
And finally, seek professionals who have the two most important attributes that are required for you to heal: qualifications and expertise. It is admittedly difficult to find both, especially in an era where everyone can become a nutritionist or personal trainer. But it is crucial to be selective in whom you allow to guide you and ensure you are confident in the methods your chosen health-care professional specialises in.