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The story of Mindful Kale

Writer's picture: Zsanett CzifrusZsanett Czifrus


It all started around 2009 when I was writing a food blog. Today, Mindful Kale is the container of my experience, resources, and knowledge that I offer you to help transform how you live, eat and work and live a truly authentic, fulfilling and nourished life. Starting from within.


The food blog-era


I started to post photos about my kitchen creations in 2009. It was a very early food-instagram-style feed on a blogger platform. In 2013 I switched to a real gastro blog and I named it Gombkonyha that literally means: “Orbkitchen”. The name came from my husband (boyfriend back then). He used to call me Gomb which referred to the shape of my face when I’m smiling (and I tend to smile a lot): it’s round. Later I also considered it as a great name that talked about my mood in general when I was in the kitchen: it felt whole. Later this blog grew into a Facebook page and a self-inquiry blog. They weren’t about recipes only: I posted more and more about feelings, contemplations, and deeper insights that arose in me while I spent time around food and in the kitchen. It became a spiritual quest with tons of metaphors around food, cooking, and eating.


Discovering mindful eating


When I quit my consulting job at KPMG, a Big4 consulting company, I was certain that I’d love to work something with my bare hands. The day after my resignation I walked into a newly opened french bakery in the neighborhood and by the time I finished eating my first cake, I was already hired. So I woke up the next morning at 5 am, getting ready to prepare and open the shop at 7 am. Parallel to that I baked homemade cookies and sold them in gift boxes to friends, friends of friends and my corporate network during the holiday season. I called it KexBox and I turned our little apartment into a 7/24 cookie factory. Everything smelled like butter, sugar and vanilla. Towards the end of the season, my hubby decided to stay at her mother’s place for a few days to have a good night’s sleep without powdered sugar clouds. I also did a few cooking class-themed team building events: they were fun and a loooot of work. I didn’t have much experience organizing events for 20-40 people, but luckily everything worked out, the people all enjoyed it and we ended up having a wonderful time. One of the team-building events I’ve done was for the local TED team. It eventually led me to give a TEDx talk on the red carpet and share my passion and discoveries about the connection between food and mindful awareness. My talk was about how food and eating can become a tool for self-discovery and can raise greater awareness around our beliefs, thoughts and dynamics.


Right after I left the stage, a former yoga teacher of mine approached me and asked if I’ve heard about mindful eating. It made me curious and I placed an order to get the book Mindful Eating from Jan Chozen Bays. Reading about it was like finding words and finally being able to name things that’s been in me for a long time but I couldn’t express them having no vocabulary for them before. It was enlightening, nourishing and very appealing. I felt that I found something really excitign and more importantly: something that is really me.


Expanding on my path


This was around the time when I moved to Michigan in 2017. I thought that this move is the ideal timing to start a new chapter in my career too: I decided to offer mindful eating workshops and spread this beautiful practice to the world. In the meanwhile, I completed numerous courses at The Center for Mindful Eating to learn more about what felt so intrinsically obvious for me already.


I applied to the local community house as an instructor and I created and run mindful eating programs there for two seasons. named it the Nourishing Joy series and it was still a lot around eating and non-dieting. In the meanwhile, I also got a job at a startup - without having any prior experience with startups or working in the US before. I also continued teaching yoga in a gym and after being part of the birth of a yoga studio in Ferndale, I joined the wonderful team of Samastah Yoga. I felt successful managing the daily business of the company and I felt fulfilled teaching yoga and mindfulness in the studio. After all, I was doing the same thing: bringing greater awareness into people’s life.


From employment to entrepreneurship


More and more people approached me and asked whether I could teach them more about what they could sense and hear in the classes and in the meeting rooms: how mindful awareness changes your life. In 2019 I moved to Berlin and became self-employed. To support myself financially, I freelanced as a startup consultant, and in parallel, I coached people and started to build my network and business in Germany.


In 2020, as the 1-1s became more frequent and more formal, I understood that I needed a framework that would allow me to do it in a safe and professional environment. I knew that my maximalist side wants to have a certification that is highly rewarded, at the same time I wanted to study an approach that incorporates mindfulness into it. Even better if it helps me learn more about mindful eating. This is how it all started for me after al! The Mindfulness Coaching School had it all: accredited through the International Coaching Federation, offered an entire course in mindful eating, and has its curriculum around mindfulness in general. In May 2020 I enrolled in my first coaching class. Fast forward to last week, I passed my PCC oral exam and at the same time, I officially became a certified Mindfulness, Wellness, and Somatic Coach through the Mindfulness Coaching School. 🎉


On the exam, I coached two times. The first theme was around business and guess what, the second was around self-care and mindfulness. I coached the same person, and I met the professional requirements in each case, but I enjoyed the second topic a lot more. This was when I finally understood where I am able to flourish and bring the most value to the people. Coaching around self-care and nourishment felt effortless, authentic, and magical.


The birth of Mindful Nourishment


While still in the coaching training, I did an exercise called commitment credo. It intuitively guides you through a process when you explore your deepest desires and create commitment in the form of clear actions to pursue them. The theme of my credo is nourishment. When I think about mindful eating, I think of it as a metaphor for mindful nourishment.


Nourishment is the foundation of our wellbeing. We are spirits in human form and we’re the closest to the Divine when we bathe ourselves in joy and self-love. I call nourishment the definition of this quest for the Divine and following an intentional practice to live from love.

Simple questions can lead to profound results when applied with deep awareness:


What are my needs? How can I take care of myself? How can I nourish my heart? What brings me joy and fulfillment? When do I feel at ease?


These are the inquiries I return to and what give the foundation of what I call mindful nourishment. In the modern world, so many of us are abandoning ourselves for the sake of people pleasing, financial rewards, professional success, social pressure, and many more. Learning how to listen to our deepest inner voice, living from the inside out, and establishing a deep and loving relationship with our true selves are leading to a fulfilling and rich life. This is my mission, helping people to return to their true selves through nourishment and mindful awareness in daily life and around the plate.




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