About

Welcome ✨

My name is Will McDonald, and I’m passionate about integrating physical fitness with emotional and mental well-being. 

After years of struggling with self-acceptance and a history of severe substance dependency, I discovered the transformative power of compassionate self-care and the healing potential that comes from strengthening the connection between the mind and body.

With a background as a fitness trainer and a PhD student in Mind-Body Medicine, I’ve developed a holistic approach to health that goes beyond physical strength. 

I believe in creating a supportive environment where you can explore and enhance your innate intuitive abilities, build emotional resilience, and achieve your fitness goals with authenticity and purpose.

At Fitness With Compassion (FWC), we’ll build a relationship that goes beyond just workouts—we’ll focus on understanding your true physical, mental, and emotional needs. 

Together, we’ll work on improving your self-awareness so that your decisions reflect your authentic self, embracing a holistic approach to wellness. 

My goal is to empower you to feel safe, understood, and in tune with your body, so you can live a life of health, balance, and well-being.

How It Works

While the foundation of our work together will be centered on building and maintaining a fitness and wellness routine, there are four key areas where people often get stuck when it comes to effective goal-setting and empowered decision-making:

  • Regulating your nervous system is foundational for your fitness journey, allowing your body to prioritize recovery, healing, and optimal performance. A calm nervous system prevents burnout, helping you approach exercise with clarity and focus for better results and long-term sustainability.

    Potential Exercises:

    • Mindfulness, Receiving State, and Polyvagal Theory: Practicing mindfulness and activating the receiving state helps calm your nervous system and improve self-awareness, while Polyvagal Theory teaches how to move out of stress response modes, enabling better recovery and more effective decision-making and goal-setting.

    • Progressive Muscle Relaxation: This technique involves systematically tensing and relaxing muscle groups to reduce stress, improve sensory awareness, and promote relaxation, aiding recovery and preventing overtraining.

    • Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Resting Heart Rate (RHR) Monitoring: Tracking HRV and RHR gives insight into your stress levels and recovery readiness, helping you adjust your workout intensity and optimize your fitness progress.

  • Strengthening the mind-body connection is essential for developing emotional awareness, which helps you listen to and understand your body’s needs. This awareness allows you to adjust your workouts based on how your body feels, avoid overtraining, and make more mindful decisions about nutrition and recovery. A strong mind-body relationship creates harmony between your mental and physical health, enhancing your overall well-being.

    Potential Exercises:

    • Active and Passive Meditations: Incorporating both movement-based (active) and still (passive) meditations fosters a deeper awareness of your body’s signals, helping you identify when to push and when to rest in your fitness routine.

    • Somatic Processing: Connecting Mind and Body: This practice emphasizes recognizing physical sensations and emotions in the body. By tuning into these signals, you can address tension, mental blocks, or stress that might be affecting your workout performance and overall well-being.

    • Emotional Resilience, Embodiment, and Manifestation: Developing emotional resilience through embodiment practices helps you stay grounded and centered, empowering you to manifest your fitness goals by aligning your emotional well-being with your intentions. I firmly believe that the emotions we consistently feel in our bodies (whether we are aware of them or not) shape the experiences we attract. I will guide you in identifying the primary emotions that may be influencing your emotional patterns that keep you stuck.

  • Effective energy management ensures that you have the physical and emotional resources to stay consistent in your fitness routine. By setting priorities, creating healthy boundaries, and avoiding energy drains, you can focus on your workouts and recovery. This balance helps prevent exhaustion, allowing you to work smarter, not harder, for enhanced performance.

    Potential Exercises:

    • Energy Tracking: Together, we will identify what areas of your life are most consuming you and what areas are giving you the most energy and fulfillment. This allows you to make adjustments and focus your energy where it matters most, ensuring you have the vitality needed for your fitness goals.

    • Boundary Setting and Communication: We'll work on setting clear boundaries and improving communication to protect your time and energy. By avoiding unnecessary energy drains, you can prioritize workouts and recovery without feeling overwhelmed or depleted.

    • Rest and Active Recovery Planning: We’ll create a balanced plan that incorporates both rest and active recovery. This ensures that you’re giving your body the downtime it needs to recharge, while also staying active in a way that promotes healing and long-term fitness progress.

  • Building personal power and self-trust is critical for staying motivated and overcoming obstacles. When you recognize your strengths and abilities, you’re more likely to set ambitious goals and pursue them with conviction. This confidence fosters resilience, helping you push through challenges and setbacks, which are inevitable in any fitness or wellness journey. A strong sense of personal power also ensures you stay aligned with your authentic needs, making decisions that support your long-term success.

    Potential Exercises:

    1. Identifying and Embracing Your Personal Power: Reflecting on your strengths and unique abilities helps you understand where your personal power lies, building the confidence needed to face challenges in your fitness journey.

    2. The Subconscious and Limiting Beliefs: Exploring and challenging your subconscious beliefs helps you uncover hidden barriers to success, allowing you to push past self-imposed limitations and achieve your goals.

    3. A Return to Self to Find Community: By reconnecting with your authentic self, you cultivate a sense of belonging within a supportive community, which empowers you to stay committed to your fitness and wellness goals.

I have worked with Will for 5 years. With his care and compassion, I've learned to listen to my body,  knowing when to push myself and when to be gentle with myself. My life is much richer having been on this journey with Will.

Robyn C., client since Oct. 2019

  • Somatic Awareness

    • The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, 2014.

    • Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine, 1997.

    • In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness by Peter Levine & Ann Frederick, 2010.

    Nervous System Regulation

    • Heal Your Nervous System by Linnea Passaler, 2024.

    • The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation by Stephen W. Porges, 2011.

    • Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory by Deb Dana, 2021.

    Emotional Resilience Training

    • Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness by Rick Hanson, 2020.

    • Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David, 2016.

    Communication and Boundaries

    • Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown, 2015.

    • The Art of Communicating by Thich Nhat Hanh, 2013.

    • Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab, 2021.

    The Highly Sensitive Person

    • The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine N. Aron, 1997.

    • Sensitive Is the New Strong: The Power of Empaths in an Increasingly Harsh World by Anita Moorjani, 2021.

    • Vantage Sensitivity: Individual Differences in Response to Positive Experiences by Michael Pluess & Jay Belsky, 2013.

    The Empathic Individual

    • The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People by Judith Orloff, 2018.

    • The Empathy Effect: Seven Neuroscience-Based Keys for Transforming the Way We Live, Love, Work, and Connect Across Differences by Helen Riess, 2018.

    • The Empowered Empath: A Simple Guide on Setting Boundaries, Controlling Your Emotions, and Making Life Easier by Judy Dyer, 2016.

    Fleur Leussink

    • Moving Beyond: Access your Intuition, Psychic Abilities, and Spirit Connection, 2021.Book.

    • Moving Beyond Grief Through Connection, 2020.Podcast.

    • The Intuition Mastery Method, 2023.Link.

  • Ph.D. Student in Mind-Body Medicine, Saybrook University. May 2027.

    1:1 Student Mentorship Program with Fleur Leussink, 2024

    Group Student Mentorship Program with Fleur Leussink, Spring and Summer 2023

    Personal Training Certificate, National Academy of Sports Science, 2019, 2021, 2023.

    • Women and Senior Health and Fitness Certifications

    • Corrective Exercises and Weight Loss Certifications.

    • Hypertrophy and Bodybuilding Certifications

    • Cardio and HIIT Training Experience

    MA in Anthropology, Brandeis University, 2008.

    BA in Anthropology, University of Montana, 2005.

  • As a fitness and wellness coach, I do not provide healthcare, medical, or nutritional therapy services, nor do I diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any physical, mental, or emotional issues. My role is to introduce exercises and techniques that help you explore and appreciate your authentic needs, empowering you to build a supportive health and wellness structure tailored to your unique nervous system and inner experience.