Traced Elements

Tag: mental health

Taking My Own Medicine

Every October I sort of lose my mind. I could choose to call it seasonal affective disorder, depression, pieces of shadow I have not eaten. But I am careful not to put it into any of these neat little boxes, because then I would stop extending my most compassionate curiosity toward this strange seasonal storm. I want it to remain a wild thing, an unknown tempest of fury and flying sticks, because every time it shows up it serves a purpose. I’d even go so far as calling it sacred, because each time I allow it to sweep my floor clean, something I have been praying for enters.

There’s a pattern here. A seasonality. Every October, I used to migrate like a swan. As soon as the last of September’s warmth sank over the horizon, I blew up my life, put the pieces in a backpack, and left. Later, when I stopped traveling to far-off countries and instead moved in a series of lunges across the North American continent, October became the month I put everything I owned into my car (or my truck, or a suitcase in the underbelly of a Greyhound bus) and drove until I hit a coast and had to stop.

Now that I’ve rooted myself in the kind of life that contains four horses, one sheep, one pig, one dog, twelve ducks and two roosters, the ferocious energy of THE MIGRATION THAT SHOULD BE HAPPENING no longer blows me across the continent. Instead, it bowls me over. This year, I looked out over the crazy abundance of harvest season, my belly full of squash and roast duck (all the incredible generosity of the natural world!) and was so irrevocably angry that nothing made sense anymore. The anger burnt until there was nothing left but nothingness. While all around me trees dropped their leaves in an incredible display of letting go, I was furious at them for making it look so easy. This is insane, no?

How does this connect to Pemberton food culture, you ask? Well, it doesn’t. But it does. Because a couple of days ago, before this year’s particular loss of mind levelled out and let me think with something akin to clarity, I opened my medicine cabinet and saw this:

“This” is the library of wild-foraged tinctures I’ve created over the past 4 years. (Their labels are double-sided, so the essence of the words can seep into the medicine.) As I read their labels, I realized something: I created each of these medicines in October. Each was created as a support for weathering that particular year’s energetic storm. As I felt into their contents, I realized that looking at the interior of my medicine chest was like looking at the growth rings of my own evolution, as well as my connection to this wild part of the world I call home.

2015: Love, Compassion, Congruence. Usnea longissima: the long, delicate single strands of lichen that hangs from trees like the animate glowing trees in Avatar. Potent antiviral and immune support, grows only where the air is pure and the forests contain old growth.

2016: Changes toward Infinite Potential. Again Usnea longissima, this time with Lungwort Lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria.) I was still working with air beings, still striving for lightness. This one recognized the animus of the invisible transmission of air as connector between the animal and plant realms and between all beings. (If I breathe in air a tree exhaled and then YOU then take in the air I breathed-)

2017: Liberation. Atonement. Unity. This was a graduation ceremony from air to earth, something I created specifically when I moved from Squamish Valley to Pemberton. Devil’s club root and bark (adaptogen), willow bark (for deep pain and calling in receptivity and remediation).

2018: Belonging, Lightness, Radiance, Love. This one I made in secret after hiking up to Tenquille Lake with Pemby herbalist Evelyn Coggins this summer. We were not supposed to take any plants. (Evelyn, I am sorry I am so terrible at obeying rules.) There’s a chance a few flower heads of Valerian and River Fireweed (along with a few hemlock tips, a piece of old man’s beard (another Usnea!), and a piece of quartz may have made their way into my pocket on this hike. (Barely a handful of plant matter, I swear…) Covered in 100 proof vodka and shaken every day for 20 days, this one is light and floral but POTENT. Holy $^%&. The first time I tried it I almost fell asleep in the library. It’s for taking before bed, to encourage new neural connections to form through dreams…

Then I had a conversation with myself that I’m embarrassed to disclose. But I will anyway, because I think we all have these sorts of conversations from time to time. It’s just not something we talk about.

“Well Kera, you should try to remember to take some of these. That was the point of making them.”

“Humph.”

“??”

“Oh, right. Okay, okay.”

“And you know that St John’s Wort tincture you have in a mason jar under the kitchen sink? You should take that too. Because you made it SPECIFICALLY for coping with Octobers. Remember?”

“Um, yeah. Yeah I did.”

I did. I do. I am. Taking them. Ten drops in the morning of Liberation/Atonement/Unity and 6 drops of Belonging/Lightness/Radiance/Love before bed. Could the prescription be anymore poetic?

Pharmaceutical companies, take note. You could do better.

October 24, 2018
Mindful Morning Musings •

This past month I have been thinking a lot about mindfulness and mindful eating.

Anngela Leggett (Evergreen Fitness) and I recently ran the Mindful Morning Retreat at Blue House Organics. It was a magical morning consisting of a beautiful yoga practice with Anngela, raw treats, and a circle of discussion around the way we eat and the way we think about food.

What an amazing experience it is to openly share your experiences with mindfulness and food with a group of unique and inspiring individuals. I was blown away.

I knew I wasn’t going to be delivering exactly what people would expect. I was there as a guide, to show people the ball was already in their court, and help them to discover how they could realistically apply mindful eating to support mental health, to their own individual lifestyles.

As it turns out, I may have learned more from the group than they did from me! I learned new ways to approach mindfulness, I was taught how to be grateful for the action of making dinner for your loved ones, I was taught how to be mindful through your purchases of food, not just at meal times, and I learned just how important these reminders are.

I shared this reading with the group from Peace Is Every Step, by Thich Nhat Hanh:

“One day, I offered a number of children a basket filled with tangerines. The basket was passed around, and each child took one tangerine and put it in his or her palm. We each looked at our tangerine, and the children were invited to meditate on its origins. They saw not only their tangerine, but also its mother, the tangerine tree. With some guidance, they began to visualise the blossoms in the sunshine and in the rain. Then they saw petals falling down and the tiny green fruit appear. The sunshine and the rain continued, and the tiny tangerine grew. Now someone has picked it, and the tangerine is here. After seeing this, each child was invited to peel the tangerine slowly, noticing the mist and the fragrance of the tangerine, and then bring it up to his or her mouth and have a mindful bite, in full awareness of the texture and taste of the fruit and the juice coming out. We ate slowly like that.

Each time you look at a tangerine you can see deeply into it. You can see everything is the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, its wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy.”

Lisa Richardson writes for the Pique, and had this to say about the Mindful Morning Retreat:

“They offered to help us connect the dots between food and mood. I went to pick up a few good lifestyle hacks that would help me come away from that moment when I’m standing forlornly in front of the fridge, with a fistful of carrot sticks and a dash of psychic resilience instead of a spoonful of Nutella and a guilty conscience.

Our guide, Maguire, having survived six years of disordered eating and come out the other side with practical wisdom to partner with her science degree, informed us that there is no such thing as good food and bad food. She invited us to replace that hazardous dichotomy with mindfulness. Self-care and slowing down. The Mindful Morning Retreat wasn’t an intervention, a six-step program or even a specific solution. It was quite simply a beautiful morning of yoga followed by tea and treats, and the chance for a circle of people to sit together and make connections—between our experiences and other people’s experiences, between our eating habits and our emotions. It was the welcome mat to mindfulness. It was the reminder that attention, not willpower, will save us, from pathology, addiction, the downward spiral of self-loathing.”

Some questions to ponder:

What does mindfulness mean to you?

What does mindful eating mean to you?

How can you realistically apply this to your own life?

Do you think about food as being ‘good’ or ‘bad’?

Do you feel guilty after eating certain foods?

Does social media influence how you feel about food?

❤

Nutrition Mind Collective

@nutritionmindcollective

June 26, 2018
Food for Thought

On March 29th my daughter turned 9 months old, this same day I had bittersweet emotions as it also marked the 11th year of my fathers passing. My father suffered from depression and this eventually lead him to take his own life. This article weighs heavy on me as I raise a tiny human with a brain that’s growing and absorbing at an alarming rate. I want to give her the best tools and support to ensure healthy brain development and positive mental health. I truly believe this starts with our nutrition. Did you know that our brains are 60% fat and a whopping 20% of our calorie intake is used to fuel our brains. It’s no wonder what we consume can have such a huge impact on how we feel and perceive.

Mental health has always played a huge role in my life. I’ve always been conscious of my own mental state and I have siblings and friends that are currently managing their depression and anxiety. Although there are many good days, the bad days can often turn into weeks, months and sometimes years. And what do we do when we have these days, consume junk and comforts foods, we often stop exercising and moving our bodies which only worsens the symptoms. Chances are you also know someone that is suffering or perhaps you yourself have struggled with mental health. Even seasonally I see so many people, myself included, fall into a slump over the winter months or the never ending rainy spring or fall. On a less severe scale, have you ever felt brain fog, mood swings, anxiety or an overwhelming or prolonged feeling of being unmotivated. This could all tie into your brain not getting the essential nutrients that it needs. Two mornings ago after a night of broken sleep, no breakfast (or coffee) I proceeded to getting house chores done. I caught myself trying to put the clean dishes away in the freezer and nearly threw the dirty laundry in the garbage… I clearly was not on my A game that morning. Perhaps that’s why they say breakfast is so important, get that brain fueled up and ready for the day.

Speaking of which, here is one of my favourite breakfasts that just happens to be ideal brain food. The overnight oat and chia cups from Staywild. If you have not already tried one of these, I urge you to. They are also baby approved, I usually need to get two otherwise my little one will eat all of mine. I’ve tried so many home recipes but they never come close to how tasty Staywild prepares them. They have the perfect oat to chia ratio and that cashew and date whip is the icing on the cake. Here’s a quick breakdown of the ingredients and what makes them essential for fueling our brains.

Oats: provide glucose, long term energy for the body and mind. They also contain vitamin B, E, potassium and zinc which help the brain function at its optimum level.

Chia seeds: Omega 3 ALA which your brain uses to make DHA fatty acids (essential for optimum brain function). Also a complete protein which means it contain all 9 essential amino acids

Almond milk: Riboflavin, L-carnitine, vitamin E, vitamin D. All key nutrients in supporting positive neurological activity

Cashew: Rich in vitamin B6. Cashews have been know to help fight depression and an anxious mood. B6 can help the uptake of serotonin in the body and help magnesium reach cells more effectively

Strawberries/Blueberries: Rich in Antioxidants and flavonoids help protect against free radicals, reduce inflammation and studies have shown improvement in memory and cognitive ability from diets with high amounts of berries.

Coconut: Healthy source of dietary fibre and MCT (medium chain triglycerides)

I cannot begin to express the importance of managing a healthy mind and I truly believe that begins with our nutrition. What we fuel our bodies with can have a massive impact on our mental health both positively and negatively.

Our brains are absolutely fascinating and the more I learn about how the brain works and what it needs to function optimally, the more I try to make conscious decisions that will make a positive impact. I’m also quicker to realize the negative effects when I make poor choices. Eat well, feel well!

I wanted to use this to promote a really great event The Mindful Morning Retreat that is being held at Blue House Organics by Anngela Leggett and Jamie Maguire but I wasn’t quick enough. They sold out in no time. However, a little birdie told me that there will be a round two at the end of the summer so keep your eyes and ears open if you’re interested in getting more in depth on the topic of nutrition and brain function while partaking in some mindful yoga. Your brain is a hungry little organ, feed it well and seriously you should try an oat and chia cup from Staywild when you have the opportunity.

Enjoying breakfast with a fabulous view and of Mount Currie never hurts

May 20, 2018