Seeds of Change
Do you ever have a great idea to make a positive impact on the world around you but don’t know what to do with it?? Me too! Rather than write them in a journal or an iphone note I am going to start writing them here. If you see something that interests you or have ideas to add, please feel free to contact me! I love brainstorming ideas with other passionate people!
This idea was born out of countless conversations with my amazing friend Allison Smelser and a healthy dose of inspiration from the Brene Brown podcasts! I am passionate about a lot of different topics but they all seem to share the common thread of empowering individuals to practice self-awareness, self-compassion and break away from the confines of external expectations to create the life that they dream of. I firmly believe the sooner we begin teaching and encouraging these things the better. This is a big part of why I love working with expectant families and infants. I believe making these changes of mindset in the early years can have massive implications on our social systems and structures. Every time I chat with someone about these ideas I get more inspired and expand my visions of possibility and change. A big thanks to all of you who have shared these conversations to date and thank you in advance for our future discussion! Ally and I think of it like planting seeds and if we just keep making connections and feeding our passions, a beautiful garden will eventually grow! Here are some of the things on my mind…
the pandemic has provided an opportunity for us to reimagine how we do things
Let’s harness some of the terrifying energy of the pandemic for good. I hope virtual healthcare is here to stay. We can at the very least make services much more accessible to those lucky enough to have a telephone or internet connection. I think eyes have been opened and we are all working a bit harder to forget the idea of a ‘work-life balance’ and integrate work as a part of an overall happy life. It shouldn’t be work vs. life…. if that is the case work always wins and life always suffers.
knowing is very different from practising
Having knowledge of wellness means nothing if you are not able to put the information into practice. I have first hand experience knowing about the experience as well as the research surrounding burnout, overwhelm, low back pain, anxiety, perfectionism, diastasis recti, pelvic floor dysfunction etc. You name it! Just being informed about these things does not help me avoid or overcome them if I am not actively and intentionally building my resilience. And doing so is challenging to say the least, even when you know it is what you need to do. I am not interested in educating or preaching, I am interested in sharing knowledge, validating experiences and coaching others to make actual changes to their habits and lifestyles that are evidence based and proven to be helpful. But I now understand that I am not able to make someone do something they are not ready to do. It took me years of practice to accept that it is not my responsibility to fix or to heal. It might be a bit of a hit to the ego but the reality is that I have very little control over what clients do with the information or temporary relief I am able to provide. So I will stay curious and keep walking the talk. I will keep practising self-compassion and doing what I need to do to maintain my resilience and motivation to help others… with consistency over intensity!
outdoor education and healthcare
As a mother to young children I am blown away by the unique strengths and interests of each of my kids. The pandemic really caused me to pause and re-evaluate what makes me feel good and what encourages vs. restricts us as people. It also gave me a front row seat to their virtual learning. Our disconnection with nature during that time led to some steep declines in mental health and physical activity. I really want to foster a connection to the world around us and want my kids to appreciate their connection to nature and to eachother. I have enrolled them in a Forest School program one day a week and am making a point to get outside as much as we can because we are all more relaxed and happier. I question the institutionalisation of our education system and I see who thrives in these environments as well as the many who do not. We are actively trying to start an outdoor education program in Haldimand County that would provide an alternative or adjunct to our public education system with a dream of this being accessible to all children. I am passionate about the positive impacts of nature on our wellness and work to incorporate it into my physiotherapy recommendations and appointments.
indigenous land based learning
I would like to see us move beyond simply acknowledging land and really embrace that indigenous ways and learning promote all of what seems to be missing in our world… respect, connection, compassion, kindness, gratitude etc. I am respectfully interested and open to any learning that knowledge-keepers would be willing to share. I am trying to educate myself about the atrocities of the past and their implications on the present and future. I know it is not my right to be embraced or included in this culture. I dream of a program where children and families of all backgrounds can come together and play and learn together in nature. Where we can foster respect and admiration and deconstruct the systemic racism that has impacted generation upon generation. I have felt the palpable tension in my hometown and I have heard the ignorant comments from those who should know better. I am not interested in remaining silent and allowing my children to grow up being directly or even subtly influenced by our flawed systems. I would like to participate in bettering relationships and fostering genuine friendship. I don’t know exactly what that looks like but I am open to it.
Women’s Health
Overall I feel our system in Canada is very reactive and I would describe it as a ‘disease-care’ system as opposed to ‘health-care’. No area suffers more in my opinion than that of women’s health because not only is preventative education not available but solid research in many aspects of it simply has not been conducted to even inform that education. Essentially even if you are interested in learning more and take the initiative to do so, you may still be left with little to learn. Thankfully this is changing but it is slow and until we have all of the answers we need I feel it is important to share what we do know as widely as possible. I want the information I have had the privilege to learn to be accessible to everyone. I would like for it to be common knowledge that changes to energy levels and emotions during menstrual cycles are NORMAL and can be used to our advantage rather than treated as an inconvenience. As young girls and women we are taught (explicitly or by avoidance) not to talk about our bodies, our periods, our sexuality etc. We learn that you need to suck up any symptoms you may experience so as not to make others uncomfortable. We are put on hormonal birth control to ‘manage’ symptoms without addressing overall wellness and exploring what can be remedied through lifestyle factors. We spent a great deal of energy and money avoiding becoming pregnant then at some point in our lives may decide we would like to. Does the subconscious messaging in our bodies just disappear at the flick of a switch? Maybe we do become pregnant and perhaps we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to build a care team who takes into account our goals and decisions… we are in Canada after all with a universal healthcare system! My experience is that even here women feel pressured, rushed, disappointed and even traumatized by their pregnancies, deliveries and postpartum care. This is heartbreaking because we do have solid evidence in many of these fields, it just isn’t changing the system as fast as it should be. So I want young girls to be taught about their bodies. I want them to be and be surrounded by kind, respectful, compassionate individuals who are educated about consent. I want people to stop asking women if they plan to have children and for women to consider if they want to raise children. I want to normalize that fertility challenges are real and impact everyone differently. I want high quality prenatal education available to ALL families. I want women to feel empowered to trust their bodies and believe in their innate abilities. I want to create a society that believes fed is best, supports breastfeeding when chosen and possible and provides support for all mothers. I want less medical interventions in natural processes. I want women of all ages to be free of shame and embarrassment with regards to the functioning of their body, both normal and abnormal.
Constipation in Kids
Constipation is a huge problem and I want to know what we could be doing better to prevent it. I had some awareness of the gut microbiome and also wanted to increase my chances of being able to successfully breastfeed so I did a lot of research about birthing practices. I didn’t have perfectly smooth deliveries but for the most part was able to avoid medical intervention. I had vaginal deliveries which I knew had an impact on infant gut health and was fortunate to be able to exclusively breastfeed and I chose to do so. When it came to introducing solid food I did ample research. I followed recommendations regarding common allergens and I was very conscious of feeding my children a diet that is considered to be one of the healthiest (for adults). I focused on whole-food, mainly plant based and organic when possible. I was hyper vigilant about avoiding processed food and added sugar and made sure to provide plenty of variety. My children drank only water and breastmilk. I thought I was doing everything ‘correctly’ but in the end, all of my kids still experienced constipation to varying degrees. This still baffles me and I really want to understand why and what I could have done differently. Is this ‘adult diet’ not in fact beneficial for an infant’s system? Why is this not getting more research attention? Someone please help me figure this out so we can all have solid, evidence-based recommendations that we can apply today. And if this information exists somewhere please help me make it accessible to moms like me who clearly didn’t find it! Knowing the problems that constipation causes throughout the entire lifespan it feels especially important to focus on prevention and gut health from the start.