MEND Season 3 - Episode 59

To be. Well. with Amy Day

“To be great, be whole;
Exclude nothing, exaggerate nothing that is not you.
Be whole in everything. Put all you are
Into the smallest thing you do.
So, in each lake, the moon shines with splendor
Because it blooms up above.” 
― Fernando Pessoa

Welcome back to another solo episode of MEND.

This week, I’m dipping into some of the tools & ideas I travel in inside my coaching practice.

This past week, I launched a small group offering I’m calling be. WELL.

Where we use the practices & lens of yoga to look at Wellness from a holistic perspective.

What does it mean to be well?

What does it mean to define our wellness by another’s standard, prototype or idea?

Can we even attain true wellness if our entry point is from a place of self-recrimination, self-punishment, self-loathing, & self-disgust? Or must the path we travel bare the same energetic footprint of the destination we are marching toward?

What happens when we start to abscond with another’s definition of our worth? Our beauty? Our goodness? Our health? What begins to transpire when we create our own definitions, our own rhythms, rituals & support systems around whole-person wellness?

Does it grant us greater energy and presence to live, work, and serve in the larger world? (You can probably guess that one…)

We dip into these questions today & look at a construct within yogic ideology of the layers and facets that make up the Self. And how we nourish and tend to each.

If you’re interested in the work of this course, you may still join us.

You can find out more at:

TheWorkofTheseHands.com

MEND Season 3 - Episode 57

Finding your WHY with Amy Day

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Thank you for your forbearance during this last, little unscheduled absence. As you’ll hear inside the episode, I’ve been needing some time to rest. To renew. To step away and remember the bigger picture behind all this busy-ness of Life. The WHY of this project and of all I’ve chosen to step into.

So, now. Back. Behind the mic and the laptop.

Ready to step into the next iteration of this project and to share with you…

*some of the talk I gave awhile back ago at the local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship - on TRUST. On trusting the role you have to play in the larger web of this Life. No matter how small. On honoring and steadfastly weaving the unique thread that you carry. On stepping in - All In - armed with intention, skill & vision - to the work, projects, relationships & even play - to which you are called. And Why it matters.

Just me - talking briefly about the work of engaged spirituality. And the reminder that we never truly know at the outset what the end result of our actions will be. The seeds we plant may be humble. Simply providing a lush path for others to step onto. Some of them may bloom in a mighty and prolific way. But we need to keep planting. Keep tilling. Keep scattering seeds. And it is not to us to determine how they will grow.

And if you find yourself in a quagmire, as I was not too long ago - lacking energy, lacking momentum, vision, JOY. Come back to your own great WHY. The vision that fuels all the tiny what’s and how’s and when’s inside your everyday. How do they line up? And are the actions of your daily life - really & truly - feeding into the bigger picture you seek?

……….

To find out more about the things/links/communities/resources mentioned on today’s show, visit:

• TheWorkofTheseHands.com - for coaching, yoga, and a little virtual hug from yours’ truly.

• HUUF - the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, where I gave the talk and where the work of Engaged Spirituality really shows up.

MEND Season 2 - Episode 31

Living Capital with Marcie Goldman

Welcome back.

Today, we move into the topic of Living Capital.  In the traditional landscape of Permatculture, from where we’re taking a page this season…  this form of vital currency is often defined as our local Ecology.

The land, soil, air, water, animals, plants - i.e. the very stuff that sustains LIFE.

Another way to look at Living Capital, and the way we’ve chosen to cozy up to this topic is through the very intimate ecology of the BODY.  How we choose to feed and sustain and, as you’ll hear again and again throughout this conversation - NOURISH - ourselves, our families and the skin we’re in.

Toward that end, we sat down this week with Marcie Goldman.

Marcie is a nutritionist who rallies against the current culture of fad diets and the idea that stringent dietary restricitons will somehow lead to long-lasting health.

This is a woman who wants us to FEED ourselves.

On every level.

Inviting MORE food to the table, to our gut biomes & returning to a way of  - here it is again - Nourishing ourselves - that honors the wisdom of our bodies, our earth, and our ancestry.

We loved sitting down with Marcie, where we dipped into some unexpected territory around dieting, childhood eating disorders, & toxic beliefs and patterns around food (that we often get from seemingly “healthy” sources).  

Ultimately, over the course of our conversation, we circle round automatically to the reality that truly nourishing ourselves - and re-connecting to our inherent appetites and vitality - in the end re-connects us to the health of our own ecosystem.  Re-connects us back to each other, the living culture of which we are a part, and the earth itself.

You can find out more about Marcie at her website at marciegoldman.com

While you’re there be sure to sign up for her meal plan, which includes a whole array of nourishing food and herbal remedies to add into your life.

We loved sitting down and talking food and Living capital with this wise and well-fed woman.

We know you will too.

MEND Season 1 -Episode 17

The Modern-Day Medicine Chest

Welcome to episode 17 here inside this first season of MEND - where we spend some time both with the originators and pioneers of Humboldt County’s Cannabis Scene but also spend some time getting to know some of the innovators, entrepreneurs, activists, farmers, and more who are helping to shape the Future of this Industry and our Region.

We truly enjoyed sitting down with Gillian - a resident of Humboldt County since 1995, who initially moved here from SEattle to be a part of the Intentional Community at Black Bear Ranch and to escape some of the urban trappings of modern life

She eventually went on to get her degree in Biology & Botany at HSU, and for the past 3 years has been one half of the heart and head behind the biz Humboldt Apothecary  - a medicinal cannabis brand that specializes in CBD-heavy tinctures and formulas, blended with other complementary and synergistic herbs to treat a variety of ailments.  

She tells us about her own path to entrepreneurship - from growing a business with a meer $1500 worth of startup capital to its’ present day iteration - operating across all of California and distribution of over 200 dispensaries statewide

On starting small and using what you have and growing from there.  

On the importance of community not only to help jettison her own business into its current state but also on the quintessential role she sees of continuing to craft cooperatives, community and cooperation across the board if the small, legacy farmer is to stay afloat in the current tidal wave of industry we see today

We talk about the high costs of coming into compliance - both on a very real financial level but on the bigger cultural plane as well

She takes us a bit down the road of her own journey from plant lover, herbalist, and botany-geek to full-fledged businesswoman, the co-creator of a thriving brand - and the steps and shifts it took to move into those roles.

And we find herein another call to Keep it Local - even as the stakes, the market and the money seem to scale ever more global - She stresses the importance of sourcing locally, organically - and staying community minded - as Humboldt County works to extend its output, its’ influence and it’s brand - ever outward.  

There are some of us who will not be able to make the leap.

Who, as small-scale, mom-and-pop farmers and low-level black-market sellers, - were able to care for and feed their families - contribute to their communities - but may not have the wherewithal, the start-up capital, nor the desire - to enter into this brave new world of branding, testing, licensing and so much more…

But herein we glimpse a blueprint and singular scenario - of one such woman making that leap.

And wherever you choose to turn - either toward this new wave - or off into some new enterprise & adventure altogether - may you be inspired and heartened by what you hear.

The leap - if it calls to you - is worth the taking.  

To find out more about Gillian, her work, and the formulations she makes as part of Humboldt Apothecary, visit:

http://www.humboldt-apothecary.com

MEND Season 1 -Episode 9

The Work of the Healer...

Welcome Back to MEND - Episode 9!

We’re continuing to seek out stories from the Elders, the Wise Ones, and the Healers of our tribe.  

In this interview, we’re delighted to sit down with Jane Bothwell, owner of the Dandelion Herbal Center - a local school for Herbal Studies in Kneeland, where she has been training, educating and empowering people from all walks of life to learn the ways of Plant Medicine and Holistic Healing for over 30 years now.  

Jane brings the great perspective of the Healer into this Conversation and provides some wonderful points of reference on how we can cultivate a more sustainable, relational & reverent working relationship with the Cannabis plant.  

We talk about the power of Naming things and how this alters our perceptions.

About the increasing legitimacy of Marijuana as a recognized medicine within the Herbalism world & some of the wonderful uses she’s found for it’s curative powers within her own life and practice.

There’s some important information in regards to THC vs. CBD formulations and strains within here. As well as some great references for those who wish to know more about the Healing Properties and possibilities inherent to Marijuana. Plus, the inherent differences between what it means to ingest a plant recreationally vs as part of a larger ceremony.

Most significantly, Jane speaks to us of the importance of continuing to work organically, sustainably, and with great Reverence as we move forward cultivating this plant.  And how one person, working honorably, humbly, & well - can seed an impact for great, societal & cultural shifts.  

To find out more about the resources Jane mentions in our time together, check out the following links:::

The Dandelion Herbal Center  - www.dandelionherb.com

The Medicinal Cannabis Conference - medicinalcannabisconference.com

United Plant Savers - unitedplantsavers.org

Humboldt Apothecary - humboldt-apothecary.com