E109 John Webster Common Sense Wellness Check-In
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 109
Date: February 27, 2024
Participants: Elise Seifert, Julie Wilson, John Webster, Cameron Earnshaw and Sheila Webster
Start Times and Segments:
[0:00:16] What’s On Your Mind: Creativity has wellness benefits. Examples discussed include music, combining music on a walk in a forest, pottery, knitting and sewing.
[0:06:00] Expanding Minds Interview [Wellness Categories, Activities and A Check-In]: We’re taking a short break from the usual interview format. It’s been just over two years since we started our podcast adventure. We learned much from our conversations between co-hosts, and from our interview guests. The podcast started because of an idea – there’s a practical and achievable way to approach wellness and balance that could work for anyone. This episode and the next, co-host John Webster takes an opportunity to tell listeners about this approach, including how it’s been refined by the podcast discussions. It provides context for why we talk about a wide range of areas on our podcast: Mental, physical, spiritual, economic, environmental, artistic, intellectual and social wellness. This episode focuses on (1) discovering wellness categories; (2) finding then performing activities that foster each area; and (3) a common sense wellness check-in. Listen in to learn more about the origins of the podcast and how this common sense approach could help you work towards wellness and balance. Next week the focus shifts to a way to find balance over the course of a lifetime.
[0:26:51] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron fell into a chance to use some of his music skills unexpectedly, at an open mic. At another musician’s request, he wrote out the chords for her song, which means at the next open mic the band might be able to play along with her.
[0:31:07] Move That Body: Music can boost your workout in different ways. An article talks about seven of them – “Can listening to music during exercise boost your workout?”, by Purvi Kalra on healthshots.com (Oct. 29, 2023): it helps establish a sync between body and beat; the brain responds to music including to release dopamine; it diverts attention from fatigue; it helps to motivate; it helps enhance focus during a workout; it reduced perceived exertion; and it's a personalized experience.
[0:37:28] Running Popup: John is feeling his body waking up – arm muscles, leg muscles even stomach muscles – after getting back into well-rounded exercise and heathier eating.
[0:38:36] Flipside of the Coin: Elise and Stephen took different roads to end up as teachers. They chat about them. They both get great satisfaction in having a job where they can make a difference.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
John – When we started, my goal was to share the idea, and how to check in from time to time. What I learned after I started the podcast is that my co-hosts and guests are helping me refine and improve my practical approach to wellness and balance. Now I think of the podcast as the co-hosts exploring wellness topics, sharing ideas and learning from others.
John – I’m cherishing my journey. My motto is to live life in every breath (which I took from a movie). I don’t fully know how to do that – but I’m trying to figure it out.
John – The recipe for my approach is available to anyone. 1. It starts with introspection. 2. Add a generous helping of investigation and analysis. 3. Then you need to act – you need to actually do things. You need to start doing real activities that enhance different areas of wellness and bring balance back into your life.
John – It’s easy to lose balance, because there’s not enough time in the day to do all of my wellness activities, especially if when I consider multiple categories of wellness. Nor is it reasonable to expect anyone to do all of them at any given time. There’s a balancing process. I started thinking about unconscious trade-offs I was making between categories. If I spend too much time on one category, then I ignored others.
John – I started asking myself questions. One of them was, “If I’m going to seek balance, what am I balancing?” How can I talk about balance without knowing what to balance? I was thinking about asked different areas of my life affect my wellness. What are my categories of wellness?
Which categories are meaningful to me?
John – From now on I want to direct my outcomes. I choose to believe I’m personally responsible for my conduct, and that I can make myself the person I want to be. I don’t want unhealthy trade-offs to happen to me anymore, as if I have no control, so I need to recognize (1) that I’m making a choice; and (2) what it is I’m choosing between. Then I can make an informed and conscious decision.
John – My common sense approach demystifies the concept of searching for wellness. It makes the process manageable and achievableThree Steps Sum Up My Approach. Anyone can do these steps. Step 1- identify my categories of wellness. Step 2 - figure out activities that nourish each category. Step 3 - develop a wellness check-in.
John – I had already developed a running form check in. When I didn’t feel right, I reminded myself of movements that keep my running balanced and smooth I did those movements and started to feel better on the run. It hit me: what if I could do a wellness check in. When I feel off mentally or physically, I could ask myself what categories and activities am I ignoring? I could remind myself to do activities to foster wellness there, then do those activities.
John – My hope in listing bullet-point lists of activities in each are of wellness in my book, Accidentally Well, is that they give people a head start in their own brainstorming. It might help them to think about what fosters wellness for them.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by Sheila: I’m finding that it’s hard or stupid
Guest Information: Listeners know John Webster as a co-host of this podcast. John’s an Ontario lawyer who works at international law firm Gowling WLG, from the Waterloo Region office. He is a commercial litigator with 27 years of experience in complex litigation. John is a strong advocate for personal wellness, and this podcast (Let’s Be Well Together) and published a book about his journey (Accidentally Well). John has a lively curiosity that was fostered during his days studying philosophy at university. He embraces the saying, "Never stop learning." You can often find him enjoying its trail system in Kitchener-Waterloo, whether along old rail lines, through a forest or along the Grand River. He's married to Sheila and has three adult children. He’s enjoying life even more after the experiences he writes about in his book.
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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura and Julie