E041 Clarence Cachagee Spirituality and Four Quadrants
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 41
Date: November 8, 2022
Participants: John Webster, Sammy Damaren, Cameron Earnshaw and Sheila Webster
Guest: Clarence Cachagee (Expanding Minds) and Nicholas Cumby (Move That Body)
Start times and Segment Segments:
[0:00:37] What’s On Your Mind: Sammy and John discuss a social media post that looks at what some people think support sounds like, compared to what support actually sounds like.
[0:12:59] Expanding Minds Interview: [Spiritual Wellness] Clarence Cachagee gained a better and new understanding of who he was as a whole spiritual being after reconnecting with his Indigenous culture. He received teachings about four quadrants within us all: the mind, the body the spirit and our emotions, and how they have us in the middle. He has a deep connection to the land. Being out on the land feeds his spirit and makes him feel connected.
[0:28:08] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron enjoyed taking in a concert where some of his Shy Harry bandmates performed with their other group, Pilot Project.
[0:30:51] Move That Body: Nicholas Cumby enjoys the gym, focusing on weight training. Working with a coach helps him move past plateaus he saw in the past. He enjoys having control in the gym, where we don’t have control in all areas of our lives.
[0:36:24] Running Popup: John realized mid-run that he’s been using the wrong heart rate for a long time, when doing aerobic runs. He should have been dropping the target heart rate each year. He overlooked that. It didn’t feel great to recognize a mistake. On the other hand, it’s nice to see a better path forward.
[0:40:36] Flipside of the Coin: Sheila and John were blown away by the London transit system. It opened up the city to them. They wish we could make strides towards better public transit closer to home.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
Clarence – As I reconnected with my culture, I started to have a better and new understanding of who I was as a whole spiritual being, having a human experience. I started to get teachings about those four quadrants that are within us all: the mind, the body the spirit and our emotions, and how all of those quadrants have you and me in the middle of them.
Clarence – In order to find balance, we need to exercise those quadrants equally. We need to feed those quadrants equally.
Clarence – One of the most challenging things is achieving balance with the mind and with the spirit. The reason it’s so hard to address balance with the mind and spirit, especially for indigenous people, it’s because everything we’ve been exposed to, and all of those things that have oppressed us, all of those things that have been taken away from us, all of those unjust things that have been done to us, and then how people have tried to break our spirits, through either making our ceremonies illegal, or putting us in jail, or segregating us from other people, an it’s pretty horrendous that’s been done to the original people of this land. They tried to break our spirits. They tried to oppress us. They tried to do everything they cold, but it didn’t’ work.
Clarence – The creator is in you. The creator is in me. The creator is in everything outside: in the birds, in the air, in the trees, in the animals, in the grass, in the dirt, in the soil, in the rocks. The creator is everywhere around us and is love. God was brought to us over a big vas body of water in a wooden ship. God was brought to us in a form of a little black book, by these men wearing long dark robes. Before those ships and those men in the long robes and that book, God wasn’t here. And if God is so good and has all of these commandments that people are supposed to live by, how could that God be so bad to us indigenous people in the residential schools. That is a God I don’t want to know. That’s a God I don’t want to follow.
Clarence – What feeds my spirit is being out on the land. When I am out on the land, I feel so connected. I have a deep, deep connection. I am a land-based person. As indigenous people, we are land-based people. Our home is the land. We are the earth, and the earth is us.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by Sheila: We gotta get off. This is getting nowhere.
Guest Information: Clarence Cachagee has undeniable spirit for change, with a focus on working with the Spirit within. He’s a helper, visionary and author who is known for investing his whole self into his community. Clarence originates from Chapleau Cree First Nation and calls Waterloo Region his home. He faced struggles, and chooses to serve and support those living on the margins of society. Clarence continues to engage with his community through land-based teaching and healing as an Indigenous Community Educator, public speaking and facilitating groups to encourage “healing”. Clarence says “it is said that Mother Earth has all the medicines for every disease there is. Indigenous people of Turtle Island are land-based people. They have received the teachings from the animals. Their creation stories are about mother earth, and it’s said that you can go anywhere on Turtle Island and find the medicine you need. Understanding land-based philosophies helps us become better connected and feed our spirits”. Clarence works at Conestoga College as an Aboriginal Services Coordinator and the visionary and founder of Crow Shield Lodge.
Website for Crow Shield Lodge: https://www.crowshieldlodge.com/
Crow Shield Lodge Instagram: @crowshieldlodge
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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila and Julie