Guest host Ciara joins Isabelle. They’re both university students. They talk about how the initially wished challenges would go away, but now see challenges as helping them grow. We interview Lynne MacDonald in the area of Economic Wellness.⁠ Lynne is a real estate agent. We ask her what she tells first time home buyers, and how she helps them. The process takes more time and energy than many people expect, with stress and challenges along the way. When it happens, getting that first house is a wonderful experience. Starving Artist - It was a Saturday night and Cameron had lots of projects on the go. He took time out to relax and chat with a friend on Discord. Move That Body – Julie tells Elise about Forest Bathing and its benefits. It’s about walking through an being present in nature. Running Popup – John’s approach to wellness and balance takes hard work. He’d rather have something that’s hard to do, but doable, than either no possibility at all or sitting around waiting for wellness to come along as a lucky break. Flipside of the Coin – We’re both feeling like we’re in a rat race during a very busy time.

We start by chatting about an article on nature affecting us is many more ways that we think. There’s lots to think about. We’re also intrigued by the concept of “ecological amnesia”, with so many of us disconnecting from nature. We interview high school teacher Laurie Flanagan in an arts topic. Her students recently performed High School Musical. We hear about hard work that went on behind the scenes. Students benefit in many ways. Parents are thrilled. They often don’t see their kids acting or performing in this way. Teachers work together, collaborate and get stronger as a teaching community. They see the kids differently. The job becomes more fun for everyone. Starving Artist - Cameron keeps taking shots when they present themselves. He talks about a past and present attempt to get his voice into a commercial. Move That Body – is exercise punishment or fun? Do we do it for looks, or to feel great? We can reframe how we talk and think about it. Running Popup - The food that nature provides has wonderful aromas. John was looking forward to the flavours as he finished his run, thinking about how great it smelled when he prepared it earlier in the day. Flipside of the Coin - Elise and Stephen talk about their experience with a long distance relationship.

A social media post gives us fun ideas for a summer eco bucket list – from beach clean-up, to hiking, to farmer’s market and more. We interview Shereen Samuels about differences between not racist and anti-racist [social wellness]. Anti-racism is saying that my participation in the system doesn’t end with me saying I am not racist. Shereen sees community as the foundation of how to think about this. We want our communities to be healthy and connected, and we want people to thrive in our communities. Retired Artist - Sheila is a retired artist, dancing through life. With Cameron juggling many balls in the air, Sheila drops in to talk about feeling the music (and choreography). Move that Body – What is exercise snacking? Here’s a hint: it feels great instead of tasting great. Running Popup - There are times when John is tentative heading out for a run. Things go well on many of those occasion and he’s rewarded, body and mind. Flipside – We took a good amount of time to visit an art gallery for the first time in a while. What an enjoyable experience. Thanks Butter Gallery!

We start with an article: Live Longer With the Dishes from Blue Zones in America. Residents of places dubbed blue zones share a common environment and lifestyle and they tend to live longer, often beyond 100-years-old. What do they share in common? We interview Hillary Fitzgerald about exercise an setting goals. Goals don’t need to be grandiose. Often it’s good to set small goals, achieve those, prove to yourself that you can achieve them, get that feeling of success, then set your next goal and succeed there. New success builds off earlier ones. You start to really believe in yourself. Goals keep us disciplined and on track. Starving Artist - Cameron gives us a glimpse into remote studio recording. He talks about a project he’s working on and lets us listen in on a piece. Move that Body - We tried new activities, knowing we aren’t good at them. We ha so much fun. Popup – John says thanks to an unknown guy at the gym, whose upbeat approach and dancing on the treadmill helped John sail through the end of a longer run. Flipside – We reminisce about old-school photo booths. They’re so much fun.

Isabelle chats about the benefits she receives from travel. It’s fun. It builds resilience. It helps us learn from different cultures. We welcome back Chef Kay Miller for another chat. Today it’s about food, the community and social responsibly. She believes food needs to be held as a high priority, which we’re failing on in our current community. Starving Artist - Breaking into the music scene is a challenge. Looking for agent representation is a process. Also, approaching a 30th birthday give pause for thought and a bit of soul searching. Move That Body - Spring is in the air, and bike tires are hitting the pavement. It’s fun to be biking to work again. Popup – a meme on different perspectives on whether a small act will have big future impact. Flipside – sometime when you screw up, it’s fun to just go with it. Do it with confidence!

We chat about a thought-provoking social media post that says being healthy is easy, but also giving examples of many things you need to do. It’s doable, but you need a plan. We interview lawyer Michael Herman, who went through a difficult period in his life caused by mental illness. He talks about the Performance Paradox. “Strivers” push themselves to meet or exceed expectations, but can then get gripped by a sense of dread or fear. They wonder how they can repeat success again. How do we break the cycle? Michael’s solution is to let go. Starving Artist – Cameron’s working to dig out of a hole by focusing on positive stuff going on. For example, he’s showing up on the Ottawa music scene. He’s was invited to work with a group doing a Bruce Springsteen tribute. Move That Body – Hillary Fitzgerald tried something new – rucking. It’s walking with a weighted backpack. Popup – How did feeling terrible during a workout set up a really good and upbeat day? Flipside – A Jet Li quote: “Some talk to you in their free time and some free their time to talk to you. Learn the difference.”

Elise and Sheila reminisce about the vibrancy of New Delhi. The traffic, the noise, the sights, the colours, the aromas, the people – they all hit the senses in a vibrant way. We interview Jason Schreurs, a music and mental health writer, and host of Scream Therapy Podcast. His book Scream Therapy – A Punk Journey Through Mental Health will be released May 1. He talks about the punk rock scene providing support and space to feel authentic and comfortable. Starving Artis - Cameron gives us a glimpse of what he’s working on for a session contract. What he came up with is much different than what he imagined before he started. Move that Body - There’s not magic pill. Just get off your butt and do it. Take time to include exercise in your life. Running Popup – A nice surprise about John’s book, Accidentally Well. Flipside – It’s hijacked by Elise and Stephen, who tell us how they met.

We talk about a study that found that frequent visits to green spaces led to decreased use of drugs used for depression, anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure an asthma. We interview uni student Ayesha Munir, who answers our questions about hijabs. She had preconceived notions about the hijab before she started practicing her Muslim faith more. She wondered why women had to cover their bodies, but then learned about the beauty of it and how it’s not supposed to be a barrier. It’s supposed to liberate Muslim women and make the feel even more powerful, because they’re being judged purely by their actions and not by how they look and how their body looks. Starving Artist – Cameron has a mixed bag of things to do. He’s breaking in contracts and helping to do instrumentation on songs that he’s excited about. Move That Body - we came across a social media post that displayed helpful visuals of a moderate amount of different foods to eat, based on the size of your hand. Running Popup – can we come up with a catch phrase to end a Zoom or Teams call? Flipside of the Coin - After a not great experience at a restaurant, we chat about how to head into the next restaurant trip with a better frame of mind.

We welcome new regular co-host Isabelle Sinclair. She introduces herself to us. We interview Hillary Fitzgerald in the areas of Physical and Mental Wellness.⁠ Hillary and her clients feel improved mental health from working out and moving that body. Exercise is a stress reliever. It helps you sleep better. It improves our mood. Starving Artist - One of his adult students lit up when Cameron started to play the blues on his new guitar-amp setup. Move That Body - drinking water is important. Using a travel tea steeper was a good way to add a bit of flavour, which in turn had her drinking more water. Running Popup – John’s approach to wellness doesn’t need to be formal. There are different ways to approach (1) identifying areas of wellness; (2) identifying activities that foster these areas; and (3) checking in from time to time. Flipside of the Coin – the stolen diaper bag incident.

Julie and John discuss an article: “What the longest study on human happiness found is a key to a good life”. There is a strong co-relationship between deep relationships and wellbeing. We ask Chef Kay Miller about food and respecting the environment. She talks about having all vegetables, fruits, spices at our disposal these days, but there’s a constant discussion about food insecurity. Home cooked meals are vastly more nutritious, but they’re expensive and we have very little time to prepare them. Starving Artist - Cameron’s friend Meghant is working on a cool sound design project. Move that Body – 6 tips to motivate you to keep working out regularly. Running popup – John finished his run feeling good while thinking about Canadian voices he enjoys hearing. Flipside of the Coin - a Sigmund Freud quote: “One day in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful”. We talk about that being our experience.

Elise chats about non-violence, which falls within the Yamas of Yoga. Violence is treating others without kindness – others and ourselves. We interview university student Ciara Fletcher in the area of life choices.⁠ She’s at an interesting time in her life. She’s thinking about career options, including pros and cons of different choices. She’s part of a co-op program and keeping an open mind as she experiences different jobs. Starving Artist - Cameron noticed a parallel between life and musical concepts (relative majors and minors). Music feels upbeat using one, and gloomy using the other. Depending on your perspective in life, maybe you have all the right notes but you’re aiming in the wrong key. Move That Body - Chef Kay Miller enjoys kayaking. It’s good exercise. It can be peaceful when enjoying nature in quiet. There’s a rush when kayaking in rapids. Running Popup – John shares a secret he’s been keeping. One of his goals in writing his book and putting out this podcast is to help younger people avoid mistakes he made and regrets. Flipside of the Coin - Sheila heard a story about someone doing a good deed and looking forward to seeing happiness in the person she helped. Instead that person was accusatory and furious. Things often don’t turn out the way we expect.

The less you wash your clothes, the less water you use. The less detergent is used. What are some rules of thumb for how many times to wear different types of clothes before washing? Like John, Fiona Leatham had goosebumps when listening to a recording on Episode 73 of Marathon Talk of the 6 minutes before the start of the 2011 Comrades Marathon in South Africa. You could feel it’s a special event. John became entranced with Comrades, which is an ultra-marathon in South Africa. It was started by World War I veterans in South Africa as a tribute to fallen WWI comrades. We interview Fiona about running the event in 2019. Starving Artist – Cameron took part in a song writing circle, where musicians meet, greet and shop songs they’re working on and getting feedback. Move That Body - Simon Phillips coaches a couch to 5K jogging program. It’s a rewarding experience for participants and coaches. Running Popup - John is grateful to Tom Williams and Martin Yelling of Marathon Talk Podcast. They contributed much towards his wellness journey and breakthroughs. Flipside of the Coin – It’s fun to laugh at ourselves. John laughs when others poke fun because his thrift shop hoodie was probably a hand-me-down from a primary school student.

New episode available today. It’s nice to wear clothes that feel good, look good and last. It also helps with economic and environmental wellness. We spend less money over time and the industry uses up less resources. We interview Scott Williams from Spectrum Waterloo Region about how straight people can be allies to 2SLGBTQ+ rainbow community. Scott likes the axiom Diversity is a fact and inclusion is an act. If inclusion is action, then anti-racism must take that a step further. Sometimes they talk about working not just to be an ally, but working to be an accomplice. An accomplice is out there in the trenches fighting alongside marginalized groups. Starving Artist - It’s easy to see music as a job and lose sight of the joy that music brings. Cameron picked up his guitar and took time to rekindle the joy. Move That Body – We enjoy listening to music or podcasts while working out. Running Popup - What comes first, feeling lucky or being lucky? Your outlook can change your experiences. Flipside of the Coin – John scratched his head when he saw a headline that said, “Study shows most young adults are tired of being adults”.

New episode available today. Elise and John chat about an article on 8 myths about diet, exercise and sleep. We interview CEO Linda Kenny of KidsAbility, a leading provider of children’s rehabilitation services. With recent changes in the world forced KidsAbility people to think about how they could come up with new and innovative ways to meet the needs of kids. They gave new ideas ways to grow, which led to innovations. Starving Artist - Cameron’s feeling less down than last week. He’s anticipating March and many new releases coming soon, including a short file where his jazz music will make its debut. Move That Body - Elise feels strong after completing a six-week weight training program. Running Popup – John is feeling self-doubt. His ego is making him question himself. He’s working through it. Flipside of the Coin - Sheila surprised John, showing him a new dress. John said the wrong thing. Now what?

On our episode dropping Tues Feb 28, we interview Hooriya Rizwan about balance.⁠ We enjoy hearing from people about the activities they balance at different ages and stages in their lives. We interview Hooriya, a second-year university student. In addition to full-time studies, Hooriya has multiple jobs, she’s a full-time club member with a pre-law women’s group, she does volunteer work for that club, and separate volunteer work at a women’s center, she trains volunteers and she performs research for a professor. She sees it as being supportive of the younger version of herself, who did not know she could be at the position she’s at right now and that she’s capable of managing all these things, and having good grades, and having a solid plan for what she wants to do in the future.

Julie and John talk about how little water we need when we’re forced by circumstances to ration it. It reminds us to use less in everyday life to help the environment. We interview Rev. We continue to speak with people of different religions, outlooks and beliefs and open eyes to the things we share in common. Rev. Anne Anderson chats about Lent and things people do to celebrate it. Many people think about repentance – turning away from things that are not good for us. Others focus on new growth, which echoes hope. There’s more to it than fasting or giving up things we like for a time. There are many ways to approach it. Starving Artist – Second-guessing during songwriting leads to a graveyard of unfinished songs. Cameron is making progress getting over it, then get past that sequence. Move That Body – It’s great when you get to use your favourite machine at the gym. Running Popup – John got hit by negative thoughts, getting bummed out by the polarization he sees in our world. Flipside – We’re in wedding prep mode for a son. We chat about what we’re up to and remember a speech at our own wedding that should never have been made.

Sheila and Sammy talk about the benefits of decluttering, after reading an article by Iris Benaroia called, “A valuable lesson in organization” (National Post) [editorial note: John suggests ignoring pot shots at John and David. We interview Jason Schreurs in the area of Mental Wellness.⁠ He’s a music and mental health writer, and host of internationally Scream Therapy Podcast. He lives with bipolar. For Jason, punk rock has always been a form of therapy – a way to feel that he belonged. He learned when researching his book that therapy can be punk rock, in the spirit of resistance, rebellion, and going against the grain. He talked to counsellors, psychiatrists and therapists who do not take a top-down approach. Instead, they say things like, “Look there’s no hierarchy here. We’re supporting each other. I’m a trained professional, yes, but my role in this is to help you thrive and live your best life.” Starving Artist - Cameron met up with Grant Gimpel (Shy Harry and Pilot Project). They took I a jazz show where a bass player used an octaver pedal to great effect. He was on fire. Move That Body – Hilary Toth enjoys playing Volleyball. Running Popup – The song Dreams by the Cranberries came up when John was on a long run. The line about her life changing every day, in every possible way, hit him in a really great way. He reflected on changes in his life for the better. It felt good. Flipside – John has a tendency to obsess, including to prep for a marathon. They were both surprised when he didn’t do that before the last one. It allowed them to enjoy the vacation in the week before.

We start with a chat about an environmental social media post – 5 tips for a healthier you or planet. It’s more expensive and time consuming to eat healthy and choose organic, but it’s worth it. We interview Isabelle Sinclair about stressors she faces as a university student: grades, chasing co-op placements, comparing herself to others. Social media and the grinding mentality of students that can be toxic at times. Isabelle’s developed approaches and perspectives that help her navigate the stressors. They include staying humble and down to earth, while remembering that university is a time to find oneself, with more time down the road to figure things out. She believes that challenges are making her more resilient. Getting through them transfers into life skills and positive outcomes. Starving Artist - Cameron gives a preview of jazz music he wrote for an indie film a long time ago, but couldn’t share until now. It’s exciting to see the music getting out into the world. Move That Body – Jason Schreurs enjoys punk rock and mosh pits. It’s a fun way to be active and physical. Running Popup – John had another breakthrough about the wellness theory he’s working on. The facet activities, which foster wellness in different areas, are like building blocks that help us regain and keep balance. Flipside of the Coin – Sheila enjoyed the interview of Rev. Jessica Purple Rodela on Episode 51. She has questions and thoughts about it.

Your frame of mind affects the way you approach experiences. We talk about changing the “what if’s” from anticipating something negative, to imagining something positive. We interview Jill Melanson in the area of Economic Wellness.⁠ Budgeting is a fundamental and common sense approach to financial wellness. It is extremely important for a household. It got John and Sheila through their early days as students with two children and a modest income. Starving Artist segment – Cameron gives us highlights from his trip to Quebec City with his school friend and fellow musician, Jacy James Anderson. The city was amazing and they had a fun experience at a jazz club. Move That Body – an article about enhancing chances of making “smart” New Year’s resolutions to exercise more – ones that we can stick to. Running Popup segment – Over the past year, John experienced visceral reminders that his mental health suffers when he does not keep aerobic exercise a part of his everyday life. Flipside of the Coin – reminiscing about an awkward twist at their wedding, with a lesson that it's best to keep the couple in the loop about wedding planning.

On our 52nd episode dropping Tues Jan 24, we interview Dr. Jaime Downey in the areas of Physical and Economic Wellness – they can affect each other. Our financial debt and responsibilities can cause physical stress, which can contribute to back pain, neck pain, headaches, interrupted sleep and other physical ailments. When we are not physically healthy, it can put a damper on our financial health. Dr. Jaime speaks of four pillars of health: nutrition, movement, sleep and relaxation. Eating healthy foods keeps us energized throughout the day. Movement promotes the production of endorphins in our body, which can act as natural pain killers and mood elevators. It also helps reduce our cortisol levels and stress levels throughout the day. A good sleep can help reduce stress levels and improve your concentration and productivity. A lot of the recovery that we need is happening when we’re sleeping.