Let's Be Well Together Let's Be Well Together Ltd.

1. We heard about some of Elise’s university castle experiences on Episode 122. Sheila said it scratched the surface. She dives into the back story. 2. Interview – We interview Bronwyn Schweigerdt in the area of Mental Wellness.⁠ Bronwyn’s life experiences led her to a path as a therapist. She recognized a need to express anger that she was holding, and to have it validated by someone else. Dissociated anger makes us sick, both mentally and physically. What’s sharable is bearable. Our feelings are not tolerable in isolation. That’s when they hurt us. That’s where they stagnate inside our bodies and make us sick. If you feel it and you share it with someone else, it does release. Anger is like a light on our emotional dashboard, like a light in a car that says, “check the engine”. Something needs attention. I can master the anger instead of letting the anger master me. We do that by validating it for ourselves, then expressing it in a healthy way using boundaries, assertiveness or an accountability of sorts. Bronwyn hosts a podcast called Angry At The Right Things, sharing information as a marriage and family therapist. 3. Starving Artists – Cameron and his Rockstar Music lessons team were meeting people at the Ottawa Children’s festival, then he took some of the Rockstar group to enjoy go karts. 4. Move That Body – Sheila was off travelling twice, and worked more than usual between trips. She missed her gym and workout routine. We talk about getting back into a routine after an absence. 5. Running Popup – John was listening to Moby Dick audiobook on a run. A line by Captain Ahab made him think, “the only real owner of anything is its commander”. Does that mean we can become the owners of ourselves by becoming the commanders of ourselves? 6. Flipside – Sheila loves games – card games, board games and much more. John doesn’t typically volunteer to join, but enjoys them when he does.

1. It felt good to think, “I’m content with where I’m at in life”, but we wonder? Is it content and happy, or content versus happy? Can contentment hold us back at times, preventing us from getting out of the comfort zone? 2. Interview – We interview Fiona and Mike Roth in the area of Social Wellness. Last week we heard about a beautiful young woman, Kaitlyn Roth, who died to the disease of mental illness. They are motivated to honour Katilyn by bringing good out of what happened. They started an organization called Filling in The Gaps (fitg.org). FITG is working and advocating to improve the adult mental health system to fill in cracks in the system. For example, they’re exploring a new model of care for treating people experiencing a mental health crisis in a community clinic, instead of Emergency department. They tell us about some of the challenges to finding help, and about ideas to improve things. They hope sincerely that we can prevent other people from experience what Katilyn and her family went through. 3. Starving Artist - Cameron got creative with reharmonization and a Rolling Stones song. 4. Move That Body - We often talk about sleep making us feel better physically. We came across articles about the importance of sufficient sleep to heart health. Getting 7 to 9 hours has positive physiological effects. 5. Popup – Describing energizing morning sensations that are awakening after several nights of not snacking after dinner. 6. Flipside – It was grueling but rewarding to spend a Spring day setting up the back yard for summer fun.

1. Elise tells us about the concept of the Growth Mindset. It’s an important approach in the educational world. It’s about putting your brain in a good learning space. It overcomes a fixed mindset where, for example, someone says, “I can’t do this. It’s too hard.” 2. We interview Fiona and Mike Roth in the areas of Mental and Social Wellness.⁠ It’s beyond tragic to lose a family member to mental health disease. Kaitlyn Roth sought joy in her life, including through student council, choirs, band, sports and more. She was a go-getter, who was amazing at getting people involved to help good causes. Sadly, she lost touch with her joy at times as she struggled with mental health. Today we are joined by Kaitlyn’s parents, Fiona and Mike Roth. They’re motivated to bring good out of the tragic loss of they daughter, who died by the disease of mental illness in 2022. They tell us about Kaitlyn – who she was – and challenges she faced in seeking help to address the disease she experienced. 3. Starving Artist - A cajón is a box-shaped percussion instrument played by slapping it with the hands. Cameron used it to accompany a friend at open mic, which led to a gig with a band. Move That Body – ChatGPT spit out a great quote - The only bad workout is the one that didn’t happen. We talk about it. 5. John heard a fact about bees that has him saying, “thank you bees”, every time he has a spoonful of honey. 6. Flipside of the Coin - Getting “sir’d” on a shopping experience, where once again Sheila showed great taste.

1. Elise had a chance to spend her first year of university studying at a castle in England, as part of program run by a Canadian school - Queen’s University. She tells us about her rewarding experience. 2. We interview Ian Brisbin in the area of Social Wellness. Last week Ian talked about bike safety. Today we chat about advocating for biking in cities, as a form of active transportation. When planning biking infrastructure, planners ask whether the “indicator species” would be comfortable using it, for example a young mother with a young child. It must feel safe for everyone. Well protected and physically separated bike infrastructure is the gold standard. It’s great to have stretches of infrastructure, but they need to be connected, which is sometimes overlooked. In Ian’s experience, the average driver is much more courteous and careful, and relates much better to people engaging in active transportation than ever before. It’s a sign that we are changing. Cycling and walking and other forms of active transportation are being incorporated into our web of how we get around our cities. 3. Starving Artist – The meme-friendly “Trololol” song is actually called “I am very glad as I am finally returning back home”. It’s a challenged to sing. 4. Move That Body – Scientists submit that highly processed foods such as soda, chips and candies are not food, but rather drugs designed to deliver addictive substances. Whether or not that’s right, it sure feels good to eat whole and natural foods. 5. Running Popup - When John helps others, he often wonders whether it helped him more than the others? 6. Elise and Stephen have amazing news, which has them thinking.

1. We talk about a quote by Osho – “To be creative means to be in love with life.” It has them thinking in different directions.2. We interview Ian Brisbin in the areas of Physical, Mental and Social Wellness.⁠ Ian’s an avid cyclist. We chat about safety. Biking is a social and physical outlet and one of the best ways Ian knows to ensure that he’s staying emotionally centred. His “Rule 1” for biking safety is very simple: You do what you need to do to get home safely. Biking safety is multi-faceted. There’s a lot to keep track of. The best you can do is to keep your head on a swivel and look out for yourself. It’s important to be assertive and be clear about what your intentions are – be very deliberate showing where you’re headed. There’s safety equipment, such as helmets, but more than anything else it’s a matter of being aware of your surroundings and communicating yourself as clearly as you can. He talks about hidden dangers, like dooring, large potholes and the “right hook”. Rule 1 applies to interactions with law enforcement and drivers. If you’re in a situation where you feel that you’re being unfairly ticketed by law enforcement, then take the ticket, go home and deal with it later. If you’re in a confrontation with a driver, then you’re not going to win. You might lose, but you won’t win. Just leave. Your goal is to get home safe and to your families. 3. Starving Artist – Cameron needs to use his car every day, so car trouble spells stress. I took time go figure out what was wrong and get it fixed, then after dropping some serious coin he had another surprise. 4. Move That Body – Julie recounts experiences as a coxswain for 8-person rowing teams while at university. 5. Running Popup – A great lesson from exercise is that it shows us that we can do hard things, and it feels good to know that. 6. Flipside of the Coin – Sheila and John’s impressions when they learned they will be first-time grandparents.

1. The Canadian Mental Health Association gave a great tip – share a compliment. It’s free to give someone an authentic compliment and it brings joy. Give it a try. 2. We interview Rachel Runge in the area of Physical, but also General Wellness.⁠ Rachel tended to compare herself to others. It’s not surprising after she pursued a career as a lawyer. It’s competitive, staring with the competitive process to get into law school. Throughout law school, we’re reminded that it’s going to be difficult to find articling positions. Once we begin as a lawyer, we’re measured heavily on metrics. Rachel got advice to stop comparing herself to others and make small improvements in herself week over week and year over year. She thought, “That sounds nice, but how do you do it?” Meanwhile, she started taking group fitness classes at Orangetheory, which includes benchmark tests, such as a 1-mile run or 2,000 metre row. She saw her performance improve over time. In the middle of a run, the mentor’s advice hit her like a ton of bricks – to make small improvements in herself over time, and not to compare herself to others. She was running beside a friend who was trying to hit a faster time target. Rachel realized, “This is what it is”. She was just as excited for myself to hit her own target as she was for her friend to hit the faster target. That’s what Rachel’s mentor meant when she said stop comparing yourself to others. Check-in and see whether you’re doing better than you were last time. Then it resonated. 3. Starving Artist – a ringing phone woke Cameron up to great news from a student. She had a breakthrough with her voice training and wanted to share. It gave Cameron a lift. 4. Move that Body – We’re often stuck at home. We found an article with suggestions about how to move while at home. 5. Running Popup – We’re seeing in our podcast conversations and interviews that becoming well is work, but it’s not a mystery. 6. Flipside of the Coin – it helps us to give space and time to our partner in a relationship.