Self-Care, or radical Self-Care, is the theme for the 5-year anniversary of the Glass Half Full podcast. This short episode features my brand of self-care — daily routines that are my sustenance, not just an end-of-the-week treat. Whether it’s nutrition, movement, or attitude my waking hours are spent minimizing symptoms associated with a progressive neuromuscular disease and maximizing a limited supply of energy.
As part of the anniversary celebration, join me in a streaming Facebook Live event on Sunday, March 21st at 11:30 a.m. Pacific. I’ll be joined in a lively discussion on Self-Care with previous podcast guests.
Believe it or not, this episode has nothing to do with the recent U.S. election. We’re celebrating the 100th podcast episode of the Glass Half Full. But feel free to celebrate our right to vote in a democracy. All good!
Short video from the Glass Half Full YouTube Channel
If you’re a recent Glass Half Full listener, you can now peruse the archives of evergreen content that fall into these categories:
Advocacy
Alternative Healing Modalities
Autoimmune Disorders
Cancer
Cardiovascular Disease
Caregiving
Coping
Disability Rights and Accessibility
General Health
Laughter
Mental Health
Movement
Music and the Arts
Nature
Neurological Conditions
Nutrition
Relaxation
Research
Social Support
Spirituality
Technology
If you’re running out of ideas on how to cope with COVID, check out this list of 50 different ways to spend your time in a safe and sane manner. If you’re in need of online accessible exercise and relaxation opportunities, check out this page.
To learn more about Judith Nangekhe Nk, the health service worker and caregiver in Kenya, here’s a video.
Please visit the Glass Half Full store. You can buy t-shirts, mugs, stickers, and even face masks with the Glass Half Full logo.
Transcript:
Hello and welcome to the one hundredth podcast episode of The Glass Half, I’m Leslie and I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for over four and a half years. Some people might reach their one hundredth episode during the first year. I guess if you put out two episodes a week, you’d get there, you know, a little more than a year. People do, I know, five days a week. What does that mean? I don’t want to do the math, but.
You know, you get to your 100th episode when you get there and and I’m here and I’m.
You know, four and a half years ago, my intention was to take what I’ve learned over, I guess at that time it was about 19 years of being a facilitator of support groups for adults with neuromuscular disease to sort of take that experience, the knowledge, my my desire to share resources and knowledge, share my journey as a, quote, unquote, patient with others. All of that was the catalyst for.
This enterprise called Glass Half Full on the name, the term, everybody’s familiar with the term, but it hasn’t been something I thought about a lot. But probably within a few days of deciding to do a podcast, I thought of the name. I thought, well, I really do think that’s my attitude maybe when I was younger was as positive. But certainly over the years, at some point, maybe in my 30s, things shifted and I started to see life. You know, as certainly more positive looking toward, you know, how to make the best of something, the proverbial lemonade out of lemons, and that was when I was diagnosed was in my mid 30s, so. Anyhow, I I would hope that kind of perspective resonates for you, that’s why you’re tuning in now for the first time or for the hundredth time, how many of you out there have listened to all 100 episodes?
I don’t know. I don’t know how many there are if if you’ve done it.
I would love to know and your reaction is one of the. It’s one of the things that definitely can increase is communication from people who listen to the show. And, you know, I in fact, I was thinking of some of the highlights of the last four and a half years, it has been really I mean, you know, imagine you’re creating something every couple weeks, putting it out there in the world and, you know, you know several listeners. I mean, at least I do from my patient community, some friends, but. It’s been really wonderful when people contact me, you know, total strangers and they tell me they listen to the show or they’ll talk about something they learned from a previous episode, you have no idea how significant that can be to me or to someone who’s putting stuff out there and not really making money from it and doing it because they have a passion. So I invite you to to let me know. And there are many ways to contact me. I’m not cloistered in the middle of the woods. I’m fairly accessible. So I thought of three big things and, you know, impacted me over the, you know, nearly five years I’ve been doing this. Well, one was certainly hearing from people who listen to the podcast, whether it’s email or Facebook comment on the Glass Half Full webpage. But I have been to places where I met someone.
And when they hear my name, they or they hear about Glass Half Full, they, you know, tell me they listen to it and they’ll hopefully, I don’t think is sure that they didn’t like this show. But that has been really great. Another great thing has been, you know, over the years heard about different patient organizations, patient leadership groups, advocacy groups. And I met a lot of people through Those are the people living with a chronic health condition or disability who are doing their own thing, whether it’s a podcast, a blog, they’re fierce advocates and going to Washington, you know, or their state capitals. There’s just a lot of very amazing people, inspiring people interviewed several of them, too. But just about a year ago, I won trip from this group called Wego Health, and it was a free trip to Las Vegas where I was with, I guess, about 20 other patient leaders. And it was a conference that I can’t remember seeing HLTH. Ostensibly, it has some kind of meaning as an acronym, I think. But it was it was a huge conference of, you know, movers and shakers in the health, medical, technology arena. And I never would have gone to this without winning a free trip because I think it was a twenty five hundred dollars. So that that was really cool.
Never would have happened without this podcast. And another thing I don’t think I’ve ever talked about. And this is just, you know, representative of meeting people you would never meet, I had taken over a meetup group for people with chronic health conditions. This is when, you know, pre-COVID, people met in person. And I it was I think it was meant as a support group. In any case, I took it over because I wanted to reach people with other conditions, you know, outside of neuromuscular disease. And I like doing field trips to in the San Francisco Bay Area. There are just so many amazing organizations and resources. So I was doing like field trips and it was online. But the you know, ostensibly you’re you’re connecting with people who live in your region so that when you actually do meet up in person, you know, it makes sense because you live near each other. Well, it turned out there was a woman who was part of this meetup group from Nairobi, Kenya, in Africa. And her name’s Judy. And I guess we chatted a little through meetup and she told me she was in Africa. And I knew well, she’s probably not going to make it to any of our in-person meetings. And somehow I can’t even remember how one thing led to another. But I felt that she was a health services worker.
She worked with people affected by HIV and AIDS. And I’m still I don’t know if she’s a nurse, but it sounds like she does a lot of nursing and administering of materials and education, so. We tried to talk, but at that time, maybe two years ago, her cell connection was really unreliable. But I worked on a video. It’s on YouTube, I think it’s called Judy: Caregiver. I did a video for her and she really appreciated it. And just recently, she asked if I can do another one. And she was able to provide audio files so it’s in her voice. And so that it just it just dropped last week. It’s on the Glass Half Full YouTube channel and. I think it’s Judy and her last name, which I can’t pronounce, but you’ll see it there just came a week ago. Anyhow, she’s using it to raise money through different churches in the West. I assume U.S. Canada, maybe Europe to English speaking countries raising money for the work that she’s doing in Nairobi, in and out, in and around Nairobi. So those are just some examples of things that never would have happened had they not started Glass Half Full. By the way, this is not scripted. If you if you didn’t know mostly I write a script because right now we’re at 18 minutes. And if I you know, if I’d written a script, I’d probably be at 12 minutes.
Oh, maybe 10. So just thought I’d do something novel. There’s a video, a short video that’s in five minutes showing. All these different images from, you know, almost all of the 99 podcasts and it’s on the website, it’s on the YouTube channel and I have a few actual video clips in it. One is part of an interview with Susan Jermey. There was an interview I recently did. She’s a comic and playwright. Another is a clip with Mike Muir, who is the great grandson of John Muir, and it’s at his ranch. If you listen to that podcast episode about three years ago, Mike, has he was diagnosed with M.S. years ago. I think he might have been a teenager he was definitely younger. And he he has this accessible ranch, horse, ranch, and he does carriage rides. And so he uses a wheelchair and the ranch is open, you know, for adventures, for all different kinds of people, kids and adults who use wheelchairs. And it’s, you know, accessible experience. So I have a clip from that. And then I have a clip from Melissa Felsenstein, who is a sound therapist, sound meditation practitioner. She uses gongs and crystal bowls and all kinds of different instruments. And the podcast episode with her, I think was about two years ago.
Andhow, she’s she’s still doing her thing and doing it via Zoom now. So I invite you to check out that video.
And in the course of putting that together, the video, I went through the whole archive of ninety nine podcast episodes. And by the way, most of these episodes are what you call Evergreen. They are. You know, they they’re relevant now, as relevant as they were when they were published, you know, three, four years ago, some of them are tied to events that have happened in the past. But it’s always been my intention to put together, to produce an episode that has lasting value, you know, so unless There was something, you know, we talked about and it’s now been proven to be not good for you, I can’t think of anything. I think, you know what, I do focus on alternative healing modalities, but nothing that is so far-fetched that, you know, in two years, somehow it’s been found to be not good. So anyway, the point is, if you haven’t heard a lot of the episodes, go back, check them out. And now there’s a feature on the home page where you can search by category. So, you know. I didn’t know how many different categories I would have, but I went through and I identified 21 categories. OK, so I’m going to tell you the 21 categories now. So if a couple of these pique your interest and you haven’t heard episodes relevant to this theme or category, go to the home page GlassHalfFull.online I found that online and check them out. OK. Drum roll please.
Advocacy, alternative healing modalities, autoimmune disorders, cancer, cardiovascular disease. Caregiving. Coping. Disability rights and accessibility. General Health. Laughter. Mental health. Movement, Music and the arts. Nature, Neurological conditions. Nutrition, relaxation. Research, Social support. Spirituality. Technology.
There you have it, 21 different categories, now some podcast episodes, you know, cover two or three of the categories. So they would come up, you know, in a few different searches. But it’s a drop-down menu. Hopefully it’ll make it easier for people to look at the
Archives, the library of episodes. Another thing that you find that’s new on the Web site is a link to a storefront, So over the past four and a half years, I’ve given away some Glass Half Full schwag, mostly mugs. I have had some T-shirts, a couple hats. But now you can buy whatever you want. You can buy a face mask with the Glass Half Full logo on it. And this is all through a company. I won’t name them. If you go to the website, check it out. But this is one way for me to capture a little revenue and for you to help promote the podcast and the concept. Of Glass Half Full and positive psychology, positive vibes. I really appreciate if you want to get any of your holiday gifts. I mean, imagine if you got each of your family members a mask. You’d be helping them with their health and you’d be helping me and hopefully helping other people who see the mask and think Glass Half Full, I want a piece of that. So. Spread the goodwill. Well, I don’t want to make this whole episode about promoting Glass Half Full, but what can I say? It’s a hundred. It’s you know, it’s that point where you want to celebrate and also continue to grow. So, you know, I’ve seen an uptick in downloads over the past few months.
I’ve been working on some SEO, which is search engine optimization, which is not fun. But seeing results does motivate me to do more of that. And really, if you if you’re not familiar with the term, it’s just tweaking things, you know, on the website with text and keywords that will help for searches when people go to the Internet and want to search for, you know, under a health condition or just a concept, maybe it’s, you know, November and they’re, you know, thinking about gratitude and they want to learn more about gratitude so they can practice gratitude. Well, will Glass Half Full come up in that search and gratitude? I don’t know. I’m working on it. I hope so, although gratitude is one of the themes I think I have gratitude covered under spirituality, which, you know, this is all in my head, too. And it’s not like rocket science. I could have gratitude as one of the categories, but I try to be a little more open ended with the with the categories, I didn’t want to have like 100 categories. So there is also a link on the homepage for accessible exercise. And I would say that accessible exercise as a resource is also a part of this other page I put together just a couple months ago at. I spent time on this 50 ways to cope with covid, so I haven’t been promoting that; it was a special feature for some groups, but now I’ve opened up, unveiled that it’s open to the world.
If you feel like you’re running out of creative ways to save your sanity during lockdown or, you know, the cases now are surging or the COVID cases are surging. And during these winter months, it’s going to be even more important to refrain from. You know, being in other buildings, being around a lot of people, we’re just taking our time, we want to protect ourselves. I have only been in one other building and it’s nine months other my house. And that was to, you know, Kaiser Permanente, the health facility I go to for some minor stuff just one time. So anyhow, what am I saying? That’s why I used the script. So 50 ways to cope during covid. I invite you to take a look at that article and accessible exercises, part of it, but so are a lot of other things. I am also doing covid had two speaking engagements, of course, via Zoom Virtual, but I wanted to share them with you. They’re listed on in the podcast notes for the 100th episode. So one is a presentation I did on nutrition and maintaining immunity during covid and that was for a Muscular Dystrophy Canada organization.
But it’s, you know, a YouTube video so anybody can watch it. And the other one, I’m very delighted to say, is that I was the keynote speaker at the Utah Program for Inherited Neuromuscular Disorders Family Conference, and that was just about, I think, three weeks ago. And then also on YouTube and I spoke about making social connections and talked a little about my background and what led me to become now a master of social connections. But certainly I’m as I would say, Malcolm Gladwell would say, I’m kind of a connector. At the end of that, toward the end of that presentation, it’s really focused on Zoom related connections and communities that I’ve become a part of. You know, during COVID that I wasn’t pre COVID, so I have talked for 24 minutes pretty much non-stop, can’t believe I did it and I only, I think, sipped water twice. I don’t know, maybe I should dispense with scripts altogether? Let me know what you think. How does this compare to my scripted ones? So thank you for being a part of this Glass Half Full ride. I hope you continue listening. I’m working on some very interesting episodes that several of them will happen before the end of the year and some won’t reach completion until early next year.
But, you know, keep tuning in and take care of yourself and celebrate!
This month we have both Earth Day and Arbor Day so it’s high time to be amongst the trees. Even if you are hunkered down in the safety of your home during the pandemic, you can still derive healing benefits from gazing out of your window at nature’s bounty. If your window faces man-made materials, there is science proving that a photograph of trees can impact you in a positive physical and emotional way.
welcome to glass half full with leslie krongold she shares her stories experiences and knowledge of living and coping with a chronic health condition learn about tools and resources and hear inspirational interviews that help you to live a life filled with quality and dignity with two decades of support group leadership leslie’s ready to help you make lemonade out of life’s lemons are you ready are you ready yesterday was earth day and tomorrow is armor day did you realize that arbor day is a holiday when people are encouraged to plant trees it started in 1872 with a man named j sterling morton in nebraska when he proposed the tree planting holidays and i guess it took off my love of trees has grown over the last few years i had my first forest bathing experience i virtually met verla fortier who wrote a book about the healing benefits of trees i started practicing bhagwa meditation which involves walking around a tree and the past six weeks the trees around my neighborhood represent the greater world outside of my home on our daily walks i’ve grown to really love a few specific trees and i’m motivated to learn more about different types of trees last month human furla in the podcast episode coping with coronavirus trees yoga and essential oils today you learn more about her journey to wellness brother brother lives in canada and spent her professional career as a nurse i asked her what led her to become a nurse probably started when my i was in high school my dad was diagnosed with ms and quite quickly moved from one cane to two canes to then a wheelchair and he was just such a lovely guy that i wanted to be around him and help him my mom taught me how to transfer him you know from the back uh you know things like that and uh you know i would get him up and then brace his knees against mine and push his knees back so he could stand up and then get him into the chair and then we’d laugh and i remember him just swallowing taking some time and then saying you know you did a great job there good for you and then giving me a big smile and that that was so nice and that happened so often whenever i helped him with anything and uh was such a positive sort of it was a natural for me to go into nursing and my mom was the same way so there was three of us girls the whole family we all we all did very well with with his ms and with and we were happy to have him um like a little hot shot i started out in the hospitals and the technical side of things in intensive care and all that and then quite soon became well i went over to india and found out that healthcare was more about you know public health and shelter and food and water so when i came i was much more interested in primary care so i don’t know how things are set up but in canada the government pays for the health care so all the money goes to hospitals and then they’re very well funded and then the rest of it goes to uh doctor’s offices so my interest was in getting more of that money and resources back into the community where we all are and sort of enriching that brother moved up the corporate ladder in her career and also taught at a university i asked her when her health took a downward turn to tell you the truth i was not really aware of how i was feeling uh for a very very very long time i i remember that we were this happy little family um you know this nuclear family mom dad and two little boys in large home in suburbia and then one day my ex-husband walked out the door and i had two little kids and i knew that i needed to keep them in their home and in their community so i walked over next door to the university and picked up a an additional full-time position there so i was i loved it i mean i loved i loved all the work and looking after the kids but i was just looking after everybody else’s needs for 10 or 15 years i think and if i had symptoms i just only just i didn’t do anything but work and look after the kids and sleep and it really wasn’t until they were university age that i just felt profoundly tired and i just thought you know i was 63 i thought i’m just aging and i found it difficult to walk but i always had but when i went to the gym that worked that you know that helped and um but i had i was i wasn’t able i was 63 so i really wasn’t able to do my work anymore at the university i just felt too tired and so i thought i think i’ll just go home to my to my town so i retired early and i thought oh i just can’t wait to get there you know i was thinking of all these uh things i would do swim in the lake and lie in the warm white sand and walk in the woods and you know i was really looking forward to it um yeah and then then that’s when i got my uh diagnosis i was diagnosed with uh systemic lupus and on the my blood work showed that i was on the you know the serious side of that and and when i saw my doctor i was just going in for a routine i had this rash on my face and uh but then she long time and she kept finding more rashes that i’d ignored and then she found big bald patches that i’d been covering up and ignoring too on the top of my head and then she asked me how was my joints and nerve pain and i guess yes i had that and and then she reached for my hands and she said we’ll do biopsy blood work but we’re looking at systemic lupus and um and she said and stay out of the sun because that could symptoms so at that moment i was just um i felt like all my dreams were of retirement were shattered right yeah so i but go home yeah i did go home and then i stayed inside was diagnosed with systemic lupus and on the my blood work showed that i was on the um you know the serious side of that and and when i saw my doctor i was just going in for a routine i had this rash on my face and but then she long time and she kept finding more rashes that i’d ignored and then she found big bald patches that i’d been covering up and ignoring too on the top of my head and then she asked me how was my joints and nerve pain and i guess yes i had that and and then she reached for my hands and she said we’ll do biopsy blood work but we’re looking at systemic lupus and um and she said and stay out of the sun because that could symptoms so at that moment i was just um i felt like all my dreams were of retirement were shattered right yeah so i but go home yeah i did go home and then i stayed inside having read verla’s book i knew there was a happy ending i asked her how she came around to taking a chance and not following the doctor’s orders what convinced her that the outdoors had something healing to offer her remember the day leslie i was just lying in bed scrolling through i joined every online lupus support group i could and i was i’m so used to leading them that i wasn’t even used to being so i didn’t even comment or anything i just scrolled and uh people were talking this one day about how we were all inside feeling like vampires and we had to avoid the sun because they do tell lupus patients that and uh then there was this one healthy looking person pretty healthy who had lupus and she said ongoing outside so far so good i put on my hat and sunscreen and and i thought what and by this time i really didn’t care anymore i thought i don’t even care if i get it you know if i damage my dna or whatever it is i’m going to go so i just was angry it was high noon i grabbed my hat and slapped on a bit of sunscreen and headed out i didn’t care and
i was walking for about five minutes and i started to just feel this relief you know i tell the kids it was like a in the pac-man game where you die and you get a new life i was just like powered up powered up and i i mean it just didn’t even feel real and i thought what first of all i didn’t want to go in again and then when i finally got in i remembered i had a bunch of nursing research skills and what anything in the universities that’s peer-reviewed on on trees or whatever so that’s when i started doing that and i kept going out regularly and then i just devoured the research the first piece of research i came upon was gregory bratman at stanford university and they were defining their terms and they were saying we’re going to look at this particular kind of thinking and it’s this thing called negative rumination and it’s the kind of thinking that goes what if um what if i didn’t get this disease if only there weren’t an epidemic why is my body breaking down why is this pandemic happening why do i have to be inside those kinds of questions and a parent regular kind of thinking that’s just the brain going haywire and they were tracking this and they said they wanted to know what happened if you go outside so they got a group and they put them in built um settings along a city street with just you know traffic and cement and then they put another group outside in around grass trees and shrubs in an urban environment and they found the people that were in the grass trees and shrubs just looking out on the san francisco bay area that they they had they did not have that broken record thinking it did not go to that part of the brain that i call the heartbreak hotel part of the brain it just did not happen whereas the people that were outside in the city streets that broken record thinking which we all have to some extent right it what i liked as a nurse is that they measured that part of the the brain they measured the blood flow that went there and when that blood flow goes there that’s when the thinking is activated but it didn’t so that that i loved and then those same researchers took it further and they said if this is happening within their that when we go outside we pay attention differently we softly focus on all kinds of things our eyes wander and that gives us our brain a break and when it’s getting a break it’s it’s resting and that’s what we need so that we don’t get that cognitive decline if we’ve got that that those thoughts circling around in our heads all the time the brain gets no rest and that leads to loss of shortened long-term memory loss of ability to concentrate loss of ability to problem solve and i think we all know this like when we’re worried about stuff we forget you know we we’re not paying attention we and just by going outside this don’t have to meditate or anything this just happens and so what they showed in the restoration theory it’s a real thing and when we go outside our brain rests revives and it improves our short and long term memory our ability to concentrate problem solve and learn new things and so that to me was huge because i was worried about dementia my mom had it um and it’s that kind of thinking where you look back and you feel embarrassed and this was a gift a gift i encourage you to read brother’s book which you’ll find the link to on the glass half full webpage she did a lot more research about the healing benefits of trees and green space earlier this year i signed up for a class offered at our local parks and recreation center called bodhi meditation i’ve never heard of this type of meditation but it sounded intriguing the practice essentially includes a circular walking around a pine tree alternating hand gestures and then there’s a seated guided meditation it was both energizing and relaxing unfortunately the class stopped meeting in early march due to the coronavirus i contacted the instructor catherine chen to ask her a few questions the version of this meditation that catherine teaches is named bodhi meditation because the leader of the organization is called grand master jin modi yet the practice is called energy Bagua
actually Bagua is they all starting from Tao dal permited energy Bagua so and then chibagua and the regular bagua the same however and there’s some development they am differently for example energy Bagua has been benefit a lot of people to improve their health physical health and mental health in many ways around the world but a lot of a lot of different practices is aiming different because some people learning other practice they have a different goal for us our mission is to impart this body meditation technique and to help others to eventually improve their health and improve their happiness and so what is the role of trees in the practice of uh you know an energy bang or practice
when we practice energy Bagua it’s actually is the philosophy of Tao with the young you know is the energy that of energy in our life and it’s also not the energy itself only it’s also the compassion the compassion towards yourself compassion towards others so when you practice energy Bagua is that you are actually a practice that with the nature you are kind of connect with the future and then you uh through the practice that kind of create a peaceful and very calm mind and that would benefit yourself physically at the same time and so when we did it in class because the weather wasn’t good you would always bring a potted tree what was your intention have you ever done it without a tree indoors or do you always you know bring some sort of potted tree inside we can see if two different two different aspects for example whenever we whenever we go to the nature when ever we go outdoor we see screen we see is the tree we see the flower the ocean the mountain that make people feel energetic feel good and and that kind of atmosphere and also the element of the future the nature is help us so when we doing energy Bagua we are feeling that we are join the nature and we also have the sense of connection with the nature and we do have the uh the people in occasion for example they travel to other country they of course couldn’t have a good tree that they choose to practice so a lot of them might be able to just do a few gestures in the hotel room but in the way they practice with the guided meditation and then guided the the way like when when i was practicing with you guys yeah that possible occasion that people don’t have a tree but they can still practice it’s first of all is the the matter of the mind and the nature and how you practice because meditation energy Bagua is seen as walking meditation is a state of meditation so when you’re practicing it if you don’t have a tree uh you have another way to practice but have a tree is preferable i would put that way well it was it was definitely a nice addition to learn more about bodhi meditation there is a link to a youtube video on the glassful website and i’ve also listed a few smartphone apps related to trees many of which Verla mentions in her book although many of us are still staying home and taking all necessary health precautions we still may have the opportunity to walk in green space around our neighborhoods of course this may not be possible for everyone if you live in an apartment building maybe you want to avoid elevators and being around people but there are studies that just looking outside your window at nature or even a photograph of nature can have a dramatic impact on your physical and mental well-being i invite you to be more intentional to make the time for this thank you for listening to glass half full leslie invites you to leave a rating and review on itunes this helps spread the word to others dealing with chronic health issues for show notes updates and more visit the website glass half full dot online glass half full dot online
A retired nurse, physical and yoga therapist, and mental health professional offer strategies for coping with uncertainty, anxiety, and all those other emotions caught up in this season of the pandemic.
Verla Fortier, author of Take Back Your Outside Mindset: Live Longer, Prevent Dementia, and Control Your Chronic Illness, speaks about her experience diagnosed with systemic lupus and the discovery of the healing power of trees.
Tianna Meriage-Reiter, DPT, C-IAYT, and owner of the Mind-Body Movement Center talks about her new live streaming yoga classes available at her YouTube channel.
Lee Greenstein-Wein, MSW, shares how specific essential oils can help with situational anxiety or depression. An earlier podcast episode features other healing benefits of essential oils.
Registered Nurse and proud septuagenarian, Barbara Blaser, was the guest speaker at my Northern California myotonic dystrophy support group. With her healthcare background and deep knowledge of medicinal herbs, she spoke about the use of herbal tinctures, edibles, and lotions to help relieve muscle pain, anxiety, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, and more.
Barbara’s nursing career was predominantly in the mental health field. But at some point in her 60s she had an esophagectomy and due to complications, she developed septicemia. She turned to natural herbal healing to help her pain, anxiety, and GI problems.
For other podcast episodes about medicinal herbs (medical cannabis), check out DIY Cannabis and Medical Cannabis.
Handouts that Barbara provided at the support group meeting are culled from this website.
Imagine if your physician not only understood your invisible chronic illness but also had experience healing her own autoimmune illness. That physician could be Cynthia Li.
Dr. Cynthia Li talks about her book, Brave New Medicine, and answers my questions covering everything
from autoimmune illness, functional vs. integrative medicine, the writing
process, to the role intuition played in her healing process and now plays a
role in her medical practice.
Dr. Li mentions the organization, HeartMath Institute, in this episode. To read Dr. Li’s 2014 (pre-Brave New Medicine publication) contribution to the San Francisco Medicine Journal, check page 19.
We’ve got Jill Nussinow, R.D., The Veggie Queen, sharing tips about nutritious and medicinal mushrooms as well as Adam Strauss, creator of The Mushroom Cure, talking about his years of treating anxiety and OCD which led to his discovery of psilocybin’s therapeutic powers.
To dig deeper into the awe-inspiring mushroom world, check out weekly online articles at Spirituality & Health.
Psilocybin is also being used for end of life care.
In this third of a series podcast episode, Valerie Sans shares how her cancer experience had a dramatic impact on her life. After surgery and chemo treatment, she left a career of teaching to co-found a travel company, French Escapade, and explored alternative healing modalities including the Budwig Diet, homeopathy, immunotherapy, Beljanski Protocol, acupuncture, Papimi, and a more plant-based diet.
For those of you unfamiliar with sophrology — which includes me — here’s an introduction. Valerie talks about meeting with a sophrologist as routine in the French healthcare system.
Need help with sleep? David — resident DIY expert — explains how to decarb, squish, and infuse cannabis. Unfamiliar with these terms? No worries. These terms, and more, are explained for the novice. Podcast episode, and complementary YouTube video, demonstrate the processes involved with creating cannabis tinctures and infusions for making edibles.
An earlier podcast episode features six people sharing how cannabis helps with their physical and/or emotional challenges including cancer, depression, muscular dystrophy, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, bone fracture, and bipolar disorder.
Once you’re familiar with the process known as decarbing, you may want to check out this podcast episode featuring a fine dining chef who prepares meals infused with cannabis.
In the continuing series, Food=Medicine, Cooking with Love explores different interpretations of how love can be a vital element in the food we eat. Whether it’s part of the mission of a local organic farm, a vegetarian chef preparing pureed, nutrient-dense food for her father with progressive Parkinson’s disease, or another chef infusing fine dining, multi-coursed meals with cannabis — each guest offers a fresh perspective for mindful eating.
Lacey Sher, owner/Chef of the Encuentro pop-up restaurant in Oakland, CA shares two recipes for nutrient-dense smoothies. Aleta Pierce, farm manager for Alameda Point Collaborative’s farm2market program, welcomes farm volunteers and CSA subscribers. Michael Magallanes, San Francisco-based chef, prepares meals for private clients.
Sweet and Green Protein Smoothie
hemp milk, coconut water, or spring water
handful organic fresh or frozen blueberries
handful organic fresh or frozen raspberries
4-5 leaves of lacinato kale or romaine
handful of parsley
2 scoops hemp protein
3 pitted dates
1/2 avocado
– add ingredients into your Vitamix or blender
– blend together until super smooth
– pour into your favorite to go jar or mug
– sip slow and enjoy!
Berry Banana Antioxidant Booster
This smoothie is full of colorful foods, such as berries and cacao, which are loaded with a wealth of vitamins and antioxidants to help the body stay strong and vital. Plus with B-vitamin dense maca, omega rich hemp seeds, and beauty boosting coconut oil, this smoothie is filling yet completely whole and natural, assuring optimal function of body and mind. Enjoy!
3 cups of water or herbal tea
1 cup frozen organic blueberries
1 cup frozen organic strawberries or raspberries
1 frozen or fresh organic banana
handful of cacao nibs
2 tablespoons raw coconut oil
1/3 cup hemp seeds
2 tablespoons maca
1/2 stick vanilla bean or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: 2 tablespoons spirulina, your favorite green powder, or vanilla
Sweetener of choice: 3 tablespoons honey or agave, 2-3 pitted dates, or 3 drops stevia (Stevia is very sweet and strong. Use the least amount to taste.)
– add ingredients into your Vitamix or blender
– blend together until super smooth
– pour into your favorite to go jar or mug
– sip slow and enjoy!
These are simple and delicious and folks can use less fruit for less sweetness. I also like to add different ingredients such as chia, moringa powder, sometimes different vegetables like cooked or raw sweet potatoes, substitute spinach for kale if I have it. So many options. ~ Lacey Sher
Resources for Dysphagia (Swallowing difficulties)
If you truly want to understand the mechanics of dysphagia, check out this recorded webinar with the author of the textbook, Dysphagia: Clinical Management in Adults and Children, Michael E. Groher, Ph.D. It’s about an hour in duration but you’ll have a much better understanding of what this condition is.
Here is a community-generated recipe guide for people with swallowing difficulties. Recipes were submitted by caregiving family members.
Here is a recorded panel discussion about food preparation for people with dysphagia. Additional resources can be found here.
More Food=Medicine Podcast Episodes
The first Food=Medicine podcast episode included Retired Navy Lieutenant Laura Root and Edibell Stone, LPC & health coach talking about their respective diets. The second Food=Medicine podcast episode featured Jill Nussinow, The Veggie Queen, at the Farm to Fermentation Festival. Jill is a Registered Dietician and author of cookbooks and DVDs. If you want to go deeper into an understanding of fermented foods and their healing properties, check out this episode with fermentation guru, Sandor Katz. This episode explores the ancient tradition of Ayurveda through one woman’s health and diet journey.
In the continuing series, Food=Medicine, Cooking with Love explores different interpretations of how love can be a vital element in the food we eat. Whether it’s part of the mission of a local organic farm, a vegetarian chef preparing pureed, nutrient-dense food for her father with progressive Parkinson’s disease, or another chef infusing fine dining, multi-coursed meals with cannabis — each guest offers a fresh perspective for mindful eating.