Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 130
Date: July 23, 2024

Participants: John Webster, Riley Thompson and Sheila Webster
Guest: Erin Farrell

Start Times and Segments:

[0:00:35] What’s On Your Mind: What did Carl Jung mean when he said, “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves”? We’re not sure, but it’s an interesting quote to discuss.

[0:09:30] Expanding Minds Interview: [Social and Economic Wellness]

[0:25:12] Flipside of the Coin: After seeing people cut the line while boarding a plane, unwilling to wait for their zone to be called, we wonder why some people won’t follow social constructs that help all of us.

Guest Information: Originally from Newfoundland, Erin Farrell is a partner in Gowling WLG's Toronto office, practising in the firm's advocacy department. Prior to pursuing a career in law, she conducted genetics research (In California or at a large pharmaceutical company). For the past few years Erin has been Chair of Gowling’s Pro Bono program, helping Gowlings lawyers across the country do pro bono work in their communities.

Erin’s Bio page with Gowling WLG: Erin Farrell

Connect with Let’s Be Well Together Podcast:
website: https://letsbewelltogether.com
Follow our Instagram account: @lets.be.well.together use hashtag #letsbewelltogetherpodcast
Provide input on Instagram using hashtag #letsbewelltogetherinput

Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura, Julie and Riley

Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 129
Date: July 16, 2024

Participants: John Webster, Elise Seifert, Cameron Earnshaw and Sheila Webster
Guest: Bronwyn Schweigerdt

Start Times and Segments:

[0:00:16] What’s On Your Mind: A Martina Navratilova resonates with us: “The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.” We learn so much on the way, and when we don’t win.

[0:08:16] Expanding Minds Interview: [Mental Wellness] We welcome back Bronwyn Schweigerdt, a psychotherapist who helps people reconnect to their anger and heal their relationship with themselves. We often don’t recognize that we have supressed anger – disassociate anger. She helps people to stop letting anger stagnate in their bodies, but to channel it out. Validation is a kind of mirroring. We are blind to ourselves. We need someone to mirror us and say, “You know John, you actually have a good reason for being angry and I don’t blame you one bit.” When you validate, suddenly a person can think, “Oh, it’s okay to feel this.” We can also start to do that for ourselves. We can start to be that mirror for ourselves. When we have a healthy relationship with ourselves, we are attuned to ourselves, we validate our own feelings, we prioritize our feelings and know they are significant and there for a reason. We learn to channel out feelings out in healthy ways, with boundaries and assertiveness. When we do all that, we don’t get depressed. We are true to ourselves.

[0:28:17] Running Popup / Adventures of the Starving Artist: Popup - John likes the expression that running makes him love the feeling of living. On a recent run he realized that he’s living when he’s running. Artist – In one of Cameron’s live performances during a busy stretch, a traffic light was perfectly in synch with a shift in the tempo of the band’s song.

Guest Information: Bronwyn Schweigerdt is an evocative psychotherapist with a master's degree in counseling and nutrition. She helps people reconnect to their anger and heal their relationship with themselves. Her goal is to elicit feelings people are ashamed to have. She knows that even though feelings are invisible, they don’t evaporate, but store away in our bodies until processed. According to Bronwyn, these feelings haunt us and cause mental illness until we express them into words with someone who can hear and validate them. She hosts a podcast called Angry At The Right Things, sharing information as a marriage and family therapist.

Bronwyn’s podcast link: Angry At The Right Things

Connect with Let’s Be Well Together Podcast:
website: https://letsbewelltogether.com
Follow our Instagram account: @lets.be.well.together use hashtag #letsbewelltogetherpodcast
Provide input on Instagram using hashtag #letsbewelltogetherinput

Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura, Julie and Riley

Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 128
Date: July 9, 2024

Participants: John Webster and Sheila Webster
Guest: Chris Pelletier

Start Times and Segments:

[0:00:16] What’s On Your Mind: We are introducing a new show format, moving from 6 segments every episode to 3 segments: 1. What’s on Your Mind; 2. Interview; and a new third segment that will rotate between (a) Move That Body or (b) Running Popup & Starving Artist, or (c) Flipside of the Coin. We hope it keeps things fresh.

[0:08.01] Expanding Minds Interview: [Social Wellness] We interview Chris Pelletier about the Mark Preece Family House in Hamilton, which provides a calm in the storm when people travel from another city to be with loved ones in hospital in Hamilton. Mark was an ICU physician at Hamilton Health Sciences, who passed away from cancer. He received care in Pittsburgh during the last 6 months of his treatment. His family stayed at a hospital family house. They realized there was nothing similar in Hamilton where they lived. They decided to get working on the project, which was named after Mark. Guests stay at a low cost, with access to free parking, a kitchen and laundry facilities. Community members provide support, including by making dinner for guests. Guests have other people to talk to, who are experiencing similar things. Many guests say, “You guys saved my life. It was so nice and warm and comforting and homelike.” People can go to the website – markpreecehouse.ca – to make a donation and find other ways to help.

[0:26:20] Move That Body: A great way to start each day: 5-5-5-30. As soon as you get out of bed, do 5 push ups, 5 squats, 5 lunges and a 30-second plank. It gets you energized and kicks our system into gear.

Guest Information: Chris Pelletier discovered his love of communications while in High School, while working at a student newspaper. His love continued as he ran the student newspaper at Nipissing University before entering the Broadcast Journalism program at Canadore College. For more than 25 years, Chris has been involved in the field of marketing and communications in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors and indigenous organizations. Chris, his wife Cindy, and their dog Charlie moved to Winnipeg in 2016 where he worked and completed a BA at University of Manitoba. He served as the Communications Officer with the First Nations Family Advocate Office. Upon returning to Ontario in 2022, Chris took on the role as Communications and Development Specialist at The Mark Preece Family House. He’s helping to improve their visibility in the community through social media and other means.

Website: Mark Preece Family House

Connect with Let’s Be Well Together Podcast:
website: https://letsbewelltogether.com
Follow our Instagram account: @lets.be.well.together use hashtag #letsbewelltogetherpodcast
Provide input on Instagram using hashtag #letsbewelltogetherinput

Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura, Julie and Riley