When we stop to consider the myriad of things that can affect our mental health, our focus is so often on the negative. Things such as painful memories that have a detrimental effect on our emotional well-being, triggers that can take us from ‘OK’ to ‘Nope’ in no time at all. And while these definitely play a significant role in our mental health - or lack thereof - it is equally important to explore the power of positive experiences and emotions.

Positive experiences or ‘Glimmers’ as they are sometimes called, are the moments that bring joy, contentment, and a sense of fulfilment, and they can have an equally profound impact on mental health.

Our lives are run by habit. We wouldn’t be able to do the majority of the things we do in the day without habits. This doesn’t make habits wrong, right, good, bad, healthy, unhealthy… Habits simply are. Habits by nature are subconscious and exist solely to respond to different stimuli (pop over and read How Habits Affect Your Life if you want to understand why habits better).

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." - Health as defined by the World Health Organization

I've come to believe that if I want to thrive, I must invest in my health. If I want to merely survive, I can treat health as an expense and treat symptoms as they arise.  For years I treated my health as an expense and opted for the cheapest solution.  I struggled with iron deficiency anemia, chronic fatigue syndrome, debilitating periods and more.  Unlike most practitioners, I understand chronic illness and the struggles it creates because I’ve lived with it.

COVID-19 has transformed many aspects of our lives- some for better, others for worse. One such transformation has been the seismic shift in the workplace.

Working-from-home (sometimes shortened to WFH) started as a distancing necessity, requiring us all to become proficient in video conference calls and virtual meetings. Employers and employees have both capitalized on this expanded flexibility, geographic freedom, and commute-eliminating savings. 

Living with a chronic illness is an immense challenge that affects millions of people worldwide. Traditional medical treatments often focus on managing symptoms, but what if there was an alternate approach that could tap into the mind's innate healing abilities? Hypnosis is a therapeutic technique that employs the power of suggestion and deep relaxation to alleviate symptoms and improve the overall well-being of individuals with chronic illnesses.

Did you know that hitting the snooze button actually makes it harder to get out of bed in the morning?  

Studies have shown that we get most of our REM sleep (or dream sleep) in the latter part of our sleep cycles (these cycles happen multiple times throughout the night).  We also get more REM sleep overall in the early morning hours.  REM sleep is the most restorative part of the sleep cycle.  When your alarm goes off in the morning, you’re most likely disrupting REM sleep; especially if you wake up from a dream.  By choosing to hit your snooze button instead of getting up, you are starting another sleep cycle and may be reentering another REM cycle within that sleep cycle.  

Couples counselling is always a learning experience for all parties. I wanted to offer a glimpse behind-the-scenes of couples counselling, but that is a tall order! Each session, each couple, is so unique; that processes vary tremendously. 

So, here are a few surprising lessons that I’ve seen couples learn during relationship counselling. 

In my twenty plus years as a herbalist, there has been one class of remedy that people have complained about consistently – the digestive bitter.

We, as herbalists, are not being cruel or perverse when we recommend that you take one. We know the bitter flavour can come as a bit of a shock to folks used to the average North American diet, but bitters have a plethora of benefits that really do make them worthwhile.

All these ‘psychs’ are confusing!

When you’re looking for help for yourself, or a loved one, it may feel like mental health services have their own language. All the different terms for therapies, professional designations and various agencies/centres can be frustrating and discouraging. 

I am here to set the record straight. I am going to provide you with some insight into each of these professions, with a combination of facts as well as my experience working with each of these healthcare practitioners.

When I was a child, I used to beg my parents for a pet; sadly, they never gave in.  However, I found a way around that!  I started babysitting our neighbours pets when they were away, this began a lifelong love of cats (and the occasional dog).

Little did I know then what a profound effect having pets would have on me.

My husband and I currently have four cats - Jane, Darcy, Toes and Lizzie.  They each have such unique personalities and quirks.  I truly can’t imagine life without them.

One of the things I love about being a herbalist is the variety of my work. My day may be spent with clients, taking histories and assessing issues. It may be spent in a deep dive into academic literature, as there is always more to learn and new research to keep up with. And it is often, especially in the growing season, spent outside, planting and tending to my herb gardens, or foraging for wild herbs in woods and meadows. Then there is the slow process of drying herbs for teas, making tinctures, salves, and other plant-based medicines.

In honour of International Pi/Mathematics day, I would like to do an experiment with you where we imagine two different scenarios. 

First, imagine somebody has made you a pie. You appreciate the gesture and set the pie on your counter. You’re on a diet and not allowed to eat pie. Maybe you’re not on a specific diet, but you don’t think pie is good for you or you’re concerned about the amount of sugar and carbs in it. Throughout the day, you walk past the pie and are tempted to eat a piece, but restrain yourself and don’t. By the end of the day, you say what the heck and decide to quickly shovel a piece in your mouth. Quick and dirty, you get it over with so you can stop thinking about it. Do you feel guilty that you ate a piece? Do you beat yourself up for not having more willpower? Did you even really taste the pie? Did you end up eating another piece or 2 so you could actually taste the pie? Maybe you ate it and moved on with your day, not giving it much more thought.

Deciding to go to therapy is a huge decision that requires courage. So, when you see the fees associated with therapy, it’s hard not to feel dismay and dread.

You start to think….“You charge how much?”, “ An hour is actually 50 minutes?”, and “ You suggest I see you every week?” After some quick mental math, you may think to yourself, “I am in the wrong line of work. I should have been a therapist, and I would be rolling in dough!”. 

Believe me -you are not alone in having this line of thinking. In fact, that hourly rate creates tension for all parties involved (we know the financial realities of Canadians). 

For anyone who’s ever taken a flight, you’ve all heard the safety demonstration telling you to put your own oxygen mask on first, before you help others to do the same. This doesn’t just apply to flights, emergencies and cabin pressure changes.

The reality is, that as women, we need to learn to put our own oxygen masks on everyday.

Recently, I’ve heard from several women that they’re putting themselves last.  Some want to make a change and put themselves first and others have said that they “don’t exist” until a certain point because they’re so overwhelmed by life, the demands on their time and energy, as well as everything else that’s happening on a daily basis. This also includes caring for their loved one.

It’s that time of year when Christmas and New Year’s celebrations are over, and we’re settling in for a few months of cold, snowy weather. And with Winter come seasonal colds, sore throats, and runny noses. 

Being a backyard herbalist is so much easier in the summer when there is an abundance of medicinal weeds and wildflowers, but even in the depths of winter, there are herbal remedies to be found. This one is a great remedy for runny noses and mucousy coughs, and has the added benefit of being right in your living room – it’s your Christmas tree! 

“I’m so bad”, she states as she reaches for a cookie. “No I can’t, I’m trying to be good” as she declines an offer of a homemade muffin. We’ve all heard these phrases, and have probably said them, or something similar, ourselves. When we pause to reflect on these phrases, we can discern how we’re assigning moral value to food choices. Letting what we eat determine whether we’re “good” or “bad”. Our worth is not based on which foods we choose to eat or choose not to eat. 

As Canadians, our mental health can dive during the winter months.“About 15% of people in Canada experience the winter blues, while only about 2-3% of people in Canada experience SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)” (Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 2000).

If that doesn’t sound like a lot, that’s about 5,737,500 Canadians experiencing the winter blues yearly! So, how can counselling or therapy help with that?

I grew up in England, so I may be biased, but I believe there is nothing quite as soothing to the soul as a good cup of tea.

Just taking the time to sit down for a few minutes, to be still, to feel the comforting warmth of a cup in your hands, is a balm for busy days. And if your hands happen to be wrapped around a cup of herbal tea, you may also benefit from the healing properties of those herbs. You may be surprised to know that there is an art to making a good herbal tea. It’s not hard to do, but it can greatly improve the quality of your tea.

Have you been struggling with chronic illness for years or even decades? Are you looking for answers and haven’t found any? Are you feeling like no one is listening when you try to explain what’s happening to you or that they don’t understand?

Rebecca provides a calm environment for you to be heard, understood and believed. She truly listens to what you’re saying and asks relevant questions to gain a deeper understanding of what you’re experiencing.

Habits aren’t something that most people think about regularly until you’re trying to make a change. Habits, by nature, are subconscious and exist in response to specific stimuli. This is also called ‘Cue, Routine, Reward’ in Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit.

“Habits are the compound interest of self improvement.” ~ James Clear (Atomic Habits)

By definition, habits are repeated actions or behaviours that you do with such frequency that you may not be aware of them. You might find yourself in the middle of the action or have even completed it before you realize what you are doing.