Sustenance

A super short and sweet and to be honest very impromptu musing on the reciprocal relationship between plants and those that choose to tend them. Thanks to Rosanna Morris and the Land Workers Alliance for their incredible activism and generous permission to share their images for this show.

This episode is an introduction into foraging and herbal medicine. An introduction from someone who is still humbly learning what she can from her grandparents, from elders, authors, teachers, peers and from the plants themselves. There is so much life at our feet. So many wild, edible things to nibble on in the woods. And so much to be curious about. Medicine. Stories. Medicine stories.

Shinrin Yoku is the Japanese art of forest bathing. Shinrin in Japanese means “forest,” and yoku means “bath.” So shinrin-yoku means bathing in the forest atmosphere, or taking in the forest through our senses. The scientific benefits of this practice and related so-called nature connection practices are well-researched and described in many good books and papers on the subject in the resources section on the website. The episode itself invites you to find out for yourself how transformative a more immersive approach can be, one which embraces embodied experiences, either in groups or alone, in woods and forests near you. Go find the nature in you. Connect with the wild inside and out. Basically, go hug a tree. I dare you. These are the practices included in this episode: Sensory Storytelling 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Sensory Awareness Owl Eyes, Deer Ears, Fox Footsteps Sit Spot The World As Animate a note of care… …this episode contains a reference to some of the dangers of being out in the woods alone, for some more than others of us. It comes with a content note, because there are stories of sexual assault and racism… and a wee blessing… …may we be good ancestors, making it safer for our daughters to enjoy the freedom of forests undisturbed…may we be good relations, by leaving our forests more beautiful for the more-than-human-beings that also call them home and may we grow into relationship with a particular spot on this planet, may we care for it, let it care for us, and show us how to steward and be of service to the earth and all its critters around us…

Three simple grounding practices to self-soothe, reduce symptoms of panic and stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. These tools may be helpful for yourself or to share with others by showing someone you care for how to calm themselves down and return to their bodies at a distance. You can skip forward 5 minutes for breathing practices. Skip to 8 minutes for switching and finally skip 10 minutes in for a short, accessible activity called 5,4,3,2,1!

Capacitar is a collection of movement, breathing and acupressure practices that aim to reconnect people with their own wisdom and capacity. It is designed to help people heal from trauma and to find the courage to challenge oppressive systems and come together in a spirit of empowerment. Capacitar Tai Chi simplifies some of the most basic movements from traditional Tai Chi and shares them through popular education to make them accessible and memorable. I want to acknowledge all the traditions and teachers that have contributed to the development of Capacitar. May these practices continue to help those who have become disconnected to their bodies and breath to reconnect to the wisdom and medicine in the land and culture from which they come from. This episode is about 1 hour and you will need loose clothing and enough space to move your arms around in all directions. You may want to light a candle or set an intention at your altar before you begin. Enjoy!

Water is sacred. Water is life. Water sustains us. What if we gave our lives to the life-giving source that sustains us? What if we gave our blood, sweat and tears to protect our rivers, lakes and oceans? Many people have a relationship with water that somehow sustains, soothes, renews and rejuvenates. For many people, their love of ocean, river, lake and even rain can also be a powerful reason to act to protect that source of life. Look for traditions from your culture and land to honour water or co-create new rituals with friends. Get playful, go with the flow, enjoy the journey. If you need some inspiration for how to honour water as sacred, water as life, you can try this very short and very sweet water ritual shared generously with permission to share again here by Lakota elder, Tiokasin Ghosthorse.

This is a short practice to help you create a sacred space that is somehow meaningful to you. An altar that does not appropriate other cultures but acknowledges the lineages from which practices, plants and objects come. A place to support your journey of rest, recovery, solidarity and resistance.

We have been dreamed into being by our mothers and fathers and in many ways we live lives beyond the wildest dreams of our not-so-distant ancestors. For people who have had to fight to survive in our racist, transphobic, sexist society, dreaming is an act of rebellion. Dreaming can be a radical way of envisioning and then stepping into the future we wish to see, today and for generations to come. And so, whatever it is that calls you to come into relationship with the dream realm, individual and collective, this practice episode is an invitation to dip your toes into dreams.

In societal contexts that can dissociate us from our bodies, and try to sell us what it means to be beautiful, it is radical to show ourselves, our bodies and our friends, lovers and communities attention, care and love. And when the media narrows the definition of beauty to exclude so many bodies – in racist, ageist, sexist ways – practicing and sharing radical body-love is an act of resistance. This practice can be done after a shower or bath or just before bed. If you are in the grips of self-loathing or hatred about your body, doing one thing to come into relationship in a caring way can be the start of a journey of recovery to connect with pleasure and self-love. Orient to enjoyment.

If you like writing letters, like I do, then you will love this practice of writing love letters to yourself every full moon. If I had to choose to share only one practice from all the practices that have helped me recover from despair and depression, writing letters to my future self would be it. https://www.sustenanceradio.com/love-letters/

How do we stay sane in a society that is sick? How do we work in a world that doesn't work? This practice will accompany you while you create your own box of 'tools' to stay well. You will finish with a 'toolkit' or 'toolbox' of some sort, but it will look and be completely unique to you.

What brings you life? What encourages you? What are the things deaden you? In this first episode, Sustenance Radio host Bridget Holtom shares a 30 minute practice which helps you to see what sustains or drains your energy. This practice helps to identify activities, things, people, places, practices that can help us find balance between giving on the one hand and receiving or letting in on the other. Some of us will be working harder than others to re-fill our stores of energy due to structural inequalities and differences in society. While we can never fully avoid the things that drain us, we can all become aware of and either move away from things that drain our energy or towards things that bring us closer to a more deeply nourishing feeling of fullness, of sustenance.

In this interview, Priya Huffman and Sustenance Radio host, Bridget Holtom, explore the work of the eco-poets and their place in walking the line between hope and despair. Eco-poetry is the name given to a genre of poetry that speaks to /and of / our relationship to the natural world. In a period when she was feeling the weight of what difficulties children may face in the years to come, Priya asked her son if he was scared for the future. He replied: “the only ones who are scared are the ones not working to make it better, we don’t have time to be scared”. But, we are scared, confused, sad, grieving. Social injustice, division and oppression and environmental desecration is felt through our eyes, heart and can be channeled through our pen. Writing poetry can give words to the discomfort of our times, to the grief of loss, the confusion of climate change and more joyfully, to the deep love of wilderness, within and without. The music threaded throughout is Wild Beautiful Animals 'The Ballad of Ghosts' For an activity to accompany this audio episode, please visit https://www.sustenanceradio.com/episode-06-remembering-our-place-in-the-family-of-things-with-eco-poet-priya-huffman/

"Reclaim the culture that is rightfully yours. Use the language you have inherited. Our mission is to empower people to take action. " Join Sustenance Radio host Bridget Holtom in a conversation with Janet Marie Rogers about what it means to find your voice and speak truth to power. How can poetry be a source of energy as well an outlet for self-expression? Janet argues that creativity changes the conversation and that artistic expression may be the only truly sustaining avenue for people to challenge historic colonisation and ongoing oppression for Indigenous peoples in so-called British Colombia. Janet Marie Rogers is the Poet Laureate of Victoria, B.C. Janet is a Mohawk/Tuscarora writer from the Six Nations band in southern Ontario. Janet works in the genres of poetry, short fiction, science fiction, play writing, spoken-word performance poetry, video poetry and recorded poems with music. Janet's book Unearthed is a groundbreaking collection that shatters the silence about the Native traditional territory beneath your feet. You can listen to and support their work here.

In her book, The Big Swim, Carrie Saxifrage shares 12 ideas and actions that sustain her, while she works to sustain the world we live in. She circles around big questions of how species might survive the sixth extinction, or avert catastrophic climate change. She shares how swimming is something that sustains her, while she attempts to stay with the suffering of the current situation, in order to face the harsh reality, to feel the urgency with sinking into despair, in order to act, again and again. In our interview on Cortes Island, BC, Canada, she reflects on the privilege of "finding a place to dig in and start taking responsibility". In her 'Swim for the Lakes', she literally swam with and for the sacred waters of the island to raise money to sustain them for generations to come.

Emily Doyle-Yamaguchi and Sustenance Host Bridget Holtom talk about what it means to them to take part in a movement for change, to stand together in solidarity. They navigate with honesty some messy but necessary questions about privilege, accountability and equity in community. We are all entangled in the struggle for reconciliation and repatriation, we are all part of the shared history of colonisation and oppression. As the festival organisers partner once again with Quw’utsun elders and traditional leaders to host Koksilah 2019, this compilation shares some of the highlights from Koksilah 2017. 2017 marked Canada’s 150th but also more than 500 years of Indigenous resistance to colonial exploitation and assimilation on turtle island. Koksilah Music Festival takes place in the unceded territories of the Quw’utsun People at Tuwe’nu (Providence Farm), at the base of Pi’Paam’ (Mt. Tzouhalem) in what is commonly known as Cowichan Bay, or Tl’upalus in Hul’qumi’num. Koksilah's intention is to highlight the perspectives of Indigenous musicians, artists, activists and knowledge keepers. Get tickets to this year's festival September 6-8 2019. Can't go? Donate Directly. All festival proceeds are donated to grassroots initiatives led by Indigenous people asserting sovereignty over their ancestral territories. These groups are working tirelessly to re-occupy and protect their traditional lands and waters, revitalize their cultural practices, and reconnect people with the land.

"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean" Arthur C. Clarke The oceans sustains us in so many invisible ways, how do we save and sustain the sea in return? The loss of keystone species such as salmon will impact our coast and more-than-human communities in ways in which we can not imagine yet. Salmon sustain bear, wolf, whale and seal as well as feeding the forest floor as they are dropped from the sky by eagle and become the nitrogen rich soil that make the temperate rainforest trees grow so tall. Join Sustenance Radio host Bridget Holtom for an interview with Rama DelaRosa about sex, swimming and singing as sources of strength. We often admire strength in other people, but does resilience come from surviving the tough stuff? Rama DelaRosa is an inspiration, a force to be reckoned with. She says: “don’t pray for strength…life’ll give you shit to deal with”. A surviver of sexual trauma, Rama swum an awe-inspiring 86km long-distance swim around Salt Spring Island in the summer of 2017. She talks about how the water soothed her and the sea welcomed her anger, transforming frustration at the state of the world into empowering and meaningful action. She swam for the salmon. She swam for the 78 resident orca who swim in the Salish Sea. She swam to raise money for Indigenous legal challenges to the Kinder Morgan pipeline in the Pull Together campaign as the Tsleil Wautuh, Coldwater, and Squamish First Nations who went to court in October 2017. She completed her goal of raising CA$14,034 but you can continue to donate to the cause here. You can also show support by taking time to educate yourself about the impact of the BC pipelines on the BC coastline here. The final song that plays in this episode is "They said "no" they said it in your language!" sung by The Sisters of Mercy. The Sisters of Mercy stand in solidarity with the Musgamagw Dzawada'enuxw Nation who have stood in opposition to fish farms in their territory for nearly 30 years. Since time immemorial they have protected their salmon and herring for future generations. Their people have spoken. Fish farms must be removed from their territories. For more info email sistersofmercychoir@gmail.com In your Language written by Betty Supple Arranged by Rama DelaRosa Video performance Sisters of Mercy choir members Aly Coy, Amanda Kimmel, Christina Chua, Erika Verlinden, Maria Robbins, Paula Johnson, Sylvia Graber, and Rama DelaRosa Audio performance Sisters of Mercy choir members Amanda Kimmel, Christina Chua, Cora Robertson, Darlene Gage, Erika Verlinden, Leanna Boyer, Maria Robbins, Moss Dance, Mailyn Bergeron, Paula Johnson, Marianna Butler, Sharyn Carol and Rama DelaRosa Audio recording by Rama DelaRosa Audio mixing by Daryl Chonka Filming and Video Production Sydney Woodward Produced by Rama DelaRosa The song at the start of the podcast is from Leah Ambramson's album Songs For A Lost Pod. The album, described as "song cycle that combines scientific research, orca vocalizations, and marine mammal history." Leah's music looks at the similarities between human and orca communication and intergenerational trauma. For an interview with Leah, please visit our friends at Big Bright Dark, a podcast about the fears that haunt us and the possibilities that rise before us in this time of great human and planetary uncertainty.

When are we surviving and when are we thriving? What positions of privilege in society enable some people to take a break while others shoulder the burden of struggle and survival? The horrific history of residential schooling, genocide and cultural repression of First Nations People in so-called Canada has impacts that reverberate and continue to re-traumatise people today. What might reconciliation look like? How can people support cultural resurgence? Thank you to Meeka Noelle Morgan for her courageous conversation about how trauma and oppression can become a source of unending energy and how witnessing and listening to one another can help heal the wounds within families and between communities to work towards reconciliation and peace. Meeka is involved in several musical collaborations as well as her ongoing education and storytelling workshops related to her Masters thesis: Making Connections With Secwepemc Family Through Storytelling: A Journey in Transformative Rebuilding that you can read by visiting http://cicac.tru.ca/readings/meeka-morgan.pdf JUST is Indigenous Grassroots Woman Punk Collaboration between Secwepemc-Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Dakelh Warrior Sisters. Building consciousness and reflecting reality of their peoples experience, coming from generations of strength, dispossession, trauma, to healing and medicine. The Melawmen Collective was created to transform and rebuild relationships between Aboriginal People and others through music, story, art and collaboration. Through their workshops and performances, reflections and experiences of these representations and perspectives shared will result in creating new collaborative works about the process of how exploring ways to tell our collective aboriginal stories become a way of creating new ones. You can listen to their music and support their work by visiting https://soundcloud.com/user7476886.

We have so many heartbeats, but we only have so many. How do you spend yours? How can you wake up to the possibility of what you can do to make your life speak. Listen to the rhythm of your life and use your feet to dance to the drum beat. Join Sustenance Radio host Bridget Holtom for a conversation with Travis and Craig from Mob Bounce about solidarity, music as medicine and the power of transformation and social change. Mob Bounce is a Hip Hop duo from Northwest Turtle Island, Canada. Their musicianship is half-Travis Adrian Hebert, half-Craig Frank Edes and half-a-whole-lot-more-than-you-can-imagine. Mob Bounce is Indigenous influenced music and poetry, spoken and sung with conviction. They fuse Electronic Dance Music with Traditional and Contemporary soundscapes and free toning/chanting. Craig is Gitxsan and Travis is Cree/Metis and they have been making music as medicine since 2004. Both Travis and Craig's lyricism delve into spirituality, social justice and Mother Earth connection. Their words may make you cry or question why you are here or have you contemplating what action you might take to stand in solidarity. Mob Bounce will make you dance. https://soundcloud.com/mob-bounce http://koksilahfestival.com/performers/ mobbouncemusic@gmail.com Koksilah Music Festival takes place in the unceded territories of the Quw’utsun People at Tuwe’nu (Providence Farm), at the base of Pi’Paam’ (Mt. Tzouhalem) in what is commonly known as Cowichan Bay, or Tl’upalus in Hul’qumi’num. Get tickets to this year’s festival September 6-8 2019. Can’t go? Donate directly. All festival proceeds are donated to grassroots initiatives led by Indigenous people asserting sovereignty over their ancestral territories. These groups are working tirelessly to re-occupy and protect their traditional lands and waters, revitalize their cultural practices, and reconnect people with the land.

“This is all we’ve got, its a beautiful planet we live on…from the waters of Cowichan Bay and all the way to the rivers of the Koksilah and Cowichan Rivers, that is truly a powerful, powerful medicine within itself”. The opening words of this special episode are those spoken in the opening ceremony by Tousilum, a Quw’utsun elder who greeted those gathered for the very first Koksilah Festival. Koksilah festival is reconciliation in action. The festival is organised in recognition and celebration of the sovereignty of Indigenous Nations in the unceded territories of British Colombia, Canada. As the festival organisers partner once again with Quw’utsun elders and traditional leaders to host Koksilah 2019, this compilation shares some of the highlights from Koksilah 2017. Part 1: La kwala ogwa, Emma Joye Frank, was born on the K'ómoks First Nation Reserve in 1994, in what is now known as the Comox Valley, Vancouver Island, Canada. She spent her childhood being raised in Port Alberni, disconnected from her culture. Just before high school, Emma moved with her family to Victoria. After graduation, she was invited to the Tribal Canoe Journey to Bella Bella in 2014. This experience was pivotal in reconnecting Emma to her culture. Since then, she has pursued filmmaking as a way to express her perspectives as an indigenous person. During a Youth Media Project at the Comox Valley Art Gallery Emma created Hase'- Breath of Life. She also made this doc to educate folks about the K'ómoks Estuary: Project Watershed and at Reel Youth Invention Film Camp she created: Beachwalker with original music/vocals & performance! Emma recently moved to Vancouver to explore her creativity as an artist: musician, performer, filmmaker, facilitator. You can follow her work here. Koksilah Music Festival takes place in the unceded territories of the Quw’utsun People at Tuwe’nu (Providence Farm), at the base of Pi’Paam’ (Mt. Tzouhalem) in what is commonly known as Cowichan Bay, or Tl’upalus in Hul’qumi’num. Get tickets to this year’s festival September 6-8 2019. Can’t go? Donate directly. All festival proceeds are donated to grassroots initiatives led by Indigenous people asserting sovereignty over their ancestral territories. These groups are working tirelessly to re-occupy and protect their traditional lands and waters, revitalize their cultural practices, and reconnect people with the land.

What sustains your activism and fuels your fire for hope and change in the world today? What is burnout? How do we look after ourselves and each other in an unequal society? Singer-songwriter sisters Chloe and Leah from the band, Rising Appalachia, answer challenging questions about their journeys with spirituality and social justice. Now is the time to ask impossible questions and live the questions together, today.

Learning to look after ourselves means learning to lean on others while being someone to lean on. All their life, LD has been a loving caregiver. When a doctor asked: “when are you going to start taking care of you?” it was the wake up call they needed to take a break and embark on a journey of self-love and self-discovery. Lea-Dee Jenelle Huppe, aka LD, works in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. In an area often stigmatised for its high rates of homelessness and visible drug-use, LD’s small organisation, Vancouver Street Soccer, celebrates our common humanity in a sick society. In this intimate interview, LD shares their personal story of how possible it is to overcome trauma and abuse to stand tall and celebrate who we are. We spoke in the silent sanctuary space at Hollyhock on Cortes Island, BC, Canada during the Social Change Institute, in the summer of 2017.