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The Noobie Dentist Podcast – Dr. Bruce Freeman (Part 2) Episode Run Time: 01:24:05   Intro   Today, I chat with Dr. Bruce Freeman for part 2 of our 2 part series.  Dr. Bruce Freeman is the Director of Patient Experience for dentalcorp, helping dentists across Canada achieve clinical success that results in the best experience for their patients. Bruce is a native of Toronto, Ontario where he currently practices as an orthodontist and as a staff clinician at Mount Sinai’s facial pain unit. Bruce also lectures across the globe on orthodontics, facial pain and the patient experience. Outside of dentistry, he likes to help his fellow clinicians through the practices of yoga, meditation and mindfulness.   In the second part of this two part series, we talk about practicing self-care. Bruce talks about his recent article on the happiness line and we talk about the neuroscience of happiness. We also go into how to take care of yourself through mindfulness, yoga, meditation, diet and nutrition. Finally, we touch on finances and what money means to us.   Guest Details   Website: Freeman, Caro & Lands Orthodontics   Social Media: Bruce Freeman - LinkedIn Bruce Freeman - Instagram   Time Stamps   [00:02:35] Satisficing: choosing between the “optimum choice is a simplified world” versus a “satisfactory choice in a realistic world” [00:06:06] Bruce illustrates the dangers of sensory overload in decision making [00:06:50] Why you cannot improve everything at once [00:10:33] The importance of showing gratitude and practicing random acts of kindness [00:12:24] Mindfully moving from one posture to another [00:13:45] Bruce demonstrates the box breathing exercise which can produce calmness [00:19:41] How meditation can help you to distance yourself from a blinding emotion [00:22:20] Becoming the knower of your mind, versus letting your thoughts control you [00:24:21] The power of the Wim Hof breathing technique, and how to slow your heart rate down [00:26:21] Why you should internalize your goals and stop falling for gimmicks [00:30:39] How to recognize your habits and alter them [00:34:39] How yoga helps to connect your thoughts with your body and mind [00:37:38] How to practice habit stacking. Incorporating new habits into your existing habits [00:40:24] How short-term disappointments do not strongly influence long-term happiness [00:43:08] The importance of reflecting on past experiences [00:48:13] Why you should learn how to acknowledge your own failures and weaknesses [00:52:13] How putting yourself out there can change your life [00:54:33] Equipping yourself with the right tips and tools to understand yourself and to be content [00:56:54] Enjoying your growth instead of setting impossible goals [00:59:45] How your behaviors can impact those around you [01:01:18] Why money is security and freedom to do what you want, and rather than a means to accumulate things [01:06:13] Why you should prioritize experiences over possessions [01:10:10] The importance of living beneath your means [01:15:55] The benefits of surrounding yourself with the right people   Podcast Details   As always, if you enjoyed listening to the Noobie Dentist Podcast, please pass the podcast along to your friends, classmates and colleagues. If you haven’t already, head over to iTunes and give the show a 5-star rating and if you have some time, leave a review! The Noobie Dentist podcast is now available on Spotify, YouTube, noobiedentist.com, the Apple podcast app, Stitcher and any other podcast apps out there!   Website: http://www.noobiedentist.com Instagram: @noobiedentist   Sponsor Details Ivoclar Vivadent is one of the world's leading and most innovative dental companies, offering a comprehensive range of products and systems that provide you with new opportunities in dentistry – for even more aesthetic and efficient results and better dental care for patients. 'Making People Smile' – It's what they do! To find out more, visit www.ivoclarvivadent.com.au   Headline Quote [56:54 - 57:22] And guess what? Start at the bottom. Work your way to the top. You cannot start at the top. Like you said, it is like, “I am going to crush self-care!” Listening to it, then you are like, “What does that even mean? I do not even know.” “I am going to go to the health foods store and buy bottles of stuff! And then if I see somebody with abs on Instagram, I am going to know that is the key!” Do you know what I am saying? And it is not! You should be able to learn how to breathe like, in your own head!   Social Media Post   Your thoughts and emotions impact those around you, even if you do not realize it! Listen to this episode of the Noobie Dentist podcast to discover helpful tips for practicing self-care and regulating your emotions.   Conclusion   Were you inspired by Dr. Bruce Freeman’s expansion on the benefits of self-care? What techniques do you use to regulate your emotions?   Here are some helpful resources that were mentioned in the podcast:   When Will I Be Happy? It’s All Relative by Dr. Bruce Freeman Herbert Simon’s paper which introduced “satisficing” The Wim Hof breathing method Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg Yoga and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Attached by Amir Levine and Rachel S.F. Heller The Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Clason   Do remember to subscribe for more content!

- Stacey Ballard I think the most important thing is that 40 percent of Americans live with at least one chronic illness, 40 percent of Americans. So we all know somebody who lives with chronic illness. And so we we know that those people are out there working right now, just like I had to work, whether I felt good or bad. So we just need to be nice to each other even.  You know, we need to understand that we're all going through something, whether it's chronic illness, whether it's addiction, whether you're in an abusive relationship. We are all we all have our own story of stress and what is causing issues in our life. I just wish we could be nicer to each other, more understanding.   INTRO Today, Stacey Ballard shares about living with multiple, chronic illnesses.  From hyperthyroidism to endometriosis to Crohn’s disease, and more, Stacey has spent most of her life under the shadow of sickness.  There is the revolving door of hospital visits, the grinding exhaustion, and the fragility of a body prone to illness.  Yet, Stacey is also a published author and artist who recently released a book called The Fine Art of Waiting, crafted to help others who are in a season of waiting…and, in the throes of COVID-19, isn’t that all of us?  I am happy to welcome Stacey to the show.  Stacey lives in the Lake Tahoe region of California, where she likes to walk with her dog in the Desolation Wilderness.      - Stacey Ballard And so it's really easy to get out in nature. I love kayaking on the lake and but I spend most of my time walking and just enjoying the air and the and the surrounding landscape.   These wide open spaces are a far cry from the bustling Bay area of San Francisco, where she grew up.  Life in the Bay was crowded, chaotic, and the pace of life contributed to her mounting illness.    - Liesel Mertes Would you set the scene for us of what you're growing up years were like? And as you look back, when you first think, oh, yeah, that those were signs of me being unwell.   - Stacey Ballard Absolutely, I was a skinny, nervous, clumsy little kid, and my family pretty much just thought that's the way I was.   - Stacey Ballard And actually I think it might have been coming up to Tahoe, were coming up into the elevation. I started having really bad symptoms, heart racing, vomiting. And so we started going to my doctor in the Bay Area.   - Stacey Ballard I think I was about nine years old and it took some blood tests and things like that. But that's when they discovered that I had hyperthyroid and and started treating me at with my local family physician.   - Liesel Mertes What was that like for you?   - Stacey Ballard Oh, the symptoms of hyperthyroidism, especially in a small child, nervousness, anxiety, sensitivity to emotional situations.   - Stacey Ballard Heart racing, no appetite.   - Stacey Ballard Yeah, so I was I was very nervous all the time, scared of everything, and and so the diagnosis was helpful because the problem did need to be taken care of because it was in a way that I could continue living. It would have caused more physical and mental problems if it wasn't taken care of. But, yeah, it was it was it was scary as a kid to be so emotionally raw all the time.   Stacey was emotionally raw, entering a complex medical system and web of doctors.    - Stacey Ballard that's when I remember one of my first traumas as a person living with chronic illness and living with doctor's appointments and things like that was that I remember being scared of getting my blood drawn at this big hospital.   - Stacey Ballard And I think by that time I might have been 10 or 11 years old. And I remember it took a number of people, probably five adults at least, to hold me down for them to take my blood.   Stacey Ballard And so the diagnosis was a small part of of what happened to me.   - Stacey Ballard It was the trauma of being a kid, going to doctors that really started to affect my life and my mental and emotional state.   Stacey’s family was also reckoning with the diagnosis.  She is the middle child, with an older and a younger sister.  And by that time, her parents had divorced.    - Stacey Ballard Emotionally dealing with a child, going through things like that, I don't know that many parents have the understanding or the coping abilities on how to navigate it.   Her dad was working full time and her mom was working part time…and then there were the drives to appointments and all of the uncertainty.    - Stacey Ballard My parents, I love them dearly, but but nobody teaches you how to deal with a sick child, and so it was very analytical.   - Stacey Ballard There wasn't a lot of there wasn't a lot of like, oh, how is this affecting you emotionally? I think they dealt with the terror in the moments, but then it was more about distracting me onto other things and getting my mind off things.   Stacey’s parents did their best, trying to keep her busy, trying to get the medications in balance.  When she was a preteen, she went through a procedure that purposefully destroyed her thyroid through radiation.    - Stacey Ballard So once you have your thyroid radiated, you drink radioactive iodine to destroy the thyroid or you have surgery to remove part of the thyroid to help with the hyper thyroid. But what that does is it induces hypothyroidism, which then you go from like, you know, bouncing off the walls to wanting to sleep all day.   - Stacey Ballard I'm gaining weight. I mean, I was I was a stick figure. I was skinny. Even though I didn't have an appetite, I could eat anything and not gain weight.   Stacey gained 40 pounds over the course of a month.  She was exhausted and sleeping all the time.  So she began to skip doses of her medication in hopes of losing weight.    - Stacey Ballard But because my child mind. Saw me gaining weight, saw myself getting more tired and my doctors telling me, oh yeah, this is what's working, this is what's right, I thought by doing the opposite, I was helping myself.   - Stacey Ballard Yeah. And because, you know, my mom, you know, worked full time. My dad was only around on the weekends. They didn't know.   There were so many stressors.    - Liesel Mertes How do you think that you were reckoning with that internally as a kid?   - Stacey Ballard I think as a kid, I was just trying to survive. Yeah. Looking back on it now, I. I see where I, I took on the victim role. And listen, I would never tell anybody else you acted like a victim at the time as a kid, I didn't know any better.   - Stacey Ballard I didn't want these diseases. I didn't ask for these diseases. I was doing my best to survive in the situation.   - Stacey Ballard Every every time my mom or dad would take me to a doctor's appointment, I would get the day off school. Mm hmm. After we go to the doctor's appointment, we'd go out for lunch or breakfast or get a treat.   - Stacey Ballard Yeah. And so I got their full attention.   - Stacey Ballard When your parents are working full time and and and and you have, you know, two other siblings and everyone's fighting for attention, I sucked up that time with my parents.   - Stacey Ballard And so I don't know that I thought of, like, why me? Oh, my gosh, poor me. I think I was thinking, oh, my gosh, I get to see my mom or my dad depending on who I was with.   - Stacey Ballard And, oh, we get to go out for for a treat.   - Stacey Ballard And oh, I get the day off school, which, by the way, I hated school. Yeah.   - Stacey Ballard And so and so. And then when, when my next diagnosis came at 13, 14 years old with endometriosis, although it wasn't a diagnosis, it was just symptoms.   Endometriosis is condition that causes pelvic pain and often also contributes to powerful pain during menstruation.  As Stacey began to feel these symptoms, she felt like the little boy who cried wolf.  As a chronic pain sufferer, she had often sounded the proverbial alarm…and now, no one believed her.    - Stacey Ballard I then got my period and immediately started having symptoms. Nobody believed me.   - Stacey Ballard Oh, you're it's just your period, period. That's just your period. And so, you know. In the back of my mind,   - Stacey Ballard I'm thinking there are some acute pain and discomfort and pain.   Yes, that was my main symptom of endometriosis. A lot of people have different symptoms, heavy bleeding and things like that. Mine was severe, severe pain. And so I know that as a young teenager, I did go to a couple of doctors and try to find out if this was wrong, immediately told no, this was normal deal with it. And so then for a couple of years, not understanding that there was something wrong, I just dealt with the symptoms which were horrific.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah. Well, and I imagine as you say that, that it's its own head trip. Right. Of like am I imagining things? Am I crazy? Should I trust my own body? Should I trust these other people? That, I imagine, in dealing with just the physical pain that that sort of mental disequilibrium only compounds that and makes it more challenging.   - Stacey Ballard Absolutely. I mean, I couldn't deny the physical pain.   - Stacey Ballard I would be in pain about three weeks a month if this was going to school as a teenager and also working part time and then as an adult, working full time and tried to go to college.   - Stacey Ballard And so.   - Stacey Ballard The the physical symptoms were unquestionable, so I began to hate my body because I didn't know what else to do, because the medical in industry was saying that's normal.   - Stacey Ballard Right. And I wasn't talking to other girls. I mean, even as a teenager, I had I remember having a few girlfriends in in high school, but I don't remember talking to them about this.   - Stacey Ballard And so I turned my pain towards my own body.   - Liesel Mertes Hmm. Yeah. What did that did that manifest itself in physical expressions or mostly a mental orientation? Tell me more about what that looked like.   - Stacey Ballard Mostly mental. I was very depressed, my thyroid.   - Stacey Ballard I talked to a lot of people about thyroid issues because what a doctor says is a normal level might not necessarily be a normal level for you.   - Stacey Ballard And so as far as like a 16 year old, you know, I'm dealing with three weeks out of the month of being in pain, my thyroid levels supposedly being at normal levels.   - Stacey Ballard And I am sleeping 12 hours a day or at night, you know, and so I'm depressed.   - Stacey Ballard I'm isolating myself.   - Stacey Ballard I did have art in my life, thank goodness I was a photography student in high school at the time, and so I think I would spend a lot of time distracting myself. But it is really hard to distract yourself when you're in that much physical pain.   - Stacey Ballard And so it was just depression. And then I started also having an anxiety disorder.   - Stacey Ballard Yeah. You know, and and I do deal with mental illness, depression, panic disorder. And it took me a long time to not blame myself for it and realize it's a brain chemistry thing. It is not a it's not a lack of drive or a lack of personality. It's it's the chemical factory in my brain that I have no control over. And that was that took me a long, long time to accept, right?   - Liesel Mertes What were some of those those messages of questioning whether it was just a problem with you or just loathing towards your body?   - Liesel Mertes Were those being expressed from external people at all, like, can you look back and think, man, people just they said really, you know, casual or purposefully hurtful things that just lingered with me?   - Stacey Ballard Yeah, I think a lot of people like me who look normal on the outside, we call it invisible illness.   - Stacey Ballard People did not believe me, people did not believe me. And my family didn't believe me. My friends didn't believe me. My boyfriend I had a high school boyfriend for like four years. He didn't believe me.   - Stacey Ballard And, you know, yeah, it is it is tough, especially when you look normal on the outside. And even if people see me curled up in pain crying on the floor, they can't understand that it's happening from the inside because they don't see anything physically hurting me, right?   - Liesel Mertes Well, and just, you know, as this is also for the benefit of listeners to do better in these interactions, I want to drill down a little bit. What did that not believing sound like from your family members or the boyfriend or the community?   - Stacey Ballard Well, you look beautiful. Well, I saw you at the amusement park yesterday, you looked fine then, gosh, you look like you were having fun. Well, gosh, what else do they say?   - Stacey Ballard Let's see. You know, I was I was working full time and also going when I when I left high school, I was working and then commuting into San Francisco to go to the Academy of Art and and.   - Stacey Ballard Because I had to I didn't have any other choice because in my family, you pull yourself up from your bootstraps, you have goals you need to meet because you have to survive this life, you know, and you have to have income. And so, you know, it was just it doesn't matter how you feel. Keep moving forward. Yeah.   - Liesel Mertes Oh, man, I, I resonate.   - Liesel Mertes Well, you and I both can translate some of those messages and have deeply received them. So I hear that because as you think about that, was I   - Liesel Mertes Was there like a breakthrough moment or experience where you can remember thinking, like I just know, like I have to rest. And that is actually more healthy for me right now, like where you were really consciously acting against some of that programming and messaging that like you just got to keep on pushing?   - Stacey Ballard I don't want to start crying, but, yeah, absolutely, I was I think I was twenty two by that time I had not been I had just barely been diagnosed with endometriosis.   Stacey Ballard That took me 10 years. I had not yet been diagnosed with Crohn's, even though I was living with symptoms. And by that time I was also unknowingly living with a rare autoimmune liver disease. And I met my now ex-husband, but his name is Gary and we met through a friend and he changed my life. Yeah. Yeah. He was the exact opposite of everything I had been taught.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah, tell me more about that life change and what what he brought to the table that was really important for you in that season.   - Stacey Ballard So my family, I love them very. Yeah, very driven. My family, we volunteer. We we help other people.   - Stacey Ballard We do our own stuff. I met Gary through a friend.   - Stacey Ballard I am an old Deadhead that says a lot to people who know what that means. Gary.   - Stacey Ballard We started dating and there was no drama in our relationship my whole life, I had spent becoming what other people needed me to be to make them happy.   - Stacey Ballard I never knew what I wanted because I didn't there wasn't space for that in my life up till then, I was kind of a loner.   - Stacey Ballard And so when I when I'd meet somebody who'd want to be friends with me, I'd be like, OK, you know, what do you like? OK, I like that too kind of thing.   - Stacey Ballard And and and until I met Gary and got in that relationship, I had never known or looked at what I wanted.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah, and he was able to open up some of those questions, what did you discover about yourself in your 20s?   - Stacey Ballard Well, unfortunately, three months after we started dating, I ended up in the hospital going under emergency surgery.   - Stacey Ballard So I didn't have a lot of time to find out very much.   - Stacey Ballard But what I did find was a soft place to fall. He he didn't necessarily ask me questions, but he said, look, I don't need to be fixed.   - Stacey Ballard There's no situation around you that needs to be fixed, you need to figure out what you want to do with your life, and that was both wonderful.   - Stacey Ballard And hard, yeah. To be left in that space of like, oh, wait, who am I now? And it wasn't until I was like twenty two that I had had that space to find that out and then Boom immediately went into surgery.   We will come back to that near-death experience in just a moment.  But I’d like to take a second to thank our sponsors.  Our first sponsor is FullStack PEO.  I am an entrepreneur and a small business owner.  And I know the annual hassle of shopping around for a health insurance plan.  Hours lost trying to navigate different options.  This is where FulLStasck PEO comes in.  They manage benefits for entrepreneurs and small-business owners, taking away the headache and providing great benefits for your people so that you can focus on growing your business.    We are also sponsored by Handle with Care Consulting.  It is hard to know what to do or say when someone is going through something hard (you already realize this, podcast listener) and sometimes, you need some extra help.  At Handle with Care Consulting, I offer targeted workshops, interactive keynotes, learning cohorts, and personal coaching options, empowering you to show care when it matters most.    Alright, bask to our story.  Stacey has just met Gary a few months earlier.  Before we hear about Stacey’s hospitalization in her early 20s, it is helpful to hear about another story.      - Stacey Ballard I, I don't know why I forget about my near-death experience, because that was the thing that changed my life first.   MUSIC UNDER THIS SECTION PLEASE, PERHAPS EMPHASIZING SOME OF THE ROCK/DRAMA   Stacey and her sister went to a Skid Row and Bon Jovi concert in Sacramento.    - Stacey Ballard I was like 18 or 19 years old, it was probably 90 or 100 degrees in Sacramento, and I had been illegally drinking in the parking lot and was pretty hammered by the time we went in to to get our our selves situated in front of the stage so we could be at the first part of the stage for the concert.   They were exhausted, hammered.  It was hot and the concert began.  Immediately, people began pressing towards the front.  It’s heavy rock music, and Stacey braces herself against the stage.    - Stacey Ballard And there's a lady next to me who's really, really drunk and she starts collapsing. And I know that if she collapses, she's going to be trampled.   Stacey struggles, with a few others, to hold her up.  And then, a man comes pressing through the crowd.    - Stacey Ballard I'm only five foot one, so he may have been like six two starts coming through the crowd, punching people out in the face with his fists.   He punches the lady she’s holding and, finally, security drags the woman away.   And by that time, I am drenched in sweat and I put my hand back on the barrier to steady myself again, and there's a girl in front of me and she rips my hands off the barrier.   - Stacey Ballard And at that point I start falling and I realize that I'm going to be trampled to death. And I have the classic near-death experience.   - Stacey Ballard I went into the light.   She experiences a sensation of unconditional love, of seeing her life in review, experiencing her actions through the eyes of others.  This is the end.   - Stacey Ballard And then all of a sudden I was back in the concerts and somebody was pulling me out of the crowd.   The experience causes her to delve into different religions, meditation, metaphysics for the next year or two.  Exploring the deeper meaning in the life she has been given.  She meets Gary and, a few months later is on a women’s spirituality trip when she starts to feel awful.  Her chiropractor recognizes signs of jaundice and sends her directly to the emergency room.    - Stacey Ballard I was completely neon yellow. I think I was twenty two years old.   She arrives at one hospital and has to leave because of insurance issues.  Next, to the county hospital. It is Thursday before the 4th of July weekend.    - Stacey Ballard I am so thankful for Highland Hospital. They saved my life.   - Stacey Ballard And so I was literally freaking out in the hospital because this is the first time I had ever been hospitalized. And they had me all hooked up on tubes and they said this was Thursday and they said, we're going to wait till Monday and we're going to do surgery on Monday.   - Stacey Ballard At this point, I had a tube down my throat because the bile in my stomach, I think, was causing problems. And so they were trying to drain fluid and stuff out of my stomach and having a tube down your throat. Is so traumatizing,   - Stacey Ballard I cannot even tell you I. I can't the people that are on ventilators right now, Jakovčić. And the people that are out there wearing masks, they just don't understand the trauma that all these covid patients are going through.   - Stacey Ballard I wasn't even on a ventilator at this point. I just had a N.G. tube down my throat.   - Stacey Ballard And and I begged the doctors at Highland Hospital, please don't make me wait four more days. I can't do this. I can't do this.   - Stacey Ballard Please don't make me wait four more days. I had doctors and nurses volunteer to skip their holiday weekends to come in on Friday and perform my surgery so I didn't have to suffer for more days.   - Stacey Ballard So I've seen the good and bad of doctors for sure, and so they took me into surgery on Friday halfway through surgery, things went really bad. I was under anesthesia. They pulled me out.   - Stacey Ballard My mom, they pulled me out into this room. My mom was standing on one side of me. Gary was standing on the other side of my surgery bed. And they showed an X-ray image up on the light board and they said, see this spot on her liver right here. If it's cancer, she'll have a year to live. If it's not cancer, she has a rare disease.   Ultimately, it was the rare disease, not cancer, and in the course of surgery, there was a breakdown where bile started leaking into her abdomen.    - Stacey Ballard which then started my almost 20 year journey of being hospitalized or having the surgery. Every year. On or around 4th of July for the next 15 years. Hmm. Because I believe when I was partially under anesthesia and the doctor says she might only have a year to live, I think my subconscious. Did something, and every year for the next 15 years, I'd be in the hospital or undergoing surgery on or around 4th of July, huh?   - Liesel Mertes Yeah, I think there are so many things that, like, science doesn't doesn't yet have language for about how our bodies keep the score and remember and hold things in our subconscious in ways that are profound like that. Absolutely.   In the course of these hospitalizations, Stacey is admitted and has to be put on a ventilator.  This was one of the traumatic experiences that still causes her PTSD.  - Stacey Ballard They use something called a cuff when they are weaning you off a ventilator to get you to start helping you to breathe on your own, regain your strength. But I had a big note up on my board saying, you know, don't put her on the cuff in the mornings because that's where the anxiety is at its worst.   But one morning, a nurse comes in on her rounds and wants to put Stacey on a cuff.  Her mom, who was there, objects, directing the nurse to the note.  Stacey, of course, can’t talk   - Stacey Ballard And this person did not have time to listen. And so she pulled me off my ventilator. She put the cuff on me, and I started banging on the the hospital table in front of me. And I started going into full blown panic attack like I was drowning because I couldn't breathe.   - Stacey Ballard And she stood there and watched me gasping for breath for a number of minutes.   - Stacey Ballard My mom froze, she she was in such terror at what was happening, she did not know what to do.   - Stacey Ballard And I think eventually she ran out of the room and got somebody. But it went on for a number of minutes until I was put back on the ventilator.   - Stacey Ballard And this is with me to this day when I wear a mask outside, it brings it up.   - Stacey Ballard And so I understand when people say they don't want to wear a mask outside and it's bothersome. And guess what? It bothers me, too. But I wear it because I do not survive getting COVID, so. Well, I guess what I was going to say is that a lot of people who live with chronic illness also deal with trauma that has happened to them if they have spent any time in hospitals or or long term care or dealt with doctors.   MUSICAL TRANSITION   - Liesel Mertes So in the midst of all of these ups and downs and, you know, the regularity, what what are you doing or learning for yourself in order to maintain any semblance of equilibrium? Like what? What is becoming important for you to just be living each day?   - Stacey Ballard One of the many things that is a continuing story through this is creativity.   - Stacey Ballard As a photographer in high school and I've also been a potter and now I do mixed media, I've always done some sort of art and I'm literally talking coloring books and crayons. Tinkerbell, Mickey Mouse, it didn't matter. I was doing something because for some reason, being creative in whatever way I could help me.   - Stacey Ballard And now I understand because there are studies out that prove why being creative and doing art helps, you know, lower cortisol levels helps reduce pain and stress.   - Stacey Ballard But back then, intuitively. I just it just helped and I was also at the same time learning about meditation and learning about alternative medicine and different ways to treat myself.   - Stacey Ballard And finally, at about 23 or 24, winding up on my therapist’s floor in a fetal position, being diagnosed with panic disorders and depression and being put on appropriate medication was a huge help.   - Liesel Mertes Yes. Yes. I think this you you talked a little bit about art and its importance in your story. That's something that you have segued into some of your professional involvements and a recent book that you have published. Tell me about what you have created for others out of your own experience.   - Stacey Ballard Thank you. Yes, my book is The Fine Art of Waiting Wellness through Creativity, and because I've lived most of my life with health issues, I've used art to help in my own healing.   - Stacey Ballard And I've created this book to help people decrease stress, change your relationship with illness and pain, and transform it into one of possibility and hope.   - Stacey Ballard It is, it's challenging right now for everybody. Everyone has different stress and everyone has different stories.   - Stacey Ballard Whether you live with addiction or the stress of of a health issue, we need to find ways creatively to deal with the stresses that come with life. Even more so right now. And that's why I created this book, is because art has been so helpful to me.   - Stacey Ballard And over the years, I created these little projects like My Monster, which is a project that you actually are drawing a monster, which at times have been my disease or my stress of the week.   - Stacey Ballard And then I tear it up or I stomp on it or I burn it and it gives me a feeling of sense of control. And so I've tried to put some of those projects in my book.   - Liesel Mertes Well, and you showed me some of the pages. It looks like there's a wide diversity of types of projects and ways of engaging. And I resonate like that, that the physical expression, sometimes there's so much that is going on within our heads or within our bodies. And to be able to, like, externalize some of those things is really powerful.   - Liesel Mertes Yes, I love that your book does that and you really want to make it accessible to all kinds of people. Tell me about the buy one. Give one that you're doing also with this book.   - Stacey Ballard Absolutely. So there's a couple different versions. I specifically wanted to have a spiral bound version because I know being in the hospital, even just coloring and coloring books, is hard to hold down one side of the page and color on the other when you have IVs on both arms and things like that. So one of my books specifically is a spiral bound version and that one is twenty one ninety five.   - Stacey Ballard It has a color, it has a sample page in color, so you can look at it and get some ideas. I do have a version on Amazon that's not spiral bound and it's nineteen ninety five.   - Stacey Ballard But for any book that is purchased I will give one to somebody who's living with chronic illness who can benefit from having a book.   - Stacey Ballard There is a section on my website where you can nominate yourself or somebody else for a free copy because I've lived with chronic illness most of my life and have lived with disability as well. I've been low income and so I may not have been able to afford this book when I needed it. And so for anybody who can't afford it, come to my website, nominate yourself. Or if you know somebody who needs a book, please go to my website and we'll give that information and nominate them for a book.   - Stacey Ballard I will be happy to send one to them.   - Liesel Mertes I love that I'm struck, even as you say, that, you know, like for most of my life, I've been low income and this is something that I like to ask about any range of disruption.   - Liesel Mertes But that is perhaps, you know, that statement is a stepping stone into the question of   - Liesel Mertes what are some of the things that you feel like people who have never dealt with chronic illness, they just don't understand about what it's like to live with chronic illness? What are some of the things that would be helpful for you to give voice to?   - Stacey Ballard I think the most important thing is that 40 percent of Americans live with at least one chronic illness, 40 percent of Americans.   - Stacey Ballard So we all know somebody who lives with chronic illness.   - Stacey Ballard And so we we know that those people are out there working right now, just like I had to work, whether I felt good or bad. So we just need to be nice to each other even.   - Stacey Ballard You know, we need to understand that we're all going through something, whether it's chronic illness, whether it's addiction, whether you're in an abusive relationship.   - Stacey Ballard We are all we all have our own story of stress and what is causing issues in our life. I just wish we could be nicer to each other, more understanding.   - Stacey Ballard And and and for me, as far as seeing people out there not wearing masks, I just keep saying 40 percent of Americans live with chronic illness and a lot of them are out there working because we have to we have to work because we have to pay bills and we don't have a choice because a lot of us also have to be on medications that we cannot live without.   - Stacey Ballard And, yeah, it's it's it's a desperate situation. And that's why I'm also trying to get politically involved with what's going on as well.   - Liesel Mertes Does it does it make you but I'm putting perhaps my emotions into it. I was going to say, does it make you really angry to see people who are not wearing masks? But maybe anger is not your go to what you feel when you see people who are not wearing masks?   - Stacey Ballard It's heartbreaking. And it does make me angry. I was in CVS picking up a prescription and I haven't been to a store in months because I can't after my transplant, when I almost didn't survive, I was on a ventilator for three months and I have lung damage due to that and also due to a doctor's. Mishandling of another treatment I had I also have lung damage from that, but I looked normal and that's the problem is that we don't we don't wear our stories on our faces.   - Stacey Ballard And so we can't see how we're hurting people. And I think people are just being selfish. Wearing a mask is easy. Doctors do it all the time. Nurses do it all the time. And I worry about the doctors and the nurses that we're putting in danger, too, because they're load of patients is is continuing. And the stress of that is is not helping as well. And I worry about our our people working in grocery stores and banks and the places that have to be open.   - Stacey Ballard I live in a tourist town. I live in Lake Tahoe, California.   - Stacey Ballard We are busier than we would be on a normal holiday weekend. And we have people up here not wearing masks traveling up here from the Bay Area. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say, I just say to the people who are living with chronic illness, take care of yourselves because nobody else is going to do it for you.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah, I hate that sense of. Of isolation, but there's there's a truth to it, you know, we we would like to we would like to think that we had more of a sense of community of care around those that needed it. But.   - Liesel Mertes Well, thank God for you, though. People caring it is exceptional. Yes. Because and it's and it's worthy of being called out and praised because there is there's so much of that that has frayed around the edges in our social discourse and expressions.   - Stacey Ballard And that's what's so important about what you're doing, is that you're creating this community of understanding with your podcast and and listening to your other podcasts.   - Stacey Ballard No, I don't share the same stories as your other interviews or listeners, but what understanding I gain from listening to their stories.   - Stacey Ballard And so by by having this podcast, you you are you're destroying the isolation, which I love.   - Liesel Mertes Well, thank you. I that is definitely part of my aim. And man, I get to I get to receive some really important reflective stories. So I'm I'm always thankful to be able to help hold them. So thank you.   - Liesel Mertes I'm struck that there's the there's the the toxic like don't do these things.   - Liesel Mertes What are things that would be helpful if somebody is listening and they go, wow, yeah. I do know that person who walks with a chronic illness and maybe they're even thinking to themselves, oh my gosh, I've done some of the stupid things I've said, like, well, you look fine, you know, but and they want to do differently what is meaningful to you?   - Liesel Mertes What are like good ways that people have supported you, that you think, man, that was so good.   - Stacey Ballard What a great question. First, if you ask me, is there anything you could do to help me, I'm going to say, no, I'm OK. Mm hmm. But if you bring me over a casserole, I will love you forever. And when I'm feeling better, if you need me to change tires on your car, I will do that for you.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah, I'm just showing up. Showing up.   - Stacey Ballard If the person doesn't have an advocate, if the person doesn't have someone to go to doctor's appointments with them, I think that's one of the most important things that I tell people who have friends or even people living with chronic illness who go to doctors appointments by themselves.   - Stacey Ballard Don't you are not in the state to hear everything you need to hear and you need to be prepared.   - Stacey Ballard Ask a friend or a family member who you trust, who you can feel comfortable with to go with. You have a list of questions you want answered, but have that support with you. So if you know somebody who lives with chronic illness, ask them, do you need somebody to go to your appointments with you? If they go, oh no, don't worry about it, go away.   - Stacey Ballard You know, can I go and take notes for you or, you know, do you need me to drive you to get your blood drawn?   - Stacey Ballard A lot of us who live with chronic illness feel like a burden not only financially because we struggle so much with our income, but emotionally and mentally because I am not going to get better.   - Stacey Ballard This is my life, and that's OK. Healing doesn't always mean you survive.   - Stacey Ballard But it means you can walk the path with as much. Of an open heart as possible, and and so if you have friends living with chronic illness, just ask tell me more.   - Stacey Ballard Tell me more.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah, that's a that's a good thing to take way of thinking if if someone if somebody already experiences themselves as a perceived burden, you know, what am I doing to reinforce that or alleviate that?   - Liesel Mertes You've said this kind of throughout, but if there's someone who is listening, who they are, you know, they're walking a journey with life long chronic illness, what words would you offer to them?   - Stacey Ballard Find support. I'm sorry you're not alone.   Stacey Ballard It's hard, not everyone understands.   - Stacey Ballard I don't know if I can mention this and you're welcome to edit it out, but   - Stacey Ballard I have found a wonderful support group for people living with chronic illness called Beyond My Battle.   - Stacey Ballard And actually, they also have support groups for your caretakers, which would have been a huge resource for me and my ex-husband as we were going through this, if he had more support as a caretaker.   - Stacey Ballard So please reach out for support. If you don't find the right support, it doesn't mean to you it could mean it's them. I've been in some pretty negative support groups that I was like, oh, no, I am not staying with this one.   - Stacey Ballard So keep searching because there are people out there like me who we have pity parties for ourselves.   - Stacey Ballard And I have really bad days where I can't get out of bed, but I am going to suck every beautiful piece of life out of this life that I can. And I, I invite anybody who wants to do that to join me.   - Stacey Ballard And, you know, well, that's that's where art helps me.   - Stacey Ballard And, you know, I can take that and turn it into a really dark piece and I have and because it gets it out of my head and gives me some sense of control over it because I can't, I can't, I can't do anything with it because it's in the past.   - Stacey Ballard I can't manipulate it any more because it's already been experienced.   - Stacey Ballard But I can manipulate the feelings I have from it that at times get get, you know, hard   - Liesel Mertes That's powerful, that I mean, it's not revolutionary. But even just the way you said it, like something has happened to you, it exists as it.   - Liesel Mertes But even that like the physical act of being able to render and manipulate it in a certain way. Yeah. Has its own power in experiencing it.   MUSICAL TRANSITION   Here are three take-aways from my conversation with Stacey As a person living with chronic pain, Stacey could often experience herself as a burden:a financial burden, a logistical burden:  someone who would not get better.  My first-takeaway is just a question:  If you know someone that is living with chronic pain, are you subtly or explicitly reinforcing those messages?  Perhaps the messages are subtle.  Do you sigh loudly when they express bodily pain?  Roll your eyes?  Or do you give positive messages:  you are important, you are more than your pain, you have a place here.  Offer to come along to doctor’s appointments, to take notes, to drive.The flow of information can be overwhelming, and company is often appreciated. If you are living with chronic pain, finding a support group can be really meaningful.Perhaps that is locally or through the Internet.  Support groups can also be helpful to care providers as they shoulder a particular burden.  And, as Stacey noted, not all groups are created equal.  If the group isn’t working for you, don’t be afraid to move on and seek out another support group.  And this is a last, bonus take-away.If you don’t know what to say, “Tell me more,” is a great prompt.  Stacey noted the importance of this phrase.  You might have noticed that I unconsciously did this earlier in the interview.  I don’t know a lot about chronic pain…which meant that I didn’t really even know what to ask.  However, by just opening myself up to her story with an open-ended question, I learned a lot.    OUTRO   Link to Stacey’s Blog and Work:  https://fineartofwaiting.com    

INTRO - Today we look at the seventh commandment. Do not commit adultery. The ancient Near East considered adultery as the act of having sex between a married women who was not her husband. The punishment of death could be imposed. The husband has the right to determine the penalty of his wife and her…

 Miriam Sandkuhler, from Property Mavens, takes away the confusing about price ranges and quotes on property marketing, Statements of Information and what the vendor can do with their reserve. It's quite insightful. To be in the running for a copy of Miriam's book 'Property Prosperity', listen out for the codeword in the podcast and private message us on Facebook for your chance to win. Sue: today we are talking about the serious business of quoting. You know those little price ranges, plus signs and comparable properties that became mandatory in 2017? Well there is still a lot of confusion out there about what is acceptable, so we want to get to the bottom of it. What do you want to know grant?Grant: I want to know what the rules are. And why are there so many numbers flying around about the same property? Quotes, valuations, vendor reserves… they can be the same, but they can also be so different.Sue: well let’s get to the bottom of it!Intro:Today we welcome Miriam Sandkuhler, the CEO and multi-award winning property advocate from property mavens to talk to us about quoting. She is the best-selling author of property prosperity, an accredited property investment advisor and sought after media commentator on the subject of all things property for major newspapers, national radio and television. Welcome Miriam.Miriam, how did you get into the advocacy business?1. What are the rules regarding price quoting in Victoria?2. Sometimes when we are at properties doing copy and photos, there is a valuer doing his report, does a property usually get a sworn valuation prior to the property being advertised?3. What is a sworn valuation? And how does it differ from a bank valuation or a market appraisal from an agent?4. Karen from Essendon recently bought a property where the price range on the statement of information was a lot more than what was originally quoted. It turned out that the property had been on the market with another agent prior to this agent who had a more realistic price on it… how come the price range on the advertising and the price range that appears on the statement of information can be different?5. What happens if a vendor changes their reserve on the auction day?6. Recently Harry from Glen Waverley went to an auction where the vendor changed their reserve on auction day and the underbidder got really upset with the agent for underquoting, saying he would report him. Harry wants to know who was in the right? Would an agent be liable for underquoting if the vendor changes their reserve to a higher amount, even if they had advised their vendor that they would not get the higher amount?7. How recent do the comparable properties sold on the statement of information have to be? And why is it sometimes left blank, is that allowed?8. What happens if an agent gets an offer that is higher than the price range on the statement of information that doesn’t get accepted by the vendor? 9. How fair is that on the buyer?Show Notes:Link to a Consumer Affairs Fact Sheet regarding quoting. https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/search-results?s=fact+sheet+on+underquoting Competition TimeWe have 2 copies of Miriam Sandkuhler’s book ‘Property Prosperity' to giveaway.All you have to do is while your listening to Episode 11: Listen out for the ‘Codeword’ and private message us the answer for your chance to win.  

 Nicole Jacobs, from Nicole Jacobs Property, and regular on The Block, comes in to tell us about what a buyer's advocate does and how buyer's advocates can get you your dream property within your budget.Today we are talking about buyer’s advocates. What is a buyer’s advocate and what do they do? What we would love to learn about in this episode is:• What is a buyer’s advocate?• How can they save us money?• How do they get paid?Intro:Today we welcome onto Real Estate Right, one of our favourite property experts on Channel 9’s ‘The Block’, Nicole Jacobs. Director of Nicole Jacob’s Property, Nicole is a prestige property buyer’s advocate, and is here to explain to us about the wonderful world of buyer advocacy. Welcome Nicole.Nicole, how did you get into the buyer’s advocacy business?1. Explain what a buyer’s advocate does?2. How do you help save buyers money?3. What’s the typical client that uses a buyer’s advocate? What type of client should be using a buyer’s advocate to maximise their buying opportunities?4. I’ve seen some buyer’s advocates do interesting things, like measuring the front garden, from the house to fence line. How detailed do you go into your reporting to prospective buyers?5. Are you more about creating more valuable opportunities for a buyer or helping reduce the asking price?6. Are there any particular resources, strategies or companies you use to help calculate what the asking price should be, or do you use your own valuing skills? 7. In the 2016 (or was it 2017? – two different articles say two different things) season of ‘the block’, you successfully bid on 3 of the 5 properties, how do you know which buyer your bidding on behalf, if you have 3 buyers? Does that happen at other auctions?8. How are you paid? Commission? Flat rate? Or through the selling agent?9. When you see a price range that seems a little far-fetched, but your client really wants the property (and has the money for the outrageous price), do you justify to the buyers, and the selling agent, why you would never pay that much for that property? Has it been successful in getting the buy?10. You offer a prestige property service, are their buyer advocates for regular mum and dad investors or first home buyers?11. Adam from Sunbury wants to know about buying an investment property closer to the city in suburbs he’s not sure about. He wants a property that has the ability to be renovated to increase its value at re-sale or maybe subdivided to build a second property? Would he be best to hire a buyer’s advocate? And do you go to the level of detail where you know the council regulations or would Adam need to do that research himself? 12. Who do you follow in the media in terms of getting your expert knowledge about the economy and real estate market predictions? And how often do they get it right?Listen to how Nicole explains to us a completely different angle on what a buyer’s advocate does to ensure you buy the perfect home for you.Special Listener Competition:We have a copy of Nicole Jacobs book ‘Sold’ for one lucky winner. Like, Share and Comment on our competition facebook post on why you would love to get a copy of her book to be in the running to win.  

Intro: Today on Start Small, Believe Big, Billie is sharing her heart on what the Bible has to say about submission. She would love to hear your thoughts as well.   Show Notes: Don't forget to subscribe to Start Small, Believe Big here. Contact Billie to let her know your thoughts on submission.    CONNECT WITH BILLIE: Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Mentioned in today’s show: Colossians 3:18-19

Intro: Today on Start Small, Believe Big, Billie is welcoming her guest, Aaron Sharp.   Show Notes: Don't forget to subscribe to Start Small, Believe Big here. Contact Billie to let her know what you are thankful for today.    CONNECT WITH BILLIE: Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn   CONNECT WITH AARON: Amazon author page Mentioned in today’s episode: You Got This Dad by Aaron Sharp The Most Important Women of the Bible

Intro: Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means "the arrival" or the "dawn". This is quite significant because the Bible always contrasts darkness and light. Darkness is used in the Bible to describe all sorts of evil, sin, chaos, and godlessness. I would like to suggest that we are currently living in a very dark period in our country. We have seen the erosion of the traditional family, marriage, respect for all kinds of legitimate authority, and human life. We are calling good evil and evil good. There are many people who think that they can change this situation by sheer will power, legislation, or new programs. These don't work in the long term because the human heart is dark. What I mean is that our sin nature craves the things of darkness and doesn't like the light. It has been this way ever since the fall in the Garden of Eden. You might recall that right after the fall, there was blame shifting, fear, jealously, murder, lying, cheating and steeling, and more. I am sorry to say that no laws, programs, or any amount of will power can change a human heart. That change can only happen is through the intervention of the Light of God in the human heart. Even though it is our evil hearts that cause the darkness in this world, God promised long ago to provide the Light who is able the change hearts from the inside out. The first Sunday of Advent is symbolic of the great promise of hope God made long ago to the human race who has chosen to live in the darkness it has produced in this world. In this passage from Isaiah 9, God reveals His promise of grace and mercy. Let's look at this great promise of hope together. The Light, Jesus, Will Bring Us Our of the Chaos Into Peace Illus: A lighthouse in rough seas and weather or fog Where there is peace, there is also joy Where there is peace, there is the absence of conflict This Light Will Be Born Into this Dark World in Very Humble Circumstance Joseph and Mary A Carpenter and a teen bride The Light of the world was born by the light of a special star The Light of Heaven Came With a Purpose To Guide with perfect wisdom To Rule in the power of love He will rule for all eternity He is the perfect and eternal Father He is the author of true peace He will at first rule in the hearts of men and women who trust Him in faith and repentance When He physically returns again, he will rule during the millennium from the throne of David He will right all the wrongs! He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords! Closing: So, when you see or light a candle, this is the symbol or the sure promise of God to send His son into this dark and sin sick world. He is the only hope for you and me. Let's let the light of Christ shine through our hearts through loving obedience to the King of kings and Lord of Lords! You will notice that there are candles on the Communion Table today. As we come around the table, let us remember that Jesus is the light of the world. He took on all the darkness, chaos, and shame of sin so that we are free to walk in His light in loving obedience.

Intro Today, Jessie talks with Rikki Cortese, Postnatal Fitness Specialist and friend, about how she runs her group fitness classes for moms! She breaks it down so you can easily start your own! --- If you liked this episode of To Birth and Beyond, tell your friends! Find us on iTunes and Stitcher to rate/review/subscribe to the show. Want more? Visit www.ToBirthAndBeyond.com, join our Facebook group (To Birth and Beyond Podcast), and follow us on Instagram @tobirthandbeyondpodcast! Thanks for listening and joining the conversation!Time Stamps 3:30 - An introduction to our special guest: Rikki Cortese 6:15 - Rikki introduces herself! 11:30 - What did Rikki feel like she needed to do, look like, etc following giving birth as an athlete and gym-owner’s spouse? 14:05 - Rikki tells us about the class that she started: how it began and how she grew it! 16:18 - Rikki tells us the details of the class! 19:07 - Using templates for plug-and-play exercises and flexibility for classes, training variety of bodies in one class, etc! 24:27 - What time of day does she run her group classes? 25:18 - What does Rikki like the most about running this group and working with this population?

Intro Today, we talk about the 4 most important considerations for fitness professionals and their clients during post-pregnancy training! --- If you liked this episode of To Birth and Beyond, tell your friends! Find us on iTunes and Stitcher to rate/review/subscribe to the show. Want more? Visit www.ToBirthAndBeyond.com, join our Facebook group (To Birth and Beyond Podcast), and follow us on Instagram @tobirthandbeyondpodcast! Thanks for listening and joining the conversation! Time Stamps 3:35 - Introduction to today’s topic: the pillars of postpartum exercise! 4:35 - Pillar #1: Progressive 8:05 - Pillar #2: Cueing 12:00 - Do you need to cue the pelvic floor on every rep? 15:05 - Pillar #3: The four Ps for the postpartum person to consider if each exercise is good for them - Peeing, Pain, Pressure, and Peaking 18:37 - Pillar #4: The WAIT acronym - Whole body, Alignment, Inhales and exhales, Tension 23:12 - Wrap up

Intro Today we are talking about postpartum abdominal training – why we might care, if core exercises are good or necessary, and how we can use them in an effective way. --- If you liked this episode of To Birth and Beyond, tell your friends! Find us on iTunes and Stitcher to rate/review/subscribe to the show. Want more? Visit www.ToBirthAndBeyond.com, join our Facebook group (To Birth and Beyond Podcast), and follow us on Instagram @tobirthandbeyondpodcast! Thanks for listening and joining the conversation! Resources and References  www.jessiemundell.com/consult https://www.instagram.com/jessiemundell/ https://www.facebook.com/jessie.mundell.5 Time Stamps 2:40 – Today we are talking about postpartum abdominal training. 3:30 – What are the conversations about abdominal exercises like in Jessie’s and Anita’s separate practices? 4:57 – What’s generally missing in the conversation that happens with fitness and health professionals. 6:24 – Do we even need abdominal exercises for postpartum healing – are they good and necessary? 9:25 – What does a “weak core” mean? 14:28 – Discussing the two sides to the conversation around abdominal exercises. 19:23 – How can we use abdominal exercises postpartum in an effective way? 21:18 – NOTE: What we mean when we say “strategy”. 22:15 – Wrap up!

Intro Today, Jessie talks through her decision to have a second child: what went through her mind before and after finding out she was pregnant, all the way up to birth. --- If you liked this episode of To Birth and Beyond, tell your friends! Find us on iTunes and Stitcher to rate/review/subscribe to the show. Want more? Visit www.ToBirthAndBeyond.com, join our Facebook group (To Birth and Beyond Podcast), and follow us on Instagram @tobirthandbeyondpodcast! Thanks for listening and joining the conversation! Resources and References  www.jessiemundell.com/consult https://www.instagram.com/jessiemundell/ https://www.facebook.com/jessie.mundell.5 Time Stamps 00:58 - Brand new, FREEBIE in the show notes: Postnatal Consultation Form!3:10 - What we are talking about on the episode today! 4:44 - Jessie’s decision journey! 17:12 - Making a decision WITH fear and uncertainty 18:18 - Jessie’s thoughts the day Theo was born 20:18 - The right decision for you! 22:30 - How that experience shaped Jessie 24:34 - If you need an ear on this, message Jessie on Facebook!

Intro Today, we talk with the Fat Positive Fertility Coach, Nicola Salmon, all about the truths AND misconceptions revolving around weight and fertility! --- If you liked this episode of To Birth and Beyond, tell your friends! Find us on iTunes and Stitcher to rate/review/subscribe to the show. Want more? Visit www.ToBirthAndBeyond.com, join our Facebook group (To Birth and Beyond Podcast), and follow us on Instagram @tobirthandbeyondpodcast! Thanks for listening and joining the conversation! Resources and References  Nicolasalmon.co.uk instagram.com/fatpositivefertility facebook.com/fatpositivefertility   Time Stamps 3:23 - Introduction to Nicola Salmon and the importance of fat positive fertility! 5:57 - How did Nicola come to do this work? 11:00 - Were messages of weight loss in order to get pregnant in Nicola’s mind when she was trying to conceive? And a bit on advocating for herself. 14:00 - Where is this information people in the medical field are passing on to us regarding needing to lose weight to get pregnant? How does Nicola help her clients/patients find their voices to speak up for themselves? 17:25 - Why do problematic BMI restrictions exist for access to IVF?  21:30 - How does Nicola work in her coaching with people who are trying to get pregnant? 23:25 - Does Nicola talk about pregnancy and instilled fears of fat pregnancy a lot with her people? 24:35 - What does body acceptance mean to Nicola? 25:45 - How does Nicola think about all of the intersectional lenses when writing about body acceptance? 28:04 - How does Nicola consult with businesses around showing up for people with bigger bodies? 30:10 - Nicola tells us all about her book, “Fat and Fertile”, and her self-publishing journey. 32:24 - Where you can learn more about and find Nicola Salmon!

Today we speak with Professor Ram Bala, an expert in supply chain management analytics, particularly last-mile delivery. He has very interesting insights into how today’s supply chain is evolving. He talks about various methods and algorithms he uses, the specific challenges inherent in doing last mile logistics and deliver, how pricing factors in, and how everyone is trying to catch up to Amazon. Ram Bala: Then there is this great opportunity to actually use the data effectively. But that is a long way to go in terms of coming up with the right algorithms, both on predictions, as well as the optimization to actually get this done in a meaningful way. And if you look at the landscape today in terms of industry, I would say very few companies that actually there yet. Right? I mean, Amazon obviously is a clear example of the leaders in the space, but everyone's trying to get there as well. Ginette Methot: I'm Ginette Curtis Seare: And I'm Curtis Ginette: And you are listening to Data Crunch Curtis: A podcast about how applied data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence are changing the world. Intro: Today we speak with Professor Ram Bala, an expert in supply chain management analytics, particularly last-mile delivery. He has very interesting insights into how today’s supply chain is evolving. Ram Bala: My name is Ram Bala. I'm a professor at Santa Clara University as well as a data science leader at CH Robinson, which is the largest logistics marketplace in North America. I've been working with topics in supply chain, belated data science even before it was called data science for the past 15 years. I got my Ph.D. in operations research and a supply chain from UCLA and a, I've been working on these problems both for companies as well as within the academic context that I've been working on research problems. And more recently I think there's been a lot of excitement in this space. And then that's where my involvement with both startups and as well as larger companies has gone up and I, I came into the CH Robinson fold as a consequence of an acquisition. So I was part of a startup that was working on last mile logistics and how to, how to improve that. Curtis Seare: Got It. That's awesome. And the space that you're in is really interesting. Could you give the audience just to contextualize the problem set that you're focused on? Ram: So I think one of the major things that has changed in logistics is the growth of e-commerce and also personal mobility. I mean if you think about Uber Logistics as a larger concept that covers both moving people as well as products and what's really happened is the, the availability of real time data has had a significant consequences on how we are able to predict as well as optimize how we move things and that's then also raised the bar in terms of customer expectations. We expect to get a get a ride to go somewhere within and within five minutes, we expect to get a product within a day and those expectations have been set by specific companies say Uber in the case of personal mobility. In the case of products, it's Amazon and having set the stage, everyone's now trying to be competitive with them, which means that in the product space, certainly all e-commerce companies as well as companies that were in brick and mortar are trying to achieve that same end goal, which is how do I get products to consumers quickly at the same time and not spend too much money? Right? That's the core problem. Now doing that as hard, it's become easier simply because we have real time access to real time data in terms of location as well as you know where products are at an even point. But it is a hard problem to solve. Curtis: Some of the intricacy and you know, routing and pricing and kind of interplay there. Can we dive into a little bit of those details? Ram: Absolutely. So I think uh, routing problems have been around ever since transportation's been around,

Intro Today, we talk with Aimee Suen of Small Eats all about her work as a Nutritional Therapist, the language around diet culture, and so much more! --- If you liked this episode of To Birth and Beyond, tell your friends! Find us on iTunes and Stitcher to rate/review/subscribe to the show. Want more? Visit www.ToBirthAndBeyond.com, join our Facebook group (To Birth and Beyond Podcast), and follow us on Instagram @tobirthandbeyondpodcast! Thanks for listening and joining the conversation! Resources and References  Small-eats.com https://www.instagram.com/small_eats/ small-eats.com/shop https://small-eats.com/category/small-steps-podcast/   Time Stamps 3:16 - Introduction to today’s guest: Aimee Suen! 6:21 - More specifically, what does Aimee do, and what is her work look like as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner? 11:32 - What led Aimee to food and nutrition? 18:30 - Does Aimee feel like she’s still trying to peel away the layers regarding the value of thinness? 24:40 - Navigating body image conversations - past and present. 31:35 - “I don’t focus on fat or weight loss with my clients” - has this always been the case for Aimee in her coaching? 36:59 - If someone comes to her saying they want to lose weight or fat, what is that conversation like? What is Aimee’s process like? 40:12 - What are some other goals we could work toward besides fat and weight loss?  43:03 - So if a client does start to lose weight/fat while working with Aimee, how does she manage those conversations about body image to keep people aware, level-headed and grounded in their journey? 48:40 - Orthorexia: from a nutritional therapist’s perspective. 58:30 - If we do notice some of the things Aimee mentioned, where do we go from there? 1:08:25 - What is Aimee really into lately? 1:09:25 - Where can we find Aimee online?

Intro: Today we have 2 individuals who are part of a team that is cricket's first Machine Learnig meets Interaction Design a Global Level. Karthik a Principal Product Manager and Ravi a Data Scientist come packed with knowledge of experience building various products in their careers. Karthik you've built a team from a single person to a 20 member team and built Cricket's first trademarked ML product called "Criclytics" and Ravi you have played a role in automating India's first robo advisory portfolio models using quantitative analysis and Machine learning in a Hyderabad based startup and have worked on influential research on How the Digital identity solves the problem of Financial Inclusion in India. Topics: 1. Your roles in the product you've been building with cricket.com 2. When to approach ML for the product? 3. How does one design the product road-map? 4. How to set up the data infrastructure? 5. How do you marry the machine and the user journey? 6. Few things our listeners can check out to help them out in discovering more and learning more? #machinelearning #productscale #Datainfrastructure #userjourney #productmanager Follow us on: https://theproductmanagement.com https://facebook.com/TheProductManagement/ https://linkedin.com/company/theproductmanagement/ https://twitter.com/podcastforpm

1.  INTRO Today is a great day because we get to chat with a guy whom we adore and revere as a close friend – Adam Japko. Adam is the CEO of Esteem Media. If you are a designer or design enthusiast, you might know of his publications Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles and New England Home Magazine. He is also the Founder of the Design Influencers Conference (formally the Design Bloggers Conference). We are talking to him today because he’s got a new trick up his sleeve – The launch of the Luxury Home Design Summit to be held on Cape Cod, Mass this May. Welcome Adam. 2.  A LITTLE BACKGROUND Sidebar: One of our favorite new podcasts is Skimm’d from the Couch with Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg. We recommend that every entrepreneur listen to this podcast for inspiration and wisdom. Many times, they ask their guests to “skim” their resumes so before we dive into the Luxury Home Design Summit, Adam can you skim your resume for us? 3.  LUXURY HOME DESIGN SUMMIT – MAY 19-21, CHATHAM BARS INN RESORT and SPA, CHATHAM, MA A.     This unique event is focused on helping passionate and creative architects, interior design principals, landscape architects and designers, builders, contractors, showroom operators and suppliers that serve the luxury design market. You can check out more details on luxuryhomedesignsummit.com. B.     All I need to see is Chatham Bars Inn as the venue and there are 18 speakers on tap like Alexa Hampton, Andrew Davis and Steve Miller and my interest is piqued. But if I wasn’t familiar with your crazy spirit Adam and all that you do with Esteem Media and other conferences, give me your pitch for this new Summit. 4.   SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS A.     As consumer behavior changes with the digital interference of our lives, the conversation around thinking forward and breaking models is an important exercise for all businesses – not just those of us in interior design. You are so good with stories and analogies – can you drive this point home with one of your stories? 5.   VERY IMPORTANT ADVICE A.     You are our only friend who is the closest thing to a wine sommelier we will come to, and you’ve exposed us to a lot of great wines (even tho Joann will never be converted) – so tell us, what are your current favorite recommendations for a red, white and rose under $30/bottle?

Intro:Today we have father-son duo Mark and Ben Jacoby in the studio with us! Mark is currently starring in off-Broadway’s VILNA and is known for his Tony-nominated turn in Show Boat. His other Broadway credits include Sweet Charity, The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, Grand Hotel and more. Ben Jacoby is currently appearing in Broadway’s Beautiful, which marks his Broadway debut. He has been seen in the touring production of the Phantom of the Opera. Follow Ben on social media at @BenMJacoby.Hosted by Paul Wontorek, Beth Stevens and Caitlin Moynihan

Intro: Today, Nicholas is interviewing Steve Sims, founder of Bluefish, the world’s first luxury concierge that delivers the highest level of personalized travel, transportation, and cutting-edge entertainment services to corporate executives, celebrities, and professional athletes. This is a great podcast to listen to if you want to hear the raw truth! Timestamped Show Notes: [03:30] Life on Screen [04:20] Balance [07:30] 30 Minutes [10:30] Solve the Problem [17:00] Starting from Nothing [28:59] Social Media Takeaways: To increase my value, I have to increase my circle. You get out what you put in. Get going, then get good. Rich people are poor people with money.   Mentions: BDB Live is happening June 14-16, 2019 in San Diego, CA. Buy your tickets now at www.bdblive.com. Social Media: Follow Nicholas on Instagram: @nicholasbayerle  

Intro: Today, Nicholas interviews stock trader and full-time teacher Timothy Sykes. Timothy took $12,500 and made it well over a million dollars, and has traded with that in the penny stock market, and has created a social following. Featured by many business and financial media outlets, traveling to over 80 countries, Timothy is always on the move, learning each and every day.   Timestamped Show Notes: [01:45] Teacher [05:00] Opportunity [11:08] Being Real [14:25] Master [18:30] Introspection [22:45] Utilizing Social Outlets [29:30] Why People Choose Tim [40:15] Continually Helping Takeaways: Be real. People appreciate that more than the image you want to portray. Always keep learning and feeding your brain. Teach others what you know.   Social Media: Follow Nicholas Bayerle on Instagram: @nicholasbayerle

Intro: Today we want to continue our look at the kingdom of God from figure 2.  We will look at the development of the relationship of cultus to culture.  Or the relationship between Church and state. I have put up three figures on the whiteboard that should help with a visual explanation of this. Source

Intro Today we look at working on the move - we have some great perspectives on this, from professional networks to remote conferences to Gig Teams. Look out for our new fortnightly schedule, as we continue to bring you information-packed magazine-style episodes. And there’s lots going on at Virtual Not Distant, so do come and visit us – virtualnotdistant.com, check out our range of specialist services and activities. And if you’re curious about or involved in the world of virtual and remote collaboration, why not join us for a free online event: Virtual Team Talk’s “Internal Affair” on 18th-19th June – find out more and register at virtualteamtealk.com. 03.54 Interview: Mike Jones – TAP International Mike is the co-founder and CEO of Tap International, who help professionals broaden their networks by spending time in remote locations on ‘talent development experiences’ of 1-3 months, where they enjoy professional development and networking in amazing places, whilst learning from cultural differences in a fully immersive way. Liberated by technology (and participants usually already have everything they need to maintain normal work patterns and flow), the Tap International vision is to fulfill the millennial dream of travel and experiential learning, by combining this with career development and networking. And the founders walk the talk, travelling with the groups and being truly location-independent, drawing on their professional networks to curate opportunities. Employers get to attract and retain the best talent, with enhanced social and professional skills – and their programme can be used as a hiring perk or performance reward. The whole team benefits from the experience gained by the lucky participant. Discover more, and start rummaging for your passport, at https://www.tapinternational.co/ https://www.instagram.com/tapinternational/ 27.20 Running Remote: Conference in Ubud, Bali Check out the podcast segment for a generous booking discount code, and don’t forget to send us a virtual postcard from the beach: https://runningremote.com/   29.19 Tools: Pocket A neat little clipping/read later service, which lets you capture anything you want to read, from any device – to read at any time. With offline access and stripping out of ads, it’s a very handy app, especially when you’re travelling and want to catch up on all your interesting reading. It’s also ideal for flexible freelancers or anyone who works on a range different projects and tends to come across important nuggets of information and learning when you’re in the middle of working on something else. You can follow people, tag and categorise, and share with other people – or use it as a very simple bookmarking service. But you do need to make time to read the things you have put in your Pocket! https://getpocket.com/   39.55  What do you mean by that? John Elston, author of ‘The Remote Revolution’, introduces us to the concept of gig teams Comprising a multifaceted group of individuals, a “gig team” is greater than the sum of its parts – a collective who recognise their synergy and complementary skills, and approach projects and freelance gigs together to offer a range of services to fulfill the diverse needs of their clients. They market themselves and apply their skills as a team, to tackle complex projects in a range of settings. A truly 21st Century work evolution, top gig teams can pick and choose assignments that motivate and inspire them. Colonising coffee-shops in a city near you, gig teams are travelling the world and setting it to rights, one gig at a time.  38.30 Oh No – My team’s gone remote! How can we continue learning together? Learning and growth as a team need not be compromised by working in a remote or flexible setting. Learning is about mindset, not location. With the right mindset, it’s a continual process, of acquiring new information and putting it into practice by changing what we do. So it’s important that we capture experiential learning points, and make time for the essential reflection stage in the learning cycle, where we integrate the learning points into our own behaviour. In the online space, that means allocating resources – time and attention – to ensure learning points are captured, and successfully cascaded through the organisation. Pilar suggests a range of options for structuring this, both on the practical level, and also in creating safety within the team to be vulnerable and accept input. Change can bring many benefits, but you need to make space to accommodate it. In our fast-moving world of work it can be hard to carve out time to learn and reflect – but these are the moments of greatest growth, wherever your team is located.  Whew, this has been one of our most packed podcasts ever – see you in two weeks time!

“My biggest mistake was I didn’t understand how I sell.” “Google and Facebook, they’re both these huge ecosystems. There’s lots of things that you can do, and there’s lots of ways that you can target traffic. It’s world within worlds.”   Intro Today my very special guest is Perry Marshall. Perry is one of the pioneers of digital marketing and he actually grew by being one of the first leading authorities on Google AdWords. According to Entrepreneur Magazine, “Perry Marshall is the #1 author and world’s most-quoted consultant on Google Advertising. He has helped over 100,000 advertisers save literally billions of dollars in AdWords stupidity tax.” His Chicago company, Perry S. Marshall & Associates, consults both online and brick-and-mortar companies on generating sales leads, web traffic, and maximizing advertising results. I’ve decided to sell, am I a sales maggot now? Well, there are people that are maggot-y. There are approaches that are like that, and it’s just a matter of not choosing that approach. There is another way to be. I think if you’re really clear about that, that’s the first step towards eradicating some of your head trash that you might have around sales. A lot of really good people, especially salt of the earth kind of people, really have a hard time with that…They don’t want life to be a big, giant, sales promo. But on the other hand, we all have to persuade; we all have to be powerful. We all have to sell, we all have to enlist cooperation, we have to raise money, we have to get customers to write checks. Nothing happens until somebody writes a check and commits to something. There are important things that have to go on in the world and we have to untangle ourselves from, “Oh, because I sell, does that make me one of those sleazy guys over there?” NO, it doesn’t. Discovering Google Adwords I learned about pay-per-click, and I never really understood it until then. Google Adwords had just come out maybe a month or two before that, and nobody knew much about it, and most people didn’t even use Google yet back then because this was in 2002. I said, “I’m an engineer, I love Google; I’m going to go do Google.” Within about three days, I was like, “This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. Oh, my word. This is crazy. I am not telling anybody about this.” How to do Facebook Ads Facebook is hotter than Adwords right now. It’s probably easier to get started because it gets you more instantaneous results, but it’s getting competitive too. Here’s what you have to understand about all of these things is they’re all based on – you have to track conversions, you’re putting a certain amount of money in and you’re going to get a certain amount of money out, and you just have to optimize until you get there and you have to incorporate a lot of creativity and a lot of different ideas because there’s no way to know what’s actually going to work. You just have to test like a banshee.   Mentions Connect with Perry on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Visit Perry’s website https://www.perrymarshall.com/ Is AdWords for Me? www.IsAWforMe.com Is Facebook for Me? www.IsFBforMe.com 80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More by Perry Marshall

Quote/Excerpt: “…I believe that what you see is what you get, or at least it should be. With Amy, you may find out some dirt about Amy – nobody’s perfect. I’m OK putting myself out there, because when I’ve done that, at least on LinkedIn, people come forward. They connect with that. They understand that as much as you want to put this beautiful, dazzling, perfect image out there, none of us are perfect – and that’s OK. That’s OK.” Intro Today my very special guest is Amy Blaschka. Amy is a branding and positioning expert who creates highly engaging content for her clients. She helps companies, as well as career professionals, position themselves for success. She helps her clients transform the way they communicate and connect. In this episode we talked about about personal branding and the value of genuine relationships that lead to referrals. If you want to learn how to grow your business through these channels, listen and enjoy. Take your relationships offline “You’re in sales, we’re all in sales. It’s really about relationships. Even though we all had very strong virtual relationships, there’s nothing like meeting face-to-face. There’s nothing like spending time together in person.” On putting yourself out there That was about the time that LinkedIn came forward and offered the ability to write. At first it was more cathartic. It was, I’m going through this, I don’t know, did anybody even read it? I’m putting it out there – who will even see this? But over time, I realized it was a way to connect with people. That there were folks out there that would read something and it would resonate with them. What do you write about?           “I tend to write the way I speak. Very conversational, and I try to pick themes that are personal to me because I think it’s best when you write about something that is meaningful to you. I mean, I can write about anything, but really, it’s going to be more meaningful if it’s something that’s personal. A lot of folks shy away from that, but I believe that what you see is what you get, or at least it should be. With Amy, you may find out some dirt about Amy – nobody’s perfect. I’m OK putting myself out there because when I’ve done that, at least on LinkedIn, people come forward. They connect with that. They understand that as much as you want to put this beautiful, dazzling, perfect image out there, none of us are perfect – and that’s OK. That’s OK.” Amy’s ideal client I would say somebody that has a good idea of who they are and what they want to be, but they’re having trouble articulating that.   Mentions Connect with Amy Blaschka on LinkedIn and Twitter. Visit Amy’s website https://www.rbpconsulting.org/ Check out More Intuitive

http://www.canadianimmigrationpodcast.com Welcome Peter Rekai - Canadian Immigration Lawyer Introduction to the Self Employed Category How did you get into immigration? Intro: Today we are going to be covering one of the most often neglected areas of PR in Canada… the Self Employed Category Who is covered by the self employed category? I think the first issue under the self-employed category is to dispel the thought that self employed means any business of which you are the sole proprietor. It is limited to the three categories of cultural, athletic and farm manager. The programme is designed for people  that live off contract to contract engagements not one for those who expect to work a 40 Hour Week for a single employer Let’s start with athletes -  One issue with the athletic category is that you don't actually have to be the athlete. You can be a coach, trainer or even in athletic management. The same is true in the cultural Industries. You don't have to be the singing star; you can be involved in set design etc. What constitutes suitable experience - We can discuss what constitutes suitable experience in order to be eligible in this category. We can also discuss what constitutes evidence of a likelihood  to be self-sufficient in your occupation.  What about significant contribution to the Canadian scene - There is also the question of what constitutes a significant contribution to the Canadian scene. This may actually vary if you are a self-employed high-end music teacher in Toronto versus one who is providing this service in a small town in Atlantic Canada which has no music teachers at this level. There is a point system. How difficult is it to meet this standard? There is actually a point system which I kind of ignore when it comes to self employed people. If someone is deemed to meet all the criteria they actually get 35 out of 100 points which is all they need. So proof of  education and English are actually  not necessary... although a lack of any English would certainly be a hindrance in any of these fields. Let’s talk about Farm Managers - As for Farm managers, apparently there are lots of those applications that come into Visa offices in Pakistan Bangladesh and India. We can talk about how running a small Bangladeshi farm would likely not be considered as suitable experience to run a hundred+ acre modern farm in Saskatchewan

  When a group of college kids decide to dare one another to go visit the local haunted train tracks, what lurks there waiting for them offers so much more than what they bargained for. [/vc_column_text]INTRO: Today’s story was submitted by subscriber Carl Schaible from Murray Utah. This story is told from the perspective of a male. […] The post Cohoke Ghost appeared first on COPPER SHOCK.

  Nick is going to get a new start, in a new state, in a new house! But it’s what he discovers just underneath the surface that sends him into the middle of a crime scene. INTRO: Today’s story has no introduction. It needs no introduction. Rather, it is riddled with pockets of unknown. Unknown, […] The post Caveat Emptor: White Sticks (Part 1/5) appeared first on COPPER SHOCK.

Jesus died for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.  (Romans 4:25) Intro Today we celebrate resurrection. And resurrection is a very very big deal. I want to look at a short little powerful verse in Romans 4:25. Jesus died for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.  (Romans 4:25) Clearly this verse […]