Tag Archives: health

author, Grief, health & fitness, life, Self-help, teaching, Wordsmith

Be Restarting Your Health Journey – vroom vroom

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I can count on my left hand those that know that in 2019, before Steve’s mom died, that I was training for an Ironman triathlon. My goal was to swim almost 4 kilometres (2.5 miles), bike 180 kilometres (112 miles) and finish it all off with a Run/walk a marathon (42 kms and 26 miles.). I gave up on that dream when she died and we spent every few weekends in Vancouver for a few months. 

I can count on no hands nor fingers those that know the depth of my physical and mental health struggles the last three years. Here’s the honest truth on what the big picture looked like for me:

🔆 Two summers of not wanting to get out of bed even when the sun streamed in my window. 

💪🏻 Two plus years of sheer willpower and “push” to get off my butt to exercise, which has been a first for me in my entire life. 

🧥700 days of hiding under extra-large clothing, even in 30 degree Celsius weather. 

🙈 700 days of hiding, to be honest. Not wanting to see people, run into people I know or even reach out to friends. 

🙏🏻Tried two different counsellors, neither were a good fit. (or is it “neither was”? hahha)

😩Reached out to no one nor shared with anyone the depth of the pit I felt that I had dug for myself. 

👀The heaviest weight I have ever been in my life, even more than my three pregnancies or after my mom died. (This sure doesn’t feel good!) 

And why I am writing about this now and what changed for me? 

Did I lose weight? Finally found a professional counsellor I could trust?  Started seeing other human beings, outside my work, on a regular basis? None of these things happened for me!  

Four things did changed for me and they all involved random conversations with other people when I stepped outside my four walls. The message I am going to share with my stories is simple: If you relate to any of the six points I wrote down above, don’t wait 700 days to reach outside of your four walls. Right now, listen to a podcast, text someone, go for a walk, ask your neighbour for an egg or simply reach out to another human being in any way that feels good for you. 

The four things that finally helped me make some really HUGE personal shifts took place over a six month period of time. 

First, I have always been someone who listens to podcasts when they do laundry or when I drive or go for a long solo walks. In October, I was introduced to a podcast that began THE shift. Mel Robbins, your twice weekly podcasts have been something that have given me so many tips, moved me to take some small steps and gave me the shovel that started my dig out of my mental and physical hole. Your life journey is powerful and I am grateful that you share with us all. I gave your ideas a try.

Second, in October, I was at my lowest point of this two plus year journey. I was in Vancouver and a friend knew I was in town. We went for a walk and she shared about an App that helped her with her eating habits and overall health. I gave it a try. 

Third, in April, Steve and I were out for our evening walk and we ran into some neighbours.  They shared that they were doing a “Couch to 5km” walk/run program that was simple and tailored to what you want to do. (This was humbling to consider as four years ago, I would run 20 kilometres for fun on a weekend!) I humbled myself and gave it a try. 

Lastly, at the end of April, I was at a teacher’s conference and three of my colleagues were sitting around a table. Suddenly, one of them shrieked about a job that was available at our school and said, “You would be amazing at that!”.  They immediately called over my boss and she wholeheartedly agreed.  I decided to apply. 

In all of these instances, I was showing up in the world as my unhealthiest, unhappiest, down in the lowest point in the second most challenging spot in my life.  (My mom’s death was and is still number one!) 

But, I just showed up and walked. 

I showed up and walked some more. 

And I simply did my job to the best of my ability! 

Now, things are shifting in radical and profound ways (more on that in a later post!). 

Be you. 

Exactly where you are. 

Show up, how and when you can. 

Reach outside those four walls around yours. 

And watch things unfold. 

Let my life be a testimony that there is always hope. 

The best is truly YET to come for me, Sexy Neck and our boys. 

And the best is YET to come for you too! 

Strap yourself in folks for what is to come and love what you do! 

Xoxo Joanna 

blogger, Education, mindset, Teaching

Be on a 450 Day Streak with Duolingo

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Schönen donnerstag

Today marks the day where I have been logging into the Duolingo App to practice my German for 450 days in a row. Almost 15 months of daily practice for at least 5 minutes that has moved me through 23 different lessons on various topics in German. One restriction with my practice is that I have the free account and thus only have “five hearts” per day to work through my lessons. Yup, no paid app that would allow me to have unlimited practice. This means that if I get more than five answers wrong, I have to stop my practice and login later in the day to complete my practice, with usually only 2-3 hearts.

Now, this milestone has me thinking: What other daily habits could I instil into my life and consistently do for 450 days?

Healthy, clean eating? This would be amazing.

Drink a minimum of 4 cups of water? My body would love this.

Get into bed by 10:00pm each night? Ohhh, that would delicious.

Are there free apps for all these things?

I do love the game that Duolingo creates in my mind and I love keeping up with my streak. Why did I decide to use the App? Many of my students use Duolingo to help them develop their second language skills. I was super curious to see how the lessons worked and soon after I started in December 2022, I was hooked. My ultimate goal is to get back to Germany and have a conversation in German with my best friend and her children.

Cheers to streaks of healthy habits!

Have a beautiful Thursday and love what you do.

xoxox Joanna

Education, March 16, 2020, mindset, positivity, Wordsmith, writing

Be Living Through March 16th, 2020 (3 year “anniversary”)

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What does today bring up for you?

What do you feel when you think of and sit with what happened on March 16th, 2020?

I will forever be grateful for those that walked through March 16th, 2020 and beyond alongside our family:

with kindness

containing no humiliation, damnation nor discrimination.

with an open heart and open mind to those around them

containing no judgement, harsh words or anger.

It wasn’t easy, I know.

My counsellor explained to me that during this initial period starting from the shock of March 16th, 2020 (we were suppose to be in Vancouver at a gymnastics competition), people couldn’t hide anymore. The levels of appreciation for life became stronger or the levels of anger in life also became stronger. There was rarely a middle ground.

To those who study and “know” science and walked uncomfortably through the ENTIRE scientific method while living through what was happening to us as a country, a culture, a world, I am eternally grateful.

(Plus they didn’t simply jump to the “conclusion” step of the scientific method as that is always the most comfortable place to be. I truly take my hat off to you!)

I will always be grateful for those people who know that personal choice, personal story and personal wellness were always an alternative in this world.

I have no opinion, even after three years of looking at the research being obtained from around the world, on what anyone else should have done with their lives on and since March 16th, 2023, but I am sure very, very, very grateful for our own family’s choices.

Living up at Apex Ski Resort until 2021.

Continuing with home learning.

Spending time in nature.

Keeping up with our community of diverse-minded people with Zooms, phone calls and in person visits when we simply wanted to hunker down and hide.

Sharing my love of home learning with people who were pushed it into and even sharing some tips on how to teach over Zoom.

Hugs whenever we could get them.

Not allowing those living in fear and judgement and “conclusion-making” to bump us out of experiencing the greatest scientific experiment of our time. Three years later, we don’t have conclusions, especially in British Columbia and Canada, with what started on March 16th, 2020.

Happy Thursday amazing folks and love what you do.

xoxo Joanna

P.S. I have never shared my personal “health status” and I won’t, which has caused many people discomfort. I am not a doctor, virologist, nurse or even remotely involved with the health care system. I will not be sharing my status as I believe, as an Educator, everyone needs to dig in and do their own research, especially right now. The beginning of all knowledge are questions. It is a fascinating time folks and it’s okay if we have been wrong during these last few years of working through this “Science”. I know that I have!

author, health & fitness, musings, Wordsmith

Be Radically Healing your Roots

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As I wander through this season and through my days I see and feel roots everywhere.

I look at a tree, I can imagine its strong, gnarly roots spreading underneath the ground beneath me.

I pull out a sunflower plant, I can see its tangled, frail roots flowing freely from the bottom stem.

I find out about anger, shame, guilt, deep depression and can see the loneliness, brokenness and shattered roots within.

I know these roots.

They were my roots.

I was never enough.

I could never do enough.

(Anyone see the reason for the title of this blog?) 

I never felt enough.

Oh man, was I angry.

I was missing whole days in darkness.

I was surrounded by love, yet feeling so alone.

What did I do my friends?

How could one possibly change roots?

Deep down, buried, from your DNA and how you were created: Roots!

How are those possible to change?

Something happened FOR me.

Yup, not TO me.

FIRST, I took 100% responsibility for what was happening around me, not because I was responsible for everything, but because I was responsible to acknowledge and choose how I was going to respond.

I realized I am a powerful person who has the power to choose my actions, who I surround myself with and how I choose to react to what’s happening to me.

Simple, yet means you need to be awake.

NEXT, I started looking at the negative emotions that constantly swirled inside of me.  Those emotions that have just become a habit.  A superhighway in my brain that would only take one word or even one “tone of voice” to send me speeding down into a three car mental pileup down the other end.  I saw that the negative emotions were happening in only certain situations and with certain people.  Most of my negative emotions were linked to my expectations I was placing on the people closest to me and my inability to simply feel good about anything I was doing.

Anger.

Shame.

Guilt.

Depression.

Yup, I was rocking them all, down Highway 97.  Up and down, all day long.  Even when I didn’t want to take the road trip.  Suddenly, I would spiral down into the pileup.

NEXT, after I acknowledge where I was at, took a close look at the metaphorical branches, leaves and fruit that I had created in my life, I looked down into my roots.

What was brewing below these loud and proud negative emotions?

What did I really need to look at within myself?

What had I taken from my family of origin that no longer served me?

And glory to God alone, it became clear.

I was led to the Gottman Institute and this photo.  anger

When I was feeling angry, I was actually feeling something deep in my roots, which for me was actually shame.

I was feeling cornered.

Pressured.

Almost like I was being thrown off a boat.

Alone.

Helpless and scared.

Alone.

Misunderstood.

Trapped and not knowing what to do.

Alone.

My negative emotions that were speedy down that superhighway were speeding down a track that had nothing to do with where I want to go.

They were old roots.

Old stuff.

LASTLY, all I simply did to stop these mental car crashes was by creating new stuff.

I created a vision for the road that I wanted to go along.

I allowed myself to see and feel the negative emotions, but I didn’t stop there.

I looked at the roots, shook them out and started creating new habits, new patterns to grow some stronger, more positive and healthy roots.  I started hanging out more with people doing the same thing, or slightly ahead of me on their root growing. I held myself to these new habits and kept a standard for myself.

These negative roots were going to whither and die.

I had made a decision to upgrade my root system.

New habits.

New patterns.

Growing with others.

New standards.

Healthy roots.

Healthier Joanna.

Have an epic Thursday and love what you do.

xoxo Joanna

author, blogger, Family, friendship, musings, radical sabbatical, time, Wordsmith

Be Having No Time

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I don’t have time to talk about you because if you are an important person in my life I am talking TO you.

I don’t have time to worry about if you have lost or gained weight, I am 100% focused on my own health.

I don’t have time to ponder what you are doing with your life, but I am praying that you would have a life filled with love, joy and peace.

I don’t have time to wonder why you left my life and want nothing to do with me as I am completely enveloped with love by the people who choose to spend time with me.

I don’t have any time to think about who you love or want to marry, I am focused on making my own relationships better.

I don’t have time to wonder why my family of origin has fallen far apart since my mom died. The rich relationships that have filled this Grand Canyon gap from my mom’s death and the ‘chosen family’ who shower us with encouragement are greater than any gift I could imagine.

I don’t have time to judge what you do with your money, your time or your relationships because God is showing me all the good He is doing through knowing you.

I don’t have time. I don’t believe in busy. I don’t believe in missing anyone.

I create time.

Busy is a swear word.

If I miss you, I reach out to you. The only people I miss are dead. They definitely don’t have any time.

Make time for what’s important to you folks.

Have an epic Monday and love what you do.

xoxo Joanna

blogger, health & fitness, mindset, positivity, Wordsmith

Be Finding Food For Fuel (4 Pillars of a Healthy Fuelling System)

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Isn’t it funny how a few days flat on your back allows you the privilege to reflect on health? February flu season is wafting through the house and it happened to grab on to me last Friday. The weekend was spent trying to breathe, staying warm and lying in a slightly upright position. Fun time for this jet engine energy girl. One thing about me, though, is situations like this help me grow.

These last seventy- two hours have afforded me the opportunity to think deeply about what I put into my body. Over four years ago, I was forty pounds heavier than I am today. Over four years ago, I was on a deep growth journey working through the grief of my loving mama. Over four years ago, I discovered, by my own willingness to never sit or lay in a pit too long, the best fuelling system for my body. And I want to stress “system” because there are no miracle products. Sorry. There are no one week detoxes that are going to fix your eating habits. Sorry again. And there are no amount of counting calories or points that will teach you how to nourish and listen to your body. Truth.

I now have partnered with the company that formulated this system over fifteen years ago. I have left my full time teaching life that I was very passionate about because I think all children are a gift from God. I now help match people’s personal goals to a system of products that support the systems that work within the body. And yes, we even touch on poo! After my mom died, as well as weekends like I just had, I know with 100% certainty that if we don’t have health we have nothing. If we don’t get a handle of how to fuel our bodies, we don’t have energy. If we don’t understand what our individual bodies need, we will have “dis ease”.

Here are my few gems from lying in the couch with “dis ease” if you truly want to learn how to fuel your body:

First, before you even try to uncover the food dilemma, how is your water intake and what amount of sleep are you currently getting? Furthermore, are you drinking enough water and sleeping enough for your body? How is your sleep hygiene? Are you able to sleep without your “handheld computer comforter” beside you?

Second, what do you LOVE to eat? Do you enjoy plants, meat, soups, fruit? Just because the current rage is to eat no fruit (no carbohydrates) or only eat meat (protein), you decide what is best for you personally and build your fuelling system around that.

Third, are you moving between the eating habits of starvation and overindulgence. Most people do. My company’s name literally means “balanced life”. This is your ultimate destination with your fuel. Eating every couple of hours with a balance of variety of foods that nourish you and bring you energy.

Water.

Sleep.

Love.

Balance.

Simple.

Isn’t it!

The four pillars of a healthy fuelling system.

One that doesn’t rely on feelings or emotions.

One that doesn’t flutter in the wind depending on the current ‘famous food’ that you can’t pronounce or diet plan you really only can follow when motivation is high.

Something that relies on you nourishing and listening to your body.

Something that allows your body to become more alive as you age and continue to grow.

Until we breathe no more.

Fuelling with water.

Recovering as we sleep.

Nourishing with lovely food.

Finding balance in all areas of our life, but especially with our food.

Comment below with your favourite fuelling tips.

Follow me on Instagram: @cannjoanna

If you need support in your fuelling, be free to ask me for more information at jj_cann@yahoo.com

With gratitude for feeling healthier,

😘 Joanna

author, Wordsmith

Be Savouring the Seasons

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One of the secrets sauce of life, I believe, is savouring the seasons. Both the physical and metaphorical seasons that we go through.

We can’t change the climate where we live, so unless you are planning on moving, we all need to embrace where we live.

We can’t change what happens around us, so unless we can time travel or have out of body experiences, we all need to embrace where we live.

The amount of discourse on the weather, right now, I find slightly overwhelming and mildly humours. The physical season is affecting many people’s metaphorical season.

Do we not have better things to dialogue about?

Is it really that interesting that one of Canada’s cities was the coldest place on the planet for one day?

How’s your heart doing today? Isn’t that a gooder!!

What about snow? There are places in southern Canada that have had snow this week and their schools have been closed because of it. Welcome to Canada my friends.

This northern girl grew up in cold and with snow piled up to the roof. She had to embrace it all with big heavy mitts.

Now, I live in a balmy four seasons utopia where I truly can say I enjoy each and every season.

Winter.

Deepness.

Spring.

Growth.

Summer.

Flourishing.

Fall.

Gathering.

To embrace this season, this winter wonderland a friend and I flew away to the ski hill on Wednesday.

To hike…

To cross country ski…

And to skate…

As a friend once told me, there truly isn’t bad weather, just bad clothing.

Put on that bikini, hat and sunscreen.

Or those gumboots and rain jacket.

How about that comfy scarf and tall boots.

Or those wool socks and long johns.

Four seasons.

Winter.

Deepness.

Spring.

Growth.

Summer.

Flourishing.

Fall.

Gathering.

Embracing them all.

Creating freedom.

Controlling what I can.

Choosing to embrace and release the rest.

Being free.

Each day.

As the sun shines, snow falls, wind blows or rain rolls in.

Blessings poured over each of you as you live life in the season you are in.

😘 Joanna