Colleen Kennedy on nourishing yourself and your Self

Feel Better Every Day

It was such a joy to interview my own herbal medicine magician for this episode. I cannot overstate how much Colleen has helped me over the years and hope this episode helps you…

Full transcript

Food is there to be enjoyed. We're very blessed to have an abundance of food around us and you know what? Like yeah, a bit more gratitude that we're lucky that we can have whatever we want whenever we want really and that we're being nourished and nurtured and not to be having the negative dialogue around food. There's a lot of negative dialogue around...

Hi I'm Eve Menezes Cunningham and welcome to The Feel Better Every Day Podcast. I am so excited to be sharing new trauma-informed and ADHD-friendly ideas for you to help you take better care of yourself, that highest, wisest, truest, wildest, most joyful, brilliant and miraculous part of yourself, as well as the basic self-care which we all know can be so challenging at times. I really appreciate you tuning in.

If you want a deeper dive you'll be getting bonus content each week if you sign up to The Sole to Soul Circle. You can do that for free or from as little as eight euros a month and you can also find more ideas in the book, 365 Ways to Feel Better: Self-care Ideas for Embodied Wellbeing.

Hi Colleen, I'm absolutely delighted to welcome you to The Feel Better Every Day Podcast.

Thank you, I'm delighted to be here, really happy to be chatting to you today.

You're one of the first people I thought of when I had the idea to do it but um I'm so glad I followed up because you hadn't got my email!

I'm so glad you did too because you don't always get emails and sometimes things can go missing so it's a good lesson for me actually as well to touch back with somebody if they haven't you know responded to something that you're keen on so yeah so good on you.

And also you've been such an enormous support, you are part of my self-care basically, you and Yvonne with the acupuncture. I don't know what I'd do without you both and so I'm delighted on a personal level that more people will get to hear what you do.

So I started working with you three or four years ago where?

It was, it was about four years ago now I think and yeah it was great. You were coming in very eager to learn and I think I remember your excitement of learning some concepts around your blood sugar balance and how you could control and manage your energy levels, your lifestyle and overall your outlook and brain fog you were coming in with as well.

A lot of what a naturopath does is teaching and educating and trying not to be too preachy because nobody's perfect as we'll discuss today but I think it's a, it really allows for a compliancy when you understand why you're taking something or why I'm advising you to do something.

I think in my experience over the years in practice and even as a lecturer as well you have to, you have to give a bit of the ‘why’ and then people because ultimately what this medicine is all about is empowering you to take the reins in your own health care.

It's very much an empowerment medicine and you know so that comes with a little bit of that education as well.

And I remember how you were telling me to imagine the plant magic, the plant medicine working its magic moving through me and how because I've been sober since 2001 I could like feel it in my elbow and my knee. And I was talking to a herbal medicine friend in the UK and I was like it's amazing she said to imagine this… and she was like, ‘Evei, that's the alcohol’ so kind of feeling that but just I really appreciated your yeah and your I didn't feel judged.

My work is all about self-care and I was confessing to you about like my crisps for dinner every night and all the rest of it and you're like that's contributing as well as perimenopause and I didn't know but ADHD with brain fog.

And yeah well this is it for such complex creatures. I think you know what it’s like. It's very interesting today and I see this a lot with the students as well and people being ashamed of their of their food choices and shame should never be around food. My God, like I mean that's what's got this problem today where the weight loss industry is how many billions of dollars worth you know to the economy? And you know we're set up for failure and we're not listening to our own body cues and it has to come from acceptance as well if it's going to be lasting.

And the other side of that coin is as well sometimes I feel like we need to pull ourselves out and have a look at the greater picture in the world and, my God, like food is there to be enjoyed. We're very blessed to have an abundance of food around us and you know what like yeah a bit more gratitude that we're lucky that we can have whatever we want whenever we want really and um that we're yeah we're being nourished and nurtured and not to be having the negative dialogue around food. There's a lot of negative dialogue around food.

Oh my God, January is a big time for that as well and um after Christmas so yeah it's about nurturing a healthier relationship with food as well.

And I think you know you did um really benefit from that as well you know not being not beating yourself up for having crisps but knowing how to talk about food um in a in a kinder way.

And yeah, what we what we tell ourselves is really important yeah and I think because I did have a lot of shame because self-care is such a huge part of my work and because what you were telling me is very basic nutritional advice.

I was in my 40s already but I remember studying a bit of nutrition with the yoga therapy training like in my 30s and learning how important it was as children and teenagers. I used to even write about nutrition for the UK national press and I'd kind of dismiss it for myself like, ‘Oh yeah, but it's too late for me.’ And working with you it's like, no it's really not too late.

This morning I added chia seeds and flax seeds to my mixed fruit and vegan yogurt (the plain one I no longer have the sugar one for breakfast) but these things like, I keep, I'm kind of overemphasising this a bit because I have been working in this area for so long and I want people who might be listening or watching to realise that probably food stuff for me is the least natural in terms of what I've integrated into my own self-care.

And some of what you were telling me back then, I understood it at some level but it felt like the kind of thing that aliens might do: like to chop fruit and have granola and seeds and vegan yogurt for breakfast. It's like yeah, but that's not really me.

Whereas I do now have that like three or four times a week!

Yeah, great, yeah it's a habit isn't it? It becomes a new you. Know it's a skill and it's a habit and it is exactly that it is self-care. It's nurturing yourself and putting in lovely vital plant food into your body. Yeah that's key for your inner vitality.

Yeah. I really want to hear about your ideal and actual daily self-care so I imagine some of it will be around food and plants but whatever feels…

I always have I'm here in my clinic at the moment and you know it's great for me when I'm in clinic here, I probably drink more herbal tea when I'm in the clinic so I make up a big pot and I have that big go and I always share a cup of tea with whoever's coming in to see me and I end up drinking quite a bit of herbal tea over the day.

Then when I'm in here myself and I always like I think that brings me into the zone and it's hydrating as well. So yeah, there's a lovely there's a lovely I don't know what the word I'm looking for is but there's a there's an ally feeling almost. When you have these herbs and they're here they're here to support us on so many different levels.

I think herbal medicine is so special. We know it works on the physical and that's what you know where people will tangibly come to herbal medicine initially it's because it'll do this for that you take this for that.

But we know and when you're taking herbs for a while you can see that works much deeper and herbs work very much on the emotional and spiritual levels as well so I find that it brings me, in certain terms, will bring me into a more calm and a parasympathetic state.

And so that's really important for me when I'm working as well. That's an ideal thing that you do manage pretty much every day but more so when you're in clinic and you have it in your environment prompting you. Exactly, yeah exactly, yeah. And what else would I do when you know when I'm when I'm on track and my schedule is a little bit you know better? Better run… it hasn't been well, it's been very busy for a few different reasons for the last couple of months and I haven't been getting to the gym as much as I'd like but I do like to get a gym session in in the morning if I can.

Because if it runs away after that, I tend to be quite busy in the evenings either doing online classes or with my two teenage boys and things can just go awry after that. So I find if I don't get it in in the morning then it can it can slip away from me. And I know how I feel when I've got that regular routine in so I'm missing that at the moment. And I know this week was a bit of a write-off because I I've other things to do but next week for me, I'm going to be back on track.

And when you say going to the gym again it's that kind of thing that people imagine it has to be something really high intensity or something really like heavy or whatever it might be what feels like an ideal workout and what feels like a good actual workout. Like if you were to have a spectrum for you getting to the gym and you're doing some or all of it?

Yeah, I like you know I do like weights and my body you know responds well to that. I like feeling strong and because I'm a woman in my mid-40s now, you know this is what I preach as well.

It's very much, you know, weight bearing exercise is really important for our bone density and also for our muscles. You know we want to have good muscle. We want to build good muscle in our body. So yeah, that's important for me.

The weights and I enjoy it. I like weights. I've been trying to do the pull-ups a bit more. I'm challenging myself not enough but you know the pull-up bar where you're like…

Yeah, oh my God I know it exists there's no way on earth I could pull myself up…

I think I'm going to give it more of an emphasis this year because I'd love to I'd love to be able to do that. You know but like you know you're putting different body weights and different people can pull themselves on those bars I'd like to give that a go I'd like to challenge. Yeah, I'd love to be able to do that a bit easier and not be absolutely aching for two days afterwards.

Yeah, there's the one at one of the pools in town. My shoulder is healing much better and I've been kind of doing push-ups on. They have like kind of jacuzzi jets but in my imagination I'm doing that full on. But as it heals, I don't want to make it worse but that's brilliant.

What about later in the day and evening and winding down?

Yeah, so you know it's not been, that's probably not been great for me over the last while because I've been doing an online course with a bunch in the States so I've been on a bit later some evenings. And also, my kids play rugby so I'm out so I try and I always try and work my day around getting home and having dinner together when the boys come home from school. So that's kind of like a good fulcrum point for me in the day. Where I'll always have home-cooked dinner we'll have dinner together.

That's the best time for all of us to eat together and then after that it can get quite busy again. So yeah, I find that can be quite taxing on me sometimes because I'm driving around a lot in the evening and you know juggling quite a bit.

But if I can get your ideal…

Yeah, if I could get out for a walk you know in the evening as well, that's ideal for me. And if I have a chance to you know wind down with a book in the evening time um or do a meditation. Or I listen to some astrology or I work on my astrology course that I'm doing. That for me would be ideal, if I had more time for that.

Yeah and because I know how compassionate you are with me and presumably with your other clients and others, right now, how compassionate are you being with yourself around your ideal and your actual self-care?

Yeah, look it, I'm in a very building, growth phase of my work at the moment as well so I'm I'm doing a lot of planning in the background. I'm building a new online hybrid course and I know at the moment I'm doing a lot extra and it's, you know it's, I need my sleep so I'll definitely get into bed now you know for me 11 o'clock is really good. I don't leave it past midnight I know we talked about that a lot.

And yeah, you know I know it's really important for me. Sleep. Sleep helps me through the busyness. And water and herbal teas, like just making sure I'm hydrated. And um and maybe some fasting in in between as well. That can help me as well, just to kind of clear.

It clears the head, it clears it clears the busyness because it's an interesting one. I find fasting can actually really help when I'm that you know that much on the go it kind of clears space and it just allows it allows for a little bit more clarity and calmness. Actually calm. Yeah, I strive to be calm. I'm not always calm at home in the evenings but I strive for that.

Well you have a busy life! I was gonna ask about your like ideal and actual self with an uppercase Self for that more like transpersonal spiritual element. You mentioned like meditation and astrology. Do you want to say a little more about that?

Well, I've always I've always had a deep interest in, I suppose, I don't know, esoteric medicine, would you call it? You know I went to India when I was 22 and I was in Thailand when I was about 20 and I started to learn yoga then.

Like that was back in 1999 around that time I think we went to Thailand and so that opened up my eyes to, Wow, oh my God! I remember doing yoga on an open platform up high in the jungle with trees around us and then we'd have like a bowl of porridge with loads of different I always remember the ginger and the cloves and all of that lovely flavour and the porridge and I can remember that so clearly. And I always I always felt connected. That there was a lot more, there was a lot more to our physical beings here. You know, our spirit. Our ancestors. And yeah, we're here for a purpose this lifetime but there's so much more outside of us. And your soul journey after you know, when you pass away and what happens after that.

I was always really intrigued with all of that and so I'd have a very deep faith in that and I think that that's really kept me kept me happy, I suppose. And centred and content in my own company for a lot of a lot of my life. Yeah, it's something that I can lean back into and I do incorporate in every day really, in some way shape or form. Yeah.

And I was gonna ask what love and care and advice you'd be sending to a Younger You but it sounds like it's coming in both directions. Like 20 Year Old You and 22 Year Old You helped set you up good habits. But is there any love advice and care you'd like to send back?

Yeah, I suppose I was I was very unorthodox when I was that age. Like I didn't kind of follow through the trajectory of, I did go to college but then I went traveling and I kind of like I really did follow my own flow. And maybe I was always feeling a little bit, back in the back of my head, I might have felt a bit guilty about that.

That maybe I should have gone and, you know, done that or you know, got into you know buying property here when I was younger and all of that kind of thing. But I actually have no regrets on that. I don't, yeah, just, oh my God, enjoy. Enjoy the fun. Enjoy the travel. Enjoy because we're here for such a short time.

And yeah, you know those early years, I'm so glad that I went traveling. I'm so glad that I had all those lovely experiences. And all the different countries I worked in. All the different people I've met has all had to form where I'm at today.

And that given me the drive and the belief that I can you, know, my own business and work for myself and help other people and be of service to other people. And that's, you know you know, I think I got a lot of that belief from having all those different experiences when I was young.

So yeah, just to enjoy it. Enjoy it.

Well thank you so, so much.

And we'll be sharing more for the Half Moon members and Full Moon members in the separate videos. For now, I just really appreciate you joining me. Where can people find you? Like do you want to say, I'm going to have details in the show notes, but what would you like to plug now?

My website is herbalhealthcare.ie and if you google Colleen Kennedy you'll find me. I'm also on Facebook and I'm on Instagram. Again my Instagram handle is @colleenherbnut but I might be changing that soon too. But herb nut, nut for nutrition.

I thought it was brilliant. Yeah I love it so maybe I'll leave it then. But that's my Instagram and then Facebook is I've built a personal profile which I'm using more for work now as well Colleen Kennedy and then Colleen Kennedy Herbal Healthcare.

Well thanks again!

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Feel Better Every Day Podcast. I want to help as many people as possible with trauma histories and/or ADHD learn how to help yourself to connect with your Self with that uppercase that highest wisest truest wildest most joyful brilliant miraculous part of yourself and to become more fully embodied at peace and at ease in your own skin so to help me do this if you can think of someone who might benefit please share it and if you haven't already and would like to you can subscribe comment rate review and this episode like all of them so far has been produced by me your host Eve Menezes Cunningham thanks again for listening and if you'd like more on this week's theme you can subscribe as a free subscriber or paid member of The Sole to Soul Circle at evemc.substack.com find out more at selfcarecoaching.net.

Each week Half Moon members, that's the free subscribers, get some bonus content to support balance and harmony. It's a bit of a deeper dive into the podcast theme. And then the following day, Full Moon and Supermoon members get additional deep dives into helping themselves shine. By really supporting, really soothing, really working well with your nervous system so that you feel safe enough to expand your comfort zone and do the things that you already know to do perhaps. But just supporting yourself and taking those steps let me know if any of that is of interest and I hope you have a gorgeous day.