Regenerative Health For Entrepreneurs with Natalie Forstbaeur

And what I'm most curious about right now is what would happen if we redefined how we look at health in terms of. Instead of giving our symptoms or our illnesses or diseases or injuries a definitive definition, I'm wondering what would happen if we looked at those experiences as feedback. So it's just our body giving us feedback. Feedback. So if we're. So, for example, with a brain injury, because I'm a traumatic. I have a traumatic brain injury from 2003, rather than looking it as a finite definition of how I'm going to be for the rest of my life and looking at that as a through line, it's looking at myself, of where I am, where am I today, and what can I celebrate today that I can do really well, that is going really well, and how can I regenerate or generate what I want more of in my life? So it's really, I think it's a couple things, Sean. It's defining what health really means to you, emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually. So what are you doing? What are you thinking? How are you living your days? What are you feeling? And then it's how can I create more of that in my life?

Welcome to the Meaningful Revolution podcast where we talk about people's passions and hope to inspire you to your own. We also answer the question, what if you could just add 1% more meaning to your life every day for the next year. So join us on this meaningful Revolution. I'm your host, Shawn Butner, certified High performance Coach, and we have a really great episode for you today. So let's get into it. Hey everyone. Welcome to the Meaningful Revolution podcast where we help you get inspired to find the things that you find meaningful in your life by having interviews with people that are really passionate about their topic. And we hope to encourage you to improve your meaningful work to busy work ratio so that you can have a happy life. Today I have my good friend Natalie Forsbauer, who let me introduce, is a global regenerative health advocate and the founder and editor in chief of Heart and Soil magazine. She's a TEDx and speaker, author, organic slash biodynamic farmer and traumatic brain injury survivor. So she is passionate about human potential and seeing people live their best lives. Raised on an organic farm, trained in polarity therapy, alternative medicine, neurofeedback and transformational leadership, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her audiences. Natalie, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast today. Welcome.

Oh, thanks, Sean. It is my honor to be in conversation with you.

Awesome. Likewise. Likewise. So Today's topic, we're talking about regenerative health for entrepreneurs. And I was wondering, could you tell us a little bit more about what that means to you and what we're going to be nerding out today about?

I love that. Nerding out. I speak my language. So generative regenerative health. I think it's a good opportunity to reflect on what that means as, like at a macro level and also at a micro level. And what I mean by that is I think a lot of us have leaned or learned to define health as like a state of being. So health is like, I'm healthy, I'm not healthy, I'm sick. I'm not sick. I got a cold. I don't have a cold. I've got cancer. I don't have cancer. I've got a brain injury. I'm, you know, I can actually, I can run 10km. I'm doing really good. So this is the way we define health. What we can and cannot do or what our abilities are or what our disabilities are. And what I'm most curious about right now is what would happen if we redefined how we look at health in terms of. Instead of giving our symptoms or our illnesses or diseases or injuries a definitive definition, I'm wondering what would happen is if we looked at those experiences as. As feedback. So it's just, it's. It's our body giving us feedback. So if we're. So, for example, with a brain injury, because I'm a traumatic. I had a traumatic brain injury from 2003. Rather than looking it as a finite definition of how I'm going to be for the rest of my life, and looking at that as a through line, it's looking at myself of where I am, where am I today? And what can I celebrate today that I can do really well, that is going really well. And how can I regenerate or generate what I want more of in my life? So it's really. I think it's a couple things, Sean. It's defining what health really means to you, emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually. So what are you doing? What are you thinking? How are you living your days? What are you feeling? And then it's, how can I create more of that in my life?

I absolutely love that. And this is really in tune with my work as a high performance coach because I feel that, you know, especially when we're talking about to entrepreneurs or professionals, but really, anyone. When you're so. Okay. There's so many ideas here. The first idea is that you know, the language that we use sometimes is really definitive. So not only are we sick or not sick, we are an artist or not, or a programmer or not, or a doctor or not. And it's that. That definitiveness that leaves out that, yeah, I'm a doctor, but I'm also a father or a friend or a citizen in my community. You know, there's all these different. So that the holistic nature of what you're talking about, I think is really super important. And then, of course, that intention of what is healthy to me and what do I want for my health and my future, you know, is kind of how I heard that. But I love that. That taking a step back to be like, no, what do I want the outcome to be for my health? So I guess, you know, you ask, what does health mean? What does health mean to you? And maybe.

Yeah, that's a good question. The image that came to mind when you were talking about the different parts of us is, is. Is a wheel. And you know how a wheel. A wheel has a hub, right? And then out from the wheel, many, many, many spokes, and then around the wheel is the. Is the. I guess the sphere that makes the wheel go. And what came to me was the. The hub is like how we define overall health. And then all the spokes are the different parts of us that are. That connect the dots, that make our wheel go around. And so how. You asked me how I would define health.

Yeah.

Is that right?

Yep.

Well, part of that is in how I define healing, Sean. So how I define healing is embracing who we are, where we are in this very moment. So that is, to me, what true healing is. It's not healing a bone or getting rid of the brain injury or healing a disease or an illness. It's really embracing who I am, where I am, right in this moment. And so when I look at that and then I. And I go deeper, and I'm like, okay, so what does health look like? To me that changes. That changes sometimes daily and sometimes for sure every month and for sure every year, because I'm continually looking where I am and where I want to expand to. So health, to me is feeling really good about who I am, feeling really good about what I am doing, and also being able to do what I want to do with my friends and family, having the energy to be able to do that, like physical energy, mental energy, emotional energy, physical spiritual energy. And then the other piece of it is really right now where I am in my present life is increasing my flexibility mentally and Emotionally. So it's funny how that works because I have really good physical strength and I want. I also, I know I'm. I. I'm 51, and I want to be that 90 year old who can just make it up, like, literally run upstairs or bend over and touch my toes or, you know, put my socks in them on in the morning and have no problem doing it. So I'm just really being mindful of where my flexibility is right now. And so what do I need to do to maintain that and what I need to do to nourish that and even see where I might be able to go with that? Wow.

Okay. That's very, very. Like, I love that. The clear vision for yourself in the future and why this topic, like, why regenerative health matters to you. So I'm curious then, how did you get started in this? You know, you alluded to your traumatic brain injury. Did it start before that and you said 2003, or was that the catalyst for this journey that you've been on?

That is a good question. That's a really good question, Sean. And it probably started. I think the pivotal point was actually when I was about. I think it's been. I think. Well, let me just see. Okay. When did it start? I think the universe and God have been dropping breadcrumbs for me along the way.

Okay.

And.

If you're enjoying listening to this episode of the Meaningful Revolution podcast, there's another kind of conversation that you might really enjoy. So check out Dara here explaining a little bit about high performance coaching.

I feel like in this particular moment where all of us need massive amounts of self care, high performance coaching is one of those huge gifts you could give to yourself for self care. It's one of those things that just shapes your life in all these ways you never imagined. And I think I would just tell a friend that it's worth it.

And.

Get ready, because it's gonna shake up your life. It almost feels like, you know, you don't even realize as you're going along kind of these progressive steps, and all of a sudden, you know, 12 sessions in, or however many sessions in, you're like, wait a minute, I'm planning and thinking about a life that is, you know, drastically different in many ways. And so it's just. It's almost like this mental shaking up and getting all the crap out of your head. So I think it's. It's an amazing experience and it's incredible, incredibly energizing, and it's worth every penny.

I love having Deep conversations with folks, whether they're in my podcast or in my coaching practice. And so if you'd like to have your meaningful revolution started through a conversation and high performance, please stay tuned to the end of this episode for your invitation on how to get started.

When I really consciously took note of where I was in, my health was after a car accident in 1990, I was, it was pretty minor, rear ended concussion, back injury. I was on a basketball scholarship and ended up being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and not being able to raise the right arm past my shoulder like it was. And I was not getting better, I was getting worse, and it was nothing short of depressing. And I remember going into my doctor's office and, you know, literally sitting him down and saying, okay, what is this? And what do I need to do to get better? And it was really powerful, Sean, because he reflected back to me that it had taken me about a year and a half to get to that point post accident. And he said, the challenge is when we have these acute injuries and they, they, they don't heal in the time that we expect them to, the pain and the condition becomes a learned condition. And I was like, a learned condition. Well, my body can learn pain. I'm pretty sure it can unlearn pain. And then we talked about a little bit about my mom's health journey. And the reason I bring that in is she kind of struggled through with her health off and on throughout her life and in just in different ways and for different reasons. And he asked me where I wanted to be, you know, when I was, when I was her age. And at that time, I think she wasn't even in good health based on the decisions that she made. And I knew then that I needed to make some changes. And so then I literally went on a mission to figure out how I could rebuild my health and what I needed to do to make that happen. So instead of waking up in the morning feeling all the places where I was sore and achy and noticing the headache I had and noticing that I had another flu and my shoulder was even more so than the day before, I would wake up in the morning and I would look for the areas in my body that actually felt good. And even if it was just my, I'd be like, oh, my thumb actually feels good. And then I literally imagine that feeling moving and expanding throughout my body just really, really slowly. And, and, and I'd look. So that's what I did. I literally would get up every single day and every Single time I thought about how much pain I was in, I would think about, well, where do you feel good? And then I tune into that and started reprogramming. And then there are other pieces too, Sean, which is building my immune system back up, which I learned doesn't happen overnight. It takes time and it takes a dietary mindfulness and I use supplements. And then I met a woman at a dinner party who did polarity therapy and she did some amazing work on me and taught me about the impact of our, the, our energy flow. And then I went on to study therapy and had my own practice and.

Awesome. So you said it's clarity therapy.

Polarity therapy.

Polarity. Sorry, I heard that wrong. So I have no idea what polarity therapy is. Would you mind just kind of explaining what that is at a high level?

Yeah. So polarity therapy is probably one of the most holistic mind, body, spirit practices. So it incorporates body work, mindfulness, energy exercises, which are different types of yoga, cleansing and food awareness all into one package to help a person attain the health and the lifestyle that they want to live. So it's very holistic and it's core fundamental understanding is our energetic blueprint defines our health blueprint flowing freely then our. We have a good health blueprint, and it incorporates many different disciplines, from Ayurvedic to Chinese medicine to the ancient hermetic sciences and, and maps all the different energetic principles over top and with each other to make polarity therapy.

Okay, awesome. Thank you for explaining that because I was reading some notes before and like, what is that? You know, so cool. All right, so as you've been on this, you know, regenerative health journey throughout your life starting in the 90s, you know, again, probably coming through with that in 2003 with the traumatic brain injury, and again being reminded of probably what you needed to do. What do you think are some of the best opportunities that have come from this topic that you've been studying or been around for a lot of your life?

So when you say opportunities, what do you mean by that?

So it could be like something unexpected that unlocked for you in life. It could be ways to handle challenge that presented themselves in a way that maybe most people wouldn't think to, to, you know, go that particular way.

Right. I love this question. So before I had the brain injury, I really believed in, you know, like, be the change you want to be in the world. And if you want X, then do, you know, A, B, C and all the way to Zed to get it. And I also, I still Believe and believed in spontaneous healing and. And all the things. And then I was knocked on the head and had a really hard time healing from the brain injury. And so what I learned from that, in terms of regenerative health, is to sit with myself in the messiness, you know, to, like, sit down, hold my own hand, and be like, it's okay. You're gonna get through this. And leaning into, like, leaning hard into gratitude, when it really felt like there's nothing to be grateful for because life was so freaking hard. Like, sure, I was. I was blessed because I had food on the table and I had. You know, my kids were healthy, and there's so much. There's so much to be grateful for. And life was so hard, Sean. Like, life is hard. So I also learned to really lean into that gratitude and connect with just the little things that I was grateful for. And probably the other biggest piece was to focus. Focus on what I could do rather than on everything I couldn't do. And that applies. All three of those things apply to being an entrepreneur and being in business. Right? So as an entrepreneur, things can be messy. Things can be really, really difficult. And so how do we bring ourselves back into center and notice what is messy for us and then notice what our strengths are? So what does that look like to you? And when we are able to do that, both for our health from a regenerative space and for ourselves as an entrepreneur, it brings us to a whole level, different level of production. As an entrepreneur, it's really powerful, right?

Yeah, I. I love. I love that. Really. Just kind of leaning into gratitude. I think it's such a powerful message. I was talking with somebody for a future podcast after the one little after we released this episode. She's talking about being in physical pain. She's a stunt woman. Patricia Talman, if you know her, from one of the groups we shared last year. But she's talking about when the pain was the greatest, like, tapping in. It's hard to feel fear and despair when you're grateful. And I just wanted to point out that. Such a beautiful insight for everyone to kind of pick up on that, you know, a lot can be overcome through that. I mean, it seems like a silly exercise to some folks, but it's so immensely powerful and just changing your outlook and training your brain to not focus on some of the things that are more painful or suck is kind of what I was trying to do.

So it's really powerful.

Right. So as you've been on your regenerative health journey, too, do you Think there's any, like, struggles or challenges you've had with the topic of regenerative health that you've had to, like, solve that maybe, you know, could be something that if you're studying this, or problems that come up or struggles that come up as you're learning, or anything that. That you've really had to just kind of figure out along the way?

Yeah, that's a great question. I think the biggest thing, Sean, was figuring out that it's okay to struggle. Like, it's really okay. You know, it's okay to, like. There's so much emphasis on, you know, being gratitude. Be, like, be positive, be. Be all. Be all the things. And at the same time, sometimes there's things in life that evoke these big emotions and evoke these big transformations. And even nature shows us that transformation isn't always the butterflies flying in the flowers. Transformation is that caterpillar going to goo, literally going into goo in the cocoon and then transform into those beautiful wings that land in the flowers. So just being really mindful of the cycles and the seasons of where you're at. And you can be in all four seasons in a day. Right? You can be in all four minutes in a hot minute. So I think that is probably one of my biggest learnings, is being really comfortable with the uncomfortable. And I can't say I always get it right. And I. I'm learning, though, the incredible presence that comes with it.

Yeah, in. In high performance, we call it honoring the struggle. You know, and I love that phrase for just that, that when we meet resistance, when we meet hurdles in life, it's meant to be part of life. Right. I, like, I again, think that our characters are defined on how we respond or what we learn through that process. You know, maybe we have this idea of how we want to be in the world. A struggle comes up, and then we don't live up to that ideal. That's a place to learn. So, anyways, yeah, that's. Honor the struggle. Like, I'm a very much an optimistic person. And so I think it's also a really good thing to call out that just because you're optimistic doesn't mean you feel grief when somebody passes away or that you feel really bummed when things don't go the way that you want it to. But I believe in the underlying hope that things can change. And I think that's an important thing. But it doesn't mean you ignore that part of your humanity.

Yeah, that's right. And this is so powerful, Sean, because that's one of the teachings from my children that I've received around regenerative health is because I'm an idealist, too. I'm that person who, you know, someone talks about their challenges, and I'm like, well, and then I ask them questions to help them discover what their next steps might be. And that's really the last thing my. My teenagers want to hear. What they want is me to just sit and listen. Right. They just want to be heard and seen. And there's so much power in that. And the visual that came to me was, was it's like when, you know, a plant needs to be watered. You don't take a fire hose out and, like, fire hose it with water, right? You let it. You give it the water that it needs, and it finds it in the soil and it picks it up and it rehydrates and is. Comes back to life in these magical ways. And it can be powerful for us to learn that sometimes that's what's needed from us. True. Is more presence than that. Got, I guess, pushing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I cannot agree more with that. And then, you know, I had an image in my head pop in about, you know, how sometimes if we do the plant analogy, to tack onto that, you know, you need some struggle to bear ripe fruits, you know, and I'm thinking, like, grapes need a little struggle if they want to be the tastiest when you put them in wine or salads or whatever. So not to. To lose that part also.

Yeah, okay. Yeah. I just wanted to add one other piece to the regenerative health health piece, which I'm really putting big claim to, and that is being really mindful of the food that we eat. Because as entrepreneur and I see it a lot in the coaching space, and I love the coaching space. I've been in it for three decades. Is the food that we eat has an incredible impact on our state of mind emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. And one thing I really. I know and have seen to be true over and over and over again is eating foods that are organically grown and chemically free or that you and. Or that you can grow yourself, that you know are grown without chemicals, is probably one of the most profound found tools and instruments that we could put in our tool belt and gift ourselves for true radiant health.

Right on. So on that topic. So. And in your bio, you mentioned you grew up around or on an organic farm. Do you have any, like, sort of like a story that may come to mind about growing your own food or changing your diet? To help fuel you. Because like I'm a systems guy by training in tech and we have a saying called garbage in is garbage out, which is very true. Like the stuff that you're feeding yourself again determines a lot of energy and how you feel about yourself, which is important. But what stories come to mind that maybe you could share about changing the food or being more aware of the food that you know we're eating?

Yeah, well, there's two, two things come to mind. One is when I was. I was born and raised in an organic vegetable farm. So I was born, you know, I was like, I was a kid at Lent. I had the not cool lunch. Like everything was a homemade. It didn't look like anybody else's. And, and like, you know, I hadn't even tasted like Kool Aid or anything like that until I was, I think in school. And then when I did, I was like, whoa, what disappointing was so anticlimactic because I was used to drinking these like fresh squeezed apple juices and stuff like that that we would make with a press on the farm. And. But so my point is as I was born, like being told and shown that organic was really healthy and the way to go. And then When I was 18, my family sold their farm that they had been farming organically for very, for, I don't know, 12 years or something. And then we bought a farm that had been farmed with chemicals and a lot of chemicals. It was a dairy farm and corn had been grown on it and. Handfuls of this dirt and it was like dust. And I actually wondered if it was what the surface of the moon would feel like because it was so lifeless. And I wondered why my dad would buy farm with land like this. And we, not only that, John, but we scoured the whole 110 acres for earthworms because there's this little stream along the side that I wanted to take my little brothers and sisters fishing. I'm the oldest of 12 kids, so it's just kind of like a fun thing to do. And we could not find one earthworm on over 110 acres. We dug along the house, the barns, we turned over every piece of wood there was and not find one earthworm. And we came from a farm where you'd pick up a hand of soil and there would be earthworms in that soil. That is just. Or if there were, there weren't, you didn't have to go too far to look for them. You just had to dig like two or three feet away and there's earthworms so that was shocking to me. And then what was transformational was watching that soil come back to life. Like, that was powerful because it was this dusty, what people call dirt now, turned into this incredible living soil. Like a soil that was full of life, teeming with like microorganisms and earthworms and all the things. And to see that soil actually had an ecosystem in itself was way more transformational than how good any food had tasted growing up. So that was probably one of the most transformational things about food. And I know it's not necessarily food, but it's literally seeing that the soil has life and that life in the soil goes into the food that we eat, which impacts our health, right?

Yeah, definitely. I think it's also a really good metaphor for so many people in modern life. You know, I think there's a disconnect from the soil, from the ground, just the processes that we decide to participate as part of our day to day lives. And like, just like that soil that's lifeless. If you take a look at all the things that you do day to day, like what's giving you life, what's giving you that sense of vibrancy, and how can you change your ecosystem or environment to be a little bit more connected to that, that humanity? And maybe I'm not landing this idea that popped in my head as much, but really, like, like that transformation, like. So I'm thinking of a documentary I saw a while back called the Big Little Farm. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it and just how connected every little thing was. Like you get snails to, you know, to do something, then you get ducks to get the snails, so the population's in check and they don't eat all your plants. And then before you know it, you have this thriving ecosystem of life and, you know, it's all working together to make the farm lush, right?

Yes, yes. And that's so powerful, Sean, because it's a great segue into having a deeper understanding of how connected we are. We are soil, we're literally living soil ourselves and just in different form. Right. When we break down the body, we have all the same elements as soil. It's very powerful. And then also looking at that, taking that further, the microbial life in the soil is what's. Is where the plants are getting their energy from and growing, growing, growing from, right? And then the food that's produced from that has a microbiome itself. And then when we eat that, that microbiome becomes part of us. And this is the powerful part, because we used to think that our body would break down all the food and you know, get the protein and get the sugars and bring it to the different parts of our body that needed it. But what we're learning is that the microbes actually break down the food for us, release the different nutrients that our bodies need and then it goes on and throughout our body. So without the right microbes in our gut, we're not able to break down, you know, the glutens and the, all the things that people are having a hard time with. And there's things that are linked to the way we grow food that are actually destroying our microbiome. They're destroying the microbiome of the cells, soil and from how our food is grown and then is also impacting the microbiome of our bodies because of the chemical exposure we have. So it's this powerful interconnectedness of mindfulness, of going into more awareness of. It's not just about eating organic food. It's about the impact we're having on, on our planet and on humanity and on evolution as a whole and on creation and in life as a whole. It's really powerful when we zoom out and we take a look at it from that perspective. It's, you know, it's the food we eat is. It probably has the greatest impact of all on the planet and we don't even know it.

Yeah. Oh yeah. Being, you know, living in California, there's a lot of like the farm to table movement and access to fresh vegetables and whatnot. And like years ago, before I moved out west, I ran an experiment to see how long I could just buy food at the farmer's market and like not buy anything that came in a package. So it was like bulk grains. I'd carry my own containers in. There's a little co op where I was living that let me do that, which is pretty cool. And like the way that I felt was like the way that, that changed for me just by going into like more organic, you know, farm grown stuff was pretty surprisingly immense.

Tell me what you noticed.

I just had more energy. I was sleeping a little bit better. I had an acne problem that cleared up. You know, after that I, I felt like I was doing so much more work like cooking and preparing things. I actually learned how to cook vegetables. Like at least here in the States, like it's boiled and mushy. Like I get why people don't like carrots or kale or any of that stuff. They just don't know how to prepare it. Right. But it really taught me on how to, like, really focus and prepare that stuff a lot better on top of the energy benefits and the skin clearing up and all that. And it. Yeah, so it was a really. I was able to go like three months completely focused on that. And then it's like I was trained for a marathon and stuff. And I think my caloric intake, you know, I'm like, oh, I'm spending so much time cooking and running, I need to, like, spend more time eating. So shifted out of that, but it was really, really profound. So I love that idea. And I think, and personally, there's something to the food that you're taking a look at really does impact how you feel. Like, that turned me off of fast food. Like, I think it was that time when, like, after that three months where I like, like, went to McDonald's and I'm like, why do I feel so terrible? Like, and I feel like the crab in the pot where, like, if you've been doing it for so long, you don't realize how physiologically you feel after that, some of that stuff.

That's right.

And so it helped me make. Be really much more aware of. Of what I was eating also. But, yeah, super cool.

Yeah. And it's really powerful because regenerative health goes beyond the foods that we eat in terms of the impact it has on the environment. Right. So it's regenerative health for the environment, for the soil, for all life on the planet. It's. It's regenerative health for our rivers and our oceans and our waterways. One of the biggest polluters in our waterways is agrochemicals.

Yeah.

I'm sure. And. And we don't. We don't. We don't realize the impact. So we, we talk, we're talking here about regenerative health for our own self, personally. And it. And that's part of the story is the incredible impact it has globally.

Mm. Yeah. Especially as we're seeing a lot more like, climate disasters and whatnot, you know? Yeah. That sounds like it could be a whole topic unto itself for another couple hours.

Yeah. You know, I don't mean to take it that way. I just want people to be inspired by what they can do. So, you know, it's. I live in a community where it's really hard to find organic food. I live in rural Saskatchewan. I go to the grocery store and I can buy apples a lot of the time organically, not all the time. I can buy pineapple almost all the time. And Then everything else is kind of a hit and miss. Oh, organic leeks and organic mushrooms are almost always on the shelves as well. So those, you know, four or five items I'm, I'm pretty hot on. But beyond that, it's really, really hard. So I, I grow as much as I can, I get as much as I can from other local growers and I can. And preserve. Preserve as much as I can. So. And I, so I understand that like healthy food and organic food is not easily accessible for a lot of people. I lived in B.C. on the west coast of Canada, and you live in California. So, you know, we're. That's privilege when it comes to food accessibility. And what excites me though, about the conversation that we're having is how people can be inspired by what they can do. So even buying one pound of apples a week or even a year, a million people do that. And that's a million pounds of organic apples that have been purchased, which is moving the needle for farmers to farm differently. Right. And it's sequestering mega gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere. So it's really, really powerful, the impact we have with the way we vote, with our fork and with every bite of food that we have.

If you're enjoying listening to this episode of the Meaningful Revolution podcast, there's another kind of conversation that you might really enjoy. So check out Dara here explaining a little bit about high performance coaching.

I feel like in this particular moment where all of us need massive amounts of self care. High performance coaching is one of those huge gifts you can give to yourself for self care. It's one of those things that just shapes your life in all these ways you never imagined. And I think I would just tell a friend that it's worth it and get ready because it's gonna shake up your life. It almost feels like, you know, you don't even realize as you're going along kind of these progressive steps and all of a sudden, you know, 12 sessions in, or however many sessions in, like, wait a minute, I'm planning and thinking about a life that is, you know, drastically different in many ways. And so it's just, it's almost like this mental shaking up and getting all the crap out of your head. So I think it's, it's an amazing experience and it's incredibly energizing and it's worth every penny.

Awesome. I love having deep conversations with folks, whether they're in my podcast or in my coaching practice. And so if you'd like to have your Meaningful revolution started through a conversation and high performance. Please stay tuned to the end of this episode for your invitation on how to get started. Yeah, I love that, that, that expanding that worldview. And I want to pull on a thread that, that I heard you say too, and like engaging other. Could you talk maybe a little bit about the community and the relationships that come along in doing this work and focusing not only on regenerative health, but on the agricultural part? Because at least from my experience in California, it's like you go to the restaurants that know the farms. So it's very much a relationship thing that we all as humans are programmed to dial into.

So, yeah. Oh, thanks for this question, Sean, because it's very tender on my heart because I really believe that every farmer that farms really wants to grow the best product they can. It doesn't matter if they're farming with chemicals or farming organically or biodynamically with Korean natural farming. They. Their heart is in farming. They're farming because they love farming or they kind of fell into the farming or maybe they've inherited a farm. But to farm most, you've really got to love it or love aspects of it or growing food for people. So first and foremost, I think that's really important to honor and beyond that is meeting, meeting people where they're at. And what I mean by that is in their, in the organic and regenerative biodynamic space for I since I think since chemicals maybe have been introduced, there's been some divisiveness. And what I mean by that is like, now regenerative is all the buzz and they're saying, oh, organic isn't as good as regenerative. Regenerative is better because, you know, we build soil health and we do agroecology and we do no till. This, that and the other thing. And yeah, that can be true. And at the same time, I know regenerative farmers who only donuts do no no till. And that is the only thing they do regeneratively. They still use genetically modified seeds. They still use glyphosate. They still do all the spraying for the bugs and the fungicides and all the things. And they consider themselves regenerative farmers because they do no till. So I meet those farmers where they're at and really lean into the conversations of, of like, what's next? So that's that doing o till is amazing because it is. It is eliminating erosion and it's not breaking up the soil food web, as we've learned. And what's next. And then to the other aspects of regenerative. Regenerative farming and gardening. Looking at the organic model as. And recognizing that it's a grassroots organization that has gotten really, really big in the last decade or so. And what I mean by that is big corporations have come in and, you know, there's. There's massive organic farms, like massive thousands and thousands and thousands of acres. And so that now people are like, well, is it really organic? And some testing that they. They've done. I wish had it right in front of me, the actual numbers, but I think it was 97% of food that was tested in that was organic had like, was verified to be organic and having way less chemicals than other foods. So even though there is. There's always. There's always that room for a slippery slope in anything that we do, right. It's focusing on what we are doing well. And then same with the biodynamic community and the Korean natural farming community and the soil food web community. It's gathering and noticing what we can learn from each other and how can we all lift one another up. So what works really well for farmer. Farmer Fred, who lives down the road from me, might not be what works really well for me and the way I farm. However, I can glean from his experience and maybe incorporate some of that into my practices and vice versa. So I think that's where we're at in the industry as a whole is how can we work collectively, how can we learn from each other, and how can we really amplify the regenerative farming and gardening and regenerative health movement so that we can all hold hands and link arms and bring more people on board to know that the food that they're eating is not only impacting their health, it's impacting the health of the planet.

Right on. Yeah, it's. It's so important. So I'm gonna switch gears a little bit here. And I love this and you know, I hope at the end we'll talk a little bit about heart and soil. You know, if people are looking for a community to engage, I think that's a really great magazine that you run that, that can help provide some of that community, some of that perspective and just figuring out what you could do for yourself. Maybe as a consumer you could talk more about it, but as a farmer, as someone that's in that zone at that topic. But I was curious. So if we look around at like, what does top talent or skill look like in regenerative health? Like, if there Were people, if you like, who would you rec if I was like, hey, I want to learn more about this. We just had a really great conversation. What's like follow up reading or resources or things to check out that might have influenced you as you've gone through this?

That's a great question. Well, we actually amplify regenerative health leaders and experts in Heart and Soil magazine a lot to choose which ones is really hard. Some that come to. I mean I, we. I just did an interview with Nicolette Riche and she does a podcast called Eat Real to Heal. It's fabulous. And she's a regenerative health coach and medicine regenerative medicine advocate and she practices a Gerson Therapy. She's doing a, a tour right across Canada called 22 million strong to reverse 22 million people's experience with chronic illness and chronic disease. So that's what her goal is. And then there's Zach Bush who is, who speaks to, he's a medical doctor, triple board certified. He speaks a lot about the microbiome and our connection to earth and to nature. And he really helps pull, he's helped simplify things and he helps people understand the impact of chemical agriculture on our health. So he's a wonderful place to a resource as well.

Okay, awesome, awesome. I guess maybe like breaking it down. This could be like fun. If someone were to get started then, right? And they took a look at Nicolette and Dr. Zach Bush or whatever. What do you think would be like the first two to three things that like a beginner, right? So say that, you know, maybe you're not a farmer, maybe you just kind of do the normal grocery store thing. Like what would think would be like the starter steps for someone to start to get into this movement to help the planet heal, to help themselves heal through good nutritious food.

Well, I think the first part would be really defining what health means to you and being mindful of why it's important to you. What is the, what does health mean to you and what do you want to in optimal health? What are you doing? What are you able to do? Where are you, where are you in five years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now? And what can you do today that will move you towards that, that will nourish you into that, that will feed your microbiome, that will feed your mind, body and soul. And in a way that is making your body resourceful. So rather than making it dependent on outside hits and fixes, what can you do that will make your body resourceful today to generate health.

That's a powerful, powerful question. On top of that. So say that like, I want to be in my best health. I want to be able to put my socks on when I'm 90, you know, without pain. What would be maybe some more like one or two practical things that they could do. Is it like going to a store and only buying organic? Is it visiting farms? I don't know, Something a little more tangible.

So the reason I. The reason I identify defining what health means to you and then asking yourself how you can move towards that as a first step is because we need something to move towards. We need a want and a desire to. To do that before we can take the first action step of buying the food. Because then we're more likely to stay on that quest to stay on that journey. So outside of that, like, what are the first things that we can do is. Is just actually making the conscious choice to eat more whole foods, eat more real foods. So tossing out the. Where's my book? Health in a Hurry is my first book. I was on my way to this book launch. Oh, cool. When I was in the accident in 2003. And there's a chapter in it called. I don't know if it's what it's. It's called the Great Cupboard Clean Out. So it's getting rid of all the processed stuff in your cupboard and eating as much whole foods as you can. So. And you know, instead of buying the package of that you're going to put in your microwave for supper. What can you purchase that's really easy to make? You know, it's actually really easy to cook when we learn how to do it. I think that's a lost art. So. Yeah. So anyways, that's a long answer, Sean.

That's fine.

Eat whole foods.

Isn't it? Michael Pollan's quote, like, eat whole foods. I think there's a part that I'm missing and then not. Not too much familiar with that quote.

I don't know. Let me see what I say in this. I say. I say once you get used to having healthy choices available, you may be surprised at how simple it is to make them, which is really true. Right. So if we don't have the quick and easy fix of a granola bar in our cupboard, but we have some nuts and raisins, we're going to grab the nuts and raisins because we're hungry. Right. And our body, they're better for our body, period.

Yeah. Yep. Oh, awesome. Yeah. Verified by my Experience. So I, I, I second this. So if, if you were to go from just starting out, you have that hunger and motivation to, you know, make the right choices, to really focus and improve your health, is there an intermediate level set of tactics or strategies or things to be thinking about that would help you level up your sustainable health game?

Sean, I'm sorry, can you repeat that question again? But I just had two more other, like, simple things that people can do. Can I share them?

Yeah, yeah, share them and we'll get to the, the intermediate zone. Okay.

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and the other two powerful, wild, healthy habits that, that we can incorporate into our daily life is breathing and presence. So it's really being mindful of when we're feeling stressed out, when we're feeling anxious, when we're feeling that we're thinking about the future and what is going to go right or going to go wrong, or we're worried about what happened in the past and showing it the same way. It's bringing ourselves to the present moment and focusing on our breath and noticing what the air feels like as it moves over our lips and into our lungs and then out as we exhale. And that's a really, really powerful exercise. And getting yourself out into nature, connecting with nature, anytime in any way that you can, even if you don't like it, find what you do like about it. You know, define something that you like about nature. Maybe it's not going outside for you. Maybe it's just having really good food in your house because that is a form of connecting with nature.

Yeah, I love that.

Yeah.

Because my first thing is like, just sit out in the sun. But, you know, if that's not an option for you, you know, I have an aunt that has lupus and I, I guess the sun really causes a lot of symptoms for her in that regard. You know, what could you do after, like. Yeah, it's kind of like the no doubt thing. Like. Yeah, the food that you pull from the outside natural world is also a good connection. I love that, that connection.

Yeah. And also the water that we drink. Right. Choosing really healthy, clean water if we can make that happen for ourselves. And that's, and again, that's today, in today's world, unfortunately, that's a privilege. And, and at the same time, it's one of the most powerful ways we can transform our health is through the nourishment that we have. And that is coming from connecting deeply with where that nourishment is coming from, which is nature.

Right on. Yeah. Okay. I Love that. So, okay. To re. Recap the habits, it's, you know, find your health motivation. You know, think about what ideal health is in the future and how to get there. Eat more whole foods. So more practically, you know, eat more whole foods. Do you know, focus on your breathing and presence and then finding your connection to nature, however that, whatever that means to you, which I think is really strong.

Yeah, yeah. Finding and nourishing it. Right. Because it can be a journey. It's not necessarily. Some people all of a sudden have this massive awakening and they're out in the trails every weekend or every day after, after work. And for some people it's much slower than that. You know, they, they buy a plant or they buy real food for the first time. You know, there's people who've never had food other than from a box. So and, and, and it's trans. Formational when they have the first fresh carrot or first head of lettuce or you know, the first real cucumber.

Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's magical to have like a carrot. Like you realize that there's so much more flavor that goes into like an, or like a heirloom carrot or heirloom tomato than something you buy from the store. So. Okay, so segueing into the next question. So if you have like a foundation in this work. I love this question because it usually is. Gets people thinking. It's. What would you suggest or coach or point people to, to go from like an intermediate level. So you're doing some of the, you're eating healthy food, you're connecting with nature. You know, you're connecting with your breathing again, you have that, that, that clear vision of your health and you're making better choices to make that a reality. Is there anything that would help amplify that process? Like a couple of things along the way?

Yeah, good question. I think two things come to mind. One is them. Holding yourself, holding space for yourself in the messiness when you don't do it perfectly. Especially if you're really attached to doing it perfectly or attached to doing it right because really there's no right way. It's. You do the best you can with what you know, with where you're at and, and you lean and you nourish yourself towards deepening into what health looks like and feels like for you. And then secondly, it's really deepening into your own self awareness to how is. To the feedback and information your body is giving you about how you're sleeping, how you feel when you wake up in the morning? How do you feel when you're falling asleep at night? What's going through your mind when you're falling asleep at night? What does a food feel like when it first touches and meets your tongue? Like, what is that? Like, what does it feel like when you chew the food 120 times? And what does that feel like for your digestive system when it receives the food that's been chewed 120 times? That and all the digestive enzymes activated to help break it down to work with your microbiome to nourish all the, the respiratory and elimination and digestive and endocrine systems. Like what, what is that like? And, and how, how are your daily habits serving you in ways to be all that you want to be in living the health that you want and desire to feel?

Yes. That's, that's beautiful. So if I'm kind of like picking up some themes about sustainable and regenerative health, it's a component of physically the things that you're taking into your body physically, what's happening in the environment around you. So there's a physicality part. There's this really like meditative, like presence, forward kind of self awareness component of, you know, finding the cause and reaction of I eat, you know, fresh produce from, you know, organic farm. I feel this way. It's almost spiritual. And then if I don't do that, how does that, you know, having that comparison?

Yeah. And if I could go ahead.

What, what is there another component of this? It may be a little higher level that I'm missing or that fits pretty well.

Well, I just want to dovetail on the piece where you said, you know, when I eat healthy food or good food, I feel the same when I eat, you know, something that was less healthy than I feel that way. And there's another piece of that is when we eat the food that we choose to eat because every single bite of food we put on our mouth, we're choosing it trusting and our body to use the nourishment from that food and eliminate anything that it doesn't want or anything that it's not, that is not going to serve you. So, so that's one of my ninja tricks. When I'm eating something that I think might be less than healthy, I'll just have a chat with my body and I'll be like, and I'll. And I'll literally say, take from this. What you feel will be nourishing and let go of all the rest. And if you feel like it'll all be Nourishing. Sure. Hold on to it, use it, and whatever is not. And it's really powerful because I think our mindset around our eating is as powerful sometimes as what we eat. So I. Yeah, I don't know that that's a higher level, Sean, but that came to me when you were talking about. Because sometimes we on ourself or make ourselves wrong for eating, you know, like, not organic or eating a chocolate bar, eating chips or eating ice cream or whatever it is. And at the same time, if we are choosing to do it, it's really important to. For. To have a good experience of that. It's really important for your body, emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually to have a nourishing relationship with the food that you're putting into your. Your vessel that you're here that's carrying you around.

Yeah, I love that because, like, I'm sure, like, do you still eat ice cream? Because when you make that choice, like, you want to enjoy it, you don't want to feel guilty. Like, you want to accept. Accept that experience. And if it's with your kids or whatever, it's. That's a memory that you're building together. So I. I hear what you're saying. Don't get so rigid in the rules of it and allow yourself a little bit of grace and a little bit of, you know, enjoying things, you know?

Yeah. And when you're asking that.

Right.

Yeah, you are. Yeah. Okay. And if asked for a high level. Can you give me an example of what you might mean by that?

Oh, I'm just. I'm just thinking in, like, buckets. So we have, like, the. The physical nature of this, just, like food, how it interacts in the environment. We have, like, this emotional component of not beating yourself up, being more mindful of the choices we're making and having that motivation, you know, those are like. So it's like motivation. It's physical things that we're doing. That's just kind of what I noticed. I'm not sure if there's. There is another part. Maybe there isn't.

Well, yeah, that's a great. That. It's a great question, because I think there's lots of parts. And in Heart and Soil magazine, one of the reasons we decided to include healthy. A healthy Harvest section in the magazine is we really believe that growing healthy food is a big part, an important part of healing ourselves in the planet. And at the same time, harvesting health and cultivating health is equally, if not more important, because the more awareness we have around our health and how we can generate and regenerate our personal health. The more agency we have in moving towards more regenerative food buying practices in the grocery store, at restaurants, when we're on the road, what we're going to keep in our office cupboards or what we're going to keep beside our, you know, our, our snack beside like on our desk. So I think having that connection to an agency into having an awareness that our body is always wanting to heal itself. It's its innate way of being. It wants to heal, it wants to regenerate. And the more we can support it, the more it will work in alignment with us and be in tune with us. So it's not just like our, we are not separate from our body because I think a lot of people feel separate from their body, right, I'm going to do this and I want this from you. I'm going to work out, you know, five days a week so that I can be strong or that I can be fit or that I can fit into these new pair of jeans. And so there's like this separateness. And when we are able to come in alignment and in tune with the deeper impact of what, how our daily choices and our, how our daily habits impact our health on an emotional, mental, physical and spiritual level, the more long term impact we have. So it becomes the way of living instead of a way of just getting something. It's not, it's not a short term fix, it's a, it's a way to live, it's a way to live in, in oneness and in collaboration with our, our bodies and with nature and with the earth and with each other. And because it bleeds into our relationships then right. Moves into how we communicate with our spouses and with our children and with our friends and with our family. Because the more grace and the more nourishing we can be towards ourselves, our bodies and who we are, the more nourishing and more our ability to be in the struggle or be in the messiness of life expands. And that's powerful. And it's shown that stress is 80% of illness. Right. So yeah, regeneration is powerful.

Well, that's beautiful. I hope everyone takes away from our conversation today the importance to really regenerate and take care of yourself. How that relates to this greater idea of taking care of our planet, the connections that we have with one another through, you know, the food system and so much other things. So one last question before I, before we wrap up is in a little bit of a shifting gear, but in this work that you do. How do you. Do you have a couple habits that keep you on mission or on purpose or on task every day, week or month, or whatever. The cadence that works for you. I'd love to. To know that.

Yeah, I have. I guess I have a long, short list, John. So there's a lot of things I do that take a very small amount of time that I feel get me big results. So I have. I call them totems around my house. Like, I have totems. And what a totem is, is it's something that when I look at it, it brings me absolute joy or happiness or makes me laugh or makes me feel good about who I am. It makes me good. Feel good about life. And so that can be a picture, a crystal, a rock, a book, a knickknack. It can be a dresser that I purchased. It can be a. Like a light on the wall. It can be that totem for you can. It is whatever evokes, like if whatever evokes life inside of you and joy inside of you. So that's one of my. My habits is I'm really mindful about having those totems around my house and in my office, even in my car. And the. Then the second habit is I always. I'm mindful of how I spend my time. And so what I mean by that is I know that I want to be flexible, flexible, agile and strong when I'm in my 90s. And so what is going to get me that. So working out, stretching, doing yoga, moving my body is going to get me that. So I don't necessarily do the same routine all the time. I do. I do weight training and I do yoga, and I do functional work and I do polarity yoga, and I often switch it up. So there's some things I keep that are all always the same for mobility and agility. And at the same time, I'm really flexible in that I just make sure that there's movement in my day every day, and then I meditate every day. And that doesn't necessarily have to be, you know, like the 20 minutes or the 30 minutes or sitting on my yoga pillow can just be being present. You know, it can just be doing a body scan, noticing how I feel from head to toe. It can be going out on the deck in the morning and just listening to the birds and breathing the fresh air. And then it can be a very intentional meditation of moving the energy from the base of my spine all the way up into my brain and holding it there and. And Feeling what that feels like. And so the, my meditation, mindful practices are quite expansive as well. It's more, it's not necessarily specifically what it's. It's. I don't know how to answer that, Sean. Maybe I'll take that out. But no, it's not specific. It's just not. And, and yeah. And then I also do self care. And so those are activities that make me feel really good. Okay. Range from making sure that I incorporate baths or walks or neurofeedback. Something that really nourishes my state. My, like my well being is my state of mind, emotion, mentally, physically and spiritually. What is that? So that's. Those are some of the things.

Right on. Yeah. So what I heard is you have reminders, these things you call totems that keep you connected to purpose. You have these mindfulness practices. It's not like you do this one meditation. It's however you define meditation, you know, either from walking or from very intentional mantra based things or whatever things you're doing that help remind you that your work's important, that you're doing meaningful things and you're walking the walk a lot of the ways. Because I know that, that mindfulness is such an important part of the work that you do. So with that said, thank you so much for being here. What is the best way for folks to reach out to follow up with you or to check out Heart and Soil magazine?

Oh, thanks for asking, Sean. So Heart and Soil magazine is the guide to regenerative farming, gardening and living with a focus on impacting soil health and your own personal well being through growing your own food or connecting with your farmers and learning how food is grown. And you can get a complimentary copy just by heading over to heartandsoilmagazine.com and, and just give us your name and email and we'll send you a complimentary copy so you can just check it out and see if it's a good fit and it's a wonderful. Like if you're into wanting to know how to grow your own food, if we grow your own food, or if you want to learn how to grow food without chemicals, or if you're already a farmer or gardener or you want to go, or you're curious about going into that industry. It is a phenomenal resource that bridges conversations around regenerative farming, gardening, living from organic to biodynamic to Korean natural farming to composting, compost teas and the soil food web. And we talk about bacteria and fungi and all the good things and feature leaders and experts and scientists and farmers and gardeners from around the world. So there's something in it for pretty much everyone. And if the magazine isn't a good fit for you, then head on over to healthinahurry.com and you can get your own free copy of this book and you can check it out because it's full of some of the tips we talked about today and then lots of other resources for being healthy when you have no time.

Right.

And also, Shawn, I just wanted to say thank you so much for having me here today and for doing the work that you do around meaningful revolutions and connecting people with their deeper purpose and their why and helping people fill their toolbox with resources and with ideas and to so that we can learn from each other and alongside each other. It's really powerful and you are a phenomenal coach and anyone who works with you is super blessed and I feel deeply honored to have been invited to have this conversation with you. So thank you.

Oh, thank you. And of course, hope to have you on sometime soon. Well, I'll have that link below in the show notes on how to reach that if you didn't catch the Heart and Soil magazine link that Natalie just shared. Again, thank you so much for your time for sharing your passion for regenerative health and agriculture and all things connected to it. We're very, very honored to have you here and we'll see you guys in the next episode of the Meaningful Revolution podcast. All right. What an amazing episode with Natalie that we had today. I think if I could sum up all the notes that I took during the session, and I hope you did too, it's that this is a conversation about wellness, right? This is sustainable health, sustainable and regenerative agriculture. It's all about working, having things work together. And I think having a holistic approach to your wellness, whether that's exercise and diet and all the ABCs that we talk about in high performance or some of the other guests like Harry Petrie had talked about or Aaron Hurley talking about taking care of yourself. This, this is all adjacent to the same conversation of wellness. So I hope your takeaways are to really think about your ideal health going forward and to connect with nature, to really have a little extra thought into what you're putting in your body and how that's impacting the environment overall. So with that said, in our next episode, I'm really excited to have the guest, Patricia Tallman, who is a stunt woman and actress and have been in a bunch of sci fi stuff and horror stuff over the years. So I'm as a nerd, I'm really excited for her. So hopefully you will join us next week, right? And that hopefully you should join us next week. So make sure to listen to next week's episode with Patricia Tomlin and talking about how to face and conquer your fear dragon. So until then, guys, this is Sean Butner signing off. See you later. Before we wrap up this episode of the Meaningful Revolution podcast, I want to extend an invitation for you to start your meaningful revolution through a high performance conversation. So if you go to SeanButner.com coaching you can qualify, qualify for a one hour strategy session with me as long as I have time. And we will deep dive and have a conversation like the one you just heard. So if you like this podcast and what you just listened to, then I know you're gonna love our one on one strategy session because we'll go in and we'll deep dive into your life through the high performance lens, this science based process that people love. And we'll find some breakthroughs for you how you can live a little bit more meaningful or feeling a little bit more fulfilled or feeling a little bit more connected to those around you. So, but don't take my word for it. Here's more of Dara sharing their story of how they were before and after certified high performance coaching. And again, if you're interested in qualifying For a free one hour strategy session, go to SeanButtner.com coaching link below. Wherever you're watching are listening to this episode. So over to Dara.

Before coaching, I was just sort of like, like a machine just going along and doing the thing. And like there were decisions that I must have made at different points along the way that seemed like small decisions, but they slowly added up to this life that didn't make sense to me anymore and it just came crashing down. And I took a day off of work and was like, I can't do this. This doesn't make sense to me. What I do in my daily life, how I'm living my life, how I'm not taking care of my body and you know, socially, like just the whole picture was just kind of not. It just all felt long. And then I signed up to do the coaching and I think it gave me this space to pause and reflect in a way that daily life doesn't always give us the structure to do that. And because you're paying money, you're making this investment, right? And so you're committing to it in a way that if I say, oh, I'm going to journal every day about my hopes and dreams. It's not the same as sitting down with someone, having somebody hold you accountable and showing up and doing the work. So before, yeah, just sort of this machine moving along this path that was sort of unconsciously set. And then after, I just shifted simple things like how I feed myself and, like, just little things that I'm suddenly aware of and who I bring into my life and how I spend my time and energy. And it just feels so much more in alignment with my values and my goals and my community and family's values and goals. So huge change.