MUSINGS & INSPIRATION

“Carving the Way Home” Series

“Carving the Way Home” Series

Date

This is the first installment of a series I have called “Carving the Way Home” – where I intend to share with you excerpts and teachings from some of the most influential thought-leaders of our times (and some from times past too) who are igniting powerful and inspiring changes in the remembering and healing of humanity.

 

We begin with Dr Zach Bush, a specialist in microbiome, internal medicine, hospice care, and endocrinology. He speaks up about health, food systems the manifestation of disease, and our connection with our living earth. If you don’t know of Dr Zach Bush yet, I cannot recommend his work and wisdom enough, he is a beacon of light where science and spirit meet.  He invokes such a palpable presence with his passion and love for our journey of life, that I am moved to tears and filled with hope each time I am fortunate enough to witness him.

The Global Health Education Initiative now has 13 episodes, each with a webinar where Zach and his colleagues explore many relevant topics, including – The Heart: Understanding the Vascular System, Resilience, and Repair – which I am sharing an excerpt from below.  The whole series is funded through generous donations and is available for free at https://zachbushmd.com/knowledge-base/ along with many amazing blogs.

Now…I want to share with you this excerpt from Zach’s opening/welcome.  He offers this moment in time to ground, breathe, and connect – before he settles into the topic of the day. As always, his way with words and presence of heart moves me deeply, Enjoy!

FROM DR ZACH BUSH:

I want to give you a few seconds to trust your body. I want you to come into yourself and understand in an intuitive way what you are feeling when you hear my words, when you feel yourself there. I want you to acknowledge the fact that you are here, and you are a miraculous being. 70 trillion cells working in concert to create this moment of health. That you have the consciousness and the intellectual capacity to listen to another human being. To connect through these technological platforms, you’re here.

I want you to feel your feet, your hands, your belly – scan your body. Take some deep breaths right now. Where are you carrying stress? Where are you carrying fear? Where’s the tension? Exhale that tension, let it drop away. You are the most complicated scientific laboratory ever devised. 70 trillion cells are assessing their environment every second, millions of times a second. Sensing the environment around it, reacting to it, modifying it, adapting, healing, regenerating.

You are not only the most extraordinary laboratory ever developed; you are the most extraordinary therapeutic cornucopia of options and treatment ever devised. Every cell in a constant state of regeneration and repair at a speed that is dumbfounding. Speed at which hormonal and redox signalling happens through communication networks through the body are measured in a millionth of a second. Every millionth of a second, your body is in a regenerative state, repairing, healing.

This is what I now have trust in as a physician. I have no faith or trust in what I know because it is a tiny fraction of the truth that lies within the complexity of your body. You are of an intelligent design that boggles the minds of scientists and physicians around the world and defies any of our computer capacity to calculate the sheer complexity of any given millionth of a second within your body.

When any physician, scientist, or regulatory body or NGO or anybody shows up and tells you they know what’s going on in your body, know that they are wrong. They may have a theory as to what’s going on. They may have a glimpse into a small part of what’s going on within you. But nobody knows how you exist right now.

It’s too beautiful. It’s too complex and it needs to be trusted.

And so if you learn anything from me is that I know nothing. If you learn anything from any of us, it should be that we stand in awe as scientists and physicians of the beauty of human life that we all chose to be here. There are ancient souls that are showing up in bodies around the world right now. That’s my experience as a physician, as a hospice doctor sitting at the end of life for so many patients.

I watch life restart, rebirth, in those moments that we call death. We have an energetic centre that is continuous, cannot be destroyed and it steps into these physical bodies for a moment in time to express a particle moment of energetic energy, energetic expression of life. And that is you, that’s who you are. You are a particle expression of an energetic force of life within you. This sense of solidity, the solid state of your hand, or your face is the result of a quantum miracle. This particle appearance of waveforms, energetic waveforms, light force that are expressed for a moment as particles in every millionth of a second and you show up as a physical being. An expression of a much deeper and a much more true energetic being, a light being. And that light particle phenomenon that is both a wave and a particle at the same time is the truth that Einstein uncovered.

As we wrap our heads around relativity and quantum physics we find out that you are a quantum miracle. You are an expression of something much greater than any physical nature ever described or witnessed.

So trust that.

So when somebody tells you that you need a drug or you need some sort of technological intervention to be healthy, you should question that immediately. And you should go deep into this quantum miracle that is your body and ask the questions to yourself. And trust the answers that come out. And if in that trust you find that yes, that technological thing is what I want to reach for right now, I understand it’s not a solution, it’s a band aid, it’s something, it’s maybe just a hope, and if I need that hope right now, I’m going to reach for that technology and I hope that it works, acknowledge that it’s a hope, it’s not a science, it’s not a truth, it’s not a thing, it’s something you’re believing in and that’s okay. As long as it’s coming from within. The whole concept of health, freedom, is around your integrity and intuitive nature.

Here is a link to the full webinar The Heart: Understanding the Vascular System, Resilience & Repair

 

We are living in a time of great change where we are being asked to remember who we are.  We are being called to awaken to our true nature and to listen to the wisdom of our bodies.

Trust and remember that you are a quantum miracle.

With love,

Linda (and Zach) xo

 

 

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HerStory

I was born and raised in Aotearoa, NZ – a dairy farmer’s daughter. There was a lot of love and a lot of hard work. Despite the rise of environmental toxins, prescription drugs like birth control medications, and junk foods of the 80s – our family was wholesome, ate relatively well, and in connection to the land.

I was a highly sensitive and expressive little girl who was deeply connected to the natural world. My parents taught me many good things to guide my way, yet my soul’s experience in this life and the journey of coming back home to my body would not be the easiest road to walk.  It is only years later that I understand and trust that the hardships of my lived experience were to be the medicine and wisdom to offer back to others.

At age 7 I developed Epilepsy and was heavily medicated for 10 years. At that time, we didn’t understand anything about how Epilepsy affects the rest of the body let alone the damaging effect of the medications on my health or the emotional/spiritual understanding of such an illness.

The years that followed carved an arduous road of inner turmoil, insecurity, and physical symptoms. Through my pre-teens and up till my early 20’s I struggled with a very negative sense of self and of my body. I experienced a cascade of symptoms like depression, fatigue, PMS, digestive issues, headaches, and weight gain. I never felt like I fit in and believed I was not good enough. For many many years, I didn’t know how to access the knowledge, support, and courage to overcome – I felt overwhelmed, alone, and scared, so I chose to numb out in various unhealthy ways to escape my reality – seeking to feel worthy, validated and good in my body.

At 22 I had hit rock bottom and wanted to end my life. I was 120kg, sick, and very sad.

I remember the day it all changed. I was sitting on the beach contemplating my purpose, praying for a better life, wondering if existence was meant to be this way – when I felt (consciously) for the first time – an energy and presence beyond my disassociated physical prison. I sensed a shimmering light in the heart of my being emerging – a light of hope, of choice, of remembering. This was my awakening and I am eternally grateful beyond measure.

While my course had been redirected I still had to start walking the path of unravelling deeply ingrained patterns and mental, emotional & physical imbalance. Yet as each day passed my whole perspective began to realign, offering my body and being what it needed to flourish. I was being shown the parts that needed my love and attention to heal. My heart and inner compass were guiding me, and all aspects of my life began to transform. All the beauty of my being that I had abandoned at such a young age began to seep into all the darkened places.

Over the next 6 years, I let go of 60 kg (130lbs) and numerous layers of discomfort and dissonance. It began with obvious simple changes to my diet and lifestyle. I brought more intention and connection into my life and began to inhabit myself once again. I embarked on a passion-filled journey of learning about the body, food, alternative therapies, self-care and spiritual connection – teachings and tools I carry with me today.

When I was 30, I was diagnosed with Hashi Moto’s Thyroiditis (an autoimmune disease). I believe this had been going on for a long while, driving many of the symptoms I had been traversing. I felt deeply knocked down by this diagnosis as I had given so much time and energy to “fixing” what I deemed broken.

While so much healing and transformation had taken place, I was now being asked to journey deep within and explore the origins of my suffering. The more curious and compassionate I became, the more I opened to the messages and call the fragmented parts of myself home. I started to understand that I was never broken to begin with – wholeness was always there. 

This diagnosis was an opportunity and a gift.

The decade that followed was all about coming into right relationship with myself, with others, and with the world around me. It was a deep dive into trauma, limiting beliefs, root cause medicine, and the systemic nature of chronic stress. I was shown that I still had much work to do around my inner narratives and the lack of trust I held for my body. As each season of healing unfurled I came to understand that the source of my suffering was disconnection and my quest was to return home to myself.

I know what it is like to live in a body that doesn’t seem to work properly, that doesn’t seem to match your heart’s desires. I understand what it’s like to feel trapped in symptoms you don’t know how to shift and spend much of your precious time and energy trying to fix what feels broken. I know what self-abandonment feels like.

 

Yet through it all, somehow I still sit here – grounded, vital, present – feeling immense gratitude for the abundance of beautiful blessings that have graced my days. The many landscapes I have traversed have not always been easy but they have always and in all ways supported my reconnection.  I am grateful for this opportunity to participate in the evolution of our collective consciousness.

So here we are – learning, growing, and healing together.

… And the journey continues …

To life…

Linda xo

After leaving high school at 16 to pursue her dream; at that time, of becoming a Chef – Linda graduated with a distinction from culinary school and additional hospitality/customer services-based trainings in Canterbury, NZ. Over the next 10 years, the diversity of her work within these sectors evolved to roles focused on health food, wellbeing, and support services.

In 2007, after some years upon European soil remembering the nourishing ways of her ancestral roots, she explored Asia and India, immersing herself in the Healing Arts of the East – Traditional Medicine, Yoga, Philosophy and Spirituality. From there she journeyed to the Americas and opened to the teachings of Native American and Shamanic Medicine Ways.

Heeding the call, her walk led her to Colorado to begin studies with the Seven Bowls School of Nutrition, Nourishment and Healing, diving deep into many modalities of healing and completing her training as an Integrative Nutrition Practitioner specialising in Food, Energy and Earth Medicine.

In 2010 and after being away from her islands of birth for almost a decade she returned to Aotearoa, NZ to reconnect to the medicine of Polynesia and Rongoa (indigenous plant medicine) for what was to be a majestical commune with the Ngahere (Forest) and wild places, guided by her teacher, Pa Ropata.

With a yearning to find stillness and grow deep roots into the earth, Linda poured her love and energy into growing food, living simply and regeneratively and building community. Crystallising in 2012, from her humble bush shack in the rural coastal paradise of Golden Bay – Nourishing Ways was born.

Mirroring the evolution of her work and research as well as her own personal healing journey, Linda returned to study at the Institute for the Psychology of Eating in the USA, delving into teachings of Eating and Nourishment Psychology and Body Mind Nutrition.

In 2019 she relocated to the Northern Rivers of NSW Australia, Bundjalung Country.  Alongside the flourishing of Nourishing Ways’ many expressions, Earth Kitchen was established to hold the bespoke Catering and Food Medicine Education branch of Nourishing Ways’ tree.

Linda has offered workshops and talks on many subjects ranging from mental health to mindful eating, from autoimmunity to positive body image. She created the popular 21-day cleanse programme “Rejuvenate”, ran healing food cooking classes, and co-created retreats offering wisdom on nutrition, nourishment, plant medicine and spirituality. Linda has mentored people around the world, created in-home wellbeing programmes, consulted cafes on menu development & eco initiatives, offered wholefood catering and workshops for young women’s rites of passage programmes, conscious festivals, yoga retreats/trainings and other wellbeing and transformational events.

Linda has worked in treatment facilities for addiction and disordered eating and has been recruited to cook and teach nutrition, eating psychology, body/mind nutrition and mindfulness to the Sydney Roosters NRL team. She has presented at “The Real Food Revolution”, Mental Health Awareness week, has been featured in newspapers throughout New Zealand, as well as Australia’s “That’s Life” magazine. She has written for Happyzine and Healthpost sharing her story and nourishing wisdom.

Having been a teacher and guide to many over the years, it is not till now, in 2023 that a readiness to fully step into the online world has aligned.