WELLBEING, FOOD & EARTH MEDICINE

The Nourishing Ways Seven Threads Methodology

The Nourishing Ways Seven Threads Methodology

Date

A deeper understanding

As I began to awaken, come home to my body, and cultivate a life of wellbeing and connection – my passion for supporting others to do the same organically evolved.  Through my own personal healing journey, I came to a knowing of the work I was to do with my time here on earth – and so my path as a wellbeing practitioner and mentor emerged.

Through my many years of roaming the globe far and wide across land, sea & sky, and traversing the rich tapestry of the world within – My life has been imprinted upon by the guidance and inspiration of many teachers, spanning many lineages, as well as the wisdom of mother earth and teachings of the plants.  I have distilled all that I have gathered and shaped my own unique blend of modalities and philosophies that facilitate reconnection, nurturance, and healing – guiding you to better understand the language of your body and the nourishing ingredients for physical and emotional healing.

The Nourishing Ways approach is guided and anchored within the wisdom teachings of the Medicine Wheel and Sacred Tree of Life (visit my website for more on these two ancient symbols and mythologies).  The 7 Threads is our methodology or system, for navigating what might be arising for you – offering a deeply wholistic and multidisciplinary approach to healing for the awakening world.

I wanted to expand upon the 7 threads here and offer a greater understanding as to the flavour of journey you and I will embark on, as you reacquaint with your wholeness.

*RECONNECT * NURTURE * HEAL*

1. Food is Medicine 

Real food is our best medicine. To positively impact how we feel and embody healing – we are being called back to our kitchens, our gardens, our places of nurture.

Real food is nutritious, therefore life giving. Foundationally it is essential for all humans to eat nutrient dense wholefood that is immune boosting, gut healing, nervous system regulating and easily digestible – yet it’s not always that straight forward. You have a unique bio-individuality, so how your body is responding right now to particular foods, their energetics, source and the way in which you are consuming them – is equally important to consider. Find peace and balance with food in a confusing, conflicting, and often overwhelming modern world by cultivating deep listening for what your body is asking of you.

2. Unearthing the Roots

Identifying and exploring the underlying influences, origins, and deeper meaning… from trauma to toxicity – of how disease and imbalance manifests and healing happens.

To know where you are going, it is significant to understand the origins of where you have come from and how you got there – the why and how behind what you are currently experiencing! A root cause or underlying stressor can manifest in the physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual aspects of self and often a combination. We learn so much and transform so profoundly, given the tools and right support to widen our lens and dig deep – reclaiming parts left un-nourished and exposing that which has eluded us for many years and possibly our whole lifetime. 

3. Embodied Ecopsychology

 Re-establishing coherence within your whole being, your community and the living earth you are a part of.

In these modern times, we have become increasingly disconnected from ourselves, each other, and the natural world – manifesting as collective dis-ease and imbalance. Ecopsychology teaches us of the emotional relationship between humans and the earth, the interconnectedness of the human experience and ecology – of coming home to your body through returning to an embodied awareness of being fully alive and a sense of oneness and belonging with all things. This work is reconnection medicine, it is deep healing.

4. Gift of your Symptom

Your body is wise beyond belief and will always find a way to inform you when it is out of balance. You need to feel it to heal it!

While your experience is unique to you alone, there are common threads and patterns that weave us all together, a universal language that each and every body expresses – the language of symptom. These messages expressed physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually serve as an opportunity to know yourself, to grow and to heal. They are meaningful no matter how challenging, for they are waking us up and illuminating the path back to what really matters. Your work is to remember how to listen to your own body’s wisdom and magic. My work is to help you learn its language.

5. Tending your Garden

Your body is designed to constantly seek balance and every single one of your 37 trillion cells (give or take) are listening and responding to all you offer them – from the foods you eat to your inner dialogue. 

For life to flourish the right ingredients are fundamental. Yet we tend to overlook these vital ingredients in search of some magic pill, in medications or substances which only serve to numb or mask our symptoms of imbalance and offer (at best), short term relief. Growing a garden that is resilient and abundant first requires healthy soil made from; wholefoods, plant medicine, clean water, connection to nature, sunshine, quality sleep, community, rest time, play, breathwork, movement, mindset, stillness, and simplicity. The way in which you tend to your inner landscape mirrors directly that of your outer landscape – affecting how you think, feel, perceive, and believe. 

6. Body * Mind * Eating

WHAT you eat, HOW you eat and WHO you are as an eater, not only affects your physical health, but also your relationships, your work, your connection to self, what you attract and how you relate to and interact with the world around you.

The field of Eating Psychology and Mind Body Nutrition explores your relationship with food, eating and how you show up for yourself by revealing how stress/relaxation physiology, breathing, emotion, awareness, pleasure, rhythm, slowing down and soul truths have a direct and profound influence on the most commonly seen modern day health challenges – from digestion to dieting, metabolism to mood. This is an empowering, positive, and transformational approach which utilises tools such as talk therapy, archetypal psychologies, cognitive approaches, body-centred practices, alternative medicine and mind-body sciences.

7. Mindfulness

 It is the maintaining of moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, body sensations, behaviours, and surrounding environment through a gentle and nurturing lens.

Guided by the breath and grounded in gratitude for simply being with what is, right now.  Mindfulness enables us to find the pause of observation, to listen deeply within and cultivate compassionate self-inquiry. In the art of being present to the moment with openness, acceptance, and curiosity – we shift our physiology into a parasympathetic state – a relaxed nervous system. From this place of rest, relax and digest, life sustaining processes can take place and healing can happen.  

***

Nourishing Ways offers a functional medicine approach. I believe that true wellbeing embodies the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and nutritional aspects of self. 

Visit https://nourishingways.earth/working-together/ for more information about working together.

With love,

Linda 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.