Nurture & Nourish

Anna and creative coach Kia Cannons talk through Kia’s journey to better wellbeing, one that will resonate with so many women. Kia was once a stay-at-home mum with a lot on her plate. She found her joy in soul-led living and mindset work, and a career as a painter and creative coach. But it came via a bumpy road of chronic pain, stress and adrenal fatigue. Her story, work and energy are a light in the darkness for any woman feeling disconnected from their body and their purpose.

In this episode:

• How to shed the belief that to progress we have to be busy all the time
• Kia’s unusual obsession and what it taught her about her goals
• How to feel safer being our true selves
• Why it pays to realise you’re not in a hurry
• Anna’s concept of non-negotiable rituals for self-care
• The enormous healing power of loving your own body, and how to tap into it
• What Kia did to turn her negative self-talk around – fast

For more conversations on a healing and nurturing approach to food and self-nourishment, subscribe to the Nurture and Nourish podcast with Anna Anderson: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1782720

Find Anna on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/410152999576493

And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iam.annaanderson/

Anna’s website: https://www.annaandersoninc.com

More about Kia Cannons

Kia teaches creative women how to do what they love via talks and her online group coaching membership, Untold Happiness. Deeply interested in mindset mastery, habits, inner-soul work, and purpose, Kia coaches women how to step into their potential, do what they love, and live truly happy and fulfilled lives.

From this episode:

Kia on vulnerability

I quite often thought of vulnerability as being an outside thing. Oh, I've got to be super, super honest. I've got to tell people my secrets. But actually it was being brave enough to have these conversations with myself.

On trusting the process

The greatest results always seem to come from taking messy courageous action and leaps of faith.

On opening up and listening for answers

What I found is that when I started looking up and saying in my head ‘I'm open and ready to receive, I'm listening’[...] I was amazed by the amount of wisdom that would just drop into my mind[...] And so you don't need to worry about what the route’s going to be. You just need to open up, listen, and get really quiet. And just notice. The signs and the pings and the nudges appear. And they guide you.

On the starting point for any kind of deep shift:

Have enormous compassion. Start with: I'm going to treat myself nicely.

Links and resources:

Kia’s website: https://www.kiacannons.com/

Kia’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kiacannons/

Kia’s column in Psychologies magazine: https://lifelabs.psychologies.co.uk/users/333177-kia-cannons

Book recommendation:

Louise Hay You Can Heal Your Life https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Can-Heal-Your-Life/dp/0937611018/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Book:

The Surrender Experiment

Could you just love me like this?

In this episode Anna talks with Course in Miracles teacher, student of the enneagram, interfaith minister, poet and writer and Mother - Hollie Holden. She lives with her husband and two children in London and is passionate about practical, earthy ways to bring Love to all areas of life.

Hollie is the author of a poem on self-love that will resonate with most women on a journey to greater self-acceptance. She opens the episode by reading those powerful words. You might recognise them – they’ve been shared by thousands online, and, as Hollie puts it, ‘have taken on a life of their own’. She captures the essence of the struggle so many of us know too well: trying to fix ourselves, and reacting to cruel self-talk and outside influences. And yet, as Anna teaches in her own coaching, our bodies want nothing more than love and acceptance. How can we get back to that?

In this episode:

• How to work with ourselves, to make big changes and still feel safe
• Why bad self-talk can be like a terrible song that gets stuck in your head
• The reality of what we need for personal growth (it isn’t pushing ourselves harder)
• The role of honesty and being vulnerable
• Are you hearing a harsh inner voice? Or a supportive, truthful one? How can you tell?

For more conversations on a healing and nurturing approach to food and self-nourishment, subscribe to the Nurture and Nourish podcast with Anna Anderson https://www.buzzsprout.com/1782720

Find Anna on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/410152999576493

And Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/iam.annaanderson/

Anna’s website : https://annaandersoninc.com

More about Hollie Holden

Holly is a Course in Miracles teacher, student of the enneagram, an interfaith minister, a poet, writer and mother.

From this episode:

On the importance of honest conversation:

We release each other from the spell, you know, by telling stories... that's why we need to have these conversations to tell new stories; to tell honest stories; to undo on the collective conditioning that we're all swimming in.

On coaching, therapy and community:

We expect to get ourselves out of the hole we're in. And it doesn't work like that... Wouldn't it be great if somebody could just give us the recipe or answer? But we have to hear it in other women's voices.

On the superego:

I've heard that voice say things to me that I would never in a million years say to another person.

On listening to the Nurture and Nourish Podcast!:

If you're listening to this, then you're already on the path, you're already stepping outside of your your natural thinking.

Links and resources:

Hollie’s Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hollieholdenlove

Hollie’s instagram https://www.instagram.com/hollieholdenlove

Hollie’s website http://www.hollieholden.me/

Hollie’s poem https://www.facebook.com/hollieholdenlove/photos/a.652449231538953/1968882349895628/?type=3&theater

Anna speaks with Elliot Rae, speaker, writer and founder of MFF, MusicFootballFatherhood which has been called the ‘dad’s version of mumsnet. After a traumatic experience following his daughter’s birth, Elliot suffered PTSD and found he was forced to confront unspoken issues around fatherhood, masculinity and mental health. He’s now created spaces for other dads to explore their own conditioning and find more helpful ways of dealing with difficult emotions and experiences, in a way that supports families and society as a whole.
In this episode:

• Anna and Elliot talk parenting from a new dad’s perspective, especially when the birth and its aftermath have been traumatic
• They discuss how far we’ve come in being able to talk about dad's mental health since Elliot’s experience in 2016
• They talk redefining masculinity in a way that supports both men and women better

For more conversations on a healing and nurturing approach to life and self-nourishment, subscribe to the Nurture and Nourish podcast with Anna Anderson.
Find Anna on Facebook, Instagram, or visit Anna’s website.
More about Elliot Rae

Elliott founded MFF after suffering from PTSD after the traumatic birth of his daughter. Elliott is one of the UK’s most prominent speakers and writers on topics around fatherhood, masculinity, mental health, equal parenting and gender equality and he regularly hosts webinars and workshops with organisations about how they can support working dads and create a family friendly workplace. He has held senior D&I leadership roles, most recently as Head of D&I delivery at HM Treasury and the United Nations recognised Elliott’s work and he is now the proud recipient of the UN Women UK’s #HeForShe ‘Changemaker of the Year’ award.

Elliott’s first book, entitled ‘DAD: untold stories of fatherhood, love, mental health and masculinity’ is a deeply moving and inspiring collection of 20 stories that represent the diversity of modern fatherhood and seeks to start a conversation that challenges the traditions associated with masculinity. DAD was published on Tuesday 1st June and is an Amazon Top 10 bestseller.

Quotes from this episode:

On his orgnisation, MFF:

We represent dads who want to be engaged fathers who are very aware of their role as dads and the society they're living in now. Who wants to raise children to be socially conscious, who are socially conscious themselves

On the unspoken challenges of new fatherhood:

I would start with trying to understand that they are also going through a massive life change...just yesterday I was talking to someone about a friend who was really struggling as a new dad ...At home, he would get on with it. And he was fine. But he would cry on the drive to work every day... I think ultimately, it's about being patient with each other.

Links and resources:

Elliot’s website & further information on his book, Dad:

www.musicfootballfatherhood.com

In this episode Anna shares a heartfelt and illuminating conversation with inspiring coach Sedruola N Maruska. They talk about Sedie’s incredible work speaking and working with organisations who are authentically striving to address racism and social injustice. Sedie’s own journey stems from difficult experiences – the cancer recovery that triggered her move into more meaningful work. She found herself reconnecting with an event much earlier in her life, a deep loss that she trained herself to bury beneath guilt and shame.

In this episode:

• ‘It didn’t come to kill me’ – how Sedie was driven to take action by her illness
• The moment in her training when she learned her decades-old grief was a huge part of her story
• Anna’s own drive to address and educate herself on racism, and fears about misstepping
• How to have a constructive conversation about addressing inequality
• What action to address social justice means on an individual level

For more conversations on a healing and nurturing approach to life and self-nourishment, subscribe to the Nurture and Nourish podcast with Anna Anderson.
Find Anna on Facebook, Instagram, or visit Anna’s website.
More about Sedruloa Maruska

Sedruola Maruska is a speaker, business consultant and personal discovery coach on a mission to help businesses cultivate cultures of equity and inclusion that lead to social justice and more diversity. She’s the host of the Diversity Dish podcast where she talks to guest about their lived experiences with social and racial inequities. Shes also the founder of the Discovery Den group where she coaches individuals, and entrepreneurs on social justice issues.

Sedruola is a second-generation Haitian-American who prides herself on having an amazing extended family and being a citizen of the world born in Queens, New York

Quotes from this episode:

On authentically seeking social justice:

A lot of people spend time pontificating, but not communicating. We think the thoughts; we put them out there; but we don't really feel open to the ideas that may challenge those thoughts, ideas and feelings... or what we've internalized along our journey.
-

A lot is changing, but what I want is for us to become complacent. So, okay, great, we're all talking about it. But what are we doing about it?

_

​​People have sometimes the best of intentions, but when someone pushes back ...they feel like someone is saying that they're not a good person. But that person is saying, that's not what I need right now. What I need right now is this.

Links and resources:

Sedruola’s website: http://sedruolamaruska.com/discovery-dates

Sedruola’s instagram and Facebook:

http://instagram.com/sedruola

http://facebook.com/sedruolamaruska

Sedruola’s Patreon page:

http://patreon.com/sedruolamaruska

Anna speaks with Master Level coach and kindred spirit Holly Toronto. Holly works to reunite women with a sense of love, respect and ownership of their own bodies. She shows women they have inner value, completely separate from society’s beauty norms, and the emphasis placed on appearance, and teaches them to believe in that inner value on a deep level. She and Anna discuss the fascinating, sometimes enraging connection between how women restrict and limit themselves, and the history of how women have been vilified for taking up space, and sharing knowledge.

In this episode:

• How we can move away from seeing our value as linked to our physical appearance
• What nature and nurture mean for our self-worth
• Why Holly calls refers to her own body a ‘her’ rather than an ‘it’, and gets her clients to do the same thing
• What Intuitive Eating is and why restrictive eating always backfires
• How we can rebuild trust in our bodies
• What ‘compliant woman programming’ is
• The five signs or manifestations that you’re a ‘compliant woman’

For more conversations on a healing and nurturing approach to life and self-nourishment, subscribe to the Nurture and Nourish podcast with Anna Anderson.
Find Anna on Facebook, Instagram, or visit Anna’s website.
More about Holly Toronto

Holly Toronto is a Certified Master Level Coach who has 5 years of experience helping women stop prioritizing other people’s expectations of beauty, belief or behavior so that they can live their life from a place of Wholeness, fully aligned with the truth of who they are.

She uses an intuitive and spiritual approach that is constantly guiding her clients back to themselves, helping them fall in love with their own, unique and powerful voice, build partnership with their wise and beautiful bodies and embody a spirituality that guides and directs the bold lives they desire to live.

Quotes from this episode:

On self-evaluation

It's like we're trained to relate to our bodies as a separate thing. It's almost like we are moving through the world as the eyes that are watching us, versus actually seeing out of our own eyes.

On respecting our bodies

So like, let's stop calling our bodies vehicles, vessels, temples – this objectifying machine-y type language – and actually talk about our bodies as the human beings that they are

Quote from The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf

“A culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty, but an obsession about female obedience. Dieting is the most potent political sedative in women's history; a quietly mad population is a tractable one.”

Links and resources:

Free Body Gratitude Meditation: https://hollytorontocoaching.lpages.co/body-gratitude-meditation/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holly.toronto/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/143221746427796

Website: www.hollytoronto.com