Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 110
Date: March 5, 2024

Participants: John Webster, Noura Saad, Cameron Earnshaw, Sheila Webster, Elise Seifert and Stephen Seifert
Guest: John Webster

Start Times and Segments:

[0:00:16] What’s On Your Mind: Ramadan is a sacred time of year for Muslims. Noura tells us a bit about Ramadan, and about her experiences. Muslims dry fast for 30 days, with no food or water daily, from first prayer (around 6am) through fourth prayer (around 7pm) [times change depending on sunrise and sunset]. Noura finds that her mind becomes clearer and she goes inwards when she fasts. It’s a time to reflect and worship as part of her spiritual journey.

[0:10:20] Expanding Minds Interview: [Life / Wellness Balance] It’s the second part of our short break from the interview format. Last week John Webster talked about a practical and achievable way to approach wellness in different categories of wellness: Step 1- identify my categories of wellness. Step 2 - figure out activities that nourish each category. Step 3 - develop a wellness check-in. But what about the great balancing act? How can we find balance over multiple categories of wellness, especially when there are numerous activities associated with each category? It can feel overwhelming. John found a practical approach that could be used by anyone willing to put in the work. His approach to balance is person-specific. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. It’s not about finding a formula or arriving and staying at a spot. We need to focus on different areas of wellness at different times in our lives. Balance looks different at different times in his life. John uses three analogies to illustrate his thinking: surfing, the movie Eat Pray Love and Sheila’s dance-balance analogy. He spends extra time on one category: physical wellness. Podcast discussions helped him refine this approach. He finds himself doing more activities that foster wellness in different categories. It’s building a shield of resilience that protects him. John also makes a pitch to listeners to make time to enhance their physical wellness, because it’s essential. John felt a profound difference in his life and wellness when he made physical health a priority: eating nutritious food in moderation; doing aerobic exercise; core and strength training; getting enough sleep, etc.

[0:30:05] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Climate change is getting to Cameron. He’s redirecting his outlook, using his concern in a positive way. He’s writing music to find expression creatively.

[0:34:24] Move That Body: Sheila just finished a challenge to do 2,000 pushups in February. She’s feeling strong. People talked to her about pushups during her challenge. She was surprised to hear how many types of pushups there are.

[0:40:07] Running Popup: John found himself looking out a window towards nature while waiting for coffee to brew. The nature scene provided a moment of calmness in a busy day.

[0:41:37] Flipside of the Coin: Elise and Stephen took different paths to teaching jobs. From quite different places, they each ended up in a profession where it feels so good and satisfying to be in a role where they can make a difference.E110 John Webster Finding Wellness Balance

Guest Information: Listeners know John Webster as a co-host of this podcast. John’s an Ontario lawyer who works at international law firm Gowling WLG, from the Waterloo Region office. He is a commercial litigator with 27 years of experience in complex litigation. John is a strong advocate for personal wellness, and this podcast (Let’s Be Well Together) and published a book about his journey (Accidentally Well). John has a lively curiosity that was fostered during his days studying philosophy at university. He embraces the saying, "Never stop learning." You can often find him enjoying its trail system in Kitchener-Waterloo, whether along old rail lines, through a forest or along the Grand River. He's married to Sheila and has three adult children. He’s enjoying life even more after the experiences he writes about in his book.

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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-)   Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura and Julie