Nancy Turner is a rare, venerated human being who, in service of people and the planet, has boldly followed her life’s purpose for more than half a century. For nearly 20 years, I have repeatedly come across her work as a world-renowned ethnobotanist and ethnoecologist and have conducted countless Pacific Rim College faculty interviews of those who have studied under her and have been influenced by her. An Emeritus Professor at the University of Victoria, Nancy’s research integrates the fields of botany and ecology with anthropology, geography, and linguistics. She is passionate about the traditional knowledge systems and traditional land and resource management systems of Indigenous Peoples, particularly in Western Canada.

As we discuss in this episode, Nancy has worked intimately and extensively with First Nations elders and cultural specialists in northwestern North America, and especially along the coast of British Columbia. She shares many stories of how elders have deeply influenced her and her work, and we explore the complexity and symmetry of indigenous languages as they relate to plants. Nancy also shares her deep passion about Indigenous Peoples’ land rights and title, and we discuss possible steps toward reconciliation.

Nancy Turner has authored and co-authored numerous books including Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge and her forthcoming book Plants, People, and Places. She has also authored over 150 book chapters and peer-reviewed papers, and numerous other publications.

As I tell Nancy in this episode, she is a priceless asset to our planet and all who care about the preservation of indigenous knowledge, language, and culture and the plants that we all share. Worth mentioning, she is also a beautiful and deeply respectful individual, and it is my sincere honour to share this conversation with her.

So make yourself a steaming cup of Douglas fir tip tea and snuggle up to this ethnobotanical exploration.

Episode Links:

Nancy’s University of Victoria Bio Page

Books by Nancy Turner:

Plants, People, and Places

Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge

The Earth’s Blanket

Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples

Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms of North America

Food Plants of Interior First Peoples

Plant Technology of First Peoples in British Columbia

Plants of Haida Gwaii

Saanich Ethnobotany with Richard Hebda

Keep It Living with Douglas Deur

Learning Links:

"Indigenous Land Protocol in Medicinal Harvesting" course with Erynne Gilpin at PRCOnline (coming June 2020)

Online Community Herbalist Program

Online Home Herbalist Program

My guest in this episode, PRC faculty member and herbalist Peter Conway, has lived in a van and a teepee, has fought for the preservation and dissemination of herbal medicine knowledge, and generally follows in life a punk rocker ethos. I assure you that Peter is a freak, and that is one of his many endearing qualities. Listening to him talk about plant-spirit medicine is like listening to a living mystic. And yet much of his mystery is wrapped up in what he calls the mundane: the common and ordinary world of herbal medicine that we are all rooted in, even though most have perhaps never been conscious of those roots. From the distillation of alcohols and the production of colas to candies and perfumes, all were once forms of herbal medicine.

Peter graduated from the College of Phytotherapy in the UK in 1995. Prior to joining Pacific Rim College in 2015, Peter taught for many institutions. He co-wrote the BSc Degree course in Herbal Medicine at Napier University in Edinburgh and co-wrote the “National Professional Standards in Herbal Medicine” for the UK Government. He served as president of the College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy for 12 years and is a former director of the European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association. Peter is the author of “The Consultation in Phytotherapy” textbook that he is now revising for its second edition. Peter currently lives in Victoria, is one of 9 distinguished faculty members of Pacific Rim College Online’s renowned Home Herbalist and Community Herbalist programs, and is working on an online project that will address “deep herbalism".

Episode Links:

https://twitter.com/conwayherbalist

School of Western Herbal Medicine at Pacific Rim College

Online Community Herbalist Program at Pacific Rim College Online

Online Home Herbalist Program at Pacific Rim College Online

Touch the Earth by TC McLuhan

The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable by Juliette de Bairacli Levy

Green Pharmacy by Barbara Griggs

Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy by Simon Mills and Kerry Bone

Medical Nemesis by Ivan Illich

Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram

Thus Spoke the Plant by Monica Gagliano

Plants as Persons by Matthew Hall

Plant-Thinking by Michael Marder

The Enchantment of Western Herbal Medicine by Guy Waddell

Pacific Rim College Radio: Peter Conway’s colleagues in online herbalism programs: Episode 14 David Caudwell and Episode 4 Robert Rogers

For this episode I sat down with David Caudwell, a highly respected herbalist. From his upbringing in the centre of England with academically-accomplished parents, David was poised for a great career in herbal medicine. But David took a circuitous path to herbal medicine, and the study of plants did not enter his life until well into adulthood. Now he is a standout in the field and has been a faculty member of the School of Western Herbal Medicine at Pacific Rim College for nearly a decade. Additionally, he is one of nine distinguished instructors in the renowned online herbalist programs at Pacific Rim College Online.

David completed his studies in Herbal Medicine at the College of Phytotherapy in South East England and was awarded a BSc (Honours) from the University of Wales. After graduating, David settled in Sussex, dividing his time between practice, clinic management, and teaching responsibilities at the college where he trained. He has taught for the Universities of Wales and East London. David is a member of The College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy, a professional body of herbalists established to champion the role and development of traditional herbal medicine in the modern world.

David has a lifelong passion for wildlife, the outdoors, and the world’s indigenous medicine systems, which has led to travel on five continents. In his practice, David takes special interest in Women’s Health, Fertility Issues, and Cancer Care.

If you have any interest in plants and plant-based medicine, you are sure to enjoy learning about how herbal medicine blossomed within this well-respected herbalist.

Episode Links:

Email: [email protected]

School of Western Herbal Medicine at Pacific Rim College

Online Community Herbalist Program at Pacific Rim College Online

Online Home Herbalist Program at Pacific Rim College Online

Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman

The Complete Illustrated Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman

Herbs for Common Ailments by Anne McIntyre

The Herbal for Mother and Child by Anne McIntyre

Allan Isbell is a certified mindfulness instructor, a men’s coach, and a rising leader in the men’s movement who has trained hundreds of individuals around the United States. I have mentored under Allan and wanted to have him on the show to share his expertise.

Whether he is coaching men, leading retreats, or introducing mindfulness in schools, Allan embodies what he teaches. He has engaged in hundreds of hours of meditation practice and continues to work with his mentors and teachers. With a grounded presence and unique humor, Allan draws upon diverse influences in ancient wisdom and modern science, as well as his own depth of experience while sharing with others the life-long art of living wisely, with a clear mind and an open heart.

Allan is the founder of Livewise Mindfulness, co-founder of Mens Wisdom Work that provides men’s coach training and personal development programs and retreats, and a coach on the Zenboks wellness app.

Tune in for this enlightening episode with Allan Isbell, and tune out the distractions that keep you from being in the here and now.

Episode Links:

Livewisemindfulness.com

Menswisdomwork.com

Zenboks.com

Openness Mind by Tarthang Tulku

Dancing With Life by Phillip Moffitt

Ram Dass podcast and other resources

Learning Links:

Listen to Episode 11 of Pacific Rim College Radio with Steve James on Meditation

For online wellness courses, check out Pacific Rim College Online

If you care about the planet, this episode with conservation scientist and university professor Dr. Chris Darimont is one that you do not want to miss. From his research chair base at the University of Victoria, Chris oversees a team of researchers throughout BC. After earning a PhD in Evolution and Ecology from the University of Victoria, his postdoctoral work took him to the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a large group of research partners. He has also worked closely with conservation leaders from First Nations communities of coastal British Columbia. The wildlife and people of BC’s central coast – an area popularly known as the Great Bear Rainforest – comprise a study system of particular interest for Chris and his team.

In this episode, Chris and I discuss the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and his work as their Science Director. Chris helps to shed some light on British Columbia’s dwindling forests, the logging industry, and the limitations of commercial-scale tree planting. We talk about the importance of our first growth forests and the role of grandmother trees to the health of forest ecology and the wildlife that lives there.

As for the wildlife, Chris raises awareness on concerning issues related to salmon, and the importance of many of BC’s token animals such as caribou, wolves, mountain lions, and bears. We also spend some time discussing what he and I both agree is the atrocious concept of trophy hunting, which BC still permits in the case of many animals despite overwhelming public outcry to the contrary. Can we put an end to trophy hunting? Chris and I certainly hope that we can, and the recent and senseless slaughter of Victoria’s beloved island wolf Takaya, is bringing the issue once again to the forefront.

If you care about the environment and its precious creatures, pull up a chair while Professor Chris Darimont leads a little lesson in Conservation 101.

Episode Links:

Dr. Chris Darimont, University of Victoria

Applied Conservation Science Lab

Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Protect wolves in BC

Why Men Trophy Hunt article

Learning Links:

School of Permaculture Design at Pacific Rim College

Community Herbalist Certificate Online at Pacific Rim College Online

Podcast on Salish Wolf with Chris’s friend and fellow conservationist Norm Hann

Steve James is recognized as a preeminent teacher of meditation and somatic practices with a global following. In this episode, I sit down with Steve to discuss the intricacies of his meditation practice, his teaching alongside colleague Michaela Boehm, and the journey that led him into this noble calling.

Known as the Guru Viking, Steve grew up on the Shetland Islands north of Scotland and is no stranger to harsh environmental conditions. In fact, he seeks them out by exploring the limits of physical and psychological performance in extreme outdoor survival trainings and expeditions. Most recently he completed an 11-day arctic survival expedition in the boreal forests of Sweden at daytime temperatures of -24 °C. Steve says fondly of the extreme conditions, “The cold is very dependable. It is always the same. It doesn’t change.”

In his formative years, Steve was influenced by the structure and ritual of martial arts. He also competed in fencing at the elite level, including on the Scottish Fencing team in his teens. Also in his teens, Steve met and was later apprenticed to a Christian mystic from theCeltic tradition of Christianity, resulting in multiple years of close personal instruction in various forms of prayer, contemplation, writing, textual study, and service.

Steve leads ground-breaking teacher training programs with Michaela Boehm. This includes comprehensive training in the area of intimacy and relationships, coaching skills, and the original Non-Linear Movement Method®.

If you are interested in contemplative practices, you won’t want to miss a breath of this episode.

Episode Links:

www.guruviking.com

www.facebook.com/guruviking

www.instagram.com/guruviking

https://www.michaelaboehm.com/product/movement-koan-method-2-video-by-steve-james/

Learning Links:

Pacific Rim College

PRC’s Workshops

Pacific Rim College Online

This interview with Dr. Michael Lewis has the power to literally change and save lives. Maybe you have never had a concussion, but chances are you know someone who has. By using Dr. Lewis’s simple yet profound Omega-3 fatty acid protocol, countless people have recovered from some of the most debilitating traumatic brain injuries. In this episode, Dr. Lewis clearly defines what can be somewhat confusing terminology around head injuries: concussions, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), shearing, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). We discuss signs and symptoms of concussions, many of which often are not associated to head injuries, diagnostic tools and their limitations, the role of contact sports in brain injuries, pre- and postnatal nutrition concerns, and of course, the roles of essential fatty acids and CBD oil in fortifying our brains and recovering from traumas. I urge you not to miss a moment of this episode as every topic we discuss could dramatically impact the lives of those around you.

Dr. Lewis is the author of the revolutionary book When Brains Collide, in my opinion a must-read for anyone who cares about brain health. He is the President of the Brain Health Education and Research Institute, which he founded in late 2011 upon retiring as a Colonel after a distinguished 31-year career in the U.S. Army. His pioneering work in the military and since has helped thousands of people around the world. He’s regularly featured in the media, including CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, MD show and numerous radio shows and podcasts. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Tulane University School of Medicine. Dr. Lewis is board-certified and a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine and the American College of Nutrition. He completed post-graduate training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University, and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He is currently in private practice in Potomac, Maryland, and is a consultant to the U.S. Army and Navy in addition to several organizations, institutes, and nutrition companies around the world. He is a founding member of the Pop Warner Youth Football Medical Advisory Board.

In this episode, we deeply discuss brain health and its many layers and intricacies, but you do not have to be a rocket scientist, or brain surgeon in this case, to learn what Dr. Lewis has to offer about protecting your brain.

Episode Links:

http://www.brainhealtheducation.org/

https://www.pluscbdoil.com/

www.facebook.com/brainhealtheducation

http://braincare.center/

When Brains Collide book

Learning Links:

PRC’s School of Holistic Nutrition

PRC’s Workshops

PRCOnline – Online Nutrition Workshops

Celebrity chef Dan Hayes is co-owner of Victoria’s premier cooking school, The London Chef. In this gastronomic episode, we explore the beginning of Dan’s love for food: his childhood in England and Spain, hunting wild game, and a boarding school chef. He went on to work in the kitchens of some of Europe’s most revered seafood chefs including Rick Stein, Mitch Tonks and Peter Rossiglioni.

A woman eventually entered the picture, now Dan’s wife Micayla, and a new life in Canada unfolded, eventually leading to two beautiful daughters. We discuss the early days of reengage catering, the creation of The London Chef, and nearly a decade with the hit TV show "Moosemeat and Marmalade", which led Dan to less-visited parts of Canada and hunting bigger wild game than in his youth. We also talk about Dan’s current passion project of teaching cooking in local prisons, which is impacting his life, and the prisoners’, in incredible ways. No chef interview would be complete with a close look at food, and we discuss many of Dan’s favourites…and borderline food addictions.

If you love food, make a snack – perhaps Dan’s favourite Medjool dates stuffed with peanut butter and salt, pull up a chair, and enjoy the flavours of this delicious episode.

Episode Links:

http://thelondonchef.com/

http://moosemeatandmarmalade.com/

Learning Links:

PRC’s School of Holistic Nutrition

PRC’s Workshops

PRCOnline – Online Nutrition Workshops

For this episode I had a fascinating conversation with Mark Lakeman about the power of public spaces in transforming neighbourhoods, small communities, and even cities. We journey together as he takes us around the globe for 7 years while he visited and studied indigenous cultures and their perspectives on public spaces, a voyage that was inspired by his disillusionment with the corporate architectural industry and in particular by a toxic cover-up underneath new Bank of America building, a building that his team was involved in designing.

Mark is literally carrying on his parent’s legacy as his father helped create Portland’s Pioneer Square and his mother studied public spaces in Medieval and Neolithic villages. Now fueled by his own vision and applying principles of permaculture design, he is transforming cityscapes into public gathering grounds.

Mark is an international leader in the development of regenerative public places, villages, and farms. As a revolutionary designer and urban permaculture activist, in 1996 Mark cofounded the City Repair Project in Portland, Oregon, where he has directed, facilitated, or inspired designs for more than 700 new regenerative projects. Through his leadership in City Repair and its annual Village Building Convergence, and his architecture and planning firm Communitecture, Inc., Mark has also been instrumental in the development of dozens of participatory organizations and urban permaculture design projects across the United States and Canada. Mark is a cofounder and lead instructor of Planet Repair Institute's Urban Permaculture Design Course (UPDC), and he is also a faculty member of Pacific Rim College’s School of Permaculture Design. He is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions including the National Lewis Mumford Award for Social Justice Design. Mark works with governmental leaders, community organizations, and educational institutions in many diverse communities.

If you value community vibrancy and connection and are interested in indigenous values of coexistence, this episode will hopefully give you a strong foundation for action in your own neighbourhood.

Episode Links:

www.communitecture.net

www.cityrepair.org

www.villagebuildingconvergence.com

Mark’s Workshop at PRC: Permaculture, Place-Making and Planet Repair

Learning Links:

Pacific Rim College’s School of Permaculture Design

Online Natural Building Workshops at PRCOnline

During this episode, I journey with Joshua Hathaway through a paradigm-shifting, vision quest that led him to question so much about personal accountability and emotional states. We talk about the power of “nonviolent communication” and how Joshua has used it on city streets to likely save lives. We explore the concept of distinguishing fact from narrative and are reminded of the power of listening. We also discuss the “choice” of living in a victimized state, and Joshua gives what is now some of my favourite advice for healing emotional wounds.

Joshua Hathaway helps relationships thrive through the art of interpersonal communication. He is devoted to building a more beautiful, equitable, and consensual world, one conversation at a time. Through training and coaching individuals, couples, and organizations in exquisite communication and collaboration at MasterYourBullshit.com, he has been championing authentic connection in the bedroom and the boardroom. For over 12 years, Joshua has been walking men back to their full humanity, connecting them to their deep sensitivity and primal potency, and growing their capacity for intimate relationships through his Men’s Leadership work, most recently at the BrotherhoodCommunity.com. And, in collaboration with his partner, Lillie Claire Love, he is offering live and virtual training in Reclaiming Our Sexual Sovereignty as a path to healing trauma and embracing deeply satisfying intimacy in relationship.

Joshua will be presenting a 2-day workshop at Pacific Rim College on April 4 & 5 called “The Marriage of Compassion and Power” where he intends to fundamentally shift and evolve the way we communicate.

If you are interested in enhancing your connection with others through the power of mindful and masterful communication, you won’t want to miss a word of this episode.

Episode Links:

MasterYourBullshit.com

BrotherhoodCommunity.com

90-minute communication webinar: bit.ly/ShiFTHappens

PRC Workshop with Joshua Hathaway on April 4-5: "The Marriage of Compassion and Power"