For this episode of RESILIENT PEOPLE, I'm taking you on a walk. It's a Sunday in late July and I'm looking forward to a day of doing nothing. 

When was the last time you can say that you did that too? Maybe laying on a lounge chair til you fall asleep with the sun warming your face. Or taking a long leisurely walk through a neighbourhood, grabbing a drink and browsing around local shops. 

How do you spend your time doing nothing? 

Turns out that its scientifically proven that relaxing promotes a clearer mind for dealing with adversity. Call it preparing for the unknown.

But it can be difficult to find long stretches of time to unwind. Particularly when you're caring for someone who health complications or working in a stressful job. 

With that said, it's still important to regularly find even smaller amounts of time to rest and, if possible, do literally nothing. This episode is a short one but hopefully it will give you some motivation to find that kind of time.   

Topics included:

• the joy of doing nothing
• self care
• caregiving
• stress management
• spousal loss
• parental loss
• child loss
• building resilience

To learn more about RESILIENT PEOPLE, go to www.resilientpeople.ca

Theme song is Day Ones by Kyler Slater. 

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Thirty years ago, Beverley Burke lost her husband Kevin. She is the mom to a dear friend of mine, but as a fellow widow, she's also become my coach and a close friend. We spoke about her memories of being a young widow, advice for grievers to get back to living their lives and gushed over our mutual admiration for one another. Just the kind of relationship that every widow or widower needs.  

In this episode, I share my friendship and the inspiration that Beverley Burke has brought to my life. Every widow or widower should know someone like her who has not only experienced the passing of a spouse but who has also continued to build a happy and fulfilling life on their own. We all need to know inspiring people like her who can help us to move forward.  

Topics included in this episode include:

• spousal loss
• grief
• setting healthy boundaries
• single life

To learn more about Janet and RESILIENT PEOPLE, go to www.resilientpeople.ca

Beverley Burke is not on social media but if you'd like to share your thoughts with her, please email Janet at [email protected]

Theme song is Day Ones by Kyler Slater. 

Follow Janet Fanaki on her social media channels: Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Music can be one of the most healing things when you're going through a challenge.

It is effective for managing stress and helping us to let go.

Bruce Springsteen once said, "The best music is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with". 

I can personally say that my music has been helping me face the world over and over again. 

This episode of RESILIENT PEOPLE covers the important place that music has had in my life. From singing to going to concerts, there's a renewing energy that comes from it. 

And I believe that any music can help to build our resilience, especially when we are faced with challenges. From the many grief experiences that I've had with the loss of my parents, husband and daughter, music has always offered the hug that I so desperately needed.  

This episode covers:

• spousal loss
• child loss
• parental loss
• grief support
• music as therapy and motivator
• building resilience
• common traits of resilient people
• a quote from Bruce Springsteen
• my night at the Boyz II Men concert
• my theme song, Day Ones, by Kyler Slater
• RESILIENT tshirts

To learn more visit RESILIENT PEOPLE

Buy a RESILIENT t-shirt

On social media, Instagram and LinkedIn

RESILIENT PEOPLE is created and hosted by Janet Fanaki.

Season 5 is all about living in the 'in-between moments of life'. The ones that land between the tough times. The ones when we should be grabbing the good opportunities and take care because the bad times most likely return. 

In this episode you'll hear about:

• the power of music in getting through tough times
• living through and coping with multiple grief experiences from spousal, parental and child loss. 
• building resilience
• common traits to resilient people
• my night at the Boyz II Men concert
• reminiscing about one of the last times I sang with my daughter before she passed away
• LA-based singer song writer Kyler Slater and his song Day Ones, the theme song to this podcast
• living in the 'in-between moments of life'

To learn more about me go to RESILIENT PEOPLE.

Find me on Instagram and LinkedIn.

This episode is changing the nature of the podcast a bit. After suffering a devastating loss this past fall, with the death of my 25 year old daughter Isobel, I began to rethink what’s important to me and how I view a resilient mindset. I feel like learning to really embrace the in between moments in life is key to rebuilding ourselves.

So I’ll be dedicating this season to sharing takeaways that worked for me and hopefully give you some useful food for thought. RESILIENT PEOPLE is a podcast and digital space created by Janet Fanaki. She is a public speaker, patient and care partner engagement consultant and podcaster.

Having grieved the care and passing of her husband Adam to glioblastoma, her mom and dad to declining health and most recently the sudden death of her 25 year old daughter, Janet has embraced living life in the “in-between moments”.

To learn more about her visit www.resilientpeople.ca and
Instagram @janetfanakiofficial

Tara MacIntosh had just discovered that she was pregnant with twins when, only hours later, her husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 Esophageal Cancer.

It was during the pandemic and a very stressful time to be a patient or caregiver receiving any medical intervention.

As her belly grew, Tara supported Gregor for all of his needs and was learning on the fly how to be a caregiver. She quickly learned the toughness that it takes to care for a loved one as well as the comfort that was missing for many who are in this role.

Gregor passed away in December 2021. To give herself something positive to focus on she created Gregor's Gift to help the caregivers in her community of London, Ontario. The charity has provided them with comfort kits while at St. Joseph's Hospice and Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice as well as respite treatments like facials.

We spoke about:

• her husband's Esophageal cancer journey
• the challenges of caregiving
• the importance of caring for caregivers
• building resilience and finding purpose
• the purpose she found in creating Gregor's Gift
• her passions including writing
• finding gratitude during tough times
• positive choices to start and end the day (bookending)

Nathan and Dana Schmidt of the Mountain Seed Foundation are my guests on this episode of the RESILIENT PEOPLE podcast.

Mountain Seed Foundation helps build resilience in children and families impacted by war with some of their biggest work being done in Ukraine.

Nathan is a former Marine who completed three tours in the Iraq war. He and Dana met there when she went as part of the Foreign Service.

Both are very open about the effects that war has on individuals and their families. Nathan spoke about openly about his post-traumatic stress disorder and his transparency on needing to talk about it with others and get help.

Dana honestly spoke about the challenges it presented to their marriage and the tools - as well as people - that helped them.

Mountain Seed Foundation offers children impacted by war the opportunity to learn climbing to help overcome their fears while also offering the mothers of these children therapy in various forms and the opportunity to build a peer-to-peer community.

Learning to climb helped Nathan to battle the demons he lived with after Iraq and he instinctively knew that it could do the same for others impacted by war.

We spoke about:

• helping those suffering from PTSD
• finding love in unlikely places
• the Russian invasion on Ukraine
• mental health awareness
• the value of professional therapy
• finding simple joys in life
• mountain climbing for building a resilient mindset

To learn more about Mountain Seed Foundation, visit this link. 

If you consider yourself to be resilient, or know someone who you admire for their resilience, please share your story with me. Go to the RESILIENT PEOPLE contact page 

For more information on Janet Fanaki and RESILIENT PEOPLE, go to www.resilientpeople.ca

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Kelli Gastis is a wife, mother, former dancer and can now add author to her list of achievements. Her book, Fabulous In Flats, is about the journey that Multiple Sclerosis has taken her on and how she has maintained a resilient mindset through her body's changes.

She doesn't want to let her condition get in the way of living a fulfilling life and she wrote a book to inspire others.

To learn more about Kelli Gastis visit: www.kelligastis.com

The RESILIENT PEOPLE podcast is produced and hosted by Janet Fanaki. It features conversations with regular people from around the world who are admired for their resilience. They have experienced a major life challenge, found a purpose from it and now help others to be resilient too. 

To learn more about Janet Fanaki and RESILIENT PEOPLE, bookings for speaking engagements, media interviews and to order a RESILIENT t-shirt go to www.resilientpeople.ca

On social media:

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• Instagram @resilientpeopleca

Raymond Chhun is a registered nurse in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He's worked in clinic as well as an instructor, and is currently applying for his PhD to research building resilience in nursing.

His mother grew up in rural Cambodia and met his father in Thailand. At a young age she was taken from home during the country's civil war essentially having the life she knew before taken away from her.

When he was just 13 years old, Raymond had sadly already lost both of his parents. His own life changed forever and through his teen years he struggled in school and his social circle.

Thanks to proactive mentors who helped guide him and build his resilience, he went on to a prosperous career in nursing and continues to give back to his community. Crediting this as being a way to help others and keep a resilient mindset.

I spoke with Raymond from his home in Winnipeg and mine in Toronto. RESILIENT PEOPLE profiles regular people from around the world who are admired for their resilience. They have experienced a major life challenge, found a purpose from it and now help others to be resilient too. 

To learn more about Janet Fanaki and RESILIENT PEOPLE visit www.resilientpeople.ca

References:

RESILIENT PEOPLE

To contact Raymond Chhun, visit him on Instagram @_raymond_5328

American Psychological Association

Instagram  @resilientpeopleca

Twitter @resilientpeopl

For this episode of RESILIENT PEOPLE, Janet Fanaki speaks with Wellness Coach Sharon Summerfield.  She is the founder of The Nourished Executive and counsels clients on dealing with burnout, stress management and building healthy daily rituals.    

Sharon was once a busy executive assistant and project manager for various engineering firms. She made a pivot to create the Nourished Executive by identifying a need and what was working for her in her own personal wellness journey.

After suffering debilitating pain from two accidents, Sharon created ‘Project Me’ and built her own team of experts who helped her to get on the right track. She encourages others to follow the same course.

She also credits daily practices like meditation, journaling, incorporating joyful activities and micro changes as ways to build resilience.

As she said during our conversation, "We forget how far we've come" as a way to reward ourselves for our small self improvements.

Our conversation touches on: burnout, stress management, wellness practices, self-care, support from community and building resilience. 

To learn more about Sharon Summerfield visit nourishedexecutive.ca