The Good Mood Podcast

Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND describes how dopamine works in the brain. How does it connect to mood, motivation, desire, willpower, tenacity, self-efficacy, creativity and happiness? How can dopamine breed or affect satisfaction? How can we use dopamine to improve desire, motivation, executive functioning and pleasure?   

Perhaps now you’re having trouble concentrating, feel anxious with a low mood, wish you were more motivated, excited and driven. Perhaps you’re having issues with memory and word recall. Perhaps you’re feeling overwhelmed and scattered, having trouble being motivated. You procrastinate. You lose time on the couch. You’re dealing with lots of cravings and the need for stimulation through food, scrolling social media, or self-soothing behaviours like skin picking or addictive behaviours such as substance use. This podcast is for you.   

Or perhaps you're a driven individual who struggles to find satisfaction in the here and now, who lives for tomorrow and can't exist without goals. This podcast is for you too.   

Check out learn.goodmoodproject.ca to learn about courses on how to support your blood sugar for stable prefrontal cortex activity.   

Learn more: taliand.com

"In my ways of knowing, medicine is the vital, healing energy that connects the Spirit, mind, and emotional bodies. It’s something carried by all living things. It is our connection, our roots, our life force. Medicine is something we all carry, birthed from our Ancestors and held by our Spirit." 

 - Asha Frost, "You are the Medicine"  

Asha Frost (she/her) is an Indigenous Medicine Woman and member of the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation. She is from the Crane Clan, the totem of leadership, and believes in holding space from vision and heart. As an energy healer, homeopath, and mentor, Asha has guided thousands of people through profound and lasting transformation.   

Impacted by generational trauma and colonization, Asha has been on a lifelong journey of reclamation. A lupus diagnosis sent her on a path of studying and practicing a multitude of energy Medicine modalities with many guides. She has blended this life experience with her innate gifts and the wisdom of her Ancestors. She loves sharing her Medicine in powerful ways through Ceremonies, teachings, and speaking events. Through this work, she loves seeing people reclaim their roots, find their healing wisdom, and rise into their power.   

Asha lives on Anishinaabe, Huron-Wendat, and Haudenosaunee Territory, with her husband and two beautiful children, with whom she co-creates a better world for the seven generations to come.   

You can find her book here: https://www.amazon.ca/You-Are-Medicine-Indigenous-Connection/dp/1401963501

Instagram: @asha.frost 

Website: ashafrost.com 

Here's an all-in-one-podcast related to everything about nutrition that you were afraid to Google (or maybe did Google and ended up more confused). In this podcast I pull together previous pod episodes on nutrition, where I discuss cravings, the Dos and Don'ts of Human Nutrition, nutrients for mental health, and why eating meat is healing. This episode is more than 4 hours long--but I'm hoping it will be a one-stop-shop for your mental health nutrition education needs. Nutrition is a passion of mine. I love the mind-body connection, acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy, nature therapy, psychotherapy--I am so passionate about these things, but as a naturopathic doctor, I have seen nutrition, when done right to be the single most powerful tool for radically transforming our mental, emotional, physical and even spiritual, health. 

Listen, take notes, I hope you enjoy. 

Check out the course Feed Your Head here: https://learn.goodmoodproject.ca/courses/feed-your-head

Dr. Katie is a Naturopathic Doctor, clinic owner, thyroid authority and educator. Her mission is to break the mold of traditional thyroid care and to bring evidenced-based thyroid education to practitioners and patients.   

As a clinician, Dr. Rothwell uses her signature framework and a practical down to earth approach to help her patients navigate the confusing world of thyroid health.   

As an educator, she is fiercely passionate about providing accurate, evidenced based thyroid education to a variety of health professionals including Naturopathic Doctors. She created her two flagship practitioner trainings before creating The Thyroid Academy, a revolutionary educational platform for both health professionals and the public. 

She also lectures regularly to her ND colleagues and provides consulting services across North America.   

Find Katie at:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/your.thyroid.nd/ 

Her website: rootedinhealth.ca

I talk with my friend Dr. Niki Nephin about... a whole lot of things related to perinatal mental health. We discuss post-partum anxiety and depression, the hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy, labour and the post-natal period, the social and environmental factors that shape post-partum mental health, how it's "not just serotonin", recreating the village, shame, stigma and the silencing of the struggles of birthing parents, and a whole bunch of other things. 

Niki is super real. She's a cool ND who shares her post-natal struggles with her first born (she's now a mother of 3). She's also a naturopathic doula. Her passion is helping families grow and thrive through pregnancy, birth, and the great beyond. In the words of her bio: it takes a village, she's ready to be part of yours. 

Find Niki at:

Her website: https://nikithenaturopath.com/

Her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikithenaturopath/

Everyone has trauma. We all have past experiences that left a mark on our nervous systems, which might in our adult lives cause nervous system dysregulation, leading to symptoms of brain fog, emotional numbness, anxiety and depression, issues with sleep and digestion, and chronic inflammation. Ayan Mukherjee is a registered psychotherapist and EMDR therapist and consultant. He has a focus in trauma and dissociation. 

Here are two back-to-back episodes with Ayan from the Good Mood Podcast, wrapped up into one trauma-informed masterclass that you can listen to in one go. 

We talk about trauma and how it works in the brain, how EMDR can help, what dissociation is and how to treat it differently than other types of nervous system dysregulation, and Polyvagal Theory. 

Find Ayan at: 

https://www.ayanrp.com/

Dr. Christina Bjorndal is the OG of mental health naturopathic doctors. We talk about her story of living through an eating disorder, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and a suicide attempt and how she found her way to naturopathic medicine.   

We talk transformation, mental health nutrition, treating the physical, bipolar disorder, medication and working with a label among many more topics!

Dr. Christina Bjorndal, ND is considered an authority in the treatment of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders and eating disorders using a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual approach.  Having overcome many mental health challenges, Dr. Chris is a gifted speaker and best selling author who has shared her wellness philosophy with platforms such as the Jenny McCarthy show, the International Bipolar Foundation, and many health summits and docuseries. She is recognized as a top ND to follow by two independent organizations. Her book “Beyond the Label” is a comprehensive guide to naturopathic mental health.

Mental Health Books:

• Beyond the Label: 10 Steps to Improve your Mental Health with Naturopathic Medicine


• The Essential Diet: Eating for Mental Health


• From Shadows to Light: A Whole Human Approach to Mental Health


• Moving Beyond: A Journal into Self-Discovery

Courses:

• Moving Beyond 10 week course


• Integrative Mental Health Clinician’s Course

Retreat:

• Mental Health Masterclass

To book Dr. Chris to speak to your organization visit drchristinabjorndal.com

Follow Talia: 

Taliand.com 

learn.goodmoodproject.com

In British Columbia, Canada, naturopathic doctors with a certificate can vaccinate children 5 and up (Ontario NDs do not have vaccination in our scope). Dr. Taylor Bean is one such doctor. In this episode we chat vaccination, what it is, how a vaccination naturopathic doctor does vaccines, who vaccines are for, what Informed consent looks like and the case against mandates. We also talk about why vaccination is such a divisive and emotional topic vs. exercise and nutrition, for example.  

Dr. Taylor Bean is a Naturopathic Doctor and owner of TaylorMade Wellness in Salmon Arm, BC.  She has experience working largely with families, young ones and mamas-to-be.  

She brings her wisdom as a mother of two to help women achieve a healthy pregnancy and smooth labour.  She has worked overseas In Singapore for two years which improved her skills in chronic illness as she saw various patients in SE Asia, India and Australia who were unable to find the care they needed. 

From her experience working overseas, to now 6 years working in Canada, she has been able to blend Eastern and Western approaches from a clinical and cultural perspective.   

While working in Singapore, Dr. Bean worked with several families who wanted to optimize their experience with vaccination. Since then, Dr. Bean has completed the Immunization Certification to administer vaccines in her office, created a vaccine optimization webinar series, and supports families globally who want more information on vaccines from a respectful, transparent and informed choice point of view.   

Overall, her passion lies in supporting:   •          Lyme disease and co-infections   •          Pre- and post-natal care including labour support   •          Pediatrics including Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, SPD  •          Digestive complaints particularly SIBO and IBS   •          Vaccine optimization and education   •          Genetic report analysis (MTHFR)  

Find Taylor at: 

drtaylorbean.com  

vaccineoptimization.com 

Instagram @drtaylorbean

When we are diagnosed with a chronic illness or suffering from chronic pain, our life, our identity and our future flash before our eyes. Experiencing these changes to our physical health and well-being can be life-changing. 

Edna Pereira is a registered psychotherapist whose focus is in helping her clients manage and heal from chronic pain and chronic illness through validation, acceptance, and learning to live with their experience in a place of non-judgement and self-compassion.  

Edna has a nonjudgmental and inclusive approach to collaborate with you to best meet her clients' needs and life goals through strength-based narrative, solution-focused, emotion-focused, and cognitive-behavioural modalities.  

She has a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University. She is a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) and a member of the Ontario Association of Mental Health Professionals (OAMHP). She is a Certified Life Coach with the Certified Coaches Federation (CCF) and a Certified Holistic Nutritionist through the American Fitness and Professionals Association (AFPA).  

Find Edna at: aboutmind.ca

taliand.com

learn.goodmoodproject.ca

I talk with Andra Wochesen about the energy of choice, and how to heal using the Akashic records.  

Andra Wochesen is multi-certified Coach, with training in Law of Attraction, Reiki, Soul Realignment, Tapping into Wealth and Quantum Flow. This unique combination of skills coupled with intuitive coaching and energy techniques creates an extremely integrated, highly embodied experience for her clients.

This approach enables her to support her clients in releasing any subconscious blocks that may be preventing them from flourishing while simultaneously connecting to their innate Soul gifts so they can fully thrive in their lives & businesses.

At the core of her work, she helps her clients to not only understand but truly embody their worth and value so that they can show up fully, authentically and in alignment with their gifts which directly impacts their ability to receive higher levels of income and prosperity.

Website: https://www.awakenyourinspiration.com/

Andra's Soul Gifts Special Offer: an offering on energy centres and Soul group and how that connects to life, business and career. https://awakenyourinspiration.as.me/SoulGiftsReading

Instagram: @awakenyourinspiration 

Taliand.com 

learn.goodmoodproject.com