The Intersection Podcast

Although we announced on Instagram that we are on a break, we wanted to make sure you still had an episode to listen to while we're away.
 
Today's episode is very very exciting for us, as it is our very first guest!!! Our first guest is Rosette Nsenga, who also happens to be Linda's little sister. We were honoured to have her as our very first guest because she encompasses everything that YEG Wellness Collective is all about. Not only does she have a BA in Psychology- she also creates content on Am I Growing that discusses topics that some may find too difficult, uncomfortable, and vulnerable. B, Jo and Linda ask Rosette some questions to give our listeners an idea of who Rosette is and what Am I Growing is all about. I mean if you couldn't tell, we are like a mini Rosette fan club and we know this episode will give you a reason to love her too. She was honest and more than willing to share some of her stories and provide advice on how not to give up on talking about mental health, particularly in the African Community. This episode was very exciting for us, so we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Rosette thank you so much for blessing our podcast as our first guest. Listeners, please make sure you check out more of Rosette's story on her youtube channel and get to know more on her socials. 

Rosette has a Youtube Channel called Rosette-Am I Growing. 
Here is the link to the Youtube Channell: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRosette’sWay
Her Website: https://amigrowing.com
Instagram- AIG Community  (am-i-growing)
Personal Instagram- Rosette (Just_rosette)

AND DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A RATING NOW THAT WE ARE FINALLY ON APPLE PODCASTS!!!

Join Linda, B and Jo for this episode where we start to unpack why taking care of ourselves is important. We talk about how weird it is to imagine all the things we used to do before the pandemic, reflecting on how jam packed our days and weeks were. Now going to the grocery store feels so energy consuming!
Your hosts reflect on what this means for them in their lives and reflect on what's been working for them to help get through the shitstorm we know as the pandemic (those history books are going to be wild when we look back at this). We dive a little deeper into understanding how the fight/flight/freeze response affects our coping, reflect on how damn bad ass we all are, talk about the hit mental health has taken, reflect on why hustle culture and productivity can impact us, and dissect what the difference is between coping and self-care and why they ARE NOT the same. 
REMEMBER: what works for us might not work for you and everyone is at a different point in their journeys, so please always listen to yourself and your needs & any professional advice given to you. This is not meant to give you advice but rather help normalize any experience you might be feeling, give you some context on why maybe things feel the way they do, and give you some ideas. 

Burnout Part 1
Londonderry asked to partner with YEG Wellness Collective for Mental Health  Awareness Month. So we thought it would be fitting if the topic of the week for mental health would be: Burnout. In part 1, we describe what being burnt out actually means. We know it's something a lot us of are feeling but why? To answer this we explore the world right now: all of the things that have contributed to us being burnt out and how much the pandemic has contributed to us being burnt out. We openly share about our experiences of how the pandemic has affected all of our lives such as how the inconsistencies of the COVID restrictions from world leaders has affected our ability to have a life, thus playing a part in us being burnt out because there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
We also discuss how social issues and things happening outside of our lives contributes to being burnt because there seems to be no break. Of course there are some laugh out loud moments, some brain mush pauses, and serious questions around how damn hard adulting can be. 
Hope you enjoy the episode and remember to be kind to yourself. 
Look out for Part 2, coming next week!

So this is one of those episodes where you can just tell the world & all of the news lately just got to us & we were feeling a little burnt out. Knowing we still had to release a new episode soon & struggling to come up with ideas, we came up with this masterpiece by winging it. Literally winging it. We just showed up on Zoom, pressed record, and talked. So prepare for some random rambles where we let you guys get to know a little bit more about us. We talk about our dads and their funny quirks, explore family names (and the weird life and legal issues we've had with them), learn a little bit about cultural naming with Linda, try to learn how to pronounce Elon Musk's child's name & share a lot of laughs throughout the way.  Think of this episode as an unintentional way to get to know us more intimately (we literally break out into song at one point) and keep things a little more light hearted with the heavy media always coming our way. We hope you enjoyed this random ramble and remember to let us know what you think over at our Instagram @yegwellnesscollective or at on our website www.yegwellnesscollective.com

Disclaimer: This episode can be triggering due to the topic: Sexual Violence.
In Episode 6 part 2, our reaction to the  Supreme Court ruling regarding a sexual assault ruling in Minnesota is Continued.  The Article by The New Your Times: "Court Overturns Sex Crime Conviction Because Victim Was ‘Voluntarily Intoxicated". 
In part 2, we begin exactly where we left off on the last episode. Please make sure you have listened to part 1. During this episode, we continue the discussion regarding the Consent laws of Canada, where B identifies what the age of consent is in Canada.  We also discuss how underreported sexual violence is and we try the explain or give reasons as to why sexual violence is underreported. Finally, we talk about normalizing sexual education or talking about sex, and that can be helpful in the fight against sexual violence. 
This episode ends with B, who explains the mental health aspect of sexual violence and how survivors cope with the trauma of sexual violence. B talks about victim's trauma responses and she explains the difference between our survival brains and logical brain when it comes to dealing with trauma. 
We end by calling upon everyone to help in the fight against sexual violence. Please take care of yourself. To all the survivors of Sexual Violence, we believe you and you matter. 

Disclaimer: This episode can be triggering due to the topic: Sexual Violence.
In Episode 5 part 1, we react to a Supreme Court ruling regarding a sexual assault ruling in Minnesota.  The Article by The New Your Times: "Court Overturns Sex Crime Conviction Because Victim Was ‘Voluntarily Intoxicated". 
We gave our raw feelings and opinions regarding the ruling and its impact on the topic of sexual violence.  At times during this episode, we were speechless, because we literally had nothing to say, because we just couldn't make sense of the court's ruling. To the best of our knowledge, we dig deep into the impact of sexual violence,  and how it is considered gender-based violence. B, Jojo, and I talked about the normalization of sexual culture and behaviour, and how women are the ones that are asked to be responsible, but men are not. We also talked about the influence of the laws that are in place regarding Sexual Violence and Sexual assault. There is a lot to unpack in this episode, and even more coming your way in the second part, which will be released next Tuesday. 
We hope you took care of yourself while listening. And as also, remember to do your research as we are not experts and these are our opinion about the topic. 
Speak Out Against Sexual Violence. 

We are back with another episode ya'll, and this time we are talking about *Vaccines*.

This time, Jo takes the lead, sharing with all of us how the COVID vaccines are supposed to work in simple terms so that we can all understand just what the heck they actually do. As Jo mentions, she is by no means an expert- she is just here sharing what she has researched while Linda and B ask her their concerns and questions all around vaccines. Jo even takes us down memory lane talking about vaccines in the past and how they have helped eradicate some serious illness we have had in the past (like when was the last time you heard about iron lungs?!). We're not here to judge whether you plan on taking the vaccine or not- we just here to provide some information & encourage you ALL to do your own research in order to make the best decision for yourself and your family

But don't worry, it's not all serious. We still get sidetracked, Linda's terribly squeaky chair makes a few appearances (SORRY FOR THAT), we share our technical difficulties, and we also share a few laughs throughout the episode.

We hope you enjoy this week's episode and if you could get anything from this episode: DO YOUR RESEARCH AND WASH YOUR HANDS.

So back when the inauguration was going on (how was that only two months ago?!) we recorded a reaction episode that we are now releasing to you as a BONUS because ya'll have been amazing in your support for us. So as a thank you, we thought you deserved a little extra something. 

In this episode, Linda and her co-hosts, B & Jo, talk about what their reactions were during the American election. This conversation transforms into a new conversation around voting and the importance voting plays. We talk about voter suppression, voting in Canada, and Linda even shares her own experiences of coming from a country where she didn't have the same rights and why voting is so important. 

We hope you enjoy this little episode and we can't thank you enough for all of your support! 

Join Linda and her co-hosts B & Jo as they talk about all things pandemic- focusing this time on the restrictions and masks. We know, we know- everyone has a different opinion about the pandemic and masks...... I mean who really enjoys masks? We certainly don't! 

But we invite you to this episode to think a little bit beyond ourselves when it comes to the pandemic. We invite you to consider a different perspective where instead of just focusing on ourselves, we consider the community and how we can care for one other.  So tune in to hear things like Brittany sharing her own experiences of this pandemic as someone who is immunocompromised & how we all laugh at ourselves at how hard mask wearing can be! At the end of this episode, we then vent a bit about how hard this pandemic has been for our mental health, highlighting some great resources anyone can access if they are also having a hard time. 

We are all in this together. Wear your mask and WASH YOUR HANDS.

Join Linda, B, & Jo as they talk about caffeine addictions & Black history here in Canada. As Linda points out, Canada has a politeness to its racism, but it very much still exists here and has existed in the past. Linda & her co-hosts dive into some of Canada's own history of Racism, talk about Linda's own experiences, and we also discuss what needs to be done to continue to make changes.