From-Generation-to-Generation-aspira-wealth-podcast


 


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Guest: Dr. Tanis Farish

Description: Who else watched the blue zone documentary*? For us, it was an incredible reality check that we can gather money, build relationships, achieve career success, and have a family, but none of that matters if we aren’t able (or even around!) to enjoy it. Health is probably every parent’s ultimate wish for their kids at the end of the day. Our well-being is precious. And yet, as Chris (boomer) said before recording this episode, “what does wellness even mean??” We’ve brought on Dr. Tanis Farish to have a deep discussion on this question. Brittany (Gen Z) is elated to get her dad in the room for this eye-opening conversation. If your family gets heated when talking about mental health, exercise, and wellness – this is a good listen for all ages.

‘When health is absent, wealth is useless´ is a quote from Herophilus, an ancient Greek physician, and it still rings true today.

Dr. Tanis Farish (Gen X) is an advocate and ambassador for lifelong movement and mental health. She has been a teacher and researcher in the fitness & performance field for over 25 years. Curious and inspired through her training as a clinical exercise physiologist, health coach and yoga instructor, her research focuses on the connection of how we move, feel, and think. She holds a doctorate in the area of mental health and fitness promotion where she conducted her research with the Department of National Defense. She also holds degrees in coaching (MEd – University of Victoria) and life sciences (BSc – Queens University). Tanis teaches and conducts research in the Centre for Sport and Exercise Education at Camosun College in Victoria BC. She is an adjunct faculty in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta and is a lecturer and graduate supervisor at several other post-secondary institutions.

References in this episode:

More on Tanis:

⁠https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tanisfarish ⁠

⁠https://wellandwhyresearchlab.opened.ca/page-2/present-students/⁠

More on Chris, Brittany, and Aspira Wealth: ⁠https://www.aspirawealth.com/⁠

As always, if you have any questions or feedback, we would love to hear from you: brittany.pilgrim@raymondjames.ca & chris.raper@raymondjames.ca

Thank you to Nathan Clark for composing our podcast music! He can be reached at nathancaclark@gmail.com.



Episode:

Tanis: [00:00:00] The feedback that a lot of people get through exercise hasn't been positive. And if it always feels a bit like punishment to a body that serves you every day, right, then, yeah, I think a new modality is in order and worth considering.

Chris: Welcome to From Generation to Generation

Brittany: We're Brittany and Chris, a boomer dad and a Gen Z daughter.

Chris: And this is a candid exploration where all generations weigh in to discuss how wealth has actually got three different aspects. Yeah. Character, intellect, and finance, the money.

Brittany: We've kind of mentioned this before, but the two we like to focus on are the character and the intellect. Because our thinking is that, those two together, determine how we practice our money. .

Chris: Put another way, if we don't teach from generation to generation, the character and intellect [00:01:00] aspects, the money will never last.

Brittany: So this episode is really leaning into the character and intellect and we're kind of looking at how health and wellness affects our character and intellect, which ultimately Aides us in making good money decisions, right?

Chris: Yes. And, you know, I'm sure not many people need to be reminded, but being sick is really expensive.

Brittany: Yeah. With what we can control. Absolutely. Because there's certain things that, you know, sickness doesn't discriminate.

Chris: Yes. And I do want to make that distinction here.

What we're going to talk about today is probably the preventable things.

Brittany: Well, yeah, we're focusing solely on that because that's all we can control.

Chris: Exactly. So we approach this with deep humility. And, for me, at least being a new granddad I want to be able to get down on my hands and knees with the grandchildren and hopefully my great grandchildren one day.

Brittany: That's why we do any of this, right? That's why we work to make money. That's why we try to make good [00:02:00] decisions with our money. And also when we talk about passing things from generation to generation - what an amazing gift to pass on your well-being, but to be well enough to participate in your grandkids lives or your children's lives for a long time. What an amazing gift.

Chris: So true. And I'm even more optimistic because I'm gunning for great grandchildren.

Brittany: Yeah, okay. Again, another podcast.

I think another part of it is there is a responsibility to set a good example in this world of taking care of yourself, and I think what we're going to get into is that the different generations have had quite different approaches on this. So much has changed in the fitness world. Even the wellness world, because when we were talking about doing this episode, one of the first things you said to me is what is, “what does wellness even mean?”

Chris: And to be honest, I'm still conflicted with that definition, you know, because I find so much in wellness overlapping. You know, is it my [00:03:00] mental wellbeing? Is it my spiritual wellbeing? Is it my emotional wellbeing?

Brittany: But what if it's all of those things? Is it my physical wellbeing? Why is that conflicting?

Chris: Well, I'm just, when people say the word wellness, I want to understand what they mean by that. Is it all four of those? Is it only limited to those four? Or is there an actual, a broader definition that I, I haven't even thought about yet?

Brittany: Well, all these things make up our wellness. Because if you're physically well, but you're not mentally well, are you really healthy?

Chris: Probably not. But if you're mentally and physically well, are you really healthy?

Brittany: There's many aspects to it. Even if, are you relationally well? Are you, you know, you could keep going. Okay, so before we bring on our guest and get into this in a deeper way, we're going to do a little intro to us as hosts because we recognize everyone listening might not know who we are....other than a boomer dad and a gen z daughter. Because that's not all we are!

Chris: Okay, so starting [00:04:00] with the dad.

Brittany: So yeah, we're gonna ask three questions. I have three questions for you One is who are you and where are you from?

Chris: So I’m a 64 year old dad I am a transplanted east coaster that landed on the west coast After a prolonged stint in Alberta, as a banker, and came to the West Coast to raise our children with my beautiful wife Arlene. And...

Brittany: Grampy.

Chris: Now Grampy. And started in the wealth management business.

Brittany: Oh, that's the second question. Okay. Okay, second question. What do you do for work?

Chris: I'm the co-founder of Aspira Wealth of Raymond James Limited. Where our focus is helping people live out their greatest aspirations.

Brittany: And your, is your title Wealth Advisor? Or Portfolio Manager?

Chris: Yeah. Wealth...

Brittany: Cross Border Specialist? I'm saying this like I haven't made our website.

Chris: Yeah. All of the above.

Brittany: Last question, third question. What are your top three values?

Chris: I want to start with family. Okay. In this order. My wife or Arlene first, my children second. [00:05:00] Second value is serving others. Third value is trying my best to live by the golden rule and failing miserably at it almost every day.

Brittany: What's the golden rule?

Chris: Treat others as you would have them treat you.

Brittany: Right. So love, I guess, would be your third value.

Chris: Probably should have started with that, but yes.

Brittany: Okay, you gotta ask me the questions now.

Chris: Okay, so let's turn it around. Brittany, who are you and where are you from?

Brittany: I'm Brittany Pilgrim. Used to be a Raper, pretty happy about that name change. I'm from Victoria, BC. I was born and raised here and to everyone's shock when I was 18, I up and moved to New York and I went to school there and I graduated there and I tried to live there and then I moved home to my parents basement through COVID, but yeah, it was all meant to be, it all worked out. I met my husband here. We've been married for just over a year. And I [00:06:00] think that leads us to question number two.

Chris: So Brittany, what do you do for work?

Brittany: This is a loaded question. I think I've decided it's my least favorite question that anyone can ask me. I have a degree in acting. It's funny because everyone's been saying that I have a radio voice, which is very nice of them, but I think they maybe don't know that I was trained as an actor.

Chris: Well, I'm glad that that that tuition paid off. The tuition wasn't cheap.

Brittany: It was all for a podcast with my dad. Little did we know. Worth every penny. I'm an actor by trade. I do some marketing work. I've done a lot of video production work. I've done producing work.

Chris: And you're the marketing director for Aspira

Brittany: I am, yes. In full disclosure.

Chris: Full disclosure. You're doing a tremendous job, I might add. So, Brittany, tell me about your top three values.

Brittany: In no particular order. Family is also in there. Fun. Because if something's not fun, I don't want to [00:07:00] do it.

Chris: That's the actor in you.

Brittany: I guess so. It's kind of like, fun/creativity. And then the third one is actually - I took kind of like a values test a couple years ago. And I didn't expect this one to be on the list. But it's beauty. Beauty. And not in like a vanity way, in like a… I like to add beauty to things. Or make things beautiful, so that's relationally, that's decorating our walls, that's writing a really thoughtful email, I just like to make things meaningful and beautiful.

Chris: Pretty cool.

Brittany: Yeah.

Chris: Thank you. So that's enough on us.

Brittany: Yeah, I think so.

Chris: Let's introduce our guest.

Brittany: Okay. Let's get into the episode. For today's episode, we are joined by the very accomplished and passionate Dr. Tanis Farish. Tanis is an advocate and ambassador for lifelong movement and mental health. She has been a teacher and [00:08:00] researcher in the fitness and performance field for over 25 years.

Curious and inspired through her training as a clinical exercise physiologist, health coach, and yoga instructor, her research focuses on the connection of how we move, feel, and think. She holds a doctorate in the area of mental health and fitness promotion,

She also holds degrees in coaching and life sciences. Tanis teaches and conducts research in the Center for Sports and Exercise Education at Camosun College in Victoria, BC. She's an adjunct faculty in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta and is a lecturer and graduate supervisor at several other post-secondary institutions.

Welcome Tanis and thank you so much for joining us today.

Tanis: Oh my gosh, thank you for having me. This is really nice.

Brittany: That's quite a long list. You're a, you're a busy woman.

Chris: That is so long.

Tanis: So busy.

Chris: Tanis. so excited to have you. . We're obviously going to talk about wellness today, [00:09:00] but I'm really curious, just like if you had to define wellness. Give me your take.

Tanis: Oh, it's such a, a big question with a lot of layers, but if I can look at it, I mean, this is my life's work in a way, right? It's really around wellbeing probably more so than the word wellness and, and I'll tell you why. So wellbeing is sort of that umbrella term. And under that, we need to consider context, social context, environmental context you know, and, and where we want to be well.

And so, there's personal wellness and occupational wellness, spiritual wellness, emotional wellness, and, but within all of them, there is a through line. And for that, for me, it stems from Martin Seligman's work. And he's really a guru or the godfather, I guess, of positive psychology. And he has an acronym that goes by PERMA.

And so, within each of these contexts, he said positive emotion. It's so [00:10:00] important and how do we build that and then the E is for engagement, like how engaged you are within that environment. R, if I follow this right, R is for relationships and that social context, which we know is so incredibly important.

And then M is meaning, the meaning we attach to it, which really also attaches to our values. And then A would be the achievement. So having some sort of struggle. In a way, you know, a growth period. And so, within all of that, right, we can put that into almost all of those different circumstances which contributes to our wellbeing.

So, I of course have a real bias in the physical wellbeing as a exercise physiologist and, working with bodies. So that's where most of my work stems under that.

Chris: That is so interesting. And I like that shift from wellness to wellbeing. All of a sudden it seems so much more real for me.. Like this whole [00:11:00] project, when we started trying to produce this podcast, it got started from us watching the Blue Zones documentary on Netflix. And as I reflect back on that, it's everything that you just named. I can't go through your acronym again, but it's everything you just named.

Brittany: Yeah. Yeah. I take it you've watched that before?

Tanis: I have. Yes. And I remember I was following him… so Dan Buettner in his work when he did a TED talk. Several years ago.

Chris: Yeah. Cause that's what kind of launched it. Right.

Tanis: Yeah. And it really, you know, his work in National Geographic and then noticing that there are a higher number of centurions in these different zones and why is that? And interestingly, especially from a fitness and exercise background is it has very little to do with that structure and that strive and that effort and more to do with. The lifestyle and living and, and this definitely is in the longevity research…

Brittany: And I'm curious when you say less structure, because like dad for you as a Boomer, I feel like fitness [00:12:00] has obviously changed a lot in the past 50 years or however long.

Chris: Let's be candid. Brittany thinks I'm way over structured.

Brittany: Well, but even just the way we look at, you know, like going to gyms or how many weights are you lifting or things like that. That seems like something very different from what you're talking about.

Tanis: Yes, it, which is such a good point because I think we're still in that a little bit, especially in the education of kinesiology, and exercise therapy. We have that - protocols, dosage, frequency, intensity. I definitely, I think I'm a product of that too. As a Gen X, I guess I would be in, so we're coming full circle is what I am taking on this is that exercise was part of a hard day's work, right? And more labor and, getting our hands in it. And then we came to this, through the industrialization and everything that things needed structure.

And so then [00:13:00] it became, you need to. Go to a gym and we became very knowledge based, right? And so we needed to create these spaces and places for us to work out. And so it, it did go through these really you know, fun. I mean, looking back on it, fun trends. So from Jane Fonda, you know, and the outfits and you know, and then even in the You know, weight loss world of Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, like they were structured programs for all of this.

And now we see it - it's much looser. It's much more natural. I think if we look at, Forbes trends, of outdoors, is on there again… you know nature based online, group is kind of coming back but more for the community versus follow. Yeah, so some of those changes are coming

Brittany: In preparing for this, I found it very interesting to find some research that specifically Gen Z, my generation, we consider mental health one of the first reasons why we would do something for our health, physically, what we eat, you know, the decisions we're making around our [00:14:00] well being… I think that would be different from your generation, maybe.

Chris: Yes, part of me wants to think that we never talked about it. So if we had a mental health problem, we weren't even really aware that we did. And somehow, as a boomer, I kind of grasped, well, I think that was kind of good. But I want to circle back to Tanis opening in that acronym again. Can you give it to me one more time,

Tanis: Yes. So it's PERMA. P E R M A. Positive Emotion. Engagement, Meaning, Relationships, and Achievement.

Chris: So... How do you square that with what we're seeing with the depression, the anxiety that, and I'm not picking on Millennials and Gen Zs, but that's where the most of it is happening.

Tanis: Yeah, well, it's probably across the board, but I feel that those particular age groups are more open to talking about it, that it has now been part of the vocabulary, right. And [00:15:00] education. So, whether we're just talking about it more or these age groups have been more affected. And so, for example, Gabor Maté, he's world renowned, he's a doctor over in Vancouver who looks at mental illness on the Lower East Side. And he often talks about one part of that is that we've always been told to be a certain way and we lose that sense of authenticity and therefore that structures us to always be in this need for finding it or pleasing or suppressing, right?

And so it's come to a head where the more we suppress and the more we get structured and the more, that mental illnesses and mental unwellness really starts to crop up…

Brittany: Well, I thought it was interesting what you were saying about, how suppressing and things like that leads to some of this mental unwellness. When we talk about passing things from generation to generation, I've gone to therapy and [00:16:00] dad, you wouldn't have done that. Like you didn't grow up in a world that that was normal to do.

Chris: I didn't even know it existed.

Brittany: Well, no. And so, I found it very interesting to. Kind of unpack some of the emotional experiences I've had. It feels like I’ve done it kind of for my lineage in a way where now I’m going to be able to pass something different on to my children that maybe has more authenticity, like you're saying, and is less structured of how we're supposed to operate within society.

Chris: Yeah, I think I’m getting the picture here. In my upbringing, things were structured. And as long as you didn't fight the structure, you did okay.

Tanis: Yeah. The walls start to come down and there's a bit more freedom to, to explore and then, and what, fits you best. So now we're asking, how does it feel in your [00:17:00] body?

What serves you best to be well? What does that feel like? What does it sound like? What does it smell like? What, you know, and these are questions that I don't think we’re really asked very much. Yeah. Yeah.

Brittany: And to bring it back to physical exercise again, why it's so hard for us to sometimes take care of ourselves?..

Tanis: Yeah, I think that's such a... A terrific question, because ParticipAction just put out a report called the pulse report and with participation, they surveyed a lot of Canadians, and found that 8 out of 10 are not getting enough physical exercise.

And when you think that the requirements are the recommendation, not requirements, recommendations are 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous. Physical activity per week. So that's five days a week, about 30 minutes of activity. And we're not meeting that. And so moderate to vigorous means [00:18:00] that we're a little bit out of breath.

You know, if we do the talk test, it's starting to get a little harder. You're huffing a little bit and then, you know, yeah, you're getting into that where you're working out your cardiovascular system. You're getting that rush of good chemicals, that does have a healthy body and brain which is really beautiful.

And yet we can't seem to get there. And so, what is that? Well, in this report, when they were surveying all the Canadians, 83 percent said, well, we think it's the individual's fault. And I think that would be a really good place to start to explore, because we know that we are within systems, we're with environments, we're in certain upbringings, we have certain biases, right?

And we need to unpack that because something is keeping people, even though they know. And, the study also stated that most individuals know that it's really good for you, that we should do this.

So, time of course is the biggest one. People feel they don't have time. You know, one that's cropping up now that's really interesting in my industry is people don't know. Where to start? And, you [00:19:00] know, that analysis paralysis sort of thing. Yeah. And there are a lot of options out there which also means, you know, oh, just look at an app or just Google it.

And yeah, but people are stuck in where do I start for me and my body for my fitness level right now for my goals that I want to achieve.

Chris: So what's the short answer for you as a professional? Is it walking? Like start there?

Tanis: Oh, oh yeah. So, any movement is good movement. Absolutely. And you know, to start by walking, to start by putting it in your calendar, right? I think the most important is consistency. Yeah. So being consistent in whatever way that is for you is the most important. I am one where every joint every day should be moved and through its full range, you know, especially for an aging population for functionality.

You know, I think one of the biggest trends, going back to your question around how fitness has changed is really gone from shape to [00:20:00] function, you know, from how we looked externally to how capable.

Brittany: I find that very interesting. Do you feel like you kind of grew up in that, now that Tanis has pointed that out, do you feel that narrative of shape? Do you feel like you had that when you were younger?

Chris: Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely. I was, we always have an argument around our family, but I think I was obese as an adolescent.

Brittany: I don't know if it's an argument, but…

Chris: anyway, I was heavy up until my mid-twenties. And it's like, I have this phobia about ever going back there. So yeah, it definitely…

Brittany: And in some ways passed that phobia unintentionally, I'm sure onto your kids.

Tanis: Well, there's a real identity that comes with that. Right? Looking fit says something about you and that's usually hard work, it's, you know, on the opposite flip side of that would be you're not lazy or, you know, so there's an [00:21:00] identity we all achieve, and which, and we would define probably under success and, and I do, I really think that that is changing today. For sure.

Chris: How do you think that's changing?

Tanis: Yeah. Well, I have two daughters and I've, I coached a lot of sports, and it's really about function. And sort of owning their body's capabilities, you know, and we're a rugby family. So, I look at, rugby and every position in it and the different body shapes and uses and needs.

Chris: Yeah. Right. And that's one area of rugby. Like I've just got introduced to rugby because of Brittany's husband.

Brittany: We're now a rugby family. Yeah. Well, we are now. Yeah. Thank you. Exactly. Right. Just now.

Chris: But yeah, like I, every body type in the world is on that field.

Tanis: Yeah. Absolutely. And valuable. Yes. Yeah. And, and it's interesting to witness. So my daughter plays rugby and she's just started [00:22:00] at UBC first year. And there just never is that conversation about. Am I too big or, you know, that I feel like I would have faced as a young adult and it's about capability.

Brittany: And that's encouraging that for your daughter. She's starting at UBC that's already the understanding there.

Tanis: And I, and I think that trend will continue and we know better. Coaches are tracking sleep and mood and as we learn more and more about women and females in sport, you're tracking menstruation and when to power up and how that might affect perceived effort. So lots of neat research coming out that is really the holistic aspect.

Chris: I want to ask about sleep just because I don't sleep well for the most part, and I find as I age, I sleep less and less well all the time. And so it's not unusual, like this morning I was up at 3:30, which is crazy, but I was. [00:23:00] And I was out here making coffee at 3:30 in the morning.

Tanis: Oh… so coffee doesn't help.

Brittany: If you want to go back to bed. First issue!

Chris: It does when you get up!

Chris: Yeah. So. And it's somewhat concerns me in that I read about, you know, is that there's a possible tie to dementia. And at the same time, if I go down the list, I think I'm doing a lot of other things right. You know, so, what do you know about sleep?

Tanis: Oh my gosh. I'm by no means an expert, but again, it goes back to consistency. So sleep is one factor of your overall health. And physical well-being profile, right? And we have this profile in everything we do, how often we move, you know, in low and high intensities, our relationships, you know, how we eat and sleep is a, is a chunk of that, right? So it is a pillar. And yes, it is absolutely connected to cognitive [00:24:00] decline. However, it has to be really consistent for long periods of time, right? That we're losing the sleep. And what we do about it - we know exercise contributes to good sleep and deeper sleep. Also, you know… I feel we're so governed by our nervous system. It's like, can we have practices that allow us to calm down, to get into that state of rest and restoration,

Brittany: It's interesting that you say nervous system, too, because, like, Dad, you're a big, , fitness guy, but I'm not sure you spend as much time thinking about your mental well being.

Chris: I don't spend any time thinking about my mental health.

Brittany: Well, maybe if you did, you wouldn't wake up at 3:30 in the morning.

Chris: Well, good point. Yeah.

Tanis: Well, it is such a good point, and you think about in the science it's called arousal and then we have this dip to being under aroused. And there's sort of this midline and, you know, we never want to be on that line all the time.

You know, that is the state of very blah is sort of the gray in between and how we grow is [00:25:00] through stressing our body. We call it Hormesis. Things that stress and so that will take us above right and exercise really does that and then can we find it this place of deep relaxation in order to recover and rebuild right and then we'll come back up to that midline until we do it again. And this is this state of not being able to adapt all the time that actually makes us stronger.

And so it's good, but if we're only ever up, up, up, up. You know, the stress, we have the adrenaline, the go, our brain is thinking, it's like going to the light switch and turning on, off, on, off, off.

Remember, I remember getting in trouble from my, parents, it's like, don't do that. Turn it on and off. And after a while, the bulb will blow. Like it just needs to recover and do we consciously allow our self that time, to rest?

Brittany: I think something that's coming up a lot is consistency, and I'm curious if there are trends or certain things [00:26:00] that keep people active.

Chris: Consistently.

Tanis: Consistently. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there's a couple things. One is to be surrounded by those like minded people, right? Birds of a feather flock together, and we know that. So there's, it's somewhat of a social contagion. Right? The people that we surround ourselves with really are our influence and we are influencing them. You know, the social movement together also has tons of benefits. You know, this is Kelly McGonigal's work. She has a book called The Joy of Movement and talks about moving together and what a beautiful space that creates both in our brain and body.

Chris: Well, I can certainly appreciate that birds of a feather because I belong to, The OGRE group.

And the OGRE group is “old guys ride every Saturday”. So, if you're in town and you miss Saturday morning, you're going to get ripped. Okay. [00:27:00] Like we have this group chat that you know, you, you will not go unscathed.

Tanis: Gives them a hard time. Right.

Chris: And so it's, it's a lot of fun. And we have. Not only do we go for a ride together, but we have social time afterwards, which is really important.

And this all started during COVID just to keep us all sane and we've continued on with it. So I guess maybe you know, if you're thinking you're not having enough movement, you may have to adjust some of your tribe. Yes. To make that easier.

Tanis: Great word.

Brittany: I know I was picking on you earlier, dad, about not, taking care of your mental well-being, but I wonder if in a way you having this OGRE group and biking every Saturday is, maybe you're unintentional, but intentional way of taking care of your mental well-being. So I want to ask you, Tanis, scientifically or otherwise - doing physical exercise, what does that actually translate to our mental [00:28:00] health?

Tanis: Yeah, great question. So much in, in a couple of different ways and one is just changing the structure and function of our brain.

So what I mean by that is, you know, there's this term neuroplasticity. And basically what that means is that through exercise and, healthy living in general, that our neurons, become stronger and more effective and faster.

And so we have stronger neurons, we have new neurons through our entire lifespan and exercise really helps that specifically in that sort of midbrain area which is all around memory and learning

And then there's also the chemicals in yoga, for example, we have a neurotransmitter called GABA glutamate and GABA. One is excitatory and that arousal and one is inhibitory and that's GABA and it allows for more relaxation. So with exercise, even though it's strenuous and stressful in the moment, we're [00:29:00] able to come down to a more restful state afterwards, also, it's blood flow. We have more blood going to our brain and therefore we have more nutrients.

We have more oxygen and we need to have that, especially if we're thinking all day long. Angiogenesis is the term. But we grow new blood vessels through our brain. And as we age, we get stiffer vessels and those tiny little capillaries don't function as well and some even die off, but with exercise, it keeps those healthy and robust. And, you know, it doesn't just stop at the brain. We know that our muscles are an excretory organ. There are, chemicals that we release from our muscles that actually pass the blood brain barrier and help us endure.

So dopamine being one of them, serotonin is as an uplifter, and we know lactate, which, on a hard ride, you think about a hard bike ride and when your muscles are burning. And, yeah, we tighten up and it's hard to keep going. But the lactate molecule [00:30:00] itself, it helps regenerate sugars in our muscle, in our liver. And more importantly, it actually transfers to the brain. And what happens in the brain then is we have more of what's called brain derived neurotropic factor, BDNF, that just allows for this growth and stimulation of neurons and in that we just have this healthier brain.

Brittany: Well, it sounds so magical when you say it like that, but when you're waking up in the morning, go for a run, you don't think about it!

Tanis: I know, who thinks about any of this stuff? Cause it's so, it is so it's tiny and it's unseen and it's not in the forefront, you know, and back to even trends is what we are changing towards where I think we need to be mindful of is this immediacy in that short term gain we want to be able to see the benefits. Of what we do and the effort that we put in fairly quickly. And, you know, as soon as our Internet's slow, it's [00:31:00] irritating.

And, and I think that passes off also into our behaviors, and these long-term behaviors, there is no easy fix. There's, you know, it takes a long time, it takes maintenance, ongoing, yeah effort on our part when it comes to exercise.

Brittany: I've personally learned as well in trying to... Because I was still in the space where it was how you look and not how you function, especially like growing up in the late 90s, it was all about being skinny as a young woman. I've had to reteach, or teach myself for the first time, that eating well, exercising is for my health, not for my image.

It's, it's not to be skinny. It's to live long. It's to live happy and healthily. And it's been quite a challenge to shift my brain from thinking of exercise as a short-term result. Driven activity to a long term consistency activity and now thanks to my [00:32:00] husband who is studying kinesiology and has held my hand through this a bit, but I've learned to see consistency as the success and not the physical results. You know, I may not look different to someone walking by on the street, but to me, I'm really proud that oh I've been able to make consistent commitments to sweating well, resting well eating well, you know, laughing well, whatever it is, you know?

Tanis: Yes, all of those pieces.

Chris: You have five children.

Tanis: Mm hmm.

Chris: Pretty much all adults or at least very close to that. Yeah. What are your biggest concerns for their long term well-being, as opposed to wellness.

Tanis: Yeah. Yeah. That well-being, right? Is doing.

Chris: All, all of your children are different. They're just like my children.

Tanis: Well, that is the thing, right? That each child we have comes with their own sets of personalities and, and concerns and [00:33:00] worries

Yeah. But I think more than anything, my overarching worry for our kids now is that they're going into a work, work, work type of system that doesn't necessarily keep in mind that well-being is recovery, it is growth, you know, and it is a tolerance and, and I think. You know, just different workplaces, how, how would they balance their life?

Right. And, and that is my worry and, and my world, I guess, is, is balance. And even though that is, there is no such thing, but overarching, it is a thing. So, so maybe I don't get sleep for a week, but I know, down the road that I will or I'm going to work really hard on this project, over this next month, but I know that the rest will be coming.

We can create systems that don't allow for health because there is enough demand or pressure or [00:34:00] competition that they can get away with that.

That sounds a little bit blaming maybe but yeah, I worry about systems that don't encompass the whole human.

Brittany: Hmm. Yeah

Chris: If you were a business owner, and I'm asking, I'm a business owner, what's the system that you would encourage me to embrace so my team members, my employees, if you will, my partners can pursue a life of well-being?

Tanis: Yeah. Gosh, that is the question. I don't know if you follow Adam Grant. He's yeah, he speaks to this quite wonderfully and especially around the burnout is that you don't get holidays because you're getting burnt out. You get them as a time to. Like regenerate and be more innovative and maybe come back with, with new ideas instead of a recovery from, this excessive or constant pressure.

[00:35:00] So I have, I have lots of ideas in the workplace wellbeing and, and one of them… I mean, here we go! Is allowing for this time of a full engagement. Right. Being in the work and being proud of that work. There's the achievement, there's engagement, there's meaning, right? So you have these components of well-being and then within that there's time for play. There's time for movement, right? And I mean I know this would be hard as a business owner, right? To allow for that time. And does it take away from productivity? But I think there's a lot of science that supports, the four day work week didn't show any less productivity than the five day work week.

And it's because you'll fit it in, right? You fit into the time that you have. And so it's, it's about focusing when you need to focus and exercise primes us to do that. I mean, we know after we exercise, and this is in the book Spark, if which is an excellent read, it's getting a bit older now, but Dr. John Ratty talks about… it's called zero [00:36:00] hour where schools implemented like a recess almost right at the beginning of the day where they would all be active, the kids would get really active and then they would go and sit in math class or they would sit in English class and their brains would be primed to focus.

Chris: Yeah. Like, right. Even I can figure that out.

Tanis: Yeah. Yeah. And so I think is, can, can we implement those things in the workplaces? Can we even provide small incentives? And I know, there's a lot of pros and cons around incentives in some way, but it works for a lot of companies, to be able to get active, go work out together, maybe get the equipment.

Chris: So Monday morning, we're doing the stairs before we meet,

Brittany: What's my incentive?

Chris: You're going to feel better. Then you'll focus. You're going to be smarter, more productive,

Brittany: So four day work week? Is that what I'm hearing?

Chris: Nah, I'm not totally sold on that.

Brittany: I know you're not.

Tanis: Well, you think about even benefits. where people are utilizing their health care plan. And the two number [00:37:00] ones for both absenteeism and pharmacological is musculoskeletal and mental health.

And so low back pain, of course, is a big one. But then, and mental health. And we know that exercise is absolutely critical for both of those areas. Yeah.

Chris: Exercise is a big preventer of both of those illnesses, if you will.

Tanis: Totally. And, one caveat. Around human behavior as soon as we are telling somebody what to do... there is a built, an innate resistance.

Brittany: Oh, I'm glad you said that, because that's exactly what I felt when my dad asked me to take the stairs.

Tanis: Yeah, and so that is really this, area of art. Right. There's a lot of science. I love the science piece, but the art is around this behavior. And how, how do we get, you know, your very first question around, how do we get people to do this? Knowing most people don't and knowing [00:38:00] people think it's important.

Chris: What is the switch that will allow somebody to move?

Tanis: And so autonomy is, is huge, especially in the Gen Z. Generation that some sort of autonomy and what fits and, aligns with their values what could each individual do that has meaning, has some achievement, right? Has brings positive emotion maybe helps form relationships like right back to our PERMA model.

Brittany: And it's interesting to think about that in a family context. between parents and kids about, maybe you can't tell them what to do, but maybe you can show them,

Tanis: Yeah. Yeah. Especially with raising children and that's, you know, monkey see monkey do. And that there, it is absolutely put into every cell of their body. Of what we do, both good and bad.

And so just seeing an active parent. Is a big motivator, right? For, and maybe it comes around in a different circuitous route [00:39:00] later in life, but it's, it's a real role modeling. I think that, you know, we forget is how important that is. And that's that social bonding and that's the need to belong and, you know, when we see people that we, we love and cherish and, and look up to doing healthy behaviors, then we're much more apt, yeah, to follow suit.

Chris: Talk to me about your view of social media and how that has impacted our society. Yeah. From a, from a well-being aspect.

Tanis: From a fitness well, a lot of ways. Social media has helped fitness and exercise.

Chris: Okay, that's not the answer I was expecting.

Tanis: And, it's a lot of places where people get their education. there are some incredibly reputable practitioners or scientists out there that are on social media and spreading the great word and sharing different articles or tips and tools. And then you just flip that to the other side and there's also people who maybe don't have a background. But, and also, [00:40:00] you know how easy it is to lose an hour of your day? 15 minutes can be like 30 seconds when you're scrolling.

And so often it's a placeholder where there could be movement, right? And there could be connection. So it's how you use it. And I think it's here to stay. So it's not like, oh, put your phone down or not putting that genie back in the box. Yeah, yeah. It's here. So use it for its best stuff and then be able to put that phone down and, give it a try or put it up and follow.

Like sometimes I'll just get down on the ground right there and it's like, whoa, that is a really cool new move.

Brittany: I always made fun of dad because he would do his stretching in public.

Tanis: My kids just about die every time I'm doing it. Yeah, it's always an opportunity to move your body.

Brittany: He'd be waiting for the ferry and he'd be like, in full yoga pose, stretching something.

Tanis: Oh, I'd love it. Walking lunges. One of my faves. But, and [00:41:00] so I think it's normalizing where we can get movement in.

And I also love fitness and I know that that is something that that is different. Not everybody loves working out all the time and loves sweating and I am privileged enough that I can wear workout clothes. Every day. Yeah. So I can literally just break out into moves anywhere I am. I'm not restricted by shoes that women used to wear or heels or, you know, and, and I would rebel against that.

In my industry, I always, and I'm competitive. So, you know, to be fit, I want to be able to run with the best of them. I'll lift with the best of them. Like it's what I teach.

Chris: you take a certain amount of pride. In being able to whip a young guy.

Tanis: Yes, absolutely.

Chris: Across the gym floor.

Tanis: Yeah. Yeah.

Chris: I got it.

Tanis: Oh, and in yoga, it's the best. Oh yes. Cause you know,

Chris: Cause guys just can't stretch.

Tanis: [00:42:00] It's very difficult for many, for many of them. Yeah. Yeah. So there's a bit of a, you know, pride thing and, but in wanting to be, you know, we talked about role modeling and, you know, I want to live that, I want to walk that talk and I do feel it's important.

Chris: I think that's a pretty good role model, to be honest with you. I would encourage that.

Tanis: It's, you know, I want to stay active for my health and in my work that I do. And I'm, I'm a living experiment. We all are, you know, and to feel that and to experiment with like, yeah, I feel better now.

And, and that's that embodiment piece where I really think, fitness, especially for myself and the work I do around mental health is that we want to feel into our body. And we know this with athletes, especially that often we're told to push through, you know, to not listen to our bodies. And so there, is a reprogramming, right?

It's a reprogramming of, finding the joy in it and the healthy movement I mean, when it's your job as an athlete, that's a [00:43:00] different ballgame, right? Yeah, no pun intended, but yeah…

Brittany: But I feel like that's true for even just, you know, just any adult trying to exercise today as well, of trying to reprogram, trying to find the fun in it, trying to make it something about joy instead of about structure, right?

Chris: You know, you've hit the nail on the head there, Brittany, in that it is extraordinarily easy to exercise if you're having fun. Don't force yourself to do something that you're not having fun at because you won't last.

Tanis: I teach a course where we do run and I definitely get those words. Like I don't like running… and, what if you take it easy? What if you went at a pace where you could talk with someone else, you know, it's very hard for young people, especially to stay in that lower intensity. And so they make it hard and it hurts. You know, the feedback that a lot of people get [00:44:00] through exercise hasn't been positive, that's why, you know, back to an earlier question you asked, like, well, so what is the answer?

It's like, well, it's something that you'll keep doing repeatedly. And if it always feels a bit like punishment to a body that serves you every day, right? Then, yeah, I think a new modality is in order and worth considering. Yeah.

Brittany: Oh, I have one last question. We're going to start doing just a fun question to end each episode. So what is the best hike you've ever been on?

Tanis: Oh, well, I love hiking. I also love running.

Brittany: Shocking. Didn't gather any of that.

Tanis: I'm in that group. Well, so. Globally my favorite hike was Machu Picchu.

Chris: Oh my gosh

Tanis: So I really enjoyed that and we took the family. We just hiked around once we were up there, but I just felt like it was such a sacred place and there is that sense of awe a lot of times with hiking, which [00:45:00] I love and awe has a lot of health benefits to another stream, but… And then locally in BC, I grew up in Cranbrook in the Rocky Mountains and there's a mountain called Mount Fisher.

And it's, yeah, one of my favorite hikes. It takes about six or seven hours, so just a nice easy pace. So Mount Fisher is definitely, and for my 50th, I made the family hike it with me.

Chris: Good for you. That's really cool.

Tanis: So that was really fun.

Brittany: It's beautiful there. Do you want to answer it too?

Chris: Well, I think the most memorable hike, I'm going to go with that. I don't know if it was my favorite, but memorable was Brittany and Alexa would have been, I'm guessing 8 to 12, and we hiked from the edge of the Grand Canyon to the river and back, same day.

Brittany: I think my favorite hike was, I think it was in Oahu

And then when we got to the top, there was a cliff that we jumped off of and I just remember it feeling like it was like Disneyland in the [00:46:00] jungle for me. And it was so fun. We all have a picture of literally mud probably up into our thighs. Yep. We were, we were tarzan-ing. It was very fun.

Tanis: Oh, I love that.

Brittany: Well, Tanis, thank you so much for joining us today. This was a super fun discussion, I learned lots.

Chris: Tanis, I don't know that I've met somebody that's more self aware as you are. And I've so super enjoyed this. So I just want to say thank you so much. We really appreciate this.

Tanis: Oh, well, I, it is such a pleasure because I will talk about this, I will talk about this stuff all day long.

Brittany: Well, it's good we had a microphone in front of you then.

Tanis: Exactly. Like, round two? Yeah, exactly.

Chris: And just if I could wrap up a little bit, Brittany I think money touches just every aspect of our life. Everything we do to make money, to preserve money, at the end of the day, I think most would [00:47:00] agree that it's there to help us live healthy, productive lives. There isn't a person alive that doesn't want to live a healthy, productive life.

Brittany: And I think it's such an important thing to remember as we pass anything on from generation to generation. Right. This has to be of the utmost importance because you can pass on lots of lovely things like money or property or good character even, you know, the ability to go to school, whatever it is… but if you're not going to be healthy and if you're not going to be able to live out all those wonderful things, it doesn't matter.

Chris: Well put.

Brittany: Thank you. We'll see you next time.

Chris: So thank you very much for being with us today. I'm Chris Raper. Aspira Wealth of Raymond James Limited. You can catch us at... Aspirawealth.com [00:48:00] and we are in the business of helping our clients live out their greatest aspirations. If that's something that intrigues you, please reach out.

Brittany: And a quick thank you to Nathan Clark for composing our podcast music.

Chris: Go Nathan!

Brittany: This podcast has been prepared by and expressed the opinions of a spirit wealth of Raymond James Limited and are not necessarily the opinions of Raymond James Limited or Raymond James USA. Statistics, data and other information presented are from sources RJL, RJLU believes to be reliable, but their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. This podcast is for information purposes only and is not to be construed as an offer or a solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Investors considering any investment should consult with their investment advisor to ensure that it is suitable for the investor's circumstances and risk tolerance before making any investment decision. Past performance is no guarantee for future results. Information provided in this podcast is general in nature and should not be construed as providing legal, accounting, or tax advice. Should viewers have any specific questions and or issues in these areas, please consult your legal, tax, and or accounting advisor. RJLU is a member of the Canada, RJL is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection [00:49:00] Fund. Raymond James USA Limited, RJLU is a member of FINRA slash SIPC. RJL and RJLU financial advisors may only transact business in provinces and or states where they are registered.